Loss and saving of the VAL
By John Maddox
It was late February 2017 and I had been in email contact with Irish OCC member Nick Dwyer regarding a mooring or marina berth in Sydney for his Roberts designed designed steel ketch VAL.
Nick and Barbara who had joined him in Tonga were on passage from Opua Bay of Islands New Zealand part of a circumnavigation Nick began in 2008.
Nick Dwyer and Barbara Heftman
I thought they must getting close even though the weather in the Tasman Sea had been very bad. Then in early March I received a telephone call from Nick who said that Barbara and he were both in Sydney but that VAL had been lost in a very strong northeaster.
Nick explained that they were running before a strong following northeaster keeping stern to large waves. We were about 100 miles east of Sydney when VAL’s keel hung rudder became detached. They adjusted the sails so she sailed slowly up wind and retreated below where it was quite comfortable.
The following night VAL was rolled at least 180 degrees and although the masts were still upright the sails for were in shreds. They deployed a sea anchor but in the next 2 days they suffered 2 more knock downs.
After 2 days they called AMSA [Australian Maritime Safety Authority] for assistance. The Sydney Water Police boat was sent out to them. Nick just had time to grab his bag of passports credit cards and the ships papers because the Police said that they had used half the fuel to get to VAL and had just enough to return to Sydney.
Nick and Barbara did not have time to collect any dry clothes. On arrival in Sydney at 2.00 am they were given overnight accommodation in the cells in the Police Station spending their second night as guests of OCC member Roger Jones on a yacht called REBOOT.
A few days later a sailing friend and I met VAL's crew in new clothes they had bought.
AMSA notified commercial Vessels to look out for VAL as she was a danger to shipping as far as they knew. Nothing was heard for some weeks until Nick got a phone call to say that VAL had been sighted by a Japanese container ship which had sent a boat over to confirm that there was nobody on board.
VAL adrift at sea. (Supplied: NSW Water Police)
The ship said that both masts were still standing and there was a small staysail set. The position was 30 miles south of Gabo Island some 265 miles south of Sydney. The masts may have remained in place because all the standing rigging other than the inner and outer forestays were all oversized galvanized steel with a breaking strain more that the weight of the boat.
Following the sighting Nick rented a small plane to locate VAL and was set to rent a boat to bring VAL when the police said they had a training exercise nearby and they would tow VAL into Eden. Nick was told not to tell anyone that VAL had been found to avoid salvage claims. VAL was repaired in Eden about 235 miles south of Sydney. A local man donated to Nick a new full suit of sails that he had kept for his next boat that never came to pass because of ill heath.
Nick Dwyer's yacht, abandoned during severe storms off Sydney, drifted for three weeks until it was recovered and towed to Eden. Image Peter Whiter
Several months later with the repairs completed Nick and Barbara sailed up to Sydney for a long awaited beer near the Opera House. They anchored in Blackwattle Bay for afternoon tea. Barbara baked a cake for John Maddox.