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Well, not really from our fleet, but very much part of our vintage Waitemata “fleet”.
It came as a surprise at our last committee meeting to hear that plans are in place to scuttle the WILLIAM C DALDY as a potential wreck for divers. This is apparently publicly known but perhaps had missed the radar of many of us.
Her hull needs work, her boilers have failed inspection, there's berthage issues and costs, and there are now few qualified steam engineers or professional skippers for that type of vessel. And then there is the underpinning issue of the costs and lack of funding. At first hearing, it is hard to believe that she may not steam our harbour again.
In 1936 when WCD first came to our waters, Auckland was very much a harbour city. The harbour, and its vessels, was front and centre of Aucklanders’ lives. People knew the boats with an emotional attachment. As those generations pass, the number of people who care and are passionate about our historic vessels steadily shrinks, which means the vessels are vulnerable.
In stark comparison, I was invited aboard SPARKY, the world's first full-sized ship-handling electric tug, last Saturday eve as she berthed a massive ship full of cars. Having just learned of the DALDY’S fate, the evening was one of ‘back of the mind’ comparisons. The twilight was stunning, with the glorious still water and clear sky that Auckland winters can treat us to. Seeing SPARKY in the flesh is somewhat confusing. Being used to a bow and a stern, I wasn’t expecting to need time to work out which was which. Imagine an oval platter bent up at the ends—that is her shape. Thankfully, there was a fender and winch at the “front end”.
No dirty smoke and coal dust here. No diesel fumes and engine room cacophony. Silence. A saloon with the all-important coffee machine and three large bedrooms, each with its own ensuite and shower, make up the crew accommodations. Down a flight of steps to the battery rooms on each side—massive banks of stored energy. A few more steps down to the control corridor, which is lined with screens at standing head height, and then a final few steps into the engine room itself.
Starting up seemed a 10-minute process of checks, turning on all the AC cooling (everything needs cooling with this energy), and then bringing online the battery banks. No Frankenstein sized gate switches to be seen. Buttons on screens are pressed and then the graphs show the power steadily building.
Back in the wheelhouse there is quiet music playing. No steering wheel or engine telegraph! Two consoles, each side of the skipper’s chair, with screens and buttons. A joystick on each side is the “wheel”. As lines were coming off, I realised we had already moved. Reverse out, pivot, and off into the evening. Silence, save the quiet music and friendly, gentle chat of the crew.
I am not used to a large vessel steaming at 9.9 knots and not being able to hear a single thing. It is deceptive. Once the ship had reduced to below 8 knots, the tug’s rope was pulled aboard and the work began. With 30 tons’ pull on a dyneema rope the size of a fist (she can pull 70) there was not a single audible clue to the work being done. Unsettling. It is all in what the gauges were saying.
On completion of her work, the skipper guided her out from under the ship, then nonchalantly backed away from the controls…my turn, apparently. The joysticks work like tillers—as if you were sitting behind the tiller with one hand on it. The throttle control is on the front of the joystick. Pushing the throttle down gives no sense of the power being unleashed, as there is no sound to gauge with.
And then we were treated to the SPARKY party piece—doughnuts at full thrust. 320 tons of vessel spinning on her axis, and it was then, for the first time, she uttered her first sound—she creaks. Those doughnuts cost us a few percent of battery power too.
SPARKY plugs in ashore with 4 plugs that look identical to what we use with cars except these are oil cooled, due to the energy being pumped through. And the “not enough juice stress” is managed by two big generators in her engine room, which will power her up 30 seconds after the batteries go flat.
I can’t see SPARKY surviving as long as DALDY or being as fondly regarded by Aucklanders. Indeed, it will be interesting to see how many years pass before she needs new batteries. The DALDY may have a second life as a destination for divers, but I suspect SPARKY will simply be returned to her elements when the time comes.
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