One of the earliest shipwrecks was a wooden schooner, the Slippery Charlie, which, at 22 metres long and 56 tons, was comparatively small. It was built in 1865 at Crookhaven, N.S.W. and named for the then N.S.W. Premier, Charlie Cowper.

In 1866 the ship was journeying from Sydney to the Richmond River. The wreck came about when the rudder stem broke in an easterly gale just off Nambucca Heads. The ship was soon at the mercy of the waves and was pounded to pieces on the rocks nearest to Shelly Beach.

Only one seaman amongst the sixteen crew and passengers, including five children, survived the wreck. He managed to swim ashore and lay on the beach exhausted until morning. Five bodies came ashore later and were buried in the bushy undergrowth adjoining Beilby's Beach.

The "great gale" that took the Slippery Charlie sank fifteen vessels and took 110 lives on the N.S.W. coast during its forty-eight hour battering. It was believed to be the worst gale in Australia's maritime history.

The Helena Davis, a schooner of 65 feet that could carry 100 tons, was built of colonial hardwood with tea tree timbers and Kauri decks at Stockton in 1879. It was copper fastened and copper sheathed throughout and was built for the timber trade between Port Stephens and Sydney.

In February 1891, during a heavy gale, the ship capsized on the bar at the mouth of the river. Three lives were lost. The remainder of the crew were rescued by pilot Whaites and his crew, with Whaites later receiving a marine pilot award for saving lives.

Whilst shipwrecks caused tragic loss of life and assets there was those that brought profit to the locals. The iron steamer the Albany, built in 1862 as the Claud Hamilton, was owned by the Adelaide Steamship Company and in March 1905 was on its route from Sydney to Brisbane.

The ship struck a reef a little north of the Nambucca Heads bar on the northern side of Swimming Creek beach. There were no passengers on board and the crew of twenty were safely rescued before the Albany broke in half about twelve hours later.

At the time of the crew's rescue it was said that the entire population of Nambucca Heads was lining the foreshores to view the scene. Local shipbuilder Rock Davis witnessed the scene and recalled the extreme interest among the residents in the cargo carried which was insured for three thousand pounds.

" A piano salvaged from the wreckage is in the district today. I believe it is still in good order.", said Davis.

For weeks later the beaches between Scotts Head and Urunga were littered with valuable cargo. Even the presence of twelve policemen called in to protect it were unable to stop pillaging by happy locals of bottles of liquors and liniments, cigarettes, materials and clothing.

Eventually some nine men were caught and fined at Macksville Police Court. The wreck of the Albany was found in 1958 by local fishermen in twenty five feet of water off Nambucca Heads.