pearllugger

Cooktown A peaceful, tranquil location inhabited only by nomadic Aboriginals for thousands of years prior to becoming Cooks Town. Cooktown was later named in 1873 in honour of Captain James Cook, who in 1770 beached the HMB Endeavour on the Southern banks of which he later called the Endeavour River (Wabalumbaal) to undertake repairs after running aground on one of the many reefs that fringe this coastline. Despite the developments and industrial activity that took place, today the region in many respects remains as is it was 1000’s of years ago. By the late 1800s, Cooktown was a busy commercial port which underpinned its existence for welcoming supplies and dispatching the regions produce whether it was gold, beef or timber. With the development of roads and alternative transportation regions south of the Cape like Mossman, Port Douglas, Mareeba, Cairns and Atherton outgrew Cooktown. By the early 1990s, Cooktown’s economic windfalls had all but disappeared. With time new modern minerals were found and new industries were created and our little village sprang to life again to become the capital of Cape York. Pearling Australia’s pearling industry began hundreds of years ago with Aboriginals harvesting abundant shallow water pearl shells from waters of the north coast of Cape York. By the time of European settlement, the Aboriginals had a well-established trading network for pearl shells, both within Australia and with Beach-de-mer fishermen (collectors of sea-slugs) who, since the late 17th and early 18th centuries, visited northern Australia to trade with the indigenous inhabitants of this remote coastline. Interestingly, in 1812 the first Australian pearls were discovered in Queensland waters by Captain William Campbell. The first recorded harvest of pearl shells from Paumoto Archipelago followed in 1814. Cooktown and most of Cape York once boasted a large fleet of Pearl luggers to service the roaring trade that followed, Beche-de-mer fishing (Sea Cucumber) Source: www.mungumby.com/things-to-do/regional-history/

Only a handful of Torres Strait luggers remain From 1863 to the 1980s hundreds of pearling vessels worked the East and West coasts of Queensland, Torres Strait, and for some years in the Aru Islands of Indonesia. Of these, we believe that there are only 14 identified Torres Strait pearling luggers, 1 former pearl shell carrier, and 2 formers Torres Strait missionary vessels remaining. Recent losses include the 112-year-old Lugger GRAFTON A49 - the wreck of her hull removed from Port Douglas in February 2019 and FLORIA whose end is imminent. TORRES PEARL Formerly named SEDNEY, the Torres Pearl is currently located in Tasmania in private ownership. She has an aft-wheelhouse and those lugger lines. Source: pearlingluggers.com.au/last-of-the-luggers

My father sailed on lugger in Kimberley in 1940s probably similar to this one.