Cray fishing in the south west...

Doing a bit of searching online since returning I have found some historic drawings and photographs of the same areas where I recently travelled to on the cray boat 'Climax', in south west Tasmania.

Below are some photographs by Frank Hurley, taken on board a cray boat around Maatsuyker Island from the early to mid 1900's in the National Library of Australia's collection.

A crayfishing boat heading up for the shelter of Maatsuyker Island, southwest coast, with three men: Maatsuyker Island, Tasmania, Frank Hurley [1939?]
Hurley negative collection
National Library of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23564637

A crayfishing boat heading up for the shelter of Maatsuyker Island, Southwest Coast, with three men, Tasmania, Frank Hurley, [between 1910 and 1962]
National Library of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24039605

Craypots and three men on boat, near Maatsuyker Island, Frank Hurley [1939?]
Hurley negative collection
National Libaray of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23564639

These two images here below are of an anchorage at De Witt or "Big Witch" as it's known by the fishing fraternity, that we sheltered in on Day 3 of my trip. The National Library's archive caption states it is Maatsuyker Island, perhaps just an error or generalisation of the actual location (not far from Maatsuyker).

De Witt anchorage on Day 3

Sheltering under Maatsuyker Island [on the deck of a ship], Frank Hurley [1939?]
Hurley negative collection
National Library of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24039595

De Witt anchorage on Day 3

De Witt anchorage Day 3

Two men putting a craypot over the side of a boat, near Maatsuyker Island, Tasmania, Frank Hurley [1939?]
Hurley negative collection
National Library of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23564638

South West Cape from the south east

Clouds and sunbeams over sea and land, Maatsuyker Island? Frank Hurley, [1939?]
Hurley negative collection
National Library of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23564645

Clouds and sunbeams over sea and land, Maatsuyker? Frank Hurley, [1939?]
Hurley negative collection
National Library of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23564646

Van Diemans Land, New Holland, George Raper, 1791
National Library of Australia

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an21511990

I have also found this coastal elevation drawing by George Raper in the National Library of Australia's collection. This shows "the Mewstone" with surrounding coastal features - some of which I recognise and others which appear to perhaps be a stretch of artistic license..? Either that, or perhaps Mr Raper experienced the same challenges as I did of attempting to depict the coastline when on the move and how quickly things change with a changing viewpoint. This view is from the south east, looking back to mainland Tasmania, where as my image below is from the other side of Mewstone looking to the south west out towards Pedra Branca.

"The unfolding agency of mapping is most effective when its capacity for description also sets the conditions for the new eidetic* and physical worlds to emerge. Unlike tracings, which propagate redundancies, mappings discover new worlds within past and present ones; the inaugurate new grounds upon the hidden traces of a living context...

...the capacity to reformulate what already exists is the important step. And what already exists is more than just the physical attributes of terrain (topography, rivers, roads, buildings) but includes also the various hidden forces that underlie the workings of a given place."

                                                                                      

                                                                - James Corner, The Agency of Mapping

*eidetic: marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall, especially of visual images.

Mewstone from the south west