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Rumbelow Boats
David Malen Rumbelow skippering the Rambler in Encounter Bay in the early 1900s.
Builder: Peter Sharp
Built: Birkenhead, Port Adelaide, SA
Operations: 1875 - 1902
Types: Yacht, Fishing
Material: Wood
Rig: Cutter Ketch
Propulsion: Sail
Other Boats: Arrow*, Minnie Simms*,
Built at Port Adelaide in 1875, the racing yacht was converted to a cray and fishing boat by the Rumbelow family in 1904 and christened the Rambler.
The boat changed hands many times, the wooden cutter which made many fishing trips to Kangaroo Island and many exciting and adventurous excursions were undertaken in this boat.
It was still used in the 1990s before a Kangaroo Island resident purchased it with the intention of restoring it.
Now the oldest known colonial-built fishing boat in South Australia, it was transported to Council land near Waitpinga Road, and donated to the National Trust of South Australia following the State Government ordered the closure and demolition of Searles’s Boatyard to make way for a new apartment complex.
Henry Rumbelow tells that on one occasion a huge shark followed the Rambler home from the schnapper grounds, the fishermen hoping he would leave them when they moored their boat, but such was not the case. As they boarded their dinghy to come ashore the monster became even more threatening. Again Malin came to the rescue. Seizing a newly sharpened lance from the dinghy's bow he stood with it poised and as the shark swam with inches of the side he drove it with a mighty lunge through the shark's gills. The shark hurriedly departed leaving a trail of blood to crimson the water.
The Rambler was owned by Ross & David Jaimesons on Kangaroo Island in the 1990’s. Photos Chris Frizell
Wendy van Duivenvoorde with the Rambler on Council land near Waitpinga Road. near Victor Harbor.
(ABC News: Caroline Horn)
The Rambler was built with Margaret River jarrah, kauri and redgum in the design of a traditional English fishing boat known as a smack. It was used as a fishing boat, racing yacht, a mail boat, and even to collect ballots in early South Australian elections.
The Rambler was partly clad with copper sheeting and Dr Wendy van Duivenvoorde and students from Flinders University's marine archaeology program have been able to see how it was repaired and renewed over its working life.
"It's probably the earliest surviving fishing vessel in South Australia, and possibly even in Australia, that's Australian built," she said.
Dr van Duivenvoorde said there was also a lot of Indigenous "agency" in the ship, pointing out that the very early shipwrights depended heavily on Indigenous knowledge of local trees and their properties in the water, and for labour in the shipyards.
'My great-great-grandfather died on board'
'My great-great-grandfather died on board'
Donald (Don) Rumbelow, a descendant of Malen Rumbelow, the boat's original owner and skipper, said it was built in 1875 at Birkenhead by Peter Sharp.
"It was always one of those boats that the Rumbelows referred to," he said.
"My great-great-grandfather died on board. He pulled in a snapper and collapsed on the deck."
Mr Rumbelow said the boat was used for catching snapper, snook and crayfish but also for doing the early mail run between Victor Harbor and Kangaroo Island and had even been used to transport ballot boxes during elections.
After it was sold by the Rumbelows it changed hands many times and was still used in the 1980s before an American River resident purchased it with the intention of restoring it. From there it ended up at the now closed Port Adelaide boatyard.
Mr Rumbelow said he had spoken to members of council several times over the years to see if it could be put somewhere in the town as an attraction.
"There was talk of trying to get it fixed up good enough for display but that just didn't happen," he said. "I spoke to old boatbuilders at Goolwa about it but that would have been a heap of money."
Don Rumbelow at Encounter Bay where his family first fished with the Rambler more than a century ago.
(ABC News: Caroline Horn)
The Minnie Sims
The Minnie Sims
The Minnie Sims, for many years the pride of Port Lincoln’s fishing fleet, which was lost just north of the Cape Willoughby lighthouse, on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island, in 1933.
The almost 28-ton auxiliary cutter was built 34 years earlier at Birkenhead by Peter Sharp (the builder of the Rambler) to the order of Mr Joe Simms, of the famed Simms family. At the time of its demise, it was owned and skippered by Jack Waters of Victor Harbor. Measuring 16.5m (54 ft) long, 4.1m (13½ ft) in beam and 2.3m (7½ ft) deep, Minnie Sims was the largest and fastest fishing cutter sailing out of Port Adelaide at the time.
