I was in Kindy at Manly Public School at the time (1983). Our awesome teacher took us for a walk down the the pier to watch the beached Freshwater. We were told it was the first automatic or computerised ferry and that it malfunctioned. What a cool site for a 5 year old!
Turned out to be due to the computers controlling the variable pitch propellers. Simple adjustment and all was good. A Dutch company iirc. God I copped stick at my new project for Honeywell. They'd been originally blamed for the issue in SMH but an apology was issued days later.
@Jaffa1311 you bet and what days they were. I was born at home in 56 Whistler St, didn't even wait to get to the hospital that's how much I loved Manly
Its great to see this clips nowdays , i have only ever seen a still pictures of this in a book.I wish they never changed there running colours , i think the Blue and white look neater and more cruiser then the current cream and green...yuk.Thanks for sharing this! :)
@5917steam Indeed Ron is however he was skipper on the Queenscliff, I don't recall him being in command of the Freshie?? Could be wrong there. I remember this day well also: it was 1982 at the beginning of her service. I still miss the real ferries however...the Goola, Dee Why, the Styene.
Hi would you mind if I take a still from this video to use on an instagram page to try to save the freshwater class ferries from being scrapped? (with attribution)
Reminds me of when one of the ferries hit the rocks as it approached Manly - around 1999. It was where the white circular apartments are built on the promontory. Cant find any details anywhere so if anyone recalls it would be good to see.
That ferry was the Collaroy. I was working for State Transit at the time, and believe I have photos of it somewhere. In any case, check out the archives for the Manly Daily newspaper.
@@mowgli27 That's great to hear - if you ever find them. would be v interesting to see them as I didnt have any camera at the time. It was quite a scene with it stuck on the rocks directly below that white rotunda apartment block right on the point. I tried to search Manly Daily but nothing came up - will have another look. Thanks PS IIRC the captain had been on the grog and was subsequently arrested...
@@paredding Im also pretty sure it happened post Olympics, It was late summer. Going to suggest maybe 2001 around February. Will have a look for those photos for you, it may take a while. Additionally, although I cant say too much, lets just say, theoretically, and rumours say that no one was on the bridge at the time the auto-helm disengaged for the final dog leg/ manouver into Manly wharf. Perhaps one person was visiting the head, and there was a great card game happening below decks in engineering...and timing was misjudged... If you can read between the lines here.
@@mowgli27 Haha - good one. No names, no pack drill. It think you may be right. I had come home from the office early (out near Blacktown so had to run the gauntlet of the Olympics traffic flows while it was on) and walked down to the Fairlight/Manly shore line and couln't believe my eyes - it was quite a sight. At first I thought it was a minor incident and it would pull off quickly but as time went on you could see it was pretty serious. I was always amazed how the ferry never hit the bottom at the wharf as it was very close to shore with little depth it seemed
I was in Kindy at Manly Public School at the time (1983). Our awesome teacher took us for a walk down the the pier to watch the beached Freshwater. We were told it was the first automatic or computerised ferry and that it malfunctioned. What a cool site for a 5 year old!
Thanks for puting the footage up. I am sure most of the people that were around at the time will also appreciate it also. Thanks heaps
Great footage. You gotta love the Manly Ferries!
Turned out to be due to the computers controlling the variable pitch propellers. Simple adjustment and all was good. A Dutch company iirc. God I copped stick at my new project for Honeywell. They'd been originally blamed for the issue in SMH but an apology was issued days later.
I used to work for HON after coming back to the old Dart in 2001 after 15 years on North Shore (happy days) - still calling Australia home ;-)
I was on the Freshwater at the time.......did we give that crew "what for" over that........
Great Footage ! Thanks for posting !
@Jaffa1311 you bet and what days they were. I was born at home in 56 Whistler St, didn't even wait to get to the hospital that's how much I loved Manly
The Poor Ol Gal just wanted a day out at the beach to relax and put her Props up. Is that such a crime?
I remember this. I was on school sports and was windsurfing to the right of it. When it was on full thrust I was sailing against it's wash.
Its great to see this clips nowdays , i have only ever seen a still pictures of this in a book.I wish they never changed there running colours , i think the Blue and white look neater and more cruiser then the current cream and green...yuk.Thanks for sharing this! :)
@5917steam Indeed Ron is however he was skipper on the Queenscliff, I don't recall him being in command of the Freshie?? Could be wrong there. I remember this day well also: it was 1982 at the beginning of her service. I still miss the real ferries however...the Goola, Dee Why, the Styene.
Hi would you mind if I take a still from this video to use on an instagram page to try to save the freshwater class ferries from being scrapped? (with attribution)
Reminds me of when one of the ferries hit the rocks as it approached Manly - around 1999. It was where the white circular apartments are built on the promontory. Cant find any details anywhere so if anyone recalls it would be good to see.
That ferry was the Collaroy. I was working for State Transit at the time, and believe I have photos of it somewhere. In any case, check out the archives for the Manly Daily newspaper.
@@mowgli27 That's great to hear - if you ever find them. would be v interesting to see them as I didnt have any camera at the time. It was quite a scene with it stuck on the rocks directly below that white rotunda apartment block right on the point. I tried to search Manly Daily but nothing came up - will have another look. Thanks PS IIRC the captain had been on the grog and was subsequently arrested...
@@paredding Im also pretty sure it happened post Olympics, It was late summer. Going to suggest maybe 2001 around February. Will have a look for those photos for you, it may take a while. Additionally, although I cant say too much, lets just say, theoretically, and rumours say that no one was on the bridge at the time the auto-helm disengaged for the final dog leg/ manouver into Manly wharf. Perhaps one person was visiting the head, and there was a great card game happening below decks in engineering...and timing was misjudged... If you can read between the lines here.
@@mowgli27 Haha - good one. No names, no pack drill. It think you may be right. I had come home from the office early (out near Blacktown so had to run the gauntlet of the Olympics traffic flows while it was on) and walked down to the Fairlight/Manly shore line and couln't believe my eyes - it was quite a sight. At first I thought it was a minor incident and it would pull off quickly but as time went on you could see it was pretty serious. I was always amazed how the ferry never hit the bottom at the wharf as it was very close to shore with little depth it seemed
@jerrawarail holy shit your camera must of been big and huge and cost a hell of alot of moola in those days lol
Ah.....back in the day when some of the people who actually lived in Manly came from the peninsula.........