The Curse of the Tasman Sea

The Wreck of the barque Rangoon 1871 on Stack Island off Minnamurra NSW.

Sung to the tune of Rolling Down to Old Maui  - Traditional

The timber barque the grand Rangoon, a’hundred-twenty-feet along,                                                                     Captain Sayers and his crew nine men, were all both brave and strong,
She was soundly built in Sun-der-land back in eighteen fifty-three
They had spent their wild and wandering lives upon the rolling sea.

Sailing north for Hunter coal, me boys, in ballast so were we                                                                              We’re run aground by an easterly blow, the curse of the Tasman Sea

Bound for Newcastle from Melbourne town, two days past old Sydney Cove,                                                  Sailing north to the Hunter River there, for to fill her hold with coal,
Rangoon went out in conditions light, riding cargo-less and free;
The first nine days of moderate winds and good promise from the sea.

Off Kiama’s coast the gentle breeze turned sharp-east and blew all day,
A wicked gale attacked the barque, which then did not belay.
With blinding fog and lashing rain she shipped a heavy sea,
The howling winds tore stays and sails, and whipped them all away.

The Captain’s shout, " Avast-bear-away! The rocks are to our lee!”,
The ship and crew in peril were, darker a-sight you will not see,
Rangoon was at the mercy of a monster eastern swell,
Which ran her on Stack Island’s rock, where she did come to dwell.

Nearby farmers raised up the call, and came down to lend a hand,
They defied the angry seas that night and rescued every man,                                                                                  Brave sailors of Shellharbour had, rowed a line out in the gloom
Next day Stack Island took the name, of the sadly wrecked Rangoon.