Gage Roads
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gage Roads | |
|---|---|
 North Quay and ships anchored in Gage Roads | |
  Gage Roads | |
| Coordinates | 32°02′43″S 115°40′53″E / 32.045277777778°S 115.68138888889°E |
| Type | Basin |
| Etymology | William Hall Gage |
| River sources | Swan River |
| Ocean/sea sources | Indian Ocean |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Settlements | Fremantle, Perth |
Gage Roads is an outer harbour area of Fremantle Harbour. It is situated in the Indian Ocean, offshore from Fremantle, Western Australia, and incorporates a deep water sea channel.[1] Gage Roads serves both as a shipping lane and as an anchorage for sea traffic heading towards the seaport of Fremantle.
With Rottnest Island lying to the west of Gage Roads and Owen Anchorage and Cockburn Sound to the south, Gage Roads was the location of the 1987 America's Cup.
The area is the most northern of one of four coastal basins formed from the flooding of a depression between Pleistocene aeolianite ridges running north-south, and the subsequent deposition of east-west Holocene banks. The seabed of Gage Roads is covered by seagrass.
Naming
In the context of maritime navigation, the term 'roads' refers to a navigable waterway or channel that leads to a harbour or port. Gage Roads was named after Rear-Admiral William Hall Gage, who was the Royal Navy Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, when James Stirling was surveying the Swan River in 1826.[2][3]
Shipping reports
Anchorage
Cruising
In the early 1900s, the local boat SS Zephyr regularly took cruises in Gage Roads.[7] In the 2000s, STS Leeuwin II used Gage Roads for short sailing cruises.
