Nautical Chart of the Western Section of the Mediterranean Sea
Date1912
Object number00055383
NameChart
Mediumpaper
DimensionsOverall: 701 × 1036 mm
ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Tim Nossiter
DescriptionOne of ten nautical charts from the Nossiter family voyage around the world 1935-37HistoryHarold Nossiter, a well-known Sydney importer and sailor, and a member of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. In 1932 he began planning his retirement to include a voyage by yacht around the world. Nossiter wanted a custom designed boat and took his concept, an advanced design for the period, to J D Thistlethwaite, a naval architect at Greenwich, Sydney. Thistlethwaite prepared a set of detailed drawings for a robust cruising yacht, rigged as a staysail schooner. It was named SIRIUS after the brightest of the navigational stars.
SIRIUS was launched in February 1935 and later that year, on Sunday 20 July, Nossiter, his two sons Harold and Richard, along with Clive Russell, left Sydney Harbour. Their voyage is now well recognised as an important milestone in Australian amateur cruising. The trip took almost two years and covered 28,000 nautical miles, passing through the Suez and Panama canals. The route took them north of Papua New Guinea, then westward to Aden via Bali, Singapore and Colombo. SIRIUS arrived in Plymouth, England, on 2 June 1936 after passing through the Mediterranean. The yacht departed on 17 September 1936, crossing the Atlantic via Madeira and Trinidad. From Panama they went to the Galapagos and Marquesa Islands, then through the South Pacific back to Sydney. Harold Nossiter documented the voyage in two books, 'Northward Ho' and 'Southward Ho'. Harold’s extensive collection of photographs taken on the voyage is in the ANMM Collection.
From 1937 until the outbreak of World War II SIRIUS raced on Sydney Harbour and during the war it served as a naval training vessel. After the war Nossiter sold SIRIUS to Jim Booth. The new owner took part in the second and third Sydney to Hobart races in 1946/47 and then again in 1947/48 when SIRIUS finished 15th out of 28 starters. After changing hands several times, SIRIUS is still sailing today and listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels.
SignificanceAs part of the overall Nossiter family collection of material these objects add to the signficance of the whole Nossiter collection. The charts, rules and log books create a rare set of material associated with an amateur, family adventure sailing around the world in the 1930s. The rifle - shown in action in other photographs from the Nossiter collection - is an important and now rare record of what was a ubiquitous practice in all such sailing voyages until the 1980s – carrying on board a firearm for protection and hunting.
