Ship of volunteers:
Restoring the lighthouse supply ship MV Cape Don
By Rebecka Delforce
"Even
if you don't have any skills at all, you can help us restore this
ship," laughed George Bate, official committee member and unofficial
volunteer manager with the MV Cape Don Society. George should know because
for two years he's been volunteering by helping to restore the
MV Cape Don (a lighthouse supply ship that was used to build and maintain
lighthouses along the Western Australian coastline during the 1960s).
"In 2004, I read an article in Australian Geographic about how Aussie volunteers were aiming to restore the Cape Don to her former glory, hopefully by 2007, so that she could deliver aid to developing communities. I thought that sounded really interesting and, as soon as I could, I arranged to meet the Cape Don crew at the coal loader at Balls Head Reserve, Waverton, Sydney, where the Don has been docked for the last nine years."
George was hooked when he saw the Cape Don for the first time but, like many of the volunteers recruited today, George didn't have any technical skills to offer. "It didn't matter. It still doesn't," he beamed. "There's always plenty to help out with. You could chip rust, you could make lunch for the other volunteers or you could help dismantle machinery. We could teach you to paint or to clean – yes, with a scrubbing brush and Ajax! Actually, I've spent a lot of weekends painting her!"
The Cape Don Society has members all over Australia. To volunteer, you must become
a member for $20 and this small amount goes towards the restoration. Then you
need to call or email and arrange to take part in one of the Society's regular
working weekends held every fortnight from Friday midday to Sunday evening.
Of course, the volunteer crew also has its share of professional tradesmen. "We have electricians to restore and maintain the lighting and radio equipment, engineers to repair leaks in the engine room and carpenters to refurbish the interior. Actually, right now we're really keen to find some volunteer plumbers," explained George. "We need to replace some pipes that are leaking. That's our next job."
A never-ending to-do list? "Yes, but I like to dream about the day she's ready to set sail," said George. "We've a system whereby we'll be logging our volunteer hours to create our sea hours. We're not sure how we're going to work this out yet, but when we set sail, we'll need crew members and some of the crew members will be the volunteers who've logged the most hours. We're still a couple of years away from that, but look how far we've come."
Indeed, while the MV Cape Don was built alongside her two sister ships at the Newcastle State Dockyards in 1963, she's now the only one remaining. ("Sadly, her sisters are scrap metal", said George.) As a purpose-built lighthouse supply ship, the MV Cape Don was constructed not only to be used in building and supplying lighthouses, but also to ferry lighthouse keepers and their families. Thus, she was built as a mini-liner, complete with lavish accommodation that was deemed suitable for the officials, technicians and relief lighthouse crews she carried up and down the coast. She has 51 cabins and a shop on board.
Retired in the 1980s, when Australian lighthouses became automated, the Cape
Don was used as a prop in the 1996 cop thriller film Dog Watch, before being
refurbished as a small cruise ship. Unfortunately, before she had the chance
to ferry tourists around the Mediterranean, the company that owned her went
into liquidation due to the worldwide slump in ocean liner cruising, and couldn't
afford the dock berthing fees at Waverton. Then in 1999, she was put up for
tender to the public. The original founders of the MV Cape Don Society—a group
of ship enthusiasts based in Canberra—eventually raised the capital required
to purchase her. In 2003, the sale was completed and finally the renovations
began.
"I hadn't yet joined," said George. "But I've heard the stories … she'd had some squatters living in her for a few years. They'd graffitied her a little, but the worst thing was the cabins. They just filled cabin after cabin to the brim with rubbish. They'd fill one cabin, close the door and start on the next … Yes, we've come a long way!"
That said, it's not yet time to start reminiscing – the volunteers might have come a long way in refurbishing The Don, but they still have a fair way to go before she is seaworthy and ready to bring alms and assistance to developing countries. "And there's only one way to get that happening," said George, "and that's to get as many volunteers as possible on board – literally!"
More information
Find out more about the MV Cape Don Society
To volunteer, visit The Centre for Volunteering
The Centre
for Volunteering [ABN 28 002 416 024]
Level 2, 228 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000
T: 02 9261 3600 | F: 02 9261 4033 | E: info@volunteering.com.au
www.volunteering.com.au