Ever wanted to get up close to a shipwreck without having to go scuba diving?

Well now’s your chance, with winter storms revealing the wrecks of the Ethel and the SS Ferret in Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park.

The wrecks, on Ethel Beach at the bottom of Yorke Peninsula, are usually buried under the sand and only partially visible, but strong winds and big swells have revealed a treat for lovers of South Australia’s fascinating maritime history.

The Ethel was shipwrecked in a storm in 1904 on its way to Port Adelaide to pick up grain.

The captain had intended to sail south of the Althorpe Islands, but due to poor visibility he lost his bearings and struck a reef, damaging the ship’s rudder and leaving it at the mercy of the wind and waves.

It was driven ashore, with one brave young crew member – 19-year-old Leonard Sterneson – volunteering to swim ashore with a line.

He was taken under by the large surf and drowned.

As day dawned and the tide receded the rest of the crew was able to safely make it ashore and a passing boat, the SS Ferret, saw the wrecked ship and alerted the Althorpe lighthouse keeper.

There was an unsuccessful salvage attempt later in 1904 before the ship was abandoned forever.

After the wreckage collapsed completely in the 1980s all that was left were parts of the hull, which are completely revealed every few years during rough weather.

The aforementioned SS Ferret, whose wreck has also been revealed, has perhaps an even more colourful history.

Built in Glasgow in 1871, the Ferret was supposedly stolen by confidence tricksters who pretended that they wanted to charter the boat for a Mediterranean pleasure cruise.

The thieves did indeed sail into the Mediterranean, but once night fell they turned around and hightailed it - via Brazil - all the way to Victoria where they renamed the Ferret the SS India.

Just when it looked like they might have got away with their brazen act of piracy, a newly-arrived Scottish policeman recognised the vessel and it was reclaimed in dramatic circumstances, with several crew members going to jail.

The SS Ferret was then purchased through the courts by South Australian shipping identity W. Whinham before being put to work as a cargo ship.

The Ferret ran aground, coincidently on the same beach as the Ethel that it had helped decades before, in 1920. All 21 crew survived and walked overland to Stenhouse Bay.

So if you want to get close to two fascinating pieces of South Australian maritime history now is a great time, before summer sands bury them once again.

Historic shipwrecks in South Australia are protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981 and visitors are prohibited from interfering with any wreck. For more information about shipwrecks, as well as camping and heritage accommodation bookings at Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, click here.

To view an interactive map of all of South Australia’s recorded shipwrecks click here. (external site) (external site)