The true story of a family from a rural village in England, with no knowledge of the sea, navigation or sailing, who sailed half around the world in an old fishing boat.
Can you imagine buying an old fishing boat and putting your family aboard, then sailing half way around the world?
As if that isn't scary enough, try to imagine what would be going through the minds of the family, knowing that none of them had any knowledge of the sea, navigation or sailing!
This is not fiction but something that really happened!
“Lena, I've bought a boat and we're going to Australia!”
Those were the words that Lena Caisley will remember to her dying day.
Her husband, Don, was not renowned for making light-hearted comments. He didn't have a great deal to say at the best of times, but when he did he made every word count.
“I suppose I should find something to wear,” said Lena, not fully realising the import of what her husband has just said!
“It's an old fishing boat, a bit run down and in need of a complete refit,” said Don. “But it will be perfect to take us to Australia.”
“What do we want to go to Australia for? We have a good business here, and all my friends are here. The boys have a lot of friends here and you were born here, Don!”
Natural arguments from his wife were expected, but in the end she agreed to go.
The Caisleys were a close knit family and had complicit faith in Don, and Don had great faith in his own ability. In his mind's eye he could see exactly how the events of the next couple of years would unfold.
First he had to get the old fishing boat ready for a very long sea voyage. In was filthy and decrepit when he purchased it. The mast was rotten and the engine ready for the tip. Money was also tight, so a proper marine mast and engine would have blown the budget.
Don finally managed to get a telegraph pole turned up to fit and an old double-decker bus engine to replace the original. He thought a few months fitting out the boat - so the family could travel in some sort of comfort, would be sufficient, but the more he worked on Beth - as the old fishing boat was called, the more he realised how much work was still to be done.
It was almost a year from the day he and the seller sailed the old boat over from LeHavre, that Beth was considered fit for his family.
Came the day when the intrepid family boarded for the long trip to Australia.
Provisions and all the stores considered necessary for such a voyage had been loaded and stowed away. Don fired up the engine and cast off. The Caisleys were in holiday mood as Beth sailed out of Southampton Water with the old bus engine thumping steadily, pushing the boat along at 8 knots.
Their first foreign port of call was to be Oporto in Portugal, but, as mentioned previously navigation was not one of their strong points and they got lost! Nobody was particularly worried because they didn't expect to get everything right first time. Eventually they found the port and enjoyed a run ashore while the captain attended to customs and immigration procedures.
On the way across the Atlantic - and still in a somewhat carefree mood, they were heading for the Panama Canal, but first sighted land in Venezuela!
Not a problem, thought Don. We'll just sail around the coast until we see Panama, which they did. Then through the canal and on to something totally unexpected and frightening!
Don had taken Beth across to a quiet beach on the Pacific side of the canal to do some work on the hull, completely unaware of the speed of the tides as they raced in and out of the canal. As the tide went out Beth hit the muddy bottom and rolled over!
The family spent a most uncomfortable night fearful of what would happen when the tide returned.
They watched as the water lapped the sides of the old boat, gradually washing over the deck. A few inches more and the sea water would flood down the hatches and Beth would be lost!
Everything the family owned was in Beth. They would be stranded on a foreign shore and destitute.
Those awful thoughts were on their minds as they watched the water gradually rising towards the open hatches. Just when the level of water reached the combing of the first hatch, Beth started to move. Slowly at first, creaking and groaning as the wooden hull was straining, the movement grew as Beth started to right herself until she was almost afloat and safe.
The family cheered like they had never cheered before. Disaster had been averted and they were saved!
This was just the beginning; there were thousands of miles still to go before Australia. They were in the Pacific and their next port of call was a mere speck in a vast ocean. Whereas with the Atlantic crossing they had the whole coast of South America to aim at, the slightest error in navigation would put them miles off course and in deadly peril!
In the days and weeks ahead there were other problems about to hit them, about which they had no knowledge or control over!
Read this amazing true story as told to the author by Don Caisley
