Mosquito

Antonio “Toto” Cavalea was born on the 8 February 1916 in Villa San Giovanni in Calabria, Italy. Like many of his compatriots, he migrated to Australia in 1952 onboard the MV Ravello. At the time of migration his occupation was listed as a Carpenter. His family later joined him in South Fremantle before moving to Beaconsfield. He was married to Giuseppina. They gave birth to Luigi, Carlo, Mario, Maria and the youngest son Franco.

In 1972 Antonio was working the “whites” crayfishing season from Jurien Bay with his 35-foot crayfishing plank boat, the Mosquito. It was reportedly worth $25,000. That season the Mosquito crew consisted of Antonio Cavalea (Skipper), his son Frank Cavalea and Domenic Squadrito (Crew).

On 13 December 1972, the seas out of Jurien Bay were rough but not dangerous enough to cause concern. The Fleet of about 25 cray-boats, including the Mosquito, left the anchorage as usual. At around 4:45am, three 15-foot waves came up in Jurien Bay’s south passage about 2 miles off shore and about 4 miles south of Jurien Bay. Half of the fleet had reached the open sea when the waves came up in the half light.

The Mosquito was 50 yards ahead of the Sparviero skippered by Giovanni Siclari. Siclari witnessed the tragedy describing the moment the Mosquito was struck, “The Mosquito might as well have been a matchbox. It reared up bow first and overturned bow over stern. It was a complete somersault.”

Antonio was trapped in the wheelhouse when the king waves hit the boat. His 16 year son Frank, and 33 year old Dominic Squadrito were rescued after being sucked onto a razor sharp reef 16 feet under water. Siclari’s boat dragged the two survivors onboard.

Squadrito described the tragedy the moment the wave hit. “We turned over at least once and then I was in the water. I thought I was dead. I felt something solid and grabbed it and hung on. It took me a split second to realise that I was hanging on to the reef at the bottom of the sea. I let go. My lungs were bursting. I thought – I’m gone, I’ve had it. Then I resurfaced. I took one big breath and I was on the bottom again. The next thing I knew I was back on the surface. I saw the life raft off the Mosquito and grabbed it. Then I was pulled on to the Sparviero”.

Frank survived the ordeal, but he was left with a permanent leg injury that would affect his gait for the rest of his life.

The Sparviero also ran into trouble. After rescuing the two survivors, a rope fouled her propeller and stopped the engine. Siclari managed to get the motor going at full speed and rammed her into gear. The thrust snapped the rope and the boat was freed. It was the last desperate attempt to free the boat before it also met a similar fate.

Six boats were nearby when the Mosquito capsized and they initialled assisted in the search and rescue efforts. They were later joined by other vessels and Police. Pieces of the Mosquito washed up on the Beach at Jurien Bay and later, Antonio’s body was recovered. He was 56 years of age at the time of the tragedy. His body is buried in Fremantle Cemetery.