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Barge Time
Once every 3 -4 months a supply barge is chartered to make the trip out to Lady Elliot island bringing all those supplies unable to make the trip by aeroplane.
The ship which makes this trip is the Curtis Endeavour, a barge based at Gladstone and used regularly to service the southern islands and coral cays of the Great Barrier Reef, particularly North West Island.
The Curtis Endeavour is capable of carrying up to 150 tonnes of cargo and needs a minimum 3.9 metre tide to make the beach of Lady Elliot. This limits the number of days every month which the barge can physically make it ashore.
The 2nd of February gave us a 4.2 metre tide giving a time window of around three hours to get the ship unloaded and reloaded. Amazingly the ship runs with only a crew of 2, while ashore the ship is held steady by its GPS and auto pilot.
Strong winds and rocky seas during the 15 hour overnight journey from Gladstone harbour were a challenge for the crew, but easterly winds made the 6am landing on Lady Elliot's calm western beach uneventful.
Some of the cargo brought over on this trip included building materials for the ongoing renovations to the islands resorts facilities, pavers which will be used on the resorts breezeway entrance, golf buggies, pallet loads of stock, gas and around 45,000 litres of diesel used to run the resorts power and desalination plants.
On the return journey, the barge carried the many tonnes of rubbish, waste and recycling which had been collected since the last barge.
Overseeing the landing, resort manager Wayne Fox and Managing Director Peter Gash reckoned it to be one of the smoothest ever despite changeable weather. As Gash admitted, coordinating the supply barges highlight the challenges of running a business 80klm offshore, deciding what is most needed by the resort and organising its transport over can prove difficult.
So its back to relying on aeroplanes for the next few months to transport the fresh food for many thousands of meals, tonnes of laundry and the endless list of supply"s taken for granted on the mainland.
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