Holdfast Bay

Holdfast Bay is located a short distance off the modern city of Glenelg on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent. The bay is about 5.2 kilometres south-west of South Australia’s capital city, Adelaide. Colonel Light named the bay when his ship, the Rapid, held fast there during severe storms on 7 and 8 September 1836. Holdfast Bay was the landing site for the emigrant ships bound for South Australia in 1836.

Map

Below is a copy of Colonel Light’s survey map of the east coast of Gulf St. Vincent. Holdfast Bay is shown just below and a little to the right of the rectangular box containing Light’s profile sketch of the coastline.

http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?a=10&c=7903&mode=singleImage