Island ferry in a cyclone.

[Hasbeen]

Hi Folks.

I posted a thread about sailing through a cyclone in the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef, & thought you might be interested in running a launch through one. She was The South Molle 60 Ft Ferry, with twin 4 71 GM diesel, & a lot more top hamper than you really want in rough conditions.

It was 1985 or 6, & I was running the marine division for South Mole Island in the Whitsundays. It was stores day, when our 95Ft barge loaded fuel, our freezer truck & our major order of stores for the week.

We had been watching a cyclone out in the Coral Sea for a few days, but at 5.00 AM the forecast was it would not affect us in the next 48 hours. The island powerhouse was getting low on diesel so at 6.00 AM I confirmed with the MacKay fuel supplier to send 15,000 gallons of diesel, 5,000 of petrol, & 1,000 of two stroke mix up on the tanker.

I sent the two large boats 29 & 24 metre International catamarans, off to our cyclone bolt hole on the mainland, & arranged for their families to go to a large high safe home that night. I kept the 60Ft island ferry out, as the resort requested 3 departures at 8.00 AM, midday & 4.00 PM for any guests who wanted off the island. It would take its chances at Shute harbour, as would the barge, after getting the supplies to the island.

9 AM the ferry is back, & the barge is at the jetty, pumping diesel ashore, & unloading stores. The wind is up, & it’s getting a bit rough at the jetty. The bureau correct their forecast, we have only 24 hours before the cyclone reaches us.

10 AM it is getting quite rough at the jetty, I tell the island the last ferry will leave at 11.00AM, confirm the power house has enough fuel, & send the barge off for Shute harbour. It’s square bow is not good for pushing into the growing seas.

11.00 AM I get on the ferry, with the departing island guests, & head for Shute harbor. The weather bureau corrects its forecast, the cyclone will be over us at 7.00 PM. I arrange our courtesy bus to pick up the big boats crews families & get them to the safe house, before meeting the ferry at Shute.

We hear a call from Whitsunday Rent a Yacht. 2 of their 35 footers are to the west of North Molle Island & in trouble. They cannot make headway in the rising seas. Can anyone help?

I don’t like this. Amateur sailors, with ropes, near propellers in rough conditions is asking for disaster, but what can you do. We are the only boat near, & just a couple of miles away. The 2 amateur skippers are very competent luckily, & we have them both in tow in just 45 minutes.
That’s when we get a call from the barge, it is losing power on the starboard engine, & can’t make headway towards Shute in the now moderate seaway. I can’t help him with these yachts out back, so tell the skipper to head to Airlie Beach, it’s mostly down wind, & out of the rough stuff. He is to shove the thing up into the mangroves, drop all the anchor gear, & get home. His family were not taken to the safe house, as he should have been home.
The wind is up to about 40 knots by now, from a little east of south east. We keep as close in to the western coast of South Molle as safely possible, as I want to get south of Shute harbour entrance, then bring the wind & sea on the aft quarter as we cross Mole Channel into Shute. The ferry only has a couple of 4 71 GM diesels, & with a bluff bow, I’m not sure she could make headway into the growing sea, with the yachts in tow.

1.00 PM we finally get into Shute Harbour after a fair battle with increasing seas. As we do, the whole bay starts smoking. Spray is rising up from the water like a dancing mist, first at the far end of the harbour, coming to meet us as we get near the jetty. This indicates about 70 knots of wind usually, but it only lasts for a couple of minutes.

We get the yachts as close to their facility as possible, & get them to drop their tow. The company has their staff there to help now.

We get our thing tied up about 2.30 PM, & head for Airlie Beach, to look after our own families. Strangely it is not that bad at Airlie. In fact by 4.00 PM it is a quite nice afternoon. That smoking water was the switch to North West wind as the eye passed just south of us.

It is fortunate the folk of the weather bureau were many miles away from the Whitsundays. If I could have got to them just then, I might have done something very nasty to them, with the sharp end of a pineapple.

It wasn’t actually their fault that the cyclone suddenly sped up, & the speed of travel of the thing helped keep the wind speed down, but I could have done with not sailing right through it.

[Diesel Bill]

Well written, fascinating. Thank you for sharing.