'White Navigation Cross' - Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia
S 31° 25.574 E 152° 53.817
56J E 490206 N 6523154
This Historical Marker is for the navigational marker (White Cross) you can see the back of, down the path in front of you.
Waymark Code: WMZTT5
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 01/05/2019
Views: 1
The Historical Marker is a printed metal sign, angled on a metal post, just off the concrete pathway, the other side of Park Street to the Port West Shopping Centre.
Early Harbour Navigation
The White Navigation Cross
"Moving sand within the channel into Port Macquarie harbour and wharf meant a constant danger to shipping since the time of settlement. Bar harbours were notoriously dangerous all along the coast. Pilots, boatsmen, Masters or vessels all had to use extreme vigilance to enter or exit safely before the construction of the northern breakwaters. Buoys, Leading Marks, Obelisks, Beacons were used until the White Navigation Cross was installed as a Leading Mark on the western shore.
"The first mention of the Cross occurred in Sydney newspapers of December 1874 in a 'Note to Mariners' -
"Should the white obelisk be removed it would indicate that the channel has again worked southward and the old marks, the cross and the beacons are to be used."
The White Navigational Cross - a unique NSW Heritage object - is maintained by the Rotary Club of Port Macquarie West.
Shipwrecks
Ships Graveyard
"Port Macquarie was as dangerous as any bar harbour because of the ever changing and unpredictable sandbars. Many vessels grounded, with some wrecked, on entering or leaving our harbour. The river entrance safety was slightly improved by the construction of the southern breakwall in the 1890's and the northern breakwall in the 1920's. Up until the mid 20th century, a gauntlet of wrecks caused the townspeople to petition to have the wrecks removed so that trade could continue.
"Ultimately hundreds of vessels came to grief in the treacherous Port Macquarie river entrance since European settlement began in 1821, with many being lost. Remnants of many of these wrecks remain in the harbour entrance, or were buried during the construction of the two breakwalls."
- Parking is probably best at the shopping centre immediately over the road, outside the Leagues Club.
Visited: 1143, Sunday, 19 August, 2018