Day two in Devonport. The dust (or should that be spray?) and drama of our arrival had now settled and we were back to normal routine. As I opened the day's new e-mails I found one from the Spirit of Tasmania company. It was a feedback survey. Would I take the time to fill it out? You bet I would....perfect timing.
We were still angry about the conditions Max had had to endure and the upshot (excluding his sea-sickness which we accepted was unavoidable). I set to with gusto detailing our concerns about the misleading information we had gleaned from the company website (and in later conversations with staff) about the manner in which pets would be transported.
We had checked all this thoroughly, as you would imagine. We firmly believed that the kennels were isolated from the vehicle decks, and that a crew member would assist us with directions and selection. This belief was supported by the fact that we were told to hang the 'pet' tag on our mirror at the ticket office at Station Pier to identify that we were boarding with a pet.
All the relevant information clearly stated that, once we were under way, whilst we would not be allowed below (for well understood safety reasons), regular inspections of all animals would be carried out by crew members, and in the event that any animal displayed signs of obvious distress, the relevant owners would be contacted immediately and escorted below to assess the situation and take appropriate action.
Crap. Absolutely none of this eventuated as I have already described. Fortunately, and here I will give credit where it is due, the survey provided more than adequate space for detailed comment, which was duly provided.
And again, credit where credit is due....we received a very polite response within 24 hours and an invitation to visit the staff at the Devonport office to discuss the matter further if we chose to do so.
Naturally we took up the invitation and duly made our way down to the company office building, which was dwarfed by the ship behind it.
Liz outlined our experience (or that of Max to be more precise) and enquired as to whether it would be possible for him to make the return crossing in the familiar and comfortable surrounds of our van rather than one of the dog kennels. This was something all our previous advice told us could only be done on presentation of a formal certificate from a vet that this was the only viable option for the pet concerned, and a few other (highly legalistic) riders, including one, would you believe, that the vet also certified that the animal was fit for this form of travel (i.e. in its most familiar environment)!
Liz outlined our experience (or that of Max to be more precise) and enquired as to whether it would be possible for him to make the return crossing in the familiar and comfortable surrounds of our van rather than one of the dog kennels. This was something all our previous advice told us could only be done on presentation of a formal certificate from a vet that this was the only viable option for the pet concerned, and a few other (highly legalistic) riders, including one, would you believe, that the vet also certified that the animal was fit for this form of travel (i.e. in its most familiar environment)!
On hearing this the charming lass with whom we were dealing dived under her counter and produced a piece of paper, a waiver no less. All we have to do is sign and present this to the staff 24 hours before sailing and Max can make the return voyage in the comfort of his own home.
Why this is not made clear in all the information presented on the website, the booking procedures, or by staff when telephone inquiries are made, is beyond me. I suspect that there has been trouble in the past, possibly resulting in legal action. The detailed conditions of sailing which we received when booking was one of the most legalistic documents I've ever read....it made insurance forms look simple. It all added up.
We only spent a couple of days in Devonport before moving on down to Hobart for my UN Forces reunion, but what we saw in that time we very much liked. It is an interesting and picturesque town. We plan to spend a week or so here before boarding for our return to the mainland, so the camera was pouched during this brief sojourn and I have very little to offer by way of town commentary.
One thing which became patently obvious wherever we drove around this town, which is split in twain by the waters of the Mersey River, was the way in which the Spirit(s) of Tasmania dominate most views. For example, this is a shot I took from the heights of Mersey Bluff, across the parks and oval of East Devonport, and there she is, her superstructure standing high above her surrounds.
And because we were so close to it, we did visit the dock area a couple of times (apart from the trip to sort out Max's travelling arrangements). The location of our caravan park afford views over the entrance to the Mersey River approach channel, and on the day of our arrival the unmistakable thump of a ship's engines had me racing off to a vantage point.
Here I saw the Searoad Tamar making her way into port. Now whilst not huge, this is a pretty substantial vessel (pictured here courtesy of 'shipspotting')
The 'SOT' was already alongside in what is a pretty restricted dockside area. "Where will this newcomer berth?", I wondered. Curiosity got the better of me, and I was off. There is actually a very pleasant walking trail around the point on the eastern side of the Mersey River channel, and in no time I was dockside.
