In the days before railways, roads, trucks and cars, the only way to transport goods to and from the outlying towns and Ports of South Australia was by sea. As most of the Gulf Ports were tidal, or very shallow, a special type of vessel had to be used that could cater for all of the variables of the trade. The kind of vessel that evolved was a small, shallow draught Ketch rigged sailing ship built
from timber, ranging from 40 to 80 feet long, sailed by a small crew, with no time limit on the length of voyage. As there was little suitable ship building timber in South Australia, most of these small ships were imported from Tasmania, where a similar trade and demographic suited them. The earliest Tasmanian Ketches were very similar to Thames Barges, but with center-boards instead of lee-boards, and ketch rigged, instead of the traditional spritsail rig of the barges. These evolved into some of the prettiest wooden sailing ships ever built, and were fast and handy sailers. The Ketch rig was suitable, with a large sail area spread across multiple sails, to make setting sail, and reefing easier, for a smaller crew. Nearly of the wooden ketches were flat bottomed, with center-boards, to enable them to navigate shallow water, while still being able to sail well to windward. As the Gulf Ports were tidal, so they could sit on the beach while being loaded without sustaining damage. The "Mosquito Fleet", as the Ketches became known, evolved into 2 separate sections - the Gulf Fleet, which almost entirely traded in St Vincent's Gulf with general cargo to, and grain and wool from, the Ports on the Eastern side of Yorke Peninsular. The larger and more seaworthy vessels, became the Coastal Fleet, trading all over South Australia, and Interstate, to Tasmania, Western Australia, and up the East Coast. They also spent the Grain Season lightering to the Windjammers anchored off Port Victoria. These Ports are the last tangible link to these majestic Sailing Ships, and the Ketches and Schooners that served them, were the end of this epic era in Sail. The period after World War 2 saw an expansion in the trade, but ships were in short supply. This lead to the conversion, and building of some new vessels, and while some were rigged as Ketches, and some were rigged as Schooners, they all worked in the same trade, and the same men worked on these ships, so they became part of the Ketch Fleet. The former Murray River Barge "Moorara" was converted to a 3 mast schooner, with a lot of success. Similarly, the ex Murray Paddle Steamer "Ulonga", was also converted. Ships like the SS Coomonderry and the SS Nelcebee had been converted to sail earlier in the century, and a few new vessels, like the Betty Joan, Jillian Crouch, and others, came along. Very few of these ships survive, and those that do are old, and falling apart. It is a time that will never be repeated, a time that was more relaxed, of mateship and shipmates, and of places that are now just memories of their former days. The last active Ketch Trade in South Australia was the Kangaroo Island trade, which began in earnest in the late 1950’s with the advent of a new gypsum mine at the old Salt Lake near De’Estrees Bay on Kangaroo Island, in South Australia. R Fricker and Co, Ketch owners since the late 1800’s, took up the contract to mine, crush and transport the gypsum to the small port at American River, and also to the larger export port at Ballast Head. Ketch cargo increased, until there were sometimes two ships a day calling for cargo. Millions of tons of cargo was put across the small jetty, and later wharf, at American River between 1958 and 1982, when the trade closed down for the last time. A visit to American River today shows almost no evidence of its glory days. Its importance in the coastal cargo trade in South Australia is almost forgotten, and is underestimated.
