DESCRIPTION
Today Hamelin Bay is just a great place to kick back an relax. Located between Margaret River and Augusta it is a very popular
spot as it offers safe boating and swimming.
The caravan park here used to be just a stone's throw from the beach but it has now been moved further away from the beach.
In the shallow water near the boat ramp you will regularly see stingrays gliding over the sandy bottom. People are asked not to interfere with these rays and to release any
that may be caught on fishing lines. The death of Steve Irwin in 2006 is a reminder that stingrays are potentially dangerous and should be left alone.
ICON BUTCHERED!
Stumpy the stingray was one of the oldest and most friendly rays at the bay. Callous, ignorant people butchered this harmless ray (the only one with no tail and therefore
no defence).
Stingrays in this area are a major tourist attraction and we can happily report that the Western Australian Government did finally act to protect the rays of Hamelin Bay in
February 2012. Sadly it was too late for Stumpy but all his friends are now much more safe.
HISTORY
The bay is named after the French explorer Jacques Felix Emmanuel Hamelin who sailed through these waters in 1801.
Originally this was a port used for the export of timber and the remains of the jetty (built in 1881) that you see today were once part of an extensive complex.
The first 500 feet of the jetty was built between 1881 and 1882 and a further 1300 feet was added later to allow larger vessels to use the facility.
Maurice C. Davies was responsible for the building of the jetty here and another
further south at Flinders Bay.
With the closure of the timber mills in 1913 the Hamelin Bay jetty fell out of use and Flinders Bay assumed a greater prominence.
It may be difficult to imagine it today but steam cranes, water pipes, lighters, channel markers and large vessels once made this s bustling port.
The bay is sheltered from southern winds but is very exposed to gales that come in from the west. On July 22nd 1900 a storm sprang up and three ships, the Katinka,
the Lovspring and the Norwester all came to grief with the loss of several lives. Although the Norwester was eventually repaired the other two ships were so badly
damaged that they were sold for scrap. The graves of s 4 of the sailors drowned that night are in the old cemetery at Karridale.
The bad weather here has led to a number of other ships being wrecked and these include, the Agincourt, Arcadia, Aristide, Chaudiere, Else, Glenbervie,
Hokitika, Tobar and the SS Waterlily.
A navigation light was built in 1937 on Hamelin Island but in 1967 it was relocated to the mainland and is now known as Foul Bay Lighthouse.
A salmon fishery was established in the bay in the 1940s.
TALL TALES AND TRUE
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OTHER INFORMATION
ATTRACTIONS
Coastal scenery, Fishing, Swimming, Boranup forest and sand patch, Cape to Cape Track, Leeuwin Naturaliste NP.
BUILDINGS OF NOTE
Old jetty ruins.
ELECTORAL ZONES
State : Vasse
Federal : Forrest
OTHER INFO.
Postcode : 6284
Local Government : Shire of Augusta Margaret River
PHOTOS
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