It was then I learnt that whilst the Port of Devonport is not large, it is used very efficiently. It also soon became apparent that the Tamar and her sister ship the Searoad Mersey make regular daily freight voyages between Melbourne and Devonport....in in the morning and out again in the late afternoon.
My attempts to capture all this through the lens were futile, so I've had to borrow heavily from Internet images to bring this to you, beginning with an aerial of the mouth of the Mersey River and the dock area where the 'SOT' can be seen alongside (thanks to 'keywordsuggest')
If you look directly above the ship, the caravan park in which we were staying is the open ground on the coast at the far end of what appears to be a small bay between two breakwaters. So you can see we were not far from the docks.
In this shot, thanks to 'en.wikipedia', the Tamar docking mystery is solved. Whilst she is
somewhat dwarfed by her, you can see her green bulk alongside immediately in front of the bow of the SOT.
Both ships reverse stern in, and believe me there is not a lot of wriggle room, as this photo provided by 'searoad' demonstrates.
Getting in is one thing, getting out again another. Just beyond this section of the docks, the Mersey widens into a basin, which is just as well. This allows these vessels to edge forward away from their loading berths and then execute a 180 degree turn, in the case of the SOT, using her bow thrusters.
We toddled off down to the dock one late afternoon to watch all this happen. Here we have The Spirit making the last of the loading (you can just see a semi trailer disappearing on board)
before the stern doors closed and she was under way, steaming slowing towards the basin
before commencing her turn.
It was remarkable to see just how quickly this was completed. Remember this ship weighs in at nearly 30,000 tons.
But in no time her bows were pointing seaward and the engine noise increased as she began to increase speed down the channel, past another much smaller ship tied up on the other side of the harbour.
From these photos I took this all looks pretty easy, but again let me lean on the assistance of an external source, this time 'exploreaustralia' for this shot which shows just how tight this manoeuvre really is.
Warning notices posted along the channel caution small boat owners to be wary of the disturbances cause by SOT's passage. I had thought this would be in the form of her bow wave, but not so. As she made her way past us, we firstly heard, and then saw, the huge rush of water which courses along the channel bank almost abeam of her progress. What an odd phenomenon this was, and made the purpose of the cautionary signs very evident. This could be a serious trap for young players.
Shortly after making past the last of the entrance channel lateral markers,
and reaching the waters of Bass Strait, the SOT, like every other ship which departs Devonport for Melbourne,
made a turn to port and increased speed significantly. In no time her red and white hull, gleaming brightly in the fading light of the setting sun, soon disappeared over the grey horizon. As I mentioned earlier, in calm waters like these, this ship scoots along at 25 knots....that's fast enough to water ski behind. She is no slouch!
There is something inescapably romantic about the departure of vessel such as this, particularly when a later departure meant that she left port ablaze with lights.
I have to confess that watching the SOT's evening departure became a daily ritual for us during our stay here in Devonport. At the appointed hour we would wander down to varying vantage points, glass in hand, to wish those on board 'bon voyage'.
In my next, after a quick up-date, we head down the centre of the island to settle into Hobart and make preparations for the festivities which were to shortly follow.
Why this is not made clear in all the information presented on the website, the booking procedures, or by staff when telephone inquiries are made, is beyond me. I suspect that there has been trouble in the past, possibly resulting in legal action. The detailed conditions of sailing which we received when booking was one of the most legalistic documents I've ever read....it made insurance forms look simple. It all added up.
We only spent a couple of days in Devonport before moving on down to Hobart for my UN Forces reunion, but what we saw in that time we very much liked. It is an interesting and picturesque town. We plan to spend a week or so here before boarding for our return to the mainland, so the camera was pouched during this brief sojourn and I have very little to offer by way of town commentary.
