Cyclone Alfred has pulled the sand cover off a Sunshine Coast shipwreck dating back 132 years.
The skeletal remains of the SS Dicky have re-emerged at Dicky Beach, a welcome sight for lovers of local history and photo opportunities.
The wreck of the Dicky was a feature of the beach from 1893 until 2015, when the council cut off part and buried the remainder for safety reasons.
Historian John Groves, who co-authored a book about the Dicky, said the Sunshine Coast Council had intended relocating the wreck but eventually decided to leave part of it where it was under the sand.
“There was an uproar. It’s the only surf beach in Australia named after a shipwreck,” Mr Groves said.
However, in 2023, the council decided the remains had to go in what has turned into a drawn out extraction process.
Mr Groves said the buried remains made the odd re-appearance during periods of rough weather.
Photographer Tracey Keeley, of Teekay Photography, was pleased to see the Dicky again.
“Oh, I definitely miss it. It was such an iconic photography subject, especially at sunrise. At least this is something good to come out of Cyclone Alfred,” she said.
The SS Dicky was a steamer on its way from Rockhampton to Brisbane with a crew of eight on February 4, 1893, when it encountered a strong gale which prevented her from rounding the headland at Caloundra.
Captain John Beattie beached her to avoid her being driven on to a reef.
Attempts were made to refloat the steamer, including one involving a team of 24 bullocks, but failed, and while some items were sold off, the hulk remained on the beach.
The North Caloundra Surf Life Saving Club and the beach are believed to have taken the name of the wreck in the 1920s.
The propellor from the Dicky was mounted near the carpark on the corner of Beerburrum and Elizabeth Streets in the mid-1960s but has since been relocated to north of the nearby skatepark.
The Dicky became a feature in thousands of photos over the years and people took home pieces as souvenirs as she wore down to skeleton over the years.
Some of the exposed pieces of the Dicky have been cut off by the council and used in a display.
SS Dicky, by Anne Wensley and John and Janice Groves, is available from the Moffat Beach Post Office, The Book Shop in Caloundra, and the Caloundra lighthouse on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month.
