22-536: Portsea may refer to: Portsea, Victoria , a seaside town in Australia Portsea Island , an island on the south coast of England contained within the city of Portsmouth Portsea, Portsmouth , a parish and informal area of the city See also [ edit ] All pages with titles beginning with Portsea All pages with titles containing Portsea [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
44-638: A leading line to guide ships through the main channel, in conjunction with the Hume and Murray Towers that show red and green lights respectively. Numerous vessels have been wrecked after getting into difficulties in the strong current in The Rip. They include the sailing ship Sacramento in 1853, cutter Corsair in 1874, steamship Formosa in 1875, barque Eliza Ramsden in 1875, steamship Cheviot in 1887, and cutter Thistle in 1945. Corsair gave her name to Corsair Rock, on which she ran aground. In 1955,
66-557: A population of 787 at the 2021 census . Portsea is located on the opposite side of Port Phillip Bay . The suburb is located on the bay itself, but the locality boundaries stretch as far west as Point Nepean and incorporate a section of Bass Strait coastline. Portsea is the westernmost town on the Mornington Peninsula, and lies adjacent to Sorrento . It has one of the highest average incomes in Australia. Portsea
88-549: Is 3.5 km wide but the reefs projecting from these points reduce the navigable width to about 1 km. Within 800 m outside the Heads, there is a shallow rocky flat known as the Rip Bank. The water deepens outside this flat to 30m and inside the Heads to as much as 90 m. This inequality of depth combined with tidal streams running up to 6 knots, causes the world-renowned dangerous conditions. The variation in seafloor depth within
110-610: Is considered a very dangerous location. The rip can run out as fast as 8-10 knots. Golfers play at the revered Portsea Golf Club on Relph Avenue. The annual Portsea Polo event is held at Jarman Oval, near the former quarantine station on Point Nepean . According to the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, Portsea had 510 residents. Prominent residents include trucking magnate Lindsay Fox , Kate Baillieu and Rupert Murdoch 's grandson businessman David Calvert Jones, other well known residents are Eddie McGuire and Ron Walker . The formally recognised traditional owners for
132-596: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Portsea, Victoria Portsea is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia , approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District , located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area . Portsea recorded
154-520: Is frequent, and divers should be careful to avoid main boating routes. After dredging was done to deepen the entrance to the bay for shipping there was increased surge at Portsea Pier and within a year Portsea Beach was gone. Sandbags have been placed on the once picturesque beach to prevent further sand erosion. Portsea Back Beach is an attraction in Portsea, due to its great surfing conditions and long stretch of sand. Portsea Surf Life Saving Club patrols
176-487: Is named after Portsea Island which is an island incorporated by Portsmouth , England. Portsmouth is where the first settlers to Australia set sail from. Portsea Post Office opened on 10 February 1877 and closed in 1987. In January 1948 the new St Mary's School for Deaf Children was opened at Delgany, Portsea led by Kathleen Mary Egan . It was an initiative by the Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and
198-507: Is the roughly triangular area of water between the land points of Point Nepean on the Mornington Peninsula , Shortlands Bluff and Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Peninsula , with these three forming The Heads . The Rip is generally considered to be located in the triangular area of water between the land points of Point Nepean , Shortlands Bluff and Point Lonsdale . The entrance between Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean
220-665: The Brighton Icebergers) who made the crossing around the late 1990s and after the year 2000. There have been two races across the Rip, organised by The Rip Swim organisation. The first one was in 2015 and Sam Sheppard and Naantali Marshall were the winners. The next race, which took place in 2018, was the single biggest crossing of the Rip so far. On that day, 142 swimmers crossed in what was a combination of racing and group swimming. The Rip Swim organisation now focuses their efforts on taking small groups across, each accompanied by
242-627: The area in which Portsea is located are the Bunurong people. The Bunurong people are represented by the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. The Australian Crawl song "Hoochie Gucci Fiorucci Mama" (from the 1980 album The Boys Light Up ) was written about Portsea. The Rip The Rip , also known as The Heads , is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to
