The Cerberus Ironclad Breakwater at Half Moon Bay, Melbourne
A few days ago I spent a few hours on some Melbourne beaches. I started at Black Rock Beach and then walked around to Half Moon Bay, the object being to sketch the Cerberus wreck. The Sun was on the other side of the wreck, thus making it very dark. My sketch was done with gel pen and Lyra coloured pencils. The cabin has long since disappeared, leaving the conning tower and two turrets visible. (Other parts had been sold for scrap).
The Cerberus was made in England in 1868. It became part of the Australian state of Victoria's navy at a time of Russian scares. (The Australian colonies, prior to Federation, had their own navies and armies). It never saw war. It is reminiscent of the Federal ACW Monitor. However its original appearance is different. In 1924 the boat was sunk and used as a breakwater at Half Moon Bay.
As a boy I used to swim out to it and climb on board. This time I sat on a concrete wall and sketched it. I had a discussion with passing 80 year old artist Peter Mc Gann who knew quite a lot about the Cerberus and showed me his great water colours of boats and other subjects. Then I walked back to Black Rock beach.
Having recently discovered it is not difficult to look up stuff on the Internet, on my phone, I watched a video set in the thirteenth century about 300 Korean soldiers and a thousand or so civilians, in a fort, against 40,000 Mongols Somehow the former won but I fell asleep before it finished and had flattened the battery; that could have added to my problems as i could not find my keys! I sifted and resifted sand, emptied my carry bag two times and did not find them. I was fairly certain they were not in the car but was reconciling myself to having to find someone with a working phone to ting a locksmith to get me in the car and to make a new key! There was no point retracing my steps, right? The keys would be buried in sand or picked up by someone, never to be seen again. Well; I would try, so I walked the kilometer back to my perch where I had sketched. i assumed the keys had fallen out of my shallow pockets, not the usual zippered ones of my characteristic fishing/hunting vest. Of course they were not there. Next? I asked at the half Moon Bay Yacht Club. The best thing there was they had, in a gals case, a model of the Cerberus as it once proudly looked, when it was painted white. The friendly barman suggested I try the Fish and Chip kiosk on the edge of the beach. I said, 'I have lost my keys...'
'A Holden?' the young man asked.
'Yes, YES!'
A Lifesaver had handed them in!
The first shows the wreck when it was more substantial than now
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