STORY:
This abandoned boat is a testimony to Norfolk Island’s rich nautical history. Long boats are synonymous with the island’s development as a settlement. Ships cannot get close enough to the island to unload onto the docks, so long boats are used to land cargo. To this day, all freight arriving by sea is carried on long boats from ship to wharf, then winched up onto the docks. Even large items like cars and trucks are brought ashore balanced on long boats . The sheltered bay in the background here is named Slaughter Bay, which is not as ominous as it sounds. The word slaughter came from an old English word meaning "slow-moving water". The bay is protected from the raging seas by a coral reef. It was on this reef that the HMS Sirius, flagship of the First Fleet, was wrecked in 1790.