MV Freshwater's 2015 Garden Island Dry Docking in Pictures (Part 3 of 3)

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Nearly all together. Which piece is missing?

Our time in the dock is nearly done.

The Freshwater's last day at Garden Island is going to be a long one. We are committed to a midday departure the following day.
Getting us out means getting everything else out too, before the dockmaster can let Sydney Harbour back in.

Before we can operate any of our own machinery on board, engineers and electricians must agree exactly where and when to break the padlocks on our own circuit boards to safely get onboard power flowing again.

Craning on enough lube oil to reload the huge reservoirs in our hydraulic steering and propellor pitch systems.

Fitters and boilermakers spend the waning hours of the day down in the dock buttoning up and testing the rudder seals and propellor hubs. Lots of overtime in the dock tonight as small hiccups turn the long day into a much longer one.

As the sun sets on Freshwater's last day in the dock, the mooring lines are already streamed out from our bow and stern over to the dockside, where tomorrow they will be used to steady us and keep us centred in the dock as we start to refloat.

The tests take us well into the night. The dock is now completely free of machinery and tools, ready for the flood. Brand new paint, all over the hull and superstructure, will begin to age as soon as we refloat.

Testing completed just before midnight. Engineers and fitters are all satisfied and the deal is, for the most part, done. Freshwater sits on the blocks, ready to refloat, but nowhere near being ready to return to service. Now we'll be towed back to our own fleet base to carry out about another six weeks of internal works.

Today, Freshwater will return to our fleet base in Balmain. No sooner has the Garden Island Shipyard clocked on than the lower dock area is secured, the gates are opened and Woolloomooloo Bay starts flooding in.

As the water rises, Freshwater is held to the dock centre by the dock's own lines, which are drawn in or paid out as necessary to ensure the boat comes off the blocks evenly and remains centred and stability is established.

When the water level is high enough to enter all of Freshwater's seawater intakes, the dockmaster stops the inflow of water.
Freshwater's engineer then does a careful walk around inspection of all intake ports for watertightness. At this stage, the dockmaster is on standby to quickly start draining the dock should any leaks be found. No news is good news, and the flooding resumes.

Once the Freshwater is officially off the keel blocks, the huge steel gangway is craned away from the upper deck. The dock's linesmen will continue to hold Freshwater to centre until the dock is full, at which point she will be drawn over to the dockside and placed on her own six mooring lines until the tugs arrive.

The dock is full and Freshwater lays alongside. Once the gate is opened, the major docking will be over and we will return to our base in Balmain for another six weeks to carry out internal works.

Life goes on. Once we depart, the dock gate is shut again and the dock is pumped down to allow for final placement of keel blocks for the next vessel to be docked.