Cathy Jo

The Cathy Jo was a bondwood boat, 33’6 in length with a 9’ to 10’ beam, painted white over all, with brown railing and a brown patch on top of the wheel house, which carried a radio and an aerial from wheel house to stern. The name “Cathy Jo” was painted on the bow, with “D34”. It was said it had flares and was a well-equipped sea boat.

Early in the morning of Friday 14 February, the Cathy Jo left Port Denison with three men onboard. They were;

• Edward (Ted) Joseph Foster, Skipper (23)
• Robert (Bob) Thomas Allen (31)
• William (Bill) George Roser (26)

That day, William Roser was not meant to be onboard. The vessel was usually worked by the two Foster brothers, Edward Joseph and William George Foster, and Robert Allen. It was owned by Kenneth Foster, Edward and William’s Father.

On the Monday prior to the tragedy, William Foster had gone to Perth for a week. His place was taken by Andrew Andros, who in turn went to Perth on the Thursday night, to attend a wedding. His place was taken on the last night by William Roser, who normally worked as a deckhand on the fishing boat Trident.

They set out to attend to their 107 craypots, about 35 miles west of Port Denison. The ship was due back by 10pm that evening, but after not returning, Kenneth Foster notified Dongara Police. The boat was last seen by another boat, the Nelma, about 30 miles west of Dongara at 1pm on the same day, 35 miles out bearing 245 to 250 degrees from Dongara, heading, or pointing, in an easterly direction.

At the time it was carrying a large load of cray pots for the size of the boat, and the weather was poor. The drift at the time was reported as North-North-East and it was considered any evidence of the vessel may wash up at the Southern group of the Abrolhos Islands.

The Nelma was a 73-foot freezer boat, skippered by Michele Lombardo of 67 View Terrace in East Fremantle. The Nelma, along with the freezer boat Hadjuk, Carmello and the Western Star assisted in the search. The Miss Denison remained moored at Port Denison to keep radio contact with the freezer boats.

Vincenzo Lombardo, Michele’s brother, was onboard the Carmello. He discovered 43 pots marked “D34” about 25 miles West South-West of Port Denison.

By the 15 February, the RAAF organised for a Dakota aircraft to depart Pearce to support the search and rescue efforts. The HMAS Diamantina was also involved in the search efforts.

On the 19 February, William George Foster travelled to the Southern Group of the Abrolhos Islands with Vince Cooper and Robin Reid on the Lady Joyous. They were joined by Maurice Glazier of Geraldton in searching the islands thoroughly.

In their travels at Wreck Point on Pelsart Island, they found a group of 10 floats, some marked with “D34” tied together with one-inch orange polythene rope. It appeared they had been tangled together to form a life raft. A thermos flask, a coat, a bait box identified from the Cathy Jo and one yellow Jaylon life