SAILING TO A NEW LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

Battered , the  dustjacket  silverfished  ,  the  above    book  by  Jean Cole , published  by John de Graff, Tuckahoe, New York,1969, found in a  North Queensland op shop  , has  interesting   Darwin  and   Townsville  content .  

By  Peter Simon 

It is  the account of how a  farming  family  built a  40ft  triman from a Californian  design in the highlands of Kenya , had  it  transported to the coast , a  92- year- old  grandmother in the crew of  five then  set  sail  for  New  Zealand ,12,000 miles away , in  1966.

As  the  triman , named  Galinule , after an East African freshwater bird ,     dropped anchor in  Darwin, "tearing up  in  a  speedboat" came    none  other  than  the  truly  larger  than life  character , Carl  Atkinson , a marine    diver  and  handyman , who  lived  at    Doctors Gully  in  a  collection  of  wartime huts,  a tree growing through  the  roof  of  his  bedroom , from which  he  was  said  to  swing  and   beat  his  chest  like Tarzan "after  a  conquest." 

  

Legend had it  that  he had beaten up  Australian film star   Errol Flynn  in New Guinea . His workshop included  a recompression chamber  , used to  treat  himself after  diving,  with  which  he   saved  the  lives  of  pearl divers suffering from  the  bends.  His  pets included  a snake called Sammy and a crocodile  cutely  named  Cuthbert . 

I  knew  Atkinson  when  I  was  a  reporter on the  Northern Territory News  from l958-1962 and often  ran  into  him while   covering  the  arrival  of  yachts , luggers  and   other  vessels  of   interest . One  extraordinary arrival was the yacht Sea Fox , skippered  by  American  actor-magician John Calvert  , a   passenger  a  caged,  chain - smoking  chimpanzee. 

While in Darwin , Calvert called at  the News office  to see editor  Jim Bowditch  and   used  a  basic  bolted  together  toilet , resulting  in  the facetious  suggestion  that  a  plaque  should be attached to the clanging   metal door  declaring : John  Calvert  pissed  here . 

 Bowditch and  I appeared  on  stage  in the  Town Hall  when   Calvert  put on a  magic show  to   raise  money as  he was  short of  the  folding  stuff. In fact , he  winced  when  he  got  the  bill   for  some washing  and  ironing  and  said  he  might  marry  a  laundress.  

The yacht became the centre of a  spectacular  drama  when it began to sink off Arnhem Land  while bound for Sydney where Calvert was  to put on  magic  shows  at   the  Ruchcutter's  Bay   Stadium .

Reports of the sinking  run in  the  US  highlighted  the  fact that  an American and his wife were  aboard  the  yacht . This  resulted in a woman in  the USA  stating  she was  Mrs Calvert , had a son called John, who was missing his daddy  , so who was  this  other Mrs Calvert ?.That other woman was a Filipino  singer,  Pelita 

I  flew from  Darwin  over  the yacht  in  an  RAAF   Lincoln  bomber  which unsuccessfully  tried  to  drop pumps  to the  stricken vessel . Another  RAAF plane  joined  in from Townsville. The Navy eventually towed the  yacht to a  Methodist  mission, where it  fell over on its side .  In poor shape ,it  eventually  ended  up  in  Carl   Atkinson's  hands   at   Doctors  Gully ,the  above  photograph  taken  there  , provided  by  Robert  Wesley-Smith .

Commander Crabb  mystery 

Whenever a  new vessel  arrived  in  port , as  was  the  case  with  the yacht from  Kenya  ,  Atkinson  was  quick  to  offer  his  services .

As I came away from  interviewing  the  crew  on  a  Russian oceanographic (spy?)  ship for the  NT News , Carl arrived  and  we  greeted each  other. As  he  boarded  the  gangway, I cried out  : "Watch out ,  Commander Crabb- you could  go  missing !"  

This was a reference to the mysterious disappearance of  the wartime hero Lieutenant-Commander Lionel " Buster" Crabb while diving near Russian warships which  brought  Marshal  Bulganin  and Nikita   Krushchev to  Britain  in  l956.

Wild stories circulated that  Crabb had been captured by the  Russians and taken back  to  Russia , that he had been working  for   US Intelligence  and not  the  British . Authorities   claimed  a  headless  and  armless  body  found  in a diving suit  was  not  that  of  Commander  Crabb .

Atkinson responded to my Crabb  warning  with a  laugh,  saluted me in navy fashion -although bare-headed and wearing a boiler suit , the sleeves  cut back  for  ventilation .

Nurses  in  tow , Cupids galore 

Apart from owning Darwin's wartime shipping  wrecks , it was claimed he introduced  waterskiing  to   Australia .  He  certainly  introduced  a  number of  Darwin nurses to  the sport . As he  zoomed  about the harbour in his speedboat with  a  modern day Florence Nightingale in tow , envious males referred  to "Atkinson's harem." 

Carl had competition in this  area  - another dashing  character with a speedboat , Bill Burroughs ,  a driller , who seemed  to  cater  for  airline  hosties  who enjoyed   flying  across  the  water  .  

One day ,while I was covering courts in  Darwin, a  girl from  the front office called  me  out   and  said  I was urgently  wanted on  the  telephone  by the NT News editor, Jim  Bowditch.

 Wondering  what had happened, I made contact,  was informed  to dash down  to  Carl  Atkinson's   Doctors  Gully  because  an  RAAF Sabre  fighter   jet  plane  had  crashed  into   the  harbour .

With a  photographer , we  made out in one  of  Carl's boats  and found debris on the  surface , including  the  pilot's  helmet, which I plucked  from the water.

 During their stay in Darwin  the  family on  the  Gulinule was helped   out on several occasions by Alan Carter , who ran  a ferry  across  the harbour to Mandorah  with  an Aboriginal  assistant  named  Roy Bigfoot . There  he  ran  a  resort  which  included  a  special   honeymoon suite  in  which  cupids  adorned  the   bedcover  on   the   sagging  mattress and  a  wardrobe . 

NEXT : The crunch of coral  on the Great Barrier Reef  and Townsville.