The wondrous Gippsland Lakes and the major rivers that fed them made for the perfect water transport link within Gippsland.
The problem remained, however, as to how to transport cargo and passengers to and from this stunning region. In the early years of settlement, before railways and motorways had been carved through the landscape of swamps and mountains, the water highways were the quickest and most efficient transport routes.
The natural entrance that linked the lakes system to Bass Strait was frightfully variable – moving locations, often consisting of multiply locations, becoming too shallow to traverse, and often closing entirely. However, this did not deter many an enterprising entrepreneur who understood that a direct link to Melbourne and beyond was the key to Gippsland’s success.
The Gippsland Steam Navigation Co. purchased the Schooner ‘Latrobe’ to link the lakes steamer trade to the coastal runs that serviced Melbourne, Tasmania, Sydney, etc. Built and acquired by the company in 1875, little is known of her work until three years later she was to become yet another victim of this treacherous crossing.
The Wreck of the Schooner ‘Latrobe’ c 1878
On the 14th March 1878, the schooner ‘Latrobe’ attempted the crossing from Bass Strait into the Gippsland Lakes. Being solely reliant on the wind in her sails – a sudden drop of wind saw her whisked upon the western spit of the natural Entrance. The surf ensuring she was impossible to release from the sand:
” . . . The Bairnsdale Advertiser of Wednesday says : — The Latrobe has, up to the present time, resisted, all attempts to get her off, although both the Lady of the Lake and the Rosedale have tried their hands at the work. At low water she lies high and dry imbedded in the sand. It is therefore impossible to say to what exact extent she is damaged. Some of her cargo is scattered about on the beach, the major part being brought to Bairnsdale on Friday night by the Lady of the Lake . . . “
Source: Excerpt – Gippsland Times (Vic) – published 29th March 1878
Quite against the regulations of the Gippsland Steam Navigation Co., the captain did not await a pilot, nor a tug, to safely guide his ship through this narrow and shallow channel.
The Schooner ‘Latrobe’ was a complete wreck.
PS ‘Lady of the Lake’ & PS ‘Rosedale’ assisting the wrecked Schooner ‘Latrobe’ at the Gippsland Lakes Natural Entrance c 1878
Helpful Hints:
All Evidence of the wreck and the natural entrance are long gone . . .
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