Waters, his crew of Andy Anderson and Jack Lynch and the ship’s cat, Toodles, were cray fishing along Kangaroo Island’s south coast on 25 August when they anchored Minnie Sims for the night, about 65m from the rocky shore of Cape Willoughby. Early the following morning, while the crew were below preparing breakfast, they heard the anchor chain go. Despite their best efforts, the stiffening wind and breakers carried the cutter towards the rocks. Fortunately, the crew and cat managed to escape onto the rocks along the bowsprit before a large breaker swung the vessel beam on to the sea and it broke in two. The boat was soon smashed to bits and became a total loss, along with the 25 bags of crayfish the crew had caught.
(Please remember to site is protected by the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018; it is an offence to damage, destroy, interfere with, or remove any part of the shipwreck or its associated relics.)
Images: Minnie Simms: (left) at Reevesby Island, Spencer Gulf, 1908; and (right) at Boston Bay, Port Lincoln, 1912 (Gifford Collection).
WRECK OF THE MINNIE SIMMS.
WRECK OF THE MINNIE SIMMS.
END OF WELL-KNOWN MOONTA CUTTER.
Parting its cable under the strain of a fresh northerly gale, about 6.30 am on Saturday, the Minnie Simms crashed on to the rocks at Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island ,and was destroyed. The crew of the boat comprised J. Waters, 25, of Victor Harbor, owner and skipper; A. Anderson (42), and J. Lynch (19). Mr Gray, second lightkeeper at Cape Willoughby lighthouse, who saw the wrecking of the cutter, gave a graphic description of the happening. He said that when the cable broke, Mr Waters, assisted by his crew of two attempted to hoist the head sails, but the vessel went off on the wrong tack. Mr Waters then tried unsuccessfully to start the engine. The wind forced the vessel on to the rocks, a big breaker swung her beam on to the sea, and she broke in two.
The Minnie Simms was valued at about £1,000 before the disaster, and had 25 bags of crayfish aboard. She was the biggest and fastest cutter sailing out from Port Adelaide. Often on trips into Port Adelaide and Port Lincoln with fish she beat cutters fitted with auxiliary power.
The Minnie Simms was built by Mr Peter Sharp, of Port Adelaide, to the order of the late Mr J. Simms, of Simms' Cove, Moonta Bay, about 34 years ago, and was named after his daughter, Mrs H. Anderson (nee Minnie Simms) who still resides at the Cove.
The cutter was 54ft. long, with a 13½ft. beam, and a depth of 7½ft. Her lines were clipper built, and she was looked upon as the best fishing cutter in the Commonwealth. She plied the water of Spencers' Gulf with her original owner, and in later years with his son, Mr Joe Simms, and was subsequently transferred to Mr "Reck" Simms, another brother who left the Cove and went to Port Lincoln, who, owing to ill-health, sold her to Mr Waters some four or five years ago. The Minnie figured prominently in the sailing races at local regattas, and was noted for her speed, even when the breeze was hardly perceptible.
CUTTER MINNIE SIMMS WRECKED ON ROGK-BOUND COAST
CUTTER MINNIE SIMMS WRECKED ON ROGK-BOUND COAST
Formerly Pride of Port Lincoln Fishing Fleet Crew of Three Escape Unhurt
For years the pride of the Port Lincoln fishing fleet, the cutter Minnie Simms is no more, for on Saturday she was driven on the rocks a little north of Cape Wilioughby, on Kangaroo Island, and with in a few hours was smashed to pieces by huge breakers. Until recently the vessel belonged to and was sailed by Mr. R. Simms, of Port Lincoln. When lost, she was owned by Mr. J. Waters, of Victor Harbor.
The crew of three escaped unhurt along the cutter's bowsprit on to the rocks, taking the ship's cat with them. They were:— Jack Waters, aged 25, of Victor Harbor, owner and skipper of the Minnie Simms ; Andy Ander son, 42; Jack Lynch, 19. Within a few hours all that remained of the cutter were her keel and mast. At the time of her loss, she had been cruising for several days along the South Coast, fishing for crayfish. On Friday night anchor was dropped about 70 yards from the rocky coast of Cape Wilioughby. When a fresh breeze sprang up next morning the anchor chain broke, and despite the crew's desperate efforts, the vessel was driven on the rocks. The Minnie Simms was built at Port Adelaide about 45 years ago, and had been engaged in the crayfish and fish trade In South Australian waters ever since. The vessel was regarded as one of the most solidly built cutters in the trade. Several times it took record catches to Port Adelaide. The best was seven tons.
Minnie Simms built by Peter Sharp Boat Builders.
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