Young Endeavour–Currarong

Today the Young Endeavour was anchored in the Bight at Currarong seeking shelter from the large swell pushed by a strong southerly gale.   Currarong offers protection to vessels in this situation.


Currarong township can be seen on the right.




Framed by part of what remains of the wreck of the luxury ship the S.S Merimbula, wrecked on Whale Point in 1928.




Continue reading about the historic shipwreck...S.S.Merimbula.

Continue reading about the Young Endeavour from a previous trip to Jervis Bay including some beautiful night shots of the vessel.

Schooner Platina – a lucky escape.

On this day 30th January 1832.

Like all ships in the coastal trade, the Platina tried to stay as close to the coast as possible, this was done for two main reasons, the first was to locate reference points along her journey, lighthouses, and prominent headlands and features were the only way of knowing exactly where the vessel was positioned.  The second, which is still relevant today,  was to cut costs by shortening the length of the journey, these two factors alone put many ships in danger of disaster,  the Platina was one of the lucky ones, the coast is littered with ships remains and lost souls who weren't so lucky

184 years ago today the Schooner Platina from Hobart Town was sailing north along the coast in the grip of a squall and very hazy weather, she approached the land trying to secure her position, she soon found herself in mortal danger, coming ashore near Jervis Bay.

After frantic work she was eventually refloated suffering damage, she continued her journey north  arriving safely in port where she underwent a survey to ascertain the extent of the damage.

Jervis Bay January 26 2018

A spectacular sunrise greeted anyone who made the effort of getting up early and getting down the bay.

Loss of the Julia Heyne 1865

A small notification burried within the shipping news would often be the only indication of a ships disaster. So many ships foundered it was often only the ones with loss of life which would make the news.

Wednesday 18 May 1865
The 318-ton barque Julia Heyne was on a voyage to Adelaide carrying 519 tons of coal.
During fearful weather the vessel started taking water,   for six days and nights the crew were continually pumping.  By this time they were 15 miles north of Cape St George and were 30 miles from land when the decision was made to leave the ship.  By this time despite continued pumping, there was 8ft 10 inches of water in the hold.  In treacherous conditions, the crew climbed aboard the open life boat., one hour later the Julia Heyne slipped beneath the waves.

Thursday 19th May.
Battling gale force conditions the crew landed at Gerringong in a heavy surf, narrowly escaping with their lives.

Amazingly, the vessel had been in sight of the Kent's Group, ( a grouping of six granite islands located in Bass Strait ) and meeting a continuation of fearful gales, bore up on the 15th in a vain attempt to save the ship from going down.

The Julia Heyne was a well-known coasting vessel, sailing between Newcastle and Adelaide on a regular basis.

Examble of a barque from the time – Winterhud – copyright free.


Barque - a sailing ship, typically with three masts, in which the foremast and mainmast are square-rigged and the mizzenmast is rigged fore and aft.

Lightning storm over Jervis Bay

Photo January 2018 – Rob Slater

Ships in the bay.

Pacific Tug - PT Kythira
17 Jan 2018
Another interesting vessel seeking shelter in the bay today was the Tug PT Kythira. She was towing a large barge and was moored over near the Hole in the Wall.
The Australian tug PT Kythira's was built in 2008. Gross tonnage is 192. Overall length is 26 metres. Breath 8 metres.

Capable of pulling a certified bollard pull of 25 tonnes,  with her two Yanmar engines.
She has an unlimited operational area, and is a very capable coastal and international towing vessel. This vessel high lift rudders make her extremely manoeuvrable and suitable for barge movements in port as a dredging support vessel. She has a transom cutaway stern, towing hook with 20-tonne capacity, a towing winch, capstan, stern roller, anchor handling/tugger winch and accommodation for 10 persons.

Heron Barge.
The barge she was towing belongs to Heron Constructions Co. Ltd.
It is what is called a non-propelled Split Hopper Barge. Length 62m. Breath 12m. Draft loaded 4.25m Draft lightship 1.5m.  Displacement 700 tonnes It's a new barge only recently completed.

18th Jan 2018.
The tug left the bay early this morning and continued her journey north.

Ships in the bay

Pacific Explorer.
17 Jan 2018
This afternoon the new P&O ship Pacific Exporer entered the bay and quickly moored in the same area as the MSC container vessel did a few days earlier. (Refer to the previous blog post).

It made quite a sight as she sailed past Point Perpendicular.  Fortunately I was beside the bay at the time. The excitement being expressed by children near by as this huge white ship sailed into the bay was fantastic to see.

