‘Gleaner’, 1900

The ‘Gleaner’ was a 27-metre, 115-ton top sail schooner built in Hobart in 1870. She was owned by Francis Guy and Henry Field principally to transport timber from Guy’s timber mill in Bawley Point. On 17th May 1900, she was blown ashore whilst moored at Bawley Point when the ropes holding her broke. Evidence by her captain at a Maritime Board of Enquiry provide details of her loss:

‘On Wednesday 16th May last about 3 p. m., the schooner Gleaner, 115 tons, arrived at Bawley Point near Ulladulla, for the purpose of loading timber at the sawmill there, and made fast to the permanent mooring with 30 fathoms (about 55 metres) of a 10½ in. hawser out from the windlass to facilitate the moorings of the vessel. The weather was then dull, and the sea smooth; and the wind a light easterly; but about 7 o'clock the same evening the wind hauled off the land, and occasional showers of rain fell. The schooner had been moored as securely as possible, and, after seeing all was snug, the master turned in, but about 9.30pm he went on deck again, and found that the wind had freshened considerably, and the sea was rising. At 3 o'clock on the following morning, finding that the wind and sea had greatly increased, the master had the boats hoisted higher on the davits, put extra ropes over the tarpaulins, and battened the hatches well down. He also warned the crew to prepare to go ashore at daybreak. At daylight there was a strong E.N.E. wind blowing and the sea had risen to such a dangerous height that the crew had to watch their opportunity to lower the boat. This, however, was eventually accomplished and the master and crew went ashore. The sea was then running very high and the schooner was labouring heavily. At two o’clock in the afternoon the largest hawser parted, and two from the starboard bow went directly afterwards, and eight or ten minutes after the bow line had been carried away from the buoy, the Gleaner dragged her anchor and drifted ashore, and quickly went to pieces. During the morning the crew with some assistance from the sawmill hands managed to get off to the vessel and save their effects, but about seven tons of chaff and maize were lost. Bawley Point was fully exposed to a blow from N.N.E., but Captain Gettings had traded there for about five years without an accident until the Gleaner was lost.’

(In 1897 the ‘Bonnie Dundee’, also owned by Francis Guy and Henry Field and also captained by Charles Lloyd Gettings/Gettins/Gittins, was also blown ashore at Bawley Point. For details see ‘Bonnie Dundee’.)