| Port
Victoria |
| This
is the last of the windjammer ports. A jetty was built here in 1878 and
with it came a thriving grain trade that kept the port busy until after
World War II. Ketches and deep sea sailing ships called here during the
harvest to take on the hundreds of thousands of bags of barley and wheat
destined for European ports. |
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| The
windjammers generally rode at anchor in the lee of Wardang Island and
small coastal ketches ferried the grain out to them. Often it took four or
five weeks, sometimes as long as eight weeks, to load the big ships for
their long journey. The larger ones carried as many as 60,000 bags of
grain. The last square rigger to use the port
was the Passat in 1949.
Attractions |
- PORT
VICTORIA MARITIME MUSEUM The
maritime museum collection consists of many photographs of square
rigger and other sailing ships that once called at this port, and
includes relics recovered from the numerous shipwrecks that dot the
coast.
- WARDANG
ISLAND Wardang Island lies about eight kilometres off Port
Victoria. Around it is a veritable graveyard of ships, with at least
thirteen known wrecks in the area; eight have been located. You can
now visit some on the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail, an
underwater trail along which plaques have been installed at the site
of wrecks. A waterproof booklet is available from local shops and
museums.
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