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NAVIGATION
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HMS "INVESTIGATOR" IN PORT LINCOLN
THE WOOD AND WATER PARTY
During his circumnavigation of Australia (1801-1803) Lieutenant Mathew Flinders found himself running short of water whilst charting the arid southern coast of the continent. He entered the then unknown Port Lincoln in search of this necessary commodity.
Our painting depicts the HMS Investigator moored near the head of Port Lincoln (near present-day Tulka). She is drying her foretopsail and loading water casks with her stay tackle. The casks have been towed from the beach in rafts by the whaleboat alongside. Ashore we see two seamen using a crosscut saw to cut firewood for the ship's stove. The cooper is on the beach nearby assembling and checking casks prior to filling at the wells which have been dug about 100 metres behind the beach. The billy boils on the fire outside one of the two tents set up on shore while two other men carry in timber to be cut into firewood.
Flinders found many signs of the local aborigines, but to his disappointment they remained hidden during his stay. This no doubt accounts for the marine guard lounging against the longboat. Although Flinders did not meet with the aborigines he left some gifts of axes wedged into the tree stumps near the wells. During their stay from the 26th February to 4th March 1802 they loaded some 40 tuns of water (a tun is equivalent to 2 butts or 252 gallons) and a large quantity of wood. The port was surveyed and charted.
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"GOOD INTENT" at DAWN
The Tasmanian Ketch Good Intent, shown here silhouetted against the dawn light, was built in 1876 for Thomas Nichols who traded mainly between Port Cygnet and Hobart, Tasmania. She was built by John Wilson at the Martins Point Yard, Cygnet and was 54-feet long, 17-feet 9-inches beam, 5-feet depth, and had a tonnage of 35 tons.
She was carvel built, had an elliptical stern and a scroll figurehead. During her life she successfully competed in a number of Hobart regattas, was lengthened to 62-feet 4-inches, was sunk in a collision, raised and repaired. Her demise came when she was blown ashore whilst sheltering in Surprise Bay, south of King Island in May 1928 where she became a total loss.
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"SOLWAY LASS" off BRADLEYS HEAD
The topsail schooner Solway Lass came to Sydney Harbour in 1983 as the battered and rusty diesel powered island trader Tui Nasavasavu. The snub bowsprit, counter stern and pleasant sheerline were the only indication of what she may become. Built in Holland in 1902, her riveted "Lowmore" iron hull had lasted well. In her lifetime she has had many owners from many countries. She survived two world wars, being captured in one and torpedoed in the other, and has carried the names of Stiena, Adolf, Solway Lass, The Brent, Sundeved, Tui Nasavusavu and finally Solway Lass again.
Under the ownership of Tim Lloyd and the direction of shipwright Alan Williams she was rebult during 1984/1985 at Berrys Bay in Sydney. Eighty percent of the framing and shellplating were replaced. The engine was reconditioned. New Masts and rigging were fitted. She was re-launched and re-named on 19th May 1985. She has now changed hands and is working in the Whitsunday area.
The artist watched her re-birth with interest and was responsible for rebuilding her engine.
May she last another one hundred years! | |
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AKARANA
Built in 1888 Akarana is a rare example of that period's narrow, deeply ballasted racing yachts. She was built in Auckland, New Zealand by Robert Logan to compete in the 1888 and 1889 Australian Centennial Regattas in Sydney and Melbourne. In 1988 the New Zealand government presented the re-built Akarana to the Australian National Maritime Museum as a Bicentennial gift. Returned to her 19th century specifications she can now be seen at the Museum in Darling Harbour. | |
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