“Are they divers?” he asked as his father lowered the glasses.
“Fair go! Wait till we get a bit closer,” his father answered.
Jordan took the binoculars and steadied them, at the same time bracing himself to keep the steering. “Looks like a pleasure launch, or a game fishing boat,” he said. He then handed the binoculars to Andrew.
Andrew braced himself and struggled to hold the binoculars on the distant vessel. The motion of the launch was much livelier than when he had done his training off Mackay the previous week but now he was grateful for that experience as it allowed him to finally focus and hold the vessel in his sights. It was just a small launch he decided.
“Definitely not a trawler or anything like that,” he commented, handing the binoculars back.
Carmen asked the question, “Do you think they are diving on the wreck?”
Jordan shook his head and laughed. “Doubt it. After all, this is the Great Barrier Reef. We have to expect to have a few other boats around. I’d say they are just recreational fishermen.”
There was nothing more to be done so they drank hot coffee and discussed the weather. As 0600 came up Jordan woke Moses. The radio was switched on and they listened to the news and the weather forecast. This still predicted winds of 10 to 12 knots and waves to 1.2 metres.
Moses now took over the con. He switched on the echo sounding sonar. “Not looking for fish,” he explained. “This is in case of uncharted reefs. This whole area has not been charted accurately. We don’t want to join the Merinda on the bottom of the sea. Now, would you all go on deck and help Jordan keep an eye out for rocks and reefs.”
They made their way up onto the foredeck. Jordan nimbly climbed the mast and settled himself at the small cross trees, clinging firmly against the rapid swinging of the mast as the launch rolled. Andrew would have liked to join him but Jordan said that was too much weight too high up so instead he stood holding the starboard shroud.
Having just looked at the chart Andrew felt a distinct wave of uneasiness as he looked out over the tumbling waves. In every direction, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but water. Nor was there any sign of the reef, yet he knew there were several small ones in the area. To reinforce the sense of danger Moses now eased the throttle back so that the launch was only just making way through the water. The chart had indicated depths of about 60 metres but he well knew that any coral reef would be only a few metres below the surface and even awash at low tide. The sea bed could rise abruptly with vertical or near vertical sides.
It was cold out in the wind and his eyes watered but he stuck to the task, determined to do his bit and anxious lest they come to grief like so many other vessels had over the years. The sun slowly rose and a few clouds took more distinct shape. As so often happened what appeared to be a dark line of threatening clouds on the eastern horizon seemed to melt away and leave just a few thin layers. As the launch got closer to it the other boat became more and more distinct and Andrew became convinced it was anchored.
Moses steered straight towards it, reasoning that if it was anchored then it was in the lee of the reef, or in a lagoon. By 0630 it was only about a mile away. Another ten minutes of slow chugging brought it even closer so that Moses was able to study it through his binoculars and call out that it was just a pleasure launch with a couple of men on it.
When it was only about half a mile away Jordan suddenly shouted and they all looked where he was pointing. Andrew distinctly saw the line of distant ripples that could only be where waves were breaking on the windward side of a reef. On their side was an obvious area of calmer water. After a last few really big waves that sent it rolling and pitching the launch suddenly slid into quieter water.
Jordan again pointed and called down, “I can see the reef. It is a few hundred metres to starboard.”
Andrew shaded his eyes and stared, finally detecting the darker colouration of the water that indicated a coral reef just below the surface. He knew from the chart that Echo Reef was only about half a kilometre across- a mere speck in the ocean compared to many reefs but similar to Wheeler Reef where he and Carmen had done their advanced diving course. It seemed to be similar also in the fact that the water everywhere else appeared to be deep.
While looking towards the anchored pleasure launch another uneasy thought crossed Andrew’s mind and he said, “Should we go near them? We don’t want them to know we are looking for a wreck.”
Moses nodded through the windows and spun the wheel so that the launch turned to starboard and headed directly for the reef. Jordan shouted down that he could clearly see the end of the reef off to their right. That made sense to Andrew as well because the chart showed it as an oval shape. The engine vibration slowed even more as Moses allowed the launch to creep in close to the lee of the reef.
“Bottom!” Jordan shouted. “I can see bottom: white sand.”
“Got that on the sonar,” Moses called back. “Shelving quickly up from about fifty metres. We anchor soon as we spot coral right ahead.”
Jordan slid to the deck and went forward to where the anchor was lashed to the railings. He cast off the lashings and released the lock on the anchor chain. Then he lugged the anchor right up to the bow and made sure the chain was free to run. He then stood out on the tiny bowsprit, staring down into the sea, his arm above his head. Andrew kept looking anxiously into the water, afraid they would bump into an isolated coral head. Suddenly Jordan waved and then bent down and seized the anchor. His muscles rippled and he flung it overboard. The motor died away and the sound of the chain roaring out took its place.
A few minutes later the launch was safely at anchor and only about 50 metres from the dark shape of the coral. Close up in the lee of the reef the waves were quite small and the motion of the launch was just a gentle rocking. Andrew noted that both wind and current were running from the reef towards them, so that if the anchor dragged the launch would just drift off into deeper water.
‘But so will we when we are diving,’ he thought anxiously. That got him worrying about how strong that current might be. It was certainly tugging at the hull and rippling around the taut anchor chain. Another searching look around made him even more anxious. There wasn’t a sight of land in any direction. ‘This is worse than Wheeler Reef,’ he thought. ‘At least it has that little sand cay at low tide.’ The feeling that they were very isolated and long way from any help made his anxiety about diving increase.
Moses come up onto the foredeck and studied the other launch through the binoculars. “Two blokes, an’ they lookin’ at us,” he said.
That other launch was about 300 metres away, but still too close for Andrew’s liking. He wished they had the place to themselves. He took his turn at studying it and saw a white painted pleasure launch of about 15 metres in length. It looked like hundreds of others he had seen- a slightly raised focsle, cabin and small fishing deck aft. The cabin had a steering position on top and there was the usual collection of radar and radio antennae and fishing rods. He saw one of the men clearly, a fit looking man with black hair and tanned body, wearing only shorts. The man was studying them with binoculars and that gave Andrew a real sense of unease. There was a second man working in the cabin and just visible from time to time.
“I hope they don’t bother us,” he said.
“We will leave them alone and hopefully they will leave us alone,” his father answered. “Now, let’s have breakfast and plan the day.”
Jordan was the cook, and a good one. Breakfast was bacon and fried eggs on toast. When breakfast was finished and the washing up done (by Andrew and Carmen), they seated themselves around the table again. Moses came in from studying the anchor and weather.
“Not dragging,” he said. “Low water now and the ebb just starting. We got to watch that so we don’t get swung round and onto the reef.”
Andrew wanted to ask if they really were at Echo Reef but knew it would insult the men’s navigation. ‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘they have a
GPS to check with.’ As a roundabout way of checking he voiced another of his fears. “I know this is Echo Reef, but what if Murchison got it wrong? He wouldn’t have had a GPS. His navigation wouldn’t have been that good.”
His father answered that. “My Dad would have navigated here and he would have got it right I reckon, even just using the old-fashioned methods of sextant and chronometer. There is no other reef marked within at least ten miles. I think this is the place.”
“Even if it isn’t,” Moses added. “We still have to check it, just to be sure. Now, how you kids gunna do that eh?”
Carmen answered that. She drew a sketch map of the reef as a rough oval aligned NE- SW. “I think we should just swim along the outside edge of the reef to begin with. While we do that you might take your dinghy and go back and forth across the top, if there is enough water, just in case the Merinda ran right up on the reef.”
“Good idea,” Moses agreed.
Mr Collins shook his head. “Don’t forget that the dinghy is also the safety boat in case one of the divers gets into trouble.”
Moses nodded. “So we don’t go far each time.”
Carmen stood up. “Right, it is nearly eight O’clock. Let’s get moving.”
At that Andrew’s stomach turned over and he felt sick with fear. But, berating himself as a real coward, he did not tell anyone but meekly went off to get changed into his bathers and then to suit up. Twenty minutes later he stood on the fish deck testing his gear and checking Carmen’s, all the while feeling so scared he thought he might throw up.
The next challenge was entering the water. By then the dinghy had been launched and Jordan and Mr Collins were both seated in it. By agreement Andrew and Carmen decided to go into the water on the side away from the other boat, so as not to make it obvious they were diving. But that meant that when Andrew looked out all he could see was deep blue sea and rippling waves stretching to the horizon. The ocean looked fearfully big and his imagination infested it with all manner of ferocious marine creatures.
But Carmen was in and signalling she was alright! And there was his father watching. Not wanting to make his dad ashamed helped. With a gulp of anxiety Andrew put his regulator into his mouth, steadied his breathing and then gripped his face mask and regulator and took the giant stride.
Splash! He was in. It was cold, it was deep, and it was terrifying. With an effort of willpower Andrew got control of himself. After inflating his BCD he spat in his face mask and adjusted it, all the while finning against the current to remain hidden from the other launch behind their own boat’s hull. While he did this his body twitched with almost phobic reaction, cringing in anticipation of the jaws rending his body.
Carmen swam into his field of vision and signalled to dive. With a sob and the awful knowledge that he was a weakling and a coward Andrew signalled back and began deflating his BCD. Water came up half over his face mask, then he was back in the air again, then half under, then above the surface, then fully under. His heart rate shot right up and he knew he was gasping for air as though he had run a race.
Through eyes made blurry by growing panic Andrew glimpsed the bottom of the launch. That helped steady him. Using it as a reference point he focused, noting the weed growth. Nearby was the bottom of the dinghy, clear on the rippling silver surface. And there was the anchor chain descending in a tight curve down to the bottom. Looking around under the water actually steadied him. There was a familiarity to it and he realized he could see the edge of the reef only a short distance from where the anchor was embedded in the sand.
Looking behind him didn’t help. Away from the reef the water quickly grew deeper and shaded into deep blue or spooky looking purply-grey. ‘Just like Shark Alley at Wheeler Reef,’ Andrew thought. That got his heart rate up again and he quickly swam over to the anchor chain and then went down it and away from that awful nothingness.
Carmen helped. She was beside him and kept giving him encouraging nods and smiling. A check of his depth gauge told Andrew he was at 12 metres when he reached the anchor. ‘That is nothing much,’ he thought. Feeling slightly better he followed Carmen away from the security of the chain and towards the dark mass of the reef.
The dinghy went churning overhead, the whirring of its propeller sounding unnaturally loud in the water. Seeing it go on ahead got Andrew all anxious again and he hurried to catch up with Carmen. She waited for him and together they swam past the first isolated outcrops of coral until they reached the edge of the main reef. Here it was only ten metres deep and Andrew felt much safer. Now the scary deep water was only on his right and he had the comforting barrier of the reef on his left to protect him from any large predators in that direction.
Even so he kept looking anxiously back over his shoulder and peering into the gloom ahead for the first tell-tale sign of a shark or whatever. For a while he quite forgot he was actually looking for a shipwreck and instead just swam along beside Carmen, keeping her on the outside.
Slowly his fears eased back. Partly it was familiarity with the environment. It was just like Green Island and Wheeler Reef. And the diving was now almost mechanical. Without even really thinking about it Andrew cleared water that had trickled into his face mask. He also remembered to keep a careful check on the time, on the amount of air left, and on the direction they were swimming.
