Saving ship-wreck victims without a lifeboat

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We’ve been travelling along the ‘Shipwreck Coast’ of Victoria, Australia. The weather here can be rough and unpredictable and ‘threading the needle’ along the coast and passing safely between the Victorian Coast and King Island was challening at the best of times. There are 638 known wrecks along this coast, much of which is in the Port Campbell National Range area. Life-saving stations were established along the coast. An important piece of equipment at most would have been a lifeboat, however at Port Campbell itself, there was no lifeboat but a well-trained ‘rocket crew’ operated until at least 1947. The crew would fire a rocket over the wrecked ship. The rocket would be attached to a light line. The sailors hauled in the line which was itself attached to a hawser (heavy rope). Using a breeches buoy and pulley system, people from the boat could be brought ashore. A breeches buoy was a lifebuoy with canvas breeches attached. The person to be rescued donned the breeches and was brought ashore suspended from a rope, much like the zip-line some enjoy today. The success of this method depended on the vessel lying close enough inshore for the rocket to reach it. I had never heard of this method of sea rescue before. The photo is of Port Campbell, a pretty little sheltered cove where, in 1840, Captain Alexander Campbell from the Port Fairy Whaling Station sheltered here. It became established as a fishing port in the 1870s. Today it is a very popular tourist destination.