GOODBYE HMAS ADELAIDE.
The decommissioned warship HMAS
Adelaide is set to get a new look, underwater,
having left Sydney’s Glebe Island wharf
yesterday to travel to the NSW Central
Coast to become an artificial reef.
Prior to being put out to pasture
HMAS Adelaide had a 28 year career
with the navy spanning from 1980
through to 2008, and including a tour in
the first Gulf War.
She was guided out of Sydney Harbour
on her last journey yesterday by three tug
boats, and is due to be sunk off the NSW
Central Coast’s Avoca Beach tomorrow.
Her sinking has however not been
wholly met with joy, with members of the
local community concerned about the
effect her lead-based paint will have on
marine life, as well as the impact her
explosive sinking will have on nearby
humpback whales.
“We understand it’s a breach of the
law for the State Government to scuttle
the vessel with explosives with humpbacks
in the area,” said No Ship Action Group
spokeswoman Michelle Meares.
Whilst the action group were granted
an injunction against the scuttling in
2010, it seems unlikely the action will be
repeated with the NSW State Ombudsman,
saying he would not intervene.
Adelaide will be sunk via a series of
explosions, and will sink around 30m to
the ocean floor in an upright position.
DREAMS DO COME TRUE.
An 85-year old English man, Anthony
Smith, has recently completed his life
long dream of travelling across the
Atlantic on a raft made up of pipes.
The 66-day journey saw Smith sail
from the Canary Islands to the
Caribbean, accompanied by a crew he
recruited via a newspaper ad.
Smith told newspapers that he wanted
to make the trip to prove that older
people were able to still undertake
adventures.
“How many people do you know who
have rafted across the Atlantic?,” he said.
“The word mutiny was only spoken
about two or three times a day,” he
jokingly added.
