Shipwrecks Along the Great Ocean Road

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Although many fine ships were lost along Victoria's western coastline soon after the Hentys settled at Portland in 1834, evidence suggests a number of unidentified wrecks many years earlier.

The most fascinating wreck, the "MAHOGANY SHIP" is supposed to still lie hidden under sand between Port Fairy and Warrnambool, but further to the east heavy seas along the wild precipitous coastline soon destroyed the remains of other early disasters.

Last century settlers made some interesting discoveries. In the forties, a farmer sinking a well near Portland discovered a bunch of keys many feet underground and far from any habitation. A similar discovery was made at Limeburners' Point near Geelong, while an oar was unearthed near Point Lonsdale in 1851. Remains of cannon were also found near Warrnambool and a ship's boat of unknown origin lay in the sand at Skenes Creek for many years. All of these relics have long been decayed or lost.

Settlement at Portland, Port Fairy and Warrnambool stimulated sea trade with ports in northern Tasmania and later Port Phillip, and this brought a big increase in wrecks along a coast lacking safe anchorages in all weathers. Usually, small craft obtained some shelter west of Cape Otway when the easterlies struck, while Apollo and Loutit Bays provided reasonable protection from the south-westerly gales.

The discovery of gold soon brought the big clippers to Melbourne, their first Australian landfall after leaving Cape Town invariably being Cape Otway at the western entrance to Bass Strait. King Island divides this entrance into two channels. The southern channel, littered with reefs, forced mariners to choose the northern passage less than 50 miles in width. As there were no lights on King Island until 1861, ships hugged the Victorian coast anxiously seeking the Otway light, which had been completed in 1848.

The standard of navigation on most sailing ships was usually very poor and many ships approaching Melbourne from the west were often more than 50 miles away from their calculated position. Also, in bad weather, rain, fog or calm, the crews often had little or no control over their ships. Now, modern navigational aids and reliable propulsion have effectively removed most hazards.