Anne

Anne was a 102-ton schooner owned and commanded by Zakarias Berborn Erikson. Zakarias was born in Denmark on 1 January 1854. In 1891, he married 20-year-old Malene Sophia Peterson (Minnie) in Roebourne and they lived aboard with their two-year-old daughter Pearl Olena Grace, born in Fremantle in 1892.

Zakarias was a respected member of the pearling community in the northwest. He was part of the founding group of men who proposed plans for a jetty and landing facilities for Broome and participated in meetings with Fisheries and other government departments seeking to develop the northwest.

Anne had a crew of 12: a master, a mate, two divers, two tenders and two crew. There was also a cook and carpenter on board. The schooner was self-supporting and could sustain herself on the pearling grounds for extended periods. Anne had her own luggers finding pearl for her and on board was a complete processing plant for the shell.

In December 1892, there was a brief sentence in a local newspaper stating that a “coloured man” was washed overboard between Roebuck Bay and Cossack. No date or details were provided. Crew were washed overboard from boats fairly often, and it was also common for only a brief mention to mark the incident, often without a name, date or details of the incident.

Reportedly Zakarias spent the last months of 1893 in pearl grounds off Condon. Although he did not find a huge amount of pearl, one of his divers brought a 64 gram pearl up on 23 October. It was worth £400. He moved Anne and his luggers and pearling plant to Cossack in November, navigating her deep into the safety of Cossack Creek. On his way he dispatched a boat to rescue the owner and crew of Miss or Hit, which had grounded on the reef surrounding Turtle Island, and was taking on water faster than the pumps could work. His divers found an oval pearl weighing 52 grains off Angel Island at the west end of Flying Foam Passage.

from 3 January 1894 Anne anchored in Black Hawke Bay, searching the area with the Cutty Sark and their luggers. By all accounts the boats were doing well.

On 9 January the barometer glass started to drop, and the men all knew the weather was changing. What they did not know was the coming cyclone was a killer, and it was heading directly towards them. As the weather deteriorated and the wind escalated, Zakarias took Anne to Flying Foam Passage for shelter. Some of her luggers followed her.

Anne threw out three lines, using all of her anchors to steady her. She added three more lines tied off to mangroves on the shoreline. Around midnight her anchors dragged, and the lines eventually parted around midnight.

Sometime between midnight and 4 am Anne was struck by three strong waves. The first two waves came with the force of a heavy tide, causing her to roll heavily. The force of the gale force wind prevented her from righting herself. The third wave tipped Anne to the wind and the gale force made her roll completely and capsize beyond recovery, sinking quickly to the bottom of the passage.

The Eriksons were inside their cabin with the door shut. They drowned where they were. Other crew were washed away from the boat or were trapped inside it when it sank. The names of those that perished are:

Captain - Zakarias Berborn Erikson, born 1854, Denmark
Wife - Malena Sophia “Minnie” Petersen Erikson, born 1869 (24)
Child - Pearl Olena Grace Erikson, born 1892 (2)
Master – Ah Quin, born 1868 (25)
Mate – Wiliam Hayward, born 1854 (39)
Diver – John, born 1860 (33
Diver – Narcano Narcano, born 1866 (28)
Tender – Antoni, born 1864 (29)
Tender – Marcus Marcus, born 1845 (48)
Cook – Jim Kok, born 1866 (28)
Carpenter - Gitto Gitto, born 1866 (28)
Crew – Bisenti, born 1854 (39)
Crew – Cornelius Cornelius, born 1874 (20)
(It is noted that where a man was known by only one name, his name was repeated in the records to legitimise those documents).

Zakarias’ body was found near the eastern end of the passage by Master Miller of the Sree Sais Pas a few days later. It was very bruised, and the arms were dislocated. Master Miller took the body to Cossack. He was buried in the cemetery there. At the burial service Zakarias was described as “a man of sterling worth and integrity of character”. A headstone was erected for the Erikson family at Zakarias’ grave site.

Solicitor Augustus Roe executed Zakarias’ will, which he had written two years earlier. As Minnie and Pearl died with Zakarias, the estate went to Zakarias’ brother Peter. Peter had left pearling and returned to Denmark. Malene died intestate and her father John applied to disperse her estate.

In April divers were sent down at the wreck site and the remains of Anne were salvaged and taken to Cossack. The wreck also gave up two more bodies of Malay crew which were in the foc’sle. There were two skulls as well, although sharks had removed and eaten the bodies. [A foc’sle (forecastle) is the area of the deck that is forward of the mast, where crew sleep and spend time while off duty].

Zakarias’ processing plant and remaining luggers were put up for sale. The luggers were Malena, Hypatia, Stine, Peter and Tommy.

The cyclone of 9 – 10 January 1894 took 27 lives in Flying Foam Passage alone. The crews of Anne and her luggers were included in this body count.