Shambhala Arrives

 

The boat transport company was somewhat reluctant to specify the exact location in Australia where "Shambhala" would be delivered. We received regular updates while the ship was underway and from this learned she would be off loaded in Port Alma, Australia. When we looked it up on the map, it seemed pretty remote and small for a commercial port. We were soon to discover that it was both.

 

 

It was not possible for us to travel to Port Alma by land, so we were transported about 20 miles by launch from Gladstone, leaving at 7am to catch the tide in the narrow channel.

This is the launch that was to take the four of us and three other owner/captains to retrieve our boats from the transport.

 

 

Here you can see the narrow channel from Gladstone (bottom right) to Port Alma. The tide here was reported to be about four meters with parts of the channel drying out at low tide. The launch only drew about two feet but the captain still had to plan ahead for the tide. With our six foot draft we would only be able to traverse parts of the channel at high tide.

 

 

 

The trip in the launch took about one and one-half hours and the ride got a bit wet and bumpy when we reached the open bay.

 

 

If you have a sport fishing boat, this seems like the perfect shirt to wear.

 

 

 

We arrived at Port Alma only a couple of hours after the BBC Greenland, and she was the only ship in the port at the time.

 

 

 

We breathed a sigh of relief to see "Shambhala" and two other boats waiting to be unloaded.

 

 

The crew of the ship were waiting for us. The only way on board was to climb the rope ladder up the side of the ship. So this is how the harbor pilots do it!

 

 

 

The loadmaster had decided that "Shambhala" would be the last boat to be unloaded as the tide was now running out at a rapid rate. It was like watching ballet to see the big crane pick up and launch these good sized power boats.

 

 

It looked like the crane driver just barely missed the mast, but obviously this operator had done this before.

 

 

Once again it was lunch time for the longshoremen, so everyone took a break and waited for the tide flow to slow down a bit. We also needed to climb aboard "Shambhala" and loosen the back-stay to accommodate the crane hardware. We were pleased to find no new leaks and everything seemed to be in order.

 

 

 

Everyone was back from lunch and ready to hook up the lifting straps.

 

 

Removing the cradle and tie down straps.

 

 

Ready to lift.

 

 

Over the side she goes.

 

 

Here's the part that makes me nervous.

 

 

The lift stopped just as the boat was even with the deck of the ship and we climbed back aboard.

 

 

Unhooking the lifting straps.

 

 

And raising the crane rigging.

 

 

We put all the rigging back together and made sure the engine would start. Mr. Perkins fired right up on the first turn as usual.

 

 

Casting off the lines, we were on our way.

 

 

A few tweaks for the GPS, changing from feet to meters and inserting the Australia charts.

 

 

Ross, her new owner, was very pleased to be at the wheel and in Australian waters at last.

 

 

Ross' friend, Steve, was a welcome addition to the crew. His job for many years was enforcing the fishing laws in this same area. We were happpy to have this much local knowledge aboard. He also chose a delightful spot for us to anchor for the evening as the next high tide would be about 9am the following morning.

 

 

We had a lovely evening aboard with breezes to cool the cabin and keep the bugs at bay. Under way about 8am the next morning, we were ready to tackle the "Narrows".You can see here how this channel might have gotten its name. At high tide it looked very much like parts of the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida.

 

 

Keeping a close watch on the depth, we never saw less than 2.5 meters, a little over eight feet. After being in the Bahamas, we would call that bottomless. It wasn't much after high tide of four meters, so in fact this place would be very high and dry and low tide.

 

 

After a delightfully uneventful ride down the rest of the channel, we arrived back in Gladstone at about one in the afternoon on Sunday. The port facilities here were mostly closed as well. The good news was that the Yacht Club was open so that became our evening destination.

 

"Shambhala" safe in port in Gladstone, delivery complete.

 

To see "Shambhala" being loaded in Florida, click Here.