''Batavia Road'' was a passenger boat used from 1946 for commercial tourist operation in the

Houtman Abrolhos The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral ...

, a group of islands off the coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

History

The 37 grt

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

-rigged wooden motor boat ''Batavia Road'' was launched and completed in December 1946 by H Willmott & Co in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Western Australia, from whom it had been ordered by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The boat had a registered length of , length overall of , beam of and depth of . The boat was powered by a Gray marine diesel of 225 bhp, giving a speed of 8 knots. It was registered at Fremantle in 1947 with

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

140199. In order to promote tourism to the Houtman Abrolhos, the Western Australia State Government obtained the boat from the

for purchase by Archdale "Dal" Gaze and Alan Fox. ''Batavia Road'' made its first sailing from Geraldton on Christmas Day 1946 and until 1948, together with their another boat, ''

Suda Bay Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri ...

'', Gaze and Fox transported tourists to and from the Houtman Abrolhos, especially

Pelsaert Island Pelsaert Island is one of the islands of the Pelsaert Group, which is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain in Western Australia. Nominally located at , it consists of a numbe ...

. This was the first known commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos. After the partnership split in 1948, Gaze continued using ''Batavia Road'' for tourism, as well as transporting stores and their catch for lobster fishermen based on the islands. On 13 June 1948 a cyclone struck the Houtman Abrolhos and the ''Batavia Road'' was blown ashore at Wreck Point, near the

Half Moon Reef One half ( : halves) is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two or the fraction resulting from dividing any number by its double. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely, ...

and was nearly sunk. Tourists assisted the crew in salving the boat and fabricating a replacement rudder and, after help from fishermen, they were able to make the passage back to Geraldton. Repairs were extensive and the boat returned to service in August 1948 Gaze eventually wound up his tourist operation in 1951. Later, ''Batavia Road'' passed to other owners, and foundered on rocks north of

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

on 25 January 1974. An anchorage at Pelsaert Island is named Batavia Road.

History

References

Further reading