Distant view of the jetty and small sailing craft at Pine Point in the Hundred of Muloowurtie, South Australia

Pine Point was one of the many small ports which were used during the grain harvest for the transport of the grain. The ketch once fully loaded sailed directly back across the gulf to Port Adelaide and transhipped the cargo there, or alternatively sailed along the peninsula to one of the larger ports such as Ardrossan or Edithburgh and offloaded to a larger ship.

Before bulk handling facilities were built during the late 1950s and 1960s at the larger ports, transport by ketches, loaded at the small ports was the usual means of transport for the harvest. The bags would be laboriously man-handled on to wagons or trucks, driven to the harbour and then man-handled into the ketche's hold. On arriving at its destination the ketch hands would then off load the bags, sometimes with the benefit of a small sling which carried 4-5 bags at a time, or else laboriously a bag at a time on their own backs.

At Pine Point, initially the drays were driven out to the ketches at low tide and the bagged grain loaded directly to the ketch. Later a small wharf was built which enabled the ketch to remain in deeper water. Finally in 1927 a slide or chute down the embankment enabled speedier loading. The last ketch to take off grain from Pine Point was the Yongala in October 1967; the grain yards at Pine Point were also closed at this time.

The installation of bulk handling facilities at Ardrossan and Port Giles and improved road transport meant that the harvest could be driven directly to the silos and loaded into the ships' holds by conveyor belt.

Collins, Neville C The jetties of South Australia: past and present Woodside, S.A.: Neville Collins, 2005

Muloowurtie Centenary 1874-1974, celebrated October 11th & 13th, 1974 Photocopy