ALL AT SEA IN AN ESKY -

The fishing boat Nor 6 was on her way to a safe anchorage in the South Passage in the dark when she struck cliffs not far south of the safe harbour. Jack Drinan was thrown into the sea and as the boat broke up and sank he spotted the brine tank (a huge esky) that is kept on deck to store the catch.

He managed to swim to the brine tank and broke in through the top cover. He was now safe from drowning and had a small supply of food and water (from the ice). The bad news was that the wind was blowing him out to sea. Day after day the winds took him away from shore and his water eventually ran out. He drank small amounts of sea water (something you should never do) and started to hallucinate but was saved from death by rain which he managed to collect and divert to one of the compartments in the brine tank.

Several days after he first got into the tank he decided to fashion a raft from the foam insulation of the tank just in case he got close enough to shore to paddle in. By this time all searches had been abandoned and he was given up for dead by those on land.

One day he spotted a passing ship but despite calling out he was not seen. After 14 days he finally saw land again and to his surprise he was back almost at the original site of the wreck. Just as he thought he was saved the wind began to blow off shore again and he had to make the decision to get on the foam raft and paddle to shore.

A strong current almost carried him out to sea again but in the end he did make it to land (near the unmanned light house). Even so he was not safe. There was no-one there to help him and he reasoned that if he stayed where he was he may die from lack of water or food before he was found. He took to the water again on his raft and was lucky to be seen and rescued by a local fishing boat.

His story about being carried out and back by the currents was scoffed at by many who thought he had just remained at the lighthouse but many years later his story was confirmed when the brine tank was found washed ashore in the same vicinity - it had come back a third time on its own.

This picture isn't actually related to the folklore story but relates to two Burmese men who were found 60 nautical miles north west of Thrusday Island after drifting for 25 days. They were granted permanent protection visas in Australia.

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