One thing which became patently obvious wherever we drove around this town, which is split in twain by the waters of the Mersey River, was the way in which the Spirit(s) of Tasmania dominate most views. For example, this is a shot I took from the heights of Mersey Bluff, across the parks and oval of East Devonport, and there she is, her superstructure standing high above her surrounds.
And because we were so close to it, we did visit the dock area a couple of times (apart from the trip to sort out Max's travelling arrangements). The location of our caravan park afford views over the entrance to the Mersey River approach channel, and on the day of our arrival the unmistakable thump of a ship's engines had me racing off to a vantage point.
Here I saw the Searoad Tamar making her way into port. Now whilst not huge, this is a pretty substantial vessel (pictured here courtesy of 'shipspotting')
The 'SOT' was already alongside in what is a pretty restricted dockside area. "Where will this newcomer berth?", I wondered. Curiosity got the better of me, and I was off. There is actually a very pleasant walking trail around the point on the eastern side of the Mersey River channel, and in no time I was dockside.
It was then I learnt that whilst the Port of Devonport is not large, it is used very efficiently. It also soon became apparent that the Tamar and her sister ship the Searoad Mersey make regular daily freight voyages between Melbourne and Devonport....in in the morning and out again in the late afternoon.
My attempts to capture all this through the lens were futile, so I've had to borrow heavily from Internet images to bring this to you, beginning with an aerial of the mouth of the Mersey River and the dock area where the 'SOT' can be seen alongside (thanks to 'keywordsuggest')
If you look directly above the ship, the caravan park in which we were staying is the open ground on the coast at the far end of what appears to be a small bay between two breakwaters. So you can see we were not far from the docks.
In this shot, thanks to 'en.wikipedia', the Tamar docking mystery is solved. Whilst she is
somewhat dwarfed by her, you can see her green bulk alongside immediately in front of the bow of the SOT.
Both ships reverse stern in, and believe me there is not a lot of wriggle room, as this photo provided by 'searoad' demonstrates.
Getting in is one thing, getting out again another. Just beyond this section of the docks, the Mersey widens into a basin, which is just as well. This allows these vessels to edge forward away from their loading berths and then execute a 180 degree turn, in the case of the SOT, using her bow thrusters.
We toddled off down to the dock one late afternoon to watch all this happen. Here we have The Spirit making the last of the loading (you can just see a semi trailer disappearing on board)
before the stern doors closed and she was under way, steaming slowing towards the basin
before commencing her turn.
It was remarkable to see just how quickly this was completed. Remember this ship weighs in at nearly 30,000 tons.
But in no time her bows were pointing seaward and the engine noise increased as she began to increase speed down the channel, past another much smaller ship tied up on the other side of the harbour.
From these photos I took this all looks pretty easy, but again let me lean on the assistance of an external source, this time 'exploreaustralia' for this shot which shows just how tight this manoeuvre really is.
Warning notices posted along the channel caution small boat owners to be wary of the disturbances cause by SOT's passage. I had thought this would be in the form of her bow wave, but not so. As she made her way past us, we firstly heard, and then saw, the huge rush of water which courses along the channel bank almost abeam of her progress. What an odd phenomenon this was, and made the purpose of the cautionary signs very evident. This could be a serious trap for young players.
Shortly after making past the last of the entrance channel lateral markers,
and reaching the waters of Bass Strait, the SOT, like every other ship which departs Devonport for Melbourne,
made a turn to port and increased speed significantly. In no time her red and white hull, gleaming brightly in the fading light of the setting sun, soon disappeared over the grey horizon. As I mentioned earlier, in calm waters like these, this ship scoots along at 25 knots....that's fast enough to water ski behind. She is no slouch!
There is something inescapably romantic about the departure of vessel such as this, particularly when a later departure meant that she left port ablaze with lights.
I have to confess that watching the SOT's evening departure became a daily ritual for us during our stay here in Devonport. At the appointed hour we would wander down to varying vantage points, glass in hand, to wish those on board 'bon voyage'.
In my next, after a quick up-date, we head down the centre of the island to settle into Hobart and make preparations for the festivities which were to shortly follow.
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