The wreck of the Costa Del Fuego

In March last year, during a family ride along the Barwon through Geelong, we came across a vessel with the impressive name of the Costa Del Fuego. Contrary to what you might imagine, this was not an impressive motor launch or even a relic of the Barwon's 19th century past. It was in fact, a traditional Aussie raft, constructed from wooden pallets lashed to 44-gallon drums.



The Costa Del Fuego, March, 2012

Of course, I blogged about the Costa Del Fuego at the time, but over the intervening months continued to keep an eye on it. I soon discovered that it was moored on the east bank of the river, just below the Queen's Park Bridge, where it remained - with it's canopy lowered - for some weeks.

Moored at Queen's Park, May, 2012

I noticed eventually however, that the raft was no longer at its mooring. Nor did I ever see it in use again. Following minor flooding events first in May and then in August, I was out walking with the kids in early October, when I once again spotted the Costa Del, wedged amongst the willows just below the breakwater.


Under the willows at Breakwater

It was a little the worse for wear and certainly did not appear to have seen recent use. I could not tell whether it had wound up here, swept down by the earlier flood waters or whether it had been moved to this location (although I suspect the water may not have been deep enough to carry it over the break). Regardless, there it was and for some time, there it stayed.
Once again, I did not notice exactly when it disappeared, but when we took to the water at Breakwater for our first excursion downriver in the kayaks, it was not long before we came across some familiar remains.

The skeleton of the Costa Del Fuego and a White-faced Heron

Sadly, it bore only a passing resemblance to the proud vessel it had once been, with the three remaining drums held together by a few bent spars and pieces of the pallets strewn on the bank. The whole was overseen by a White-faced Heron which was standing guard atop one of the drums.
As of late January and my most recent foray down from the break, the skeletal remains were still languishing on the bank.
Fortunately for the cause of youthful initiative, the Costa Del Fuego is not the only example of its kind which I have seen in recent times. On 19th January as we paddled up from Baum's Weir to Merrawarp Road and back, I came across another raft. It also was a timber structure kept afloat by 44-gallon drums. Unfortunately for me, distance and a reasonable breeze made focusing difficult so, the shot is not the best, however I was able to capture a couple of images of the unknown craft.

Raft downstream of Merrawarp Road

Finally, in the interests of furthering the cause of the humble 44-gallon drum as it relates to Australian culture and technology, I offer the following example, seen on farmland above the lower breakwater:

The versatility of the 44-gallon drum

"It's lovely to live on a raft"

Over the recent long weekend, we dragged out the bikes and went for a quiet ride along the river. As usual, I had the camera in hand and was looking for suitable material. For the first few kilometres nothing interesting presented itself, however as we approached Queen's Park, for a moment I found myself wondering which river we were riding along and indeed in which century.
There, being propelled downstream by two young guys in true Huckleberry Finn-Tom Sawyer style was a raft. Upon closer inspection, the pair were older than Mark Twain's heroes and there had been certain concessions to modern technology, but it was still a bona fide homemade raft.

Raft on the Barwon River at Queen's Park

The 19th century logs of Huck's craft had been replaced by modern industrial pallets and in time-honoured Australian fashion, buoyancy was provided by four 44-gallon drums lashed to the pallets with synthetic twine. In case there was any doubt as to the nationality of this proud vessel, a small Australian flag could be seen fluttering of the starboard bow. In keeping with various pictorial representations on the cover of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this raft had a tented structure composed of poles and black plastic held up by guy ropes.

Rafting on the Barwon River

But here perhaps, the similarities end. The Barwon through Geelong could hardly be mistaken for the majestic Mississippi River which flows for over 4000km and includes in its catchment some 32 US states. By comparison, the Barwon's 160km length seems somewhat insignificant. At some points, the Mississippi is up to a mile in width - a boast which can certainly not be made about any part of our river.
Nor is or was the Barwon a source of transport and livelihood for the region in the way which the Mississippi was in the glory days of steamboat transport. The weirs and breakwaters which span the river between Geelong and Barwon Heads mean that a continuous journey by boat is impossible even if water levels were sufficient to allow passage.
So much for visions of hair-raising escapes and feats of derring-do. The Barwon just isn't that kind of river!

But for now, back to my mystery rafters. They were progressing along the river by way of a pair of plastic paddles - once again not exactly standard 19th century issue - and somewhat curiously had a soccer ball on board with them. Whilst the raft was of comfortable proportions, it was not exactly suitable for a game of kick-to-kick so I can only assume that they had a destination in mind which would enable such activity.
I was also curious as to the significance of the writing on the "tent" part of the raft. Suspecting that it was not related to issues of 19th century racism in the US, I asked my friend Google for an explanation. It soon informed me that Costa Del Fuego translated literally meant "fire coast", but it also told me that Costa Del Fuego was the name of a heavy metal music festival held in Benincassim, Valencia in Spain. It appears these rafters were also into loud music.