James Craig - Sydney to Hobart

Officers & crew of James Craig were today granted, in the historic town
of Bicheno, "...the rights of freedom from servitude & the right to enter
and march through the streets on ceremonial occasions, free from lawful
challenge, with swords drawn, ensign flying, banners uncased and bands
playing."
After anchoring in Waub´s Bay at 0818 hrs, most crew members were ferried
ashore by local fishermen to be greeted by the township.  The occasion was
to receive, on behalf of the Australian Merchant Navy, the honour of Freedom
of Entry, and to pay our respects to lost mariners.
Children of Bicheno Primary School, guardians of a new memorial to the
Australian Merchant Navy, greeted the crew, and Captain Kenneth Edwards laid
a wreath of seaweed (the seaman´s wreath of the sea) in memory of the
thousands of merchant seamen who have died in peace and in war.
Captain Edwards then laid a wreath at the grave of a local Aboriginal
heroine, Waubadabar, who assisted local seamen in peril, and died at sea in
1832. Captain Edwards saluted her grave and paused there while the crew and
townsfolk bowed their heads in respect.  Waub´s Bay is named after her.
The crew were later entertained with songs from the town choir, as a strange
sea mist enveloped the bay and hamlet.  The ship, rolling heavily at anchor
and with spanker set to keep her head to wind, disappeared in the mist, and
the picturesque town was shrouded in white.  As quickly as it appeared, the
mist evaporated to reveal a bright and sunny day before James Craig weighed
anchor for New South Wales.