Sunshine Coast Coastal Legends & the SS Dicky

An iron-hulled steam schooner built by Gebruder Howaldt at Kiel, Germany in 1883 — a 226-ton cargo vessel that serviced the smaller Queensland harbours south of Rockhampton. The Dicky departed Rockhampton on 26 January 1893 on one of her rare runs to Brisbane under Captain John Summers Beattie, with a crew of 8. During heavy NNE weather she was unable to clear Caloundra Head (Wickham Point) due to gale-force cyclonic conditions. Captain Beattie mistook Moffat Head for Wickham Point and Moffat Beach for Caloundra in the rough swell. When he sighted broken water to leeward and realised the navigational error, he was forced to beach the schooner to avoid hitting the rocks of Moffat Beach. The Dicky grounded stern-first at 10:35 AM on 4 February 1893 on the beach between Tooway Creek and Bunduwah Creek. Seamen Milican and Kattney successfully got a lifeline ashore through cyclonic seas and a king tide; all 8 crew survived. The Marine Board of Queensland inquiry on 29 March 1893 found the stranding due to negligent navigation; Captain Beattie's master's certificate was suspended. Refloating attempts failed — including an extraordinary 1893 effort using a team of 24 bullocks. The wreck remained an iconic landmark for 122 years (the only surf beach in Australia named after a shipwreck) before Sunshine Coast Council removed most exposed elements on 30 July 2015 for safety reasons. A memorial cairn now stands on Beerburrum Street in the Dicky Beach shopping district. Storm events still periodically re-expose fragments — most recently Cyclone Alfred in March 2025.

The original wooden Caloundra Lighthouse was built in 1896 in response to the SS Dicky disaster and other regional shipping losses. The original cedar-and-pine timber tower stood for 72 years before a second steel lighthouse was added in 1968. Both lighthouses still stand today on Canberra Terrace and are managed by the volunteer-run Friends of the Caloundra Lighthouses. The original lighthouse — heritage-listed — houses an extensive maritime archive documenting Sunshine Coast shipping disasters across the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the primary-source records and Marine Board of Queensland inquiry transcripts referenced on this tour.