Eliza Ramsden

Owned by the Reverand Samuel Ramsden and named after his wife.

Site layout:
E-W orientation, Bow to west towards Point Lonsdale, in 21m

Points of interest:
-A 3 masted iron barque, 395 ton, 46.2m long x 8.23m wide
-Built in Glasgow, Scotland
-Launched in 1874
-On July 24th, 1875, barely one year old, she left Melbourne, arrived at Queenscliff but could not contact a pilot to guide them through the Rip.
-She tried to tackle it alone but struck Corsair Rock.
-By early next morning, she had drifted off the rock
-Crew tried to beach her near Nepean Bay but were unsuccessful and she sunk in the South Channel.
-All crew were safely evacuated
-One of the crew members was Tom Pearce, later to become famous as one of only two survivors in the sinking of the Loch Ard near Port Campbell in 1878.
-The mast and deck have been blasted to reduce the shipping hazard but the hull and bow are intact.
-the bow stands seven metres out of the sand. Try kneeling on the sand in front of it and looking up. It's quite eerie.
-iron stanchions (deck supports) run along centre
-Inside the hull are many bluestone blocks, which the ship used for ballast
-old donkey boiler near bow
-many colourful fish -blue devils, wrasse & cuttlefish and invertebrate life
-Ramsden Reef extends North from the stern for about 60m
-At each end it breaks into rubble and sand, levelling at 20m in the east and 30m at the western end
-On the reef can be found Large Leatherjackets, Sweep, Trumpeter, Trevally and Blue Devil fish
-Gorgonian corals and crayfisn can also be found under the ledges
-The Reef slopes at about a 60degree angle down to a sandy bottom and undercut caves are present in parts

Bottom composition: Heavy reef growth all around
Water movement/currents: Can only be dived at slack water, strong tidal currents
Hazards: Shipping - can only be dived when there are no ships scheduled to use the channel for an hour either side of the dive. Some people have been trying to dive this site for several years - so if you get on it, consider yourselves lucky! Very strong tidal currents, so diving is only possible at slack water. Tide can pick up quickly in this area. Due to the effects of tides, it is sometimes not possible to complete planned decompression stops easily. Divers should plan conservative dive times to allow for this.