# Shipwrecked on Emily Reef. Part II.



## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

The ship shuddered from bow to stern, then peacefully drifted on in the storm. I got up to look out of the wheel-house windows, but could see nothing in the driving rain and spray. She must have touched a coral bommie and bounced clear, or flattened it with her weight.
Fifteen minutes later, at 0300 hours on 30th May, 1987, Début grounded on an unseen reef. It was pitch dark, and visibility was down to twenty feet beyond the bulwarks. There were no breakers about us, but the ship banged and rattled as she drove herself further on to the coral.
It was quite unspectacular for a shipwreck, really. The bows paid off downwind, and the rain and spray drove about us. A few waves broke over the starboard quarter, racing down the side-deck, but otherwise it wasn't much different to being at anchor in a storm. Début shook and shuddered occasionally, and rolled slightly when a large wave hit her, but didn't seem to be in any danger of foundering.
When I went down in the engine-room to check things out, I could hear the steel plates of her bottom grinding on the reef. The sand and broken fragments of coral made a rattling sound against the hull, like being inside an empty oil barrel, washing about in the breakers on a beach. Each time the keel grated against the seabed, it felt as if the engine-room checker-plates were coming up at me... giving the feeling of stopping while descending in a lift.
There was a trickle of water coming in through the bearing of the propeller shaft, but that was to be expected. The foot thick shaft was turning slightly every time a wave hit the stern of the ship. At least the twelve foot diameter propeller was clear of the coral, and not liable to be driven through the plating of the hull.
After completing my rounds of the ship, I went to the galley to make a pot of tea. There wasn't anything else I could do at the moment, so returned to our cabin to let Mariana know what the situation was. We cuddled together in the comfort of our double bunk, conserving our energy until it was needed, and wondering what the dawn would bring.

Dawn found us high and dry on a small patch of broken staghorn coral, which was part of a larger reef across a lagoon to the north of us. The wind had abated, and the day was sunny and warm. On the port side it was dry, but the water on the starboard side fell away into a deep passage through the reef to the lagoon. Début had almost taken herself into sheltered water during the raging storm.
On checking round the ship, I found no apparent damage to the hull. She had a five degree list to port, thankfully saving us from rolling into the deep water to starboard. The engine-room bilge held about two feet of water that had come in through the propeller shaft, and the hold was dry.
I took bearings on the coast from Mount Cook and Mount Peter Botte, and identified our position as being on a small reef, just west of Emily Reef. This was corroborated later when I took sextant bearings from the sun. I could easily see the sand bar on Emily Reef, as marked on the chart, confirming our position. Cairns Reef was clearly visible to the south on the horizon, and Osterland Reef was to the north-west of us. Save for the south-east... the direction of the prevailing wind... we were completely sheltered by drying reef.
After checking the wheel, I found that the rudder was jammed. There didn't seem to be any obvious damage inside the steering flat, and I couldn't see right down to the keel by hanging overboard, as the water at low tide only dropped as far as the propeller shaft. My main fear was that it was buckled, or had lifted off the massive pintles. Mariana helped me remove our twenty foot steel ladder from the hold, and lower it overboard on to the reef on our port side.
The staghorn coral making up the reef was old and dead, broken up into small pieces and forming a bank. This was what I'd heard during the night, grating against the hull-plating down in the engine-room. Using her bilge-keels and main keel as an auger, Début had chewed herself a ledge in the bank on which she was lying.
The rudder was fully over to port, knocked by the fifteen foot high waves as they crashed into the ship. Broken coral boulders had built up around it, jamming it in this position. After they'd been cleared away by hand... reaching and diving underwater... the wheel could be turned again, and the rudder was brought over to full starboard, pointing into the swell.
During the morning, both the Customs and Coas****ch planes flew low over us. We waved at them to show that we were all right, but no one came out to see us, despite having a baby on board. The wind was still blowing at 25 knots, so it would have been difficult getting near us anyway. They left us to look out for ourselves. To be continued. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## Pete D Pirate (Jan 8, 2014)

Yet another excellent post.
Thanks, Dick.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For Pete D Pirate.*

Good to hear from you, Pete, and I'm glad to liked my story... and that you will enjoy many more. If you're interested in reading the full story, go to the Books Forum and download the Kindle code for 'The Black Ship's Odyssey. Book Two.' All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## Terry G (Jan 2, 2022)

Hi Dick, I hope today is seeing you well! I’m not sure if this will reach you or not and I’m hoping someone on here might be able to show you or put me in direct contact with you but me and a couple of friends went to see the wreck of the Debut yesterday 01/01/22 and snorkelled around it as well upon returning to our accomodation in Cooktown, I done a bit of research and came across these posts and seen that you tried to visit it some years ago! You will be glad to hear that it is still upright and stable the hull is still intact and the anchors and makeshift weights you used in the water are still there and visible!


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## Terry G (Jan 2, 2022)




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## Harry Nicholson (Oct 11, 2005)

Fine pictures, Tim. Lovely waters. But, according to a note by his name, it seems the Capt. has been banned. I don't know why.
Looks like the seabirds have made a home of the hulk.


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## jasmine.brooks.burgess (3 mo ago)

Terry G said:


> Hi Dick, I hope today is seeing you well! I’m not sure if this will reach you or not and I’m hoping someone on here might be able to show you or put me in direct contact with you but me and a couple of friends went to see the wreck of the Debut yesterday 01/01/22 and snorkelled around it as well upon returning to our accomodation in Cooktown, I done a bit of research and came across these posts and seen that you tried to visit it some years ago! You will be glad to hear that it is still upright and stable the hull is still intact and the anchors and makeshift weights you used in the water are still there and visible!


 Hi Terry! I'm Jasmine, Richard is my dad. He's been banned from here, but you can always reach him via email at [email protected] Hoping this message finds you well.


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