Batavia Road - A black and white photo of people on a boat

This is a photograph of the Batavia Road one of the first boats ever involved in commercial tourism in the Houtman Abrolhos.
Between 1946 and 1948, the Batavia Road and Suda Bay were used by Dal Gaze and Alan Fox to transport tourists to and from the Houtman Abrolhos, especially Pelsaert Island. This represents the first known commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos. In 1948, the partnership between Gaze and Fox broke up, but Gaze continued using the Batavia Road for tourism, and also used it to transport stores to fishermen stationed in the Pelsaert Group. During a severe storm in June 1948, it ran aground on Half Moon Reef and was nearly sunk. Gaze eventually wound up his tourist operation in 1951. The Batavia Road later foundered on rocks 30 kilometres north of Geraldton in January 1974.