History Stories, Jack's Stories

The Big Swim

ADJACENT to the shop at Bungwahl is the saddle and other leather goods business of Dieter Shuelein.

In 1979 Dieter, age 28, was a professional fisherman operating out of Boat Beach and the shallow underwater reefs in the area were a good place to set the fish & crayfish traps.

However, these are hazardous places because a larger wave can suddenly appear out of nowhere. In some places the reef is so shallow that it causes a constant surf break called a bombora (bommie).
On Saturday the 17th March 1979 Dieter set out to check several traps set just inside Little Seal Rock. The weather worsened, the seas rose, and an extraordinary drama unfolded.

Later Dieter wrote a letter to his parents explaining what had happened to him. Dieter has given me a copy of this letter with permission to publish those sections that are relevant to the tale.

Here then, in his own words, transcribed as best I can with one bung eye, is Dieter’s story.

“Dear Mum & Dad and family,
As you can see in the paper we have had our little drama this week in Seal Rocks. I am glad to be alive and writing this letter. Just let me tell you about what happened.
Early in the morning I went out fishing. The weather was overcast and raining. The sea had swell but no wind. All the big boats went out. I went to check one of my traps at Little Rock. The trap was about 200 yards in from the bommie. It was raining and I could not see my marks. The current was running out to sea and as I picked up the trap I drifted right into the bommie. I looked up and a wave was breaking on me. The boat turned over and I jumped out and then I was hanging on to my overturned boat. The trap kept the boat from going out to sea with the current.
About this time I was thinking about everything I could do. I thought that Arthur would come by as he had some traps near mine but the weather and sea got bad and all the big boats went in.

I sat out on the boat for six hours hoping that someone would see me.

Once I swam in a bit to see how strong the current was. I swam back to the boat thinking it would be a long way against the current and sea. My thoughts were to sit and wait, but by afternoon I knew that no one was out at this time. Alex will be looking for me but could not see me because the weather was too bad to see anything. I knew the weather was really going to get bad and I realised I would have to try to swim to shore.
I knew if I did swim I would need something to help swim if I got tired or cramps so I took the two buoys off the trap rope and tied them together with about 15 feet of rope and tied them to my waist. The boat was starting to go out to sea and I got ready to swim. I felt good about the distance and it is about 4 to 5 K. I thought I could make it.
It was about two or three o’clock when I left the boat. As I was swimming in I felt really good. I knew I was going in. The swim was very hard and I made little progress. The sea and the current was always against me. When I got tired I just hung onto the two buoys then kicked my feet so I would not lose any distance. I did a lot of talking to myself, it kept me going.
Just on dark I hit the beach at the middle of Lighthouse Beach. There were some people fishing on the beach as I got out of the water. I could not walk, my legs were like jelly and I did not have any clothes on. The people put me in a blanket and drove me home. Sue was at the Lighthouse and there was a lot of people all looking for me. All in all I felt really good. People came over to see me and the newspapers and TV were ringing up for my story.
Just a week before, I had bought a new 50HP motor and now my boat and all its fishing gear was lost at sea. The next morning, Alex and I were going to look for my boat, but we could not get out it was too rough. I was happy to be alive but I did start to think about my loss. $5000 is a lot of money for us. The next day we did get out but no luck after looking for it all day.
In the afternoon the water police rang up and told us they had found the boat at sea, it was 30 miles down the coast. That night we went and got it. It was not damaged but my winch and motor had been underwater for 2½ days. I took them in yesterday but I am getting a new one as the motor would never be the same. All in all things turned out very good and I did not think I would get my boat back.
Well Dad ……”

The rest is family stuff.

Jack Brown

Seal Rocks News

Vale – Antonio Giner and Piers Dudley-Bateman

 

 Antonio Giner and Piers Dudley-Bateman

With huge sadness we have pasted this article from the Herald. RIP Antonio and Piers. True gentlemen. Commiserations to family and friends. Such a loss!

Brothers-in-law Antonio Giner, Piers Dudley-Bateman die in mysterious boating accident
By DAN PROUDMAN and NICK BIELBY
Sept. 6, 2015, 11 p.m.

From Newcastle Herald:
https://www.theherald.com.au/story/3331153/family-tragedy-mystery-over-brothers-in-law-death-at-sea/

IT is 3am and brothers-in-law Antonio Giner and Piers Dudley-Bateman have just been in contact with family as their eight-metre yacht struggles through four-metre swells and 30-knot gales in Stockton Bight.
They both may be 70-ish, but age is only a number when you have the passion and knowledge of the sea like this pair.
But suddenly, something catastrophic happens.
It is that quick that they cannot send another message, either to their families or authorities.
The last pings from their mobile phones to a tower on Gan Gan Hill, near Nelson Bay, has them between three and five nautical miles south about 3.30am on Friday.
What happened next may never be known.
And that is the mystery surrounding the deaths of the two men, whose bodies were found washed ashore Stockton Beach on Friday afternoon.
Police are investigating whether Mr Giner, 72, from Duns Creek near Paterson, and Mr Dudley-Bateman, 67, of Victoria, were able to get into their tiny dinghy in a frantic attempt to abandon their stricken yacht, possibly after it was swamped.
One of the men was found still wearing his lifejacket while the other was naked, a fairly common scenario when bodies are lost in large churning seas  that act like a giant washing machine to rip clothes away.
The dinghy was found on the tide mark at Stockton.
The pair had been cruising up the coast from Broken Bay to North Arm Cove, in Port Stephens, and were planning on hitting their destination about midday on Friday.
Their deaths have sent their families and several communities into deep mourning.
Mr Giner’s wife, Annita, was still coming to terms with losing her husband and brother on Sunday.

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Police at the scene where two bodies washed up on Stockton Bight.  Picture: Peter Stoop

Mr Giner was well known in social circles for spreading his Spanish culture. Paterson Tavern owner Nicole Eslick said Mr Giner was a well-liked and charismatic man.
She said she had known him for about 17 years and he had held several successful Spanish-themed events at the tavern.
“He used to cook paella and Spanish tapas and that sort of thing,” Ms Eslick said.
“He had that Hispanic accent and was very jovial and enthusiastic. He was very popular, very charismatic and a lot of fun.”
News of Mr Giner’s death has sent shock waves through the Paterson community.
“We were shocked and in disbelief initially,” Ms Eslick said.
“He was just a great bloke, it’s very sad.
‘‘He will be sorely missed.”
Mr Dudley-Bateman was a celebrated artist, with his work having been exhibited in art galleries in Australia and overseas, including the Red Hill Gallery in Brisbane, Eltham South Fine Art and the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair.
His art also hangs on the walls of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne University and the conference room in the Australian embassy in Washington.
Water police continued the search for the men’s yacht on Sunday, with fears it may  have  overturned but not sunk and could be  a  hazard to other boats and ships along the busy Stockton Bight.
It may also hold some clues into the last moments of the pair.