Raymond Doneo

Raymond John Victor Doneo was 25 years old when he got a job as a deckhand on a cray fishing boat working off Rat Island, in the Abrolhos Islands off the Geraldton coast.

Ray was born in 1963. He was the only son of John Doneo and mother Victorine Ferrarin. Ray also had two sisters. The family had emigrated from Middlesex in England. In 1989 they were living in the city suburb of Duncraig.

Ray had not worked on a commercial boat before. His uncle Gary Fletcher was working on the cray boat Betty Cole with skipper Jimmy Younger out of Geraldton. Ray left Perth to start work on Blue Skies, with skipper Robert Louie Della-Marianna.

Robert [Bob] was from an Italian family of fishers, based in the Southern Group of the Abrolhos Islands. His father Natale, and two brothers Lorenzo [Laurie] and Egidio Domenico were based in the Southern Group of the Abrolhos Islands.

Bob was a deckhand for skipper Michael Higbee on Rat Island in 1962 when the Marquis was sunk by a breaker. They were rescued after spending two hours in the water.

The 22nd of April 1989 was the fourth day of Ray’s new job aboard Blue Skies. They were dropping pots at Snapper Bank, 14 miles [22.5 kms] east of Rat Island at 2.20pm. The boat was under power when Ray threw a rope over the side that caught around his leg. As the weight of the pot pulled the rope tight Ray was dragged over the side of the boat and into the water.

Caught by the rope on his leg, Ray was pulled into the deep. He was under the water for several minutes, before he could be pulled back on deck. Attempts to resuscitate Ray were unsuccessful.

Ray’s untimely death was number 78 of 1989. He was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery. Bob passed away in 1998.