Jim Lad

Hello Andrea, and a warm welcome back to MSW! John

The Ships The lovely iron barque 'Ethel' was built in Sunderland in 1876 as the 'Carmelo'. In 1891 she was sold to Australian owners who renamed her 'Ethel' and traded successfully until January 1904, when she was driven ashore on a small and remote beach on the southern Yorke Peninsula of South Australia in a severe storm. One young crew member was drowned trying to swim a line ashore but the remainder of the crew were later rescued. The 'Ethel' berthed in Hobart The first vessel on the scene of the wreck was the Adelaide Steamship Company's S.S. 'Ferret', which was built at Glasgow in 1871 and later stolen by confidence tricksters and steamed to Australia. The plot unravelled in Melbourne when a port official became suspicious of the ship’s true identity and the ship was seized and later sold to the Adelaide Company. 'Ferret' was unable to assist the 'Ethel' due to the severe weather at the time, but reported the loss and was later able to assist in the rescue of the crew. In a bizarre coincidence, the ‘Ferret’ was caught in a sudden dense fog off the southern Yorke Peninsula in November 1920 and ran aground on the very same beach that had claimed the ‘Ethel’. The ‘Ferret’s’ Master was censured by the Board of Inquiry for ‘not exercising due care’. The 'Ferret' in Port Adelaide The Wrecks The ‘Ethel’ was thrown high onto the beach above the high water mark by the storm that wrecked her, where she remained with her hull more or less intact until 1986, when another severe storm broke the weakened hull up. The ‘Ferret’ was not as fortunate as she was wrecked in the surf line and quickly broke up. Much of the cargo from both vessels was able to be salvaged at the times of the wrecks, apart from several barrels of beer from the ‘Ferret’s’ cargo which was washed up onto the beach and went ‘missing’! The 'Ethel' and the 'Ferret' on Ethel Beach shortly after the 'Ferret's' stranding Today The remains of the ‘Ethel’ are still easily visible high up on the beach today and are very easily recognised as a shipwreck, in spite of the work done by the 1986 storm. As the ‘Ferret’ broke up in the surf there is very little to see of her now. Sometimes the sand will wash away from a part of the wreck as it had on the day of our visit a few weeks ago, leaving the end plate of the boiler just protruding from the sand – the rest of the boiler is buried under the beach along with the remainder of the wreck. The Remains of the 'Ether' today Faceplate of the 'Ferret's' boiler just protruding above the sand

Hello Kortes, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Looking good, mate! John

Hello David, and a warm welcome to MSW from 'Down Under'. John

Don't lend this one to anyone, Michael! John

You've made excellent progress while I've been away, Dan. Well done, mate! John

Hello Mark, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Hello Steve, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Hello, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

The planking's coming along very nicely, mate! John

Hello Rob, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Taken on our recent trip to South Australia, these are the sad remains of the paddle steamer 'Wagga Wagga' near the bank of the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera in New South Wales. Not much is known about the early history of this steamer. She was a typical Murray/Darling cargo steamer, built about 1884 and used for towing barges of timber, wool and produce, mainly on the Murrumbidgee River. She was finally abandoned when she sprung a leak and sank at Narrandera in November 1918. This is one of the few photos of the 'Wagga Wagga' when she was in service. John

Hello Iliya, and a warm welcome to the forum. John

Hello, Robbert, and welcome to the forum! John

Progress progresses! John

Catching up again, mate. She really looks the ants pants! John

Wish I could get to Canada to see her 'in the flesh'! John

Looks like another fascinating project, Danny. John

Hello Dan, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Hello Jim, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Just catching up after a long break from your thread. You've done a marvellous job on those paddle wheels. If I ever get around to building a Murray River steamer (mostly side-wheelers) I'll know just where to come! John

Well, I suppose it looks fairly reasonable, Michael. 😁 John

Hello Aaron, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Absolutely first class, Toni! Congratulations on a job very well done indeed! John