The wreck of the Glenelg is another of those coasting disasters which must always be looked for when unusually rough weather comes on, just so long as such small vessels receive certificates to trade outside Port Phillip Heads. The ill-fated Alert was just such another, and she — built for bay traffic between Geelong and Melbourne — did not long survive her despatch to traverse the open ocean. There are many boats, much too small for the work, now leaving Melbourne for places on the coast, and any day when a storm arises one need not be in the least surprised if they take a dive after the departed Glenelg, with practically all hands on board. It may be said that people go yachting outside the Heads in small cutters and so forth, but a yacht is not lumbered up with all sorts of deck cargo, only puts, out in pretty calm weather, and is under no obligation to keep under weigh like a vessel whose arrival at port is timed to a minute, and whose failure to keep her contract within a certain time is of great importance to consignees and intending shippers by her return voyage. The seas around the Australian coast are hardly trustworthy even when nothing more violent than a ground swell is on, and vessels not built for rough navigation court disaster in dirty weather.
The Kalgoorlie Miner, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, April 14, 1900
