Port Minlacowie jetty 1916 - State Library of South Australia B32231Port Minlacowie jetty 1916 - State Library of South Australia B32231

Over Easter in 1988 twelve society members dived at the site of the old jetty at Port Minlacowie. We followed the stumps of the old jetty piles out to the end. We managed to find some broken bits of old steamship crockery and even an intact crew plate.

The jetty had been built in 1877 at a cost of 4,759 pounds. It was 1150 feet long, Government owned and controlled by the Minlaton District Council. It was destroyed in 1971 according to a cairn on the shore. Peter Gilbert used the cairn to change on after the dive. The coastal ketch “Elizabeth Ann” ran aground close to the jetty in 1911 and the hulk is said to remain there. I returned to look for the hulk in December 1993 but without luck. It was a nice dive though with lots of fish and invertebrates to see in the small area that I was restricted to in the changeable conditions.

By Steve Reynolds

Steve Reynolds is the current President of MLSSA and is a long-standing member of the Society. Steve is a keen diver, underwater explorer, photographer and is chief author of the Society's extensive back catalogue of newsletters and journals.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *