Seaflower

Seaflower was a two masted schooner, built in 1886 in Balmain, South Australia by A. Pether. The vessel weighed in at 53 tons, was 75 feet in length, 21 feet wide and had a draught of 6.5 feet. Her official number was 93500. She was brought to Western Australia and registered as no. 7 of 1913, and over the next 10 years plied a coastal trade for owner Frederick Iverson, master mariner of Carnarvon. She had three other shareholders in Cyril Richard Cornish, seaman; William Hancock, medical agent; and Eileen Stenning, married woman. Cyril worked on the Seaflower as mate.

In 1923 Axel Hansen had been master of the schooner for six months, although he had been skipper of vessels on the north west coast for 23 years. When the Seaflower left Point Cloates on Wednesday 12 September she had 32 year old Cyril as mate, Oscar Anderson, Charles Keyser and James Gray as crew. James was the cook, and he was also a deckhand as required (as was the custom on smaller boats). Seaflower sailed to Point Cloates empty, engaged by the North West Coastal Company to carry valuable whale oil and guano to Fremantle.

The schooner moored at Roebourne, and Albert Anderson signed on for the journey to Fremantle. Charles signed off the boat in Onslow. It was common practice for crew to sign on and off boats that carried fish, pearl shell, whale oil and guano. They signed off to visit family, to recover from illness or injury, or just to take a break from the harsh life aboard. It was not usually difficult to find a crew member willing to sign on when a boat needed another deckhand.

Seaflower’s voyage for the first part was trouble-free, and there were head winds until Saturday 15 September. Westerly winds began, and there was a big swell running, but Seaflower ran through South Passage and then sailed past Geraldton at midnight on Monday 17th September. The crew thought they were making good time.

On Wednesday 19 September, the wind turned into squalls. When Seaflower was passing Jurien, she was 10 miles out to sea, out of sight of the coast, steering west to stay off the reefs. The glass (barometer) was falling and Axel warned the crew of the coming storm. The crew knew they were sailing past the reef outside the Moore River where the Venus was wrecked the month before. According to Cyril, Axel said, “For two pins I’d go back”. It was not an option, though, and as the wind blew in hurricane gusts at 5pm, the crew set a jib sail to beat out as far as possible.

Then, a wave described by the survivor as a “wall of water” hit the boat’s side, and turned her over. Axel shouted “Stand by for your lives”, as the boat was carried over the reef by the huge wave. The staysail was carried away when the wave struck, followed by the mizzen. Seaflower landed on her side, and the crew were hurled into the water. Another wave made sure the boat was wrecked.

Cyril was thrown clear of the boat. Oscar swam towards the boat and a floating spar. Cyril saw him before a wave washed over him. When he surfaced again, Oscar was gone. Another wave sent Cyril underwater, and when he came back to the surface he saw Albert floating past him. He did not see Axel at all.

Cyril managed to hold onto some timber wreckage, and after four hours he was washed up on to the shore. It was midday and he was frozen and wretched. The wind was cold and he could hardly stand. He remained on the beach for some time, trying to warm up and shouting in hopes of finding his crew mates. Seaflower was no longer visible and there was no sign of the crew.

Cyril started walking. He had taken off his boots and oilskins to aid his flotation in the water. It did not take long to cut his feet and feel the effects of dehydration, hypothermia and exposure. He tore off his trouser legs and made a hat and wrapped his feet, and walked until he reached a track. Following the track he came across a road, and eventually found a house. He had started walking at 2pm on the 20 September, and found the house at 8am the next day.

There was no one at the house, and after waiting for an hour, Cyril crawled through a window and used the telephone. It was a party line, so when he picked up the receiver he spoke to the post master at Gin Gin Brook, Mr King. The house belonged to Mr King’s son-in-law, and Mr King brought his boat across the Moore river to rescue Cyril.

Constable Nicholson of Gingin reported the wreck, and organised a search for the three other crew members. They hoped Seaflower would drift ashore. The body of Albert was discovered washed up on the beach during the search, and he was hastily buried in the sand to preserve his body from local wild life.

In mid-October the Fisheries Department sent a launch to Moore River to attempt to refloat the Venus. Albert’s body was recovered from the sand, and he was reburied above the high water line. The other three bodies were never found.