5 Short Blasts

For many of us the pre-9am period is a netherworld, rarely visited.

Yet on the water, marine life wakes early. "The wind drops at dawn, and sound travels better. It's a beautiful time to be out," says Madeleine Flynn, artist and occasional boat co-skipper.

Flynn works with Tim Humphrey to create sound art projects and in 5 Short Blasts their new soundtrack accompanies those using the watery ways of the Port of Melbourne. Having "orchestrated" weather, vessels and industry sounds, they're about to invite passengers onto a little flotilla of electric boats.

From this week, the boats will depart from two points in Docklands, at 6am on Fridays - for adventurous travellers on the way to work - and later for sleepy weekend voyagers.

The two created the nautical encounters as a means of reconnecting people to Melbourne's often maligned waterfront. While they're artists first and foremost, they admit they're now immersed in the bustle of maritime life.

"We totally love it down here now, and defend it if anyone disses the Docklands," says Flynn. "Also, the water is really easy to get on to. You can join the Docklands Yacht Club for 20 bucks a year!"

Such was their commitment the two went to "boat school" to get a marine radio licence. "Entering into port waters and taking people with us, we had to be in a powered vessel", says Flynn.

They opted for battery-powered boats, to avoid the noise and smell of petrol or diesel. Their skill at salty sea talk extends to the event's title - vessels use five short blasts (of a horn or whistle) to advise others: "I am not sure of your intentions and am concerned we are going to collide." It struck the team as a perfect metaphor for life and for art.

5 Short Blasts is partly choreographed, partly spontaneous. Passengers will hear recorded stories from those working on the water or living on boats. The artists went up cranes and into container ships, and interviewed Australia's first female wharfie, sailors, rowers, boat builders and motor mechanics. Their stories are interspersed with the melodic electro-acoustic music in each boat. Unexpected noise is very welcome too, and regular Docklands groups have been invited to time their activities with the event.

Hand on the tiller, Humphrey emphasises the importance of the "sound esky" in each boat. "On the water radio is a central sound structure for all the operations and recreational activities."

The sound installation will also be broadcast on 89.5FM from the Old Harbour Master Tower on the North Wharf. Anyone in a 30 kilometre radius can listen in.

For urban types, it's startling to see divers emerge from the mucky depths of a city waterway. "They're called wharf carpenters", Flynn explains. "They have underwater chainsaws, and it's a continuous process of maintenance."

If you're not working and submerged, there are few better places to be than on a boat when the sun cracks open the morning cloud. "It means something for Australians to make a work of art in a boat," says Flynn. "The relationship between the first Australians and everyone who came afterwards is all about boats."