Capacity 1,998 guests, lower berths.  11 guests decks. Length 260m/853ft. Weight 77,441gross tonnage.

Built in Italy, in 1997, for a cost of USD 300 million. Originally known as Dawn Princess she was transferred to Australia P&O in May 2017, she was refitted and renamed the Pacific Explorer.

There was still a large swell rolling across the bay today,  so Im sure the smooth calm waters of Montague Roadstead will be a appreciated by the guests aboard this mighty ship.

Current Position.

Ships in the bay.- MSC Luisa

If you were near the shore of Jervis Bay this morning, the first thing you would see looking across the bay was a very large container ship.  She is currently sheltering in the bay after reportedly loosing some containers overboard while battling the large swell and strong winds which were hitting the south coast.
"MSC LUISA",  belongs to the Mediterranean Shipping Company. Measuring 299.99 meters, by 40 meters in breath, draft 8.2 meters, her gross tonnage is 25590, she was built in 2002 and travels at 14.7 knots.

She is quite a sight and is currently anchored near Honeymoon Bay.

The latest information.
The Marine Parks/National Parks has ordered the ship to leave the bay.  Apparently, she was moored illegally and hadn't sought permission from the relevant authorities to enter the bay.  She has now left the bay and been ordered to stay 3 kilometres off the land.
Marine Authority - The bay and coast is a sensitive marine environment and the impact from such a ship could cause irreparable damage.

More Information regarding the MSC Luisa. 
Jervis Bay is listed on AUS chart 193 as Naval Waters, they must ask permission of the RAN to anchor in JB no pilots required there are designated anchorages both in Montagu Roadstead ( over near long beach) where the white boat was anchored and Darling Road which is over near green patch, the problem with the merchant ship the other day she was in the wrong place.
Information suppied by Paul Newman.
Thanks Paul.

Kingfisher today.

All work on the historic timber vessel "Kingfisher" has stopped at present until more funds are raised .   Until the money becomes available to carry on the restoration, timber braces have been attached to both sides of the hull to stop her hull coming apart as she slowly dries out.

Goonambee trawler – Jervis Bay

March - 1928
The Goonambee was an Australian Trawler based in Sydney and operated along the eastern seaboard.
Built at the State Dockyard at Newcastle in 1919 she was part of an attempt by the NSW Labor Holeman Government to set up a deep sea State Fishery in 1914, by 1920 the venture lost more than it gained and the Fuller Government gave up and sold out.

The fleet of trawlers was sold to private companies with the Goonambee going to Red Funnel Fisheries Pty Ltd.

In large seas in March 1928 the Goonambee  with 13 crew on board was making her way to Sydney with a full load of fish, around 7am while off Jervis Bay, she broke her rudder and began to drift tossing and wallowing in the big seas.

Fortunately another trawler the Bar-ea-mul, of the same company was also making for Sydney and came alongside the drifting Goonambee.

A hawser was made fast and the tow to port commenced. At 8.45 that night the Bar-ea-mul crept through Sydney Heads with the Goonambee slowly dragging behind.


The Goonambee was requisitioned by the RAN on June 28, 1940, she was commissioned HMAS GOONAMBEE on August 9 that year, and attached to Minesweeping Group 74, based in Brisbane.

GOONAMBEE was acquired by the RAN on June 29, 1943, but paid off almost one year later, on June 21, 1944, and was sold back to Cam and Sons on October 4 that year.

She continued in the commercial fishing industry until 1954, when she was eventually laid. She was in Sydney in 1958.

Ref: https://www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5487449519
Ref: *Graeme Andrews’ book The Watermen of Sydney can be had from Boat Books, ABC books and all good book stores.

Old Huskisson

A large and busy timber mill once stood close to the banks of Currambene Creek. Timber was drawn from all over the district and helped service the timber ship building industry.  We often think how quiet the township of Huskisson must have been in the early days,  but,  with a steady flow of ships being built, bullock teams draging tons of timber to the wharf to be loaded onto waiting ships and the mills large saw cutting logs into planks, it seems it might not have been as quiet as you may think.

Summer Thunder Storm

We have entered storm season around the bay, high temperatures during the day usually attract a southerly change towards the afternoon with accompanying thunder and lightning.
Sunday the 7th, just such a situation developed, with a large thunderstorm sweeping across Huskisson towards Currarong. I waited until the storm had cleared from overhead before venturing out to take some pictures.

April 1918.

January 1915

Jervis Bay 2018

There have been some beautiful sunrises over the bay during the end of December 2017 and the beginning of January 2018.