Scotchman (1919/06/09)

80 miles W from Moora

The vessel was owned and skippered by Peter Fortunado. There were two crew: Giovanni Faneli and Giovanni De Palmo. The vessel was valued at £800 and was not insured.
THE LOSS
The Scotchman was lying at anchor when a storm blew up and the anchor chain broke. The vessel was driven ashore onto a sandy beach where the three crew got ashore safely. This is presumably in the vicinity of Green Islands, given the description in the Police report of ‘on the coast west of Moora’. They walked towards Dongara to get help. After about 32 km they came across George Pigeon at ‘Fatfield’, an outcamp of ‘Myniloo’, owned by Reg Bower. Fortunado and Pigeon rode to ‘Myniloo’ and a buggy was then sent back to collect the two crew who had remained behind because of exhaustion.
INQUIRY
The little information on this wreck comes from the contemporary Police Report. It appears that no formal inquiry was held.
INITIAL SALVAGE
Bower went with two men to the wreck site to see what could be saved, particularly spars, sails and compass. However, there was nothing that could be salvaged as the vessel had washed over two reefs on its way to the shore. This severe battering had led to the vessel being completely broken up by the time Bower was able to reach the site.