Stun'sail Boom River

{{Use Australian English|date=March 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}} {{Infobox river | name = Stun'sail Boom | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = Stunsail Boom; Stuns'l Boom | name_etymology = Slang for [[Studding sail]]<ref name=name/> | image = File:Sign at Stun'sail Boom, Kangaroo Island, South Australia.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Bridge over the Stun'sail Boom River in [[Stun'sail Boom, South Australia|Stun'sail Boom]] (locality) | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Australia South Australia | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = Location of the [[mouth (river)|river mouth]] in [[South Australia]] | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = [[Australia]] | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = [[South Australia]] | subdivision_type3 = Region | subdivision_name3 = [[Kangaroo Island]] | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = {{convert|9|km|mi|abbr=on}} | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max =  | source1 = | source1_location = | source1_coordinates = | source1_elevation = | source_confluence = North West River and North East River | source_confluence_location = | source_confluence_coordinates = | source_confluence_elevation = {{convert|22|m|abbr=on}} | mouth = [[Southern Ocean]] | mouth_location = | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|-36.020810|137.015950|region:AU-SA|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = {{convert|4|m|abbr=on}} | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|324|km2|abbr=on}} | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = <ref name=bonzle>{{cite web |url=http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=199001&cmd=sp |title=Map of Stun'Sail Boom River |work=Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia |date= |access-date=23 March 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Department for Environment and Heritage|author2=Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Region|title=Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Region - Estuaries Information Package|url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/public/marine_parks/mp-gen-estuariesinfopack-kangisland.pdf|publisher=Department for Environment and Heritage|accessdate= 11 March 2016|page= 5|date= 2007}}</ref><ref name=propertybrowser>{{cite web|title=Search result for "StunStun'Sail-Boom River" (Record no SA0063482) |url=http://maps.sa.gov.au/plb/# |publisher=[[Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure]] |date= |accessdate= 9 March 2016}}</ref> }} The '''Stun'sail Boom River''' (or variants '''Stunsail Boom River''' and '''Stuns'l Boom River''') is located on the south coast of [[Kangaroo Island]], a large island off the [[South Australia]]n coast.

==Course and features== The river is formed by the [[confluence]] of the North West River and North East River, and flows generally south by east through the locality of [[Stun'sail Boom, South Australia|Stun'sail Boom]] before reaching the [[mouth (river)|river mouth]] and emptying in the [[Southern Ocean]]. The river descends {{convert|18|m}} over its {{convert|9|km}} [[watercourse|course]].<ref name=bonzle/>

==Etymology== The river was named after the boom of the stuns'l, sailors slang for [[studding sail]] located on the outside of the [[square rigging]] of a sailing ship, after Robert Fisher and others found a stun'sail boom at its mouth on 7 November 1836.<ref name=name>{{cite web |url=http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/manning/pn/s/s9.htm |publisher=[[State Library of South Australia]] |work=Place Names of South Australia |accessdate=7 July 2010 |title=Stun Sail Boom River }}</ref>

==Loss of ''Montebello'' == The river's name came to some prominence when the French [[merchant ship]] ''[[Montebello (1900)|Montebello]]'' went aground near the Stunsailboom Station in the early hours of Sunday, 18 November 1906.<ref name=nov1906adv>https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5115269 ''The Advertiser'', Friday 23 November 1906</ref> The ship collided with a [[reef]] not far from shore. A sailor, Louis Yrebot, swam at great peril with a small line to shore. Increasingly stronger lines followed and a [[Flying fox (cablecar)|flying fox]] was established between a large boulder on the shore and the mizzen mast of the stricken ship. All the remaining crew, including a badly injured sailor from an earlier accident, were transferred safely to shore via the flying fox.

Five of the French sailors then made their way through remote and wild countryside and stumbled upon Tilka Hut. Here they were almost immediately found by local lad Percy May, a wallaby trapper, who happened to be passing while delivering a letter to one of the two Tilka sisters, Carlina and Christina, on Stunsailboom Station. The Tilka Sisters looked after the sailors while Percy May made a dramatic {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip|adj=on}} journey on horseback, that required swimming two rivers, to raise the alarm in the town of [[Kingscote, South Australia|Kingscote]].<ref name=nov1906adv/> Several landmarks remain today as evidence of the wreck including the Stunsail Boom River Station shearing shed that is fabricated from original timbers which bear marks of marine origin, notably their rounded edges and bleached appearance; and also remains of the ''Montebello's'' steam boiler are wedged between granite rocks on the foreshore at Shelly Beach, the first of several small coves on the inhospitable southern coast to the west of the river mouth.

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Montebello Aground.jpg File:Montebello Mast_1903.jpg File:Montebello Wreckage 1903.jpg </gallery>

==See also== {{stack|{{portal|South Australia}}}} *{{Section link|List of rivers of Australia|South Australia}} *[[List of shipwrecks in 1906]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Rivers of Kangaroo Island]]