getting started

I did not start with research. I started when i got my first fishfinder, I plowed search lanes searching for unknown wrecks. I was lucky i found one after only a couple of hours. After diving this wreck - a small motor ship, I wanted to identify and know more about it. This lead to the research during my research i found clues and threads to other possible wrecks. So with these treads the procedure turned around - i had to do the research before i could start searching and diving.

I would suggest this method to get started, because you start with the success - the wreck. And the research is much easier when you have a precise target and aim. The process of finding facts about you wreck, will help you learn to navigate the archives. The different archives can be a maze that takes a lot of experience to navigate and can be very doll until you get bitten by the bug. If you start you ,,career,, in the archives then it is quite possible that you interest ,,die,, trying.

I hope I'm not rambling to much - its past midnight and i have been working all day.

/DKD

PS: Cornelius. I have looked through some of the older posts and it seems like you always advocate that the wrecks are in the deep not the shallow. Why is that?
 

Thanks for all your replies
Im from Victoria Australia. I went to the local library and found some books on ships lost in the local bay (Port Phillip Bay)
so I will start my search there. I have a 16 foot boat and have started to save up to buy that new humming bird side scan fish finder as I am also a keen fisherman
Jason
 

Cornelius

No. I am going to point him in the right direction (and if he is diligent then he may just find something).

Mike
 

Check out this link it should keep you busy for a while.

http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/vic-wrecks.html


SHIPWRECKS OF VICTORIA - including Great Ocean Road and Gippsland.

With the discovery of gold in 1851, Melbourne soon became a major entry point to Australia. By the end of the year and the following year, the demand for passage to Australia rose considerably. Rivalry between the many shipping companies intensified as they fought, through advertisements extolling the virtues of their speedy and comfortable ships, for the lucrative new emigration trade. No doubt risks were taken with the aim of turning a quick profit, and no doubt ships were lost. The Port Phillip district of New South Wales was declared a separate colony and named Victoria, on 1 July 1851. Melbourne grew into a vibrant metropolis, and trade between Melbourne and Sydney prospered. Access to coastal towns such as Port Albert, Warrnambool and Portland was quicker by ship until roads improved and the the motor vehicle dominated land transport. Bay ferries continued to run on Port Phillip, between Melbourne, Portarlington, Geelong, Queencliff, Portsea, Sorrento, Rye and Frankston well into the 1950s.

With respect to shipping losses, Victoria can be considered in three parts - Port Phillip and its entrance, and Westernport, in the middle of the state; the rich pastures of Gippsland to the east, and the beautiful rugged coastline of the Great Oceans Road to the west. We should also consider the Bass Strait islands - King Island, the Furneaux Group and the Kent Group - they are listed separately (and are, incidentally, part of Tasmania). The western coast of Victoria contains, I am sure, more shipwrecks by number and tonnage than any other stretch of coast in Australia. And yet the loss of life has not been exceedingly high, with forty-nine lost with the wreck of the ship Loch Ard near Port Campbell in 1878 being the greatest, and the Children, at Childers Cove further west, with 38 lives: the 'top ten' wrecks in terms of loss of life resulted in 221 lives give or take one or two. This is surprising low as the coastline is magnificent in its ruggedness, a fact not lost on the tourist operators who promote Victoria's Shipwreck Coast.

For the purposes of this listing, which includes over a thousand entries, Port Phillip and its entrance, the Rip, has been separated, as has Gabo Island to the far east of the state. Westernport and Phillip Island have been included in this main list. The vessels scuttled in Bass Strait have been included in the Port Phillip listing.

References.
Victoria, of all states, seems to have the most documented shipwreck data, in public format at least. Noted shipwreck historian Jack Loney lived on the west coast and later at Portarlington in Port Phillip, and most of his work was on the wrecks off the Victorian coast: three main publications are used as a base here, [LV], [LG], [LO], with several other monographs on individual wrecks and regions. Noble [NH], and Bateson [AS1] contribute significantly to the historic record. Several authors have provided greater detail in individual or a small group of regional wrecks: Charlwood [CWR], Mackenzie [MM] and Ronald [PR] in particular. Lewis [IL], Nayler [NSC, NWR], Denmead [DD], and Stone [DA] provide excellent material on the wrecksites.
[1022 records]

Associated links: PORT PHILLIP GABO ISLAND



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Cornelius

That site has more than one thousand shipwrecks to peruse in Victoria area, hopefully he will find one close to home and go to the library and museums etc. and find his pot of gold on paper before his boat runs out of fuel looking for the needle in the haystack.
 

thanks Cablava that site is packed full of information and provides me with an excellent starting point
 

Hi Jason,
I'm from Brisbane, I hear read that you guys have a nice Galleon at Warrnambool.
That might be worth checking out, however becareful:

Historic Shipwrecks Act
Australia's historic shipwrecks form an invaluable, limited and irreplaceable resource. The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 , which is administered by this Department, protects historic wrecks and relics in Commonwealth waters, extending from below the low water mark to the edge of the continental shelf. Each of the States and the Northern Territory has complementary legislation, which protects historic shipwrecks in State waters, such as bays, harbours and rivers.

Under a declaration made under the Historic Shipwrecks Act, all wrecks which are more than 75 years old are protected, together with their associated relics. The Minister for the Environment and Heritage can also make a declaration to protect any historically significant wrecks or articles and relics which are less than 75 years old.

The Act aims to ensure that historic shipwrecks are protected for their heritage values and maintained for recreational and educational purposes. It also seeks to control actions which may result in damage, interference, removal or destruction of an historic shipwreck or associated relic. Divers can use wreck sites for recreational purposes but relics must not be removed from the wreck site and the physical fabric of the wreck must not be disturbed, unless a permit has been obtained.

Some historic shipwrecks lie within protected or no-entry zones. These zones may cover an area up to a radius of 800 metres around a wreck site, and may be declared where circumstances place it at particular risk of interference. This declaration prohibits all entry into this zone in the absence of a permit. Permits are also required to undertake any activities otherwise prohibited or restricted by the Act.

Anyone who finds the remains of a ship, or an article associated with a ship, needs to notify the authorities as soon as possible, and to give them information about what has been found and its location. Historic shipwrecks and associated relics do not automatically belong to the individuals who find them.

The transfer, possession and custody of material such as relics, including coins, from historic shipwrecks, are also regulated. Historic shipwrecks and their associated relics are protected even if you came into possession of this material long before the Historic Shipwrecks Act existed.

The Act is administered by the Australian Government in conjunction with Delegates in each of the States, the Northern Territory and on Norfolk Island. To find out information about permits and protected zones, you should contact the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Officer, or the Commonwealth Minister's delegate in your State or Territory.
The Act also requires that a register of historic shipwrecks and relics be maintained.

The above is from www.australia.gov.au website

protects historic wrecks and relics in Commonwealth waters, extending from below the low water mark to the edge of the continental shelf.
So if its grounded above sea level is it protected ? ;)

Its amazing how many ship wrecks we have on our coasts, funny thing is no one seems to know where 99% of them are! or what they are when their found! The Aboringal people have been saying for a very long time that there have been foriegn ships on Australia's east coast on deaf ears. Makes me ponder on what is lying below the sand.

Anyhow I'm tight lipped on my findings now hehe :-X

Good luck
 

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