A few days later on Monday 2-February-1857 another China ship the ‘Phaeton’ sailed into Guichen Bay. It was a beautiful morning with a light breeze blowing from the land.
Captain Morrison was in command of this splendid British ship of 1,000 tons. He refused the offer of the Pilot service and sailed up the Bay in grand style. However, he waited too long to turn his ship around.
As Harry watched the ‘Phaeton’ ran aground on a sand bank. It was stuck firm. Efforts by the crew to use its lifeboats to row the ship off the sand bank were futile. Harry was angry that the Captain of the Phaeton had refused his offer of the pilot service. Now the ship was stuck on a sand bank off Long Beach in Guichen Bay.
Harry boarded the Sea Spray to reach the Phaeton. He and Captain Stradwick, the Pilot boat Captain, boarded the Phaeton. Captain Morrison met them.
“Captain Morrison of the Phaeton, at your service sir.”
Harry spoke, “Well Captain Morrison you have gotten yourself in a real pickle by refusing our pilot service. Instead of heaving to in a safe anchorage you are now stuck on this sand bank.”
Captain Stradwick spoke, “Captain we need to get you, your crew and passengers off this ship. If the weather turns foul the results will be even more disastrous.”
Harry spoke, “Captain Morrison how many Chinese are on board?”
“There are 250 Chinese and a crew of 20. Plus, the holds are fully laden with cargo.”
“I will leave Captain Stradwick aboard as he has a very good knowledge of the Bay. Hopefully the ship will refloat at high tide. Meanwhile I will make arrangements to take your passengers ashore. Local boat men will ferry them and their belongings for a fee. The Chinese will have to pay what they ask; as it will be a private matter between them and the boat men.”
Harry boarded the Sea Spray and returned to the jetties. He went to see George Ormiston for assistance. “George, this ship is well and truly stuck on the sand bank. I don’t know if we can refloat it as it is fully laden with cargo. I will need your assistance to take the cargo off; after the Chinese have been ferried ashore.”
“Harry you know you can count on me for help at any time.”
“Thank you George; now we need to rally the locals again to bring the Chinese to shore. There are 250 of them. We’ll ferry them straight on to Long Beach. The Chinese will have to carry their belongings to Robe Town.”
The two men rounded up the local boat men who were milling around and filled them in on what was happening. Soon a small flotilla of craft was on its way to The Phaeton. The ferrying operations commenced. Harry went up to Robe House to report to Captain Blakely.
“Well Harry, what do you make of the situation?”
“Captain Blakely, I am concerned that we won’t be able to refloat the Phaeton. If it doesn’t come off the sand bank at high tide it will become a salvage operation. There are 250 Chinese and a crew of 20 on board.”
“This is not good news. Let us hope and pray the ship will refloat. In the meantime those Chinese are our number one priority. Thankfully, the weather is good at present. I will let you get back to the rescue. Keep me up to date if the situation deteriorates.”
“Yes Sir, I will have one of my men on standby.”
Harry returned to the Sea Spray. The Phaeton needed to offload its cargo if it was to have any likelihood of refloating.
Captain Woodbine and Trooper Smith had moved down to Long Beach to keep order. The police were getting a bit tired of the situation. Their normal policing duties were falling behind. They were constantly tied up with the Chinese problem. Troopers Pickering and Adcock were keeping an eye on the Chinese camp. They patrolled the camp on alternate four hour shifts Thankfully, the Chinese respected law and order. The sight of a mounted Police trooper riding around the camp; with his sword by his side and wearing a pistol in a holster was a sobering sight. He often carried a rifle as well.
The ferrying operation continued at the Phaeton. High tide did not make any difference; the ship remained aground on the sand bank. By late afternoon the last of the Chinese passengers was deposited safely on the beach. They had a couple of miles to walk along the beach to Robe Town. Sergeant Woodbine gave the order to move out. The Chinese began the dreary walk of carrying their possessions to Robe Town. It was slow going on the sand.
Harry took the Sea Spray back to the jetties. It was time to inspect the Chinese baggage for the import levy. Meanwhile Captain Stradwick and Captain Morrison had inspected the holds on the Phaeton. The cargo appeared to be safe. However, they were not sure if the vessel would refloat.
Harry ordered the crews of the Osprey and the Cormorant to offload the cargo on the Phaeton. He was concerned that a change in the weather would bring rough seas. George Ormiston sent a lighter and one of his crews to help. The Phaeton was carrying a large quantity of tea, opium, silk and chow chow in the upper holds. A big shipment of linseed oil was stowed in the lower holds.
Harry, Joseph and Owen worked quickly assessing the duties to be paid on the Chinese belongings. It was difficult to keep up with things at present. All these Chinese arriving, plus the normal export trade placed a huge burden on the Customs’ service. They found it was necessary to work well into the night to try and keep abreast of their paperwork.
Captains of ships using Guichen Bay wanted to get away as soon as possible. Bad weather came up quickly along the south eastern shores of South Australia. The coast line was treacherous; it was better to be in the open sea. Guichen Bay was not a good place to be in storms, and rough seas.
