Project for Wattle team

Project for Wattle team

The team behind the restoration of Steam Tug Wattle will soon begin a new project, but they are unsure whether it will take place in Docklands.

The 82-year-old Wattle was restored over the past six years at the western end of Yarra’s Edge in Docklands and returned to the water on September 30.

A group of volunteers from the Bay Steamers Maritime Museum painstakingly restored the boat and will next turn their attention to the restoration of 1928 teak-built admiral’s barge Janet.

Volunteer Jeff Malley said Janet was currently at the boat builders yard in Williamstown and the group was unsure where the restoration work would take place.

Work on Wattle took place at 19 South Wharf but the group has since moved into the old BHP shed, just west of the Bolte Bridge.

As for the steam tug Wattle, the Bay Steamers Maritime Museum plan to return it to a steaming service on the Yarra by mid-2016.

The process of returning the boat to the water was a lengthy one, starting before dawn on September 30 and finishing at 9pm the same day.

The process involved the boat being lifted by two cranes onto a moving platform, being transported 300 metres west on the platform and then being lifted and gradually lowered into the river by the cranes, with a team of technical staff on hand to check for leaks.

The launch of the Wattle and her hull restoration was then declared a success.

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