By agreement they had begun searching counter-clockwise. This was partly on the theory that that side of the reef was more likely to have been the one struck by the Merinda, but also because it took them well away from the other boat. So they swam South West, then South as they followed the edge of the reef around. It soon became obvious that the current was stronger on the south side of the reef.
‘Because the prevailing wind is pushing it that way,’ Andrew reasoned. He went back to scanning the bottom, particularly out in the deeper water, hoping for any sign of a ship wreck.
After twenty minutes of steady swimming they had covered about 400 or 500 metres but were now pushing against a really strong current as they came around onto the curve of the south eastern side of the reef. Carmen attracted Andrew’s attention and pointed to her watch, then indicated she had only about 100 psi of air pressure left in her tank. Andrew had even less, only 80. He knew that was because of his gasping breathing at the start and felt ashamed of himself.
It was a big relief to turn back though, even if they had not discovered the wreck. Going back was much easier. Most of the time they just finned along, helped by the current. It only took them ten minutes to return to their start point, the swim only notable for the sudden appearance of a large wrasse which darted into a crevasse and vanished. To his own surprise and relief Andrew recognized the coral formations where they had first reached the reef. He was even more relieved to see the anchor and chain and the dim shadow that was the launch.
He and Carmen slowly rose up the anchor chain, holding on against the current while they kept their rate of descent within safe limits. Five more minutes had them clinging to a couple of old car tyres slung over the starboard side of the launch as fenders. As the Moa Mermaid wasn’t a dive boat there was no platform or ladder so getting back aboard was a lot more difficult. Moses reached down and took their fins and masks and then helped heave them up one by one. Andrew went last, using the tyre as a step.
Once back on board Andrew sat down immediately, every muscle trembling. Moses helped Carmen off with her gear and then moved to assist him. “Cold eh?” he asked.
Andrew nodded, then added, “And I’m not very fit. That current is stronger than it looks.”
While they de-suited and packed their gear the dinghy returned. It was obvious from the faces and body language that they also had discovered nothing. “Very shallow, and no big gullies or swim throughs at this end,” Jordan explained.
Hot drinks were provided and the explorers sat around the cabin table to discuss their next move. Carmen pointed on her sketch map to show where she thought she and Andrew had explored to. “About a quarter of the
reef,” she commented.
Her father shook his head. “No. The reef is at least seven hundred metres across. That would give an approximate circumference of at least two thousand metres. You say you only swam about four hundred.”
Carmen shrugged. “So a fifth. That’s not too bad for a first go. Next time we will go the other way and I think we will get further because it is more in the lee of the reef.”
“That takes us towards that other boat,” Andrew cautioned.
“So what? They won’t see us. We have to search that area, and the safety boat can just pretend to be fishing,” Carmen said.
That was agreed to. Having decided on their next move both Andrew and Carmen sat together to calculate their residual nitrogen and safe dive times and depths. They then went below to change. Andrew had a quick fresh water shower to wash off the dried salt from his skin, then lay down on his bunk to think. As a two hour break was planned Andrew closed his eyes to rest. To his annoyance he found his mind replaying the underwater images he had just seen. That got him anxious about the next dive but also stirred his determination to find the wreck.
He didn’t sleep but he did doze and the rest freshened him up considerably. Another big drink of hot chocolate helped even more. By then it was 1030 so he and Carmen again suited up and prepared to dive. This time Andrew wasn’t quite as anxious but it still took an effort of willpower to make himself jump into that sea. Both Moses and Jordan went in the dinghy- as a plan to hide the fact that divers were at work. The two T.Is set off to act as innocent fishermen near the other launch.
Once underwater Andrew and Carmen again went down the anchor chain and finned in to the edge of the reef. Here they turned left and headed North West. The tide was now rising but the current in close to the reef was negligible and they were able to swim along easily. There was a lot more marine life in this more sheltered area and the coral growths were more spectacular and fragile- lots of layered and branching coral. Swarms of multi-hued fish provided interest and nothing too large appeared to alarm Andrew.
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