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#1732776461478264-438: The bay of Port Phillip in southern Victoria , Australia , and is the only route of maritime transport into Port Phillip and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong , Victoria's two largest cities. Because of large tidal flows through the relatively narrow channel from the bay to the ocean, and a high rocky seabed, The Rip is a dangerous stretch of water and has claimed numerous ships and many lives. Geographically, it
286-674: The bridge. Douglas Mew was the first person to swim across the Rip, on 13 June 1971. He completed the swim without a cage, in a time of 61 minutes. This achievement is commemorated by a plaque on the Point Lonsdale side of the Rip. The date of the first double crossing of the Rip is not recorded. A group of swimmers from the Brighton Icebergers did this double crossing. The first triple Rip crossing occurred on 11 February 2017. Grant Cameron, Fran Johnson and Esther McDonald took 5 hours and 45 minutes (moving time) to complete
308-507: The cargo ship River Burnett struck Corsair Rock, freed herself, and then ran aground half-sunk in Port Phillip as a result of the damage. There are no bridges or tunnels that allow for vehicular traffic to cross the bay. Searoad Ferries operates a vehicular ferry service across the mouth of the bay between Queenscliff and Sorrento using two roll-on roll-off vessels. Various bridge and tunnel projects have been proposed to link
330-537: The crossing. Flows at the heads (tides) had a significant effect on the swim that commenced at Point Lonsdale and ended on Point Nepean. Swimming across the Rip has often been frowned upon by authorities and considered reckless, but the body of water can now be swum safely under the guidance of The Rip Swim organisation. This project began in 2014 and after 6 years, has taken 472 swimmers across safely. The total number of swimmers officially recorded now stands at 518 as there were several groups of swimmers (predominantly from
352-477: The first to use oral techniques in Victoria. OCS Portsea , an army establishment, was located just outside the town. The historic reserve became famous when Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappeared while swimming inside the facility at Cheviot Beach on 17 December 1967 and was officially presumed dead two days later, although a formal inquest into his death did not take place until 2005. Portsea
374-525: The heads is managed by the Point Lonsdale Signal Station . Large ships may only enter Port Phillip with a qualified pilot aboard to help them navigate through the heads. The heads are very narrow, having a width of about 1 nautical mile (2 km). When entering, large ships must follow a precise S-shaped course through the heads. The Queenscliff Low Light ("white lighthouse") and Queenscliff High Light ("black lighthouse") form
396-566: The heads of Port Phillip Bay, but none, so far, have got beyond the proposal stage. In an opinion piece published in the Herald Sun in 2018, Peter Mitchell asserted that no project would be approved in the near future because homes would have to be compulsorily acquired on both sides of the crossing, and no politician would be "prepared to bite that bullet ." In March 2023, the Mayor of Mornington Peninsula Steve Holland supported an idea for
418-399: The popular surf beach, as patrols are always needed during the summer period given the large waves and strong tides that are often present. Corsair Rock, just at the entrance to Port Philip, is a well-known surf spot to locals and professional surfers. However, it is not advised to surf there unless you are an experienced surfer and, for safety, are accompanied by somebody in a boat nearby. It
440-420: The rip itself can be anywhere from 100 m to less than 5 m amongst the rocky reefs and shoals. The area of The Rip is a navigation hazard for recreational and small commercial vessels, due to strong tidal movements, unpredictable waves and proximity to active shipping lanes. Vessels are also prohibited from landing at Point Nepean on the southern central border of The Rip. Control of shipping movements through
462-425: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portsea&oldid=1072438195 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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#1732776461478484-470: Was considered by many to be the hub of Melbourne's recreational scuba diving activities. At one time there were as many as four dive shops in the main street of Portsea. Dive charter boats still travel from Portsea Pier to sites both inside Port Phillip and outside Port Phillip Heads, also known as " The Rip ". The Portsea Pier is the home to the spectacular weedy sea dragon , as well as many other fish species, including numerous pufferfish . Boating traffic
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