Today is an autumn day not much different to that 129 years ago. We have warnings of damaging winds. I bet the Captain of the Scammell wished he had such warnings on this day back then when he hit the reef near Point Danger on that squally night.
Felix Rosser had been attending his lobster pots on Fisherman’s Beach before heading home when he noticed a dark mass close to the shore at the end of Point Danger. A light flashed with brilliance across the angry, thundering sea. He noticed a red light shining on the masthead. He couldn’t do anything immediately but send a notification to Geelong and light a fire to let them know the vessel near a town. The weather started to abate a little around 2 am. Felix took off in his fishing boat but could only row within 300 yards of the wreck because the surf was too big. He called out to those on board to let them know help will be there in the morning.
We have some educational resources on our website to help students learn about that event—great activities for kids to learn more about our shipwreck and other events in our history. Find these at www.torquayhistory.com/education