The Sea Spray returned to the Phaeton to pick up Captain Stradwick. By now twilight was nearly gone. Tomorrow salvage operations would continue. Captain Stradwick was dubious that the ship would refloat; even if they managed to get the cargo off safely.
Next morning was fine but the wind had changed direction and was strengthening. Harry was concerned. The waves were getting more boisterous. This would make the salvage efforts more difficult. The Sea Spray, the Osprey, the Cormorant and George Ormiston’s lighter would all be needed to ferry cargo to the jetties. Fortunately with a good breeze they could make use of their sails. All day long they ferried cargo to the jetties. The cargo was sorted into categories to make the job of calculating duty easier. As the Phaeton was a long way from the jetties the ferrying operation was a slow process.
By day’s end the crews were exhausted. As were the Phaeton’s crew; they had to bring the cargo up on deck and then load it on to the lighters, which were bobbing up and down on the waves. The Phaeton had not moved on the sand bank. The constant pounding of the waves against the ship’s hull was a concern for all. The sooner the cargo was unloaded the better. Captain Morrison now held grave doubts about his ship’s safety.
Day three began ominously. Dark clouds appeared on the horizon out to sea. The wind blew harder and the waves were getting larger. Transferring cargo to the lighters became very difficult. The only safe way was to use the cargo nets to keep the loads intact. With the boats bobbing up and down on the large waves it was hard to drop the nets accurately into the boats.
Harry was worried about the safety of the crews; and the possibility of the lighters smashing into the side of the Phaeton. The Phaeton was holding steady but waves were crashing over the deck on the seaward side. Harry made the decision to stop salvage work for the day. Captain Morrison and his crew decided to stay aboard overnight.
By the time the Sea Spray and the other lighters made it back to the jetties it was raining heavily. Thankfully, George Ormiston had arranged for canvas tarpaulins to be spread over the salvaged cargo. The storm increased in its intensity. Forked lightning and heavy thunder claps accompanied the driving rain. Harry hoped the Phaeton would hold together.
The storm eased during the night. By morning the rain had gone. The seas were still up, but the wind had abated. The day was overcast, with the promise of another afternoon storm. The Sea Spray and the other lighters went out in the early morning light. They needed to salvage as much as they could before
the storms came.
The Phaeton had suffered damage from the wild storm. The lower holds were taking in water. The bilge pumps so far were keeping up with the leaks. The Phaeton’s crew concentrated on recovering a large quantity of linseed oil in the lower holds. Some of it was ruined due to the ingress of water from the leaks.
As predicted, black clouds appeared out to sea about 2:00 pm. They would only have time to take this current load back to the jetties.
Harry expressed his concerns to Captain Morrison. “Captain Morrison, I don’t believe your ship can withstand another severe storm. I want you and your crew to evacuate the Phaeton before any lives are lost.”
“Come now Mr Medcroft, surely you don’t think the ship won’t hold together through another storm?”
“Captain Morrison, I am the Harbourmaster for Guichen Bay. The lives of all who use the Bay are my responsibility. I want you and your men off this ship before the storm breaks. If you refuse I will have you arrested.”
“Very well Mr Medcroft.” he said resignedly. “We can return in the morning. Please send your lighters back for us.”
The storm approached slowly. Green tinges could be seen in the clouds. A sure sign of hail! The lighters were quickly unloaded with many hands to help. The Osprey and the Cormorant returned to the Phaeton to pick up her crew. As the lighters approached the jetties; rain began to fall heavily. They pulled in quickly and discharged their passengers. The lighters were then moored securely alongside the jetties.
Vicious forks of lightning illuminated the sky. Tremendous thunder claps rolled around Guichen Bay. The wind and rain increased in strength. Hailstones fell from the sky. The wind was howling in its ferocity. The driving rain was almost horizontal in appearance. The size of the hailstones increased; some were as large as walnuts! It was far too dangerous to be outdoors!
Huge waves pummelled the shore line; foaming up on to the base of the sand dunes. Visibility was only a few yards. This was the worst storm for many years. It went on for hours gathering in intensity.
Finally the storm began to wane. The wind and rain eased off. The rain turned to a steady downpour. The lightning and thunder moved inland. Visibility returned to near normal levels. Harry got out his telescope to check on the Phaeton. She had broken up! Wreckage and debris were scattered in the surf and along the beach. Harry’s decision to evacuate the Phaeton was vindicated.
Next morning a dismal sight greeted the people in Robe Town. The wreckage of the Phaeton was scattered for miles along Long Beach. The ship was completely broken up. Timber, ropes, rigging and cargo were floating in the water; or were being washed up on to the beach. It was an eyesore and blight on their beautiful Bay.
The huge waves had scoured out sand on Long Beach. There was a three feet drop off at the base of the sand dunes.
Reports of the wreck of the Phaeton spread quickly to Adelaide and beyond. Other sea ports in the vicinity; such as Rivoli Bay and Port Caroline seized the opportunity to discredit Guichen Bay and Port Robe.
Harry’s assessment of the salvaged cargo added more than £300 to the Government coffers.