Coastal Steamer nearing restoration completion

It will soon be “Full Steam Ahead” for John Oxley and the Sydney Heritage Fleet set to celebrate another milestone.

Questions are again being asked around the Sydney waterfront just as they were towards the end of the long restoration of Sydney Heritage Fleet’s 1874 Barque, James Craig. Now it’s the turn of their 1927 coastal steamer, John Oxley, the only remaining coastal steamer, pilot boat and buoy tender in Australia and one of only a very few such vessels anywhere in the world.

People are asking, “when will John Oxley be steaming again on Sydney Harbour?” Now that’s a good question and one for which there is no straight answer. If you had asked a year or so ago when she would be back in the water the good volunteers at the Fleet’s Heritage Shipyard at the western end of Sydney’s Anzac Bridge would have told you – “she’ll be relaunched in a year or so”. If you ask today you will get the same answer. One question, for which there is as yet no answer, is when she will once again grace Sydney Harbour as a fully restored, operational vessel. But steam she will!!

Sydney people will well remember James Craig’s long and difficult rebirth. This great icon of Sydney Harbour, ranking now alongside the city’s other two other icons, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, was rescued, in 1973, from the wildness and isolation of Recherche Bay in far southern Tasmania after nearly 50 years of half-sunken abandonment. She was towed back into Sydney Harbour in January 1981 and lovingly and faithfully restored by The Fleet’s volunteers to the point where she returned to her former sailing glory in 2001. This feat was given world-wide recognition when, in 2003, she was awarded the Maritime Heritage Medal by the London-based World Ship Trust – recognition achieved by only a very few of her peers. When John Oxley raises steam once again she will surely emulate her sister ship by achieving the same world-wide recognition.

The restoration of a heritage ship is a long and difficult process, not one to be taken lightly and certainly not one for which there is ever a real end. As one long-serving member from amongst the Fleet’s intrepid team of 650 or so enthusiastic volunteers said – “you don’t need to be insane to be a ship restorer but it helps. What’s needed is Passion!”

Hugh Lander, Public Affairs Manager for Sydney Heritage Fleet, added to this sentiment when he said “our volunteers bring passion and skills to all the activities of the Fleet and we could not continue to function without them.” He pointed out though, that this wonderful organisation receives no direct government funding, either state or federal – and depends, for its very existence, on the generosity of its Patron and the other individuals and companies who support it through the donation of cash, goods and services. He appealed to people who regard the preservation of heritage vessels and old skills as important to come forward with donations of cash and/or goods which the Fleet will use to continue its work.

More information about John Oxley can be found at the Fleet's website page.