A precarious adventure - 1864

During the early settlement of the east coast travel by ship was the most efficient and economical  way for goods and people to travel long distances between coastal towns and cities, the onset of winter with it's accompanying turbulent weather must have caused much anxiety for ship owners, captains, crews and travelers.

The onset of winter and the infamous east coast low pressure systems which are prevalent between the months of May to October could cause havoc right along the east coast,  any ship unlucky enough to be caught in one of these storm systems could count themselves very lucky if they reached port safely.

Newspapers from the time had regular columns covering the movements of vessels along our coast  lighthouse observations were reported by telegraph.  Vessels on reaching their destination would report on the ships they observed during the voyage,  these reports would be sent to the newspapers and appear under the heading of "Shipping Intelligence."  .  Before radio communication, this was the only way ship owners and relatives could find out where a vessel was at any particular time.  Of course, the information could be days old before it was passed on.

One of the regular features which appear in newspapers of the time came under the heading of "Wrecks on the Coast". These columns were a list of ships that were lost during violent storms.  Details were often no more than the name of the vessel lost, other times the information was quite comprehensive, with accounts from survivors and witnesses.

The most striking thing in these reports is the number of vessels and lives which were lost, the impact of a storm could stretch over a wide area,  sometimes hundreds of miles of coastline would be subjected to gale force winds and high seas,  catching many ships in its torturous grip.

In June 1864 the Shoalhaven was hit with heavy gales, and over the course of a few days, many vessels battled for survival. During the storm, four vessels came to grief on the south coast.

The schooner Emma was driven ashore by her captain to save his passengers from certain death on an un-named Shoalhaven beach. Her crew landed safely and her cargo recovered.

The Barque Pacific went ashore at Crookhaven Heads.  A sailor named James Grant drowned attempting to get ashore.

The ketch Sarah was driven ashore on the North Head of the Shoalhaven after suffering badly, waves broke clean over the vessel washing the man at the tiller overboard.

The schooner Ewald was driven ashore on a beach inside Brush Island south of Ulladulla.

All the vessels were a complete loss, portions of the cargo were saved, some of the vessels had their fittings stripped, three of the four vessels were uninsured.

Travelling by sea could certainly be a precarious adventure.