The Amity Point pilot station was the first in the Moreton bay penal settlement and continued to operate till the wreck of the Sovereign in 1848 when it was relocated to Moreton Island and shipping then used the northern entrance to the bay via Cape Moreton. In 1827 Governor Ralph Darling visited the settlement and amongst other concerns expressed a dissatisfaction with the inability of large ships to navigate the sandbar at the Brisbane River mouth. Captain Patrick Logan, Commandant of Brisbane, recommended the settlement be relocated to Green Point or Bird Island. Captain Logan wrote to Governor Darling,  ""...it appears to me that Green Point is not only the most eligible situation but likewise possesses every requisite for a penal settlement. The channels from the two rivers unite at this point and there is good anchorage for ships in six fathoms water; if a jetty was thrown out about 150 yards, vessels drawing 18 feet could lay alongside at low water. And besides, there is a small island one and three-quarter miles from the shore having four fathoms close to the beach. I think this would be an excellent site for a store and dockyard; vessels could here be discharged without having any communication with the settlement which would completely prevent smuggling. The boats belonging to the settlement could be hauled up here at sunset, which would prevent any surprise if the prisoners were disposed to seize them. There is a supply of fresh water sufficient for the largest city."" In response to Captain Logan's recommendations Governor Darling wrote to Viscount Goderich, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies,  'With respect to the Settlement at Moreton Bay, its local situation appears to me highly objectionable. The tediousness and difficulty of the access render it extremely inconvenient. From the entrance of the Bay to the mouth of the Brisbane, on the left bank of which the settlement is situated is about fifteen miles, the intermediate space being in general so extremely shoal as to interrupt the Communication. The Settlement of Brisbane Town is at least fifteen miles further up the River, so that much time is lost in gaining the Settlement, and small vessels only, of a light draught of water, can accomplish it. I propose, as a means of remedying in some degree this inconvenience, to form a small Settlement at "Dunwich" on the Isle of Stradbroke, being the southern boundary of the Bay, for the purpose of receiving in the first instance the supplies sent from this for the Settlement, and the Timber, etc., to be forwarded thence to Sydney. According to this arrangement, the Vessels employed in communicating with Moreton Bay will not be detained longer than may be necessary to discharge and take in their cargoes at Dunwich, it being intended to station a small, Vessel at that place for the purpose of conveying the supplies from the Establishment to the Settlement and bringing down the Timber, etc.