Gippslander
A small Melbourne-registered schooner driven ashore on Gabo Island in a south-west gale in 1882, though the record carries date doubts.
The story
The Gippslander was a 65 ft wooden schooner registered to L. Levy of Melbourne. She was driven ashore on Gabo Island while sheltering from a heavy south-west gale.
The report says her master did not hold a pilot certificate. A secondary list describes her as a 39 ton schooner wrecked in 1882.
Where the records differ:
Heritage Victoria notes some sources give June 1881, while shipping news from May and June 1882 showed the vessel completing a voyage safely.
The same report mentions a Tasmanian wreck in August 1882 from which she was salvaged, which sits oddly with a June 1882 loss.
Archive photographs for this wreck are being gathered and will be added here.
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More wrecks on this coast
Matilda
A Tasmanian schooner sent to Gabo Island for guano in 1848. Reports agree she was blown ashore but disagree on whether it happened at Gabo or on Babel Island.
1852Mary Wilson
A wine-laden brig from Portugal to Sydney that sheltered at Gabo Island and was driven ashore, one of the earliest recorded losses at the island.
1856Phoebe
A schooner damaged in a storm that sheltered in Gabo Harbour in 1856 and was blown ashore by a northerly gale. Everyone aboard survived.
16 December 1859Margaret Nicol
A coal schooner damaged in a gale and lost at Gabo Island in 1859. The crew spent two days on the island before the steamer Wonga Wonga took them off.