Later that evening I was able to make radio contact, explained the situation and asked them to decrease their speed which they did and though the bow sprit continued to smash into the port bow, it did so with much less frequency and much less force.
It was another sleepless night, but by dawn the typhoon had decreased in intensity. We spent some time jury-rigging support for the mast which was still moving around in a very unsettling manner and eventually got the broken bow sprit up on deck and lashed down. We then settled down feeling somewhat more secure.
Sometime during the afternoon, we heard some shouting and looking aft, discovered a trawler pulling up behind us. There were several blokes on their foredeck, all dressed in suit and ties, but barefoot, who were getting bounced around in the still large swells. One had a camera and was yelling at us to all come out on deck and to wave. Three of his mates were trying to steady him, one on each leg and the third, holding is the back of his pants. It was the funniest thing we had seen in several days, so we happily waved and mugged. Questions were yelled at us, but with the noise between their engine and the wind, not much was communicated. Several more photos as they passed and a wave good-bye.
We reached the entrance to Mooloolaba, a small coastal, mostly fishing town, about 100 kms north of Brisbane. Our tow boat radioed to inform us we would have to hove to in the bay entrance and wait for hightide, around midnight, to get over a sand bar at the entrance.
Kris and I were up on deck and she pointed out a what appeared to be a large group of birds perched atop the distant seawall. It was getting on toward dusk and they were difficult to see, but I opined that maybe the birds were waiting for some kind of fish run to begin.
Around midnight our towboat’s engine fired up and guided us into the harbor. As we approached the entrance, all those birds turned into people who had been patiently awaiting our entrance. A large cheer broke out and we were totally taken aback.
When Radio Brisbane rebuffed our Mayday calls, we assumed that we were truly on our own. We figured that the arrival of the Bogong and the shrimp boat were totally fortuitous. Now the large crowd who had waited for several hours in the dark for our arrival, caused us to rethink everything.
Turns out, Australians love sailing and sailors and especially Americans and most especially American, female sailors and our female crew had been having a great time in Sydney and some of the blokes they had gotten to know, were planning to drive up to meet them in Brisbane. When reasonable time had elapsed with no contact from the ladies about arrival in Brisbane and with the typhoon, they figured out we might be in trouble. These guys were well connected and got ahold of the authorities, especially Radio Brisbane and then the local media with the story and we had became the breaking news for a good part of the week.
We pulled in and tied up to some pilings about 15 feet from dry land where cheering Australians had been standing for several hours. This did not deter several reporters from rolling up the suit pantlegs and carrying their lights, cameras and tape recorders, wading out for our first interviews. Jack, very wisely, had prepped us when we realized what was happening, to deflect any interviews to him. That left us off the hook, so all we had to do was mug and deal with the curiosity and some adoration.
Finally our fifteen minutes of glory were over and it was time to crash. We were headline news the next day and that evening appeared, simultaneously, on all three Australian TV network stations. Long biographical information on Jack and the three ladies. The best I could muster was “and a fifth, unidentified crew member”! Oh well…
The next several days we cleaned up the boat as best we could and talked about how incredibly fortunate we were not to be dead.
Jack got us together and said we were going to throw a party for our rescuers and their wives. We all thought that was a really great idea, but Jack said there was another reason…because we had put in a Mayday call and they had thrown is their line, they probably had a claim to Ta’aroa. So with this in mind we put together a party and invited our rescuers. They appeared up with the requisite quarts of beer. The guy who owned the rescue boat, was a coastal shrimper and his wife and his crew. An associate, who was a deep-sea shrimper and his crew and a local cop and his wife. We asked how they happen to be out there and with some disbelief, they explained that they had heard our mayday calls and realized we were in a really bad situation. They contacted each other and set out. It took three days to catch up with us. Man, you’ve got to love Australian sailors! The party was going well – really nice folks and lots of sea stories, but we were waiting for the discussion which could change all of our lives. Finally, the conversation found Jack, in an uncharacteristically nervous voice asking, “So, we obviously are indebted to you and would like to know if there is anything we can do to repay you for your bravery and efforts”. The shrimp boat captain replied, “We understand that after two or three transmissions to Radio Brisbane/Australian Coast Guard you got no assistance. Would you mind writing a letter to the Queensland government detailing you experience. We have been fighting this battle for years and your input would be most helpful.” Our response was, “Hell yes! Anything else?” “No that would be most helpful and we would appreciate it.” At this point the party really took off and we carried on for many more hours!
They wanted us to meet their friends and after we were still headline news and these guys were doing their share of basking and so they threw several parties for us. Two things stand out in my memory. There were lots of “Shrimp on the barbie” and they were what I called “Three bite shrimp” which was how they were consumed – three large mouthfuls per shrimp. The other was that when guests appeared and they had a lot of friends, the host said he loved it when they had to knock with their feet, because their arms were full of quarts!
We than got a tow from Moolulaba down to Brisbane. There Jack engaged a local boatyard to begin the long job of getting her back to her former self. The crew took this opportunity to go its separate ways. Jack and Kris had decided to finish their relationship and when Kris left, Nancy departed with her. Barbara may have left with them, but came back and continued to crew with us. I took a holiday by hitching back to Sydney. I think Jack was just as happy to see us all leave for a while, so he could recover, after he had full responsibility for yacht and the crew and he was very serious about that. Our safety was of much concern to him and we had been in some pretty dire straits.
D