Glebe Society member and Heritage Fleet volunteer and tour leader Alex Byrne in the Sydney Heritage Fleet workshop demonstrating a very interesting … wooden thing (photo: VSY)
By Helena Klijn, July 2026
Attendees of our guided visit on Sunday 21 June to the Sydney Heritage Fleet workshop at White Bay struck it triply lucky, enjoying not only a highly informative tour of the workshop and floating fleet, but also a sunny respite from the Sydney winter chill. And thirdly lucky because the walk was oversubscribed and not everyone could be accommodated.
The Glebe Society has been able to donate $650 to the Heritage Fleet, assisting in their mission to ‘keep the fleet afloat’.
We are especially indebted to Alex Byrne for not only coordinating and guiding the visit, but also giving us an excellent history of the fleet and related industries along the foreshore of White Bay. Matt Wright and Jon Simpson also generously shared their expertise, as did fellow volunteers Kathy Reid and Rosie Simpson. Our warmest thanks to them all.
The images below are mostly of the current main SHF project, the restoration of the Sydney ferry Kanangra.
The Kanangra, high and dry, while being painstakingly repaired and restored by an army of Sydney Heritage Fleel volunteers (photo: Helena Klijn)
The Kanangra needs a bit of work (photo: VSY)
Kanangra’s interior under restoration (photo: Helena Klijn)
Fleet guide, John Simpson considering whether a sea shanty would be appropriate at this time (Photo: Helen Klijn)
Where the deck is being painstakingly replaced (photo: VSY)
Moments before the precarious laddered descent into the Kanangra’s engine room (photo: VSY)
Experiencing Kanangra’s cramped and rather smelly engine room (photo: VSY)
Possibly hearing about the fact that no two of Kanangra’s windows are the same (photo: VSY)
The part of the Kanangra where volunteers have lunch and can view various images of the Kanangra in its heyday; ie, when it plied the waters of Sydney Harbour (photo: VSY)
Looking from inside the workshop towards the Kanangra (photo: VSY)
View from Kanangra: a riot of colour, wood and metal (photo: VSY)
Turn 180 degrees and its a very different story (photo: VSY)
The Sydney Heritage Fleet’s context: a working harbour (photo: VSY)
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