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Serving the Lighthouse Keepers |
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Bob Roff holds the contract to deliver mails to Wilson’s Promontory, Cliffy Island and Deal Island, and each alternate Wednesday at 2.00 a.m., he sets out from the small fishing village of Port Albert in the forty-eight foot “Marjorie Phyllis” to brave the elements of Bass Strait.
In these treacherous waters and just of] the rugged coast line of South Eastern Victoria lie a number of small islands which, in the past, have spelt disaster to many an unwary mariner. The lot of the modern seafarer is much easier by comparison and, as aids to navigation, lighthouses which are manned “around the clock” have been erected on several of these islands and Wilson’s Promontory - the most southerly point of the mainland.
The personnel employed at each location have their wives and families residing with them, and about six families live on each island, and in the vicinity of the lighthouse on “The Prom”. The regular receipt of provisions is an essential part of the lives of the lighthouse people and, like the general run of folk, they are keen to receive and post mail. There are problems associated with the task of bringing the mail to these isolated communities but Bob Roff makes sure that they are not disappointed.
Bob’s outward journey is scheduled to reach Wilson’s Promontory in time to manoeuvre into position at the first light of dawn to unload and take on any freight or passengers. Cliffy Island is the next point of call where access to the surface of this island can be gained only by negotiating about 80 feet of solid rock-faced cliff. A crane has been installed on the cliff and when the "Marjorie Phyllis" arrives, two men in a small boat are lowered to the water, and the boat is rowed several hundred yards to where Bob has anchored. After chatting with Bob for a while, they return to the edge of the cliff, where the procedure is reversed, and the boat is raised to the surface of Cliffy Island.
At Deal Island, conditions are not so difficult but sometimes a long wait is involved if the tide is no high enough for the “Marjorie Phyllis” to anchor at the wharf.
After delivery at Deal Island, Bob departs with a feeling of satisfaction that he has left the various little bands happy, and knows that they will be looking forward to his arrival again at the end of another fortnight.
The “Marjorie Phyllis” will have covered about 164 miles by the time she reaches Port Albert on the return journey, and will have been absent from her home port for about 26 hours, if she has had a good run. On the other hand, however. her skipper may have had to seek shelter at Sealer’s Cove on Wilson’s Promontory, and when this occurs, Bob may be days behind schedule when he arrives home.
Editors's footnote.
The above article appeared in Post Age, June 1965. Ten years later, I had the pleasure to be the Victorian Regional Navigational Aids Engineer for the Department of Transport and was responsible for the Bass Strait lights at Wilson's Promontory. By that time, Cliffy had been downgraded to a minor automatic electric light due to the access difficulties. Maintenance was then done by helicopter.
By the end of the 1980s, both Wilson's Promontory and Deal Island were made automatic and the light keepers removed. For the last few years, mail and personnel transport to those stations was also by helicopter though the Marjorie Phyllis continued to carry the heavier stores.
The practice of lifting people in baskets was discontinued after a fatality but was replaced by a more frightening practice (by personal experience) of leaping from the work boat onto the rocks.
One of my fondest memories was the night we "stood the last watch" at Wilson's Promontory. Instead of leaving by sea, we trekked out the next day to a rough access road at the top of South East Point - regretting temporarily the excesses of the night before.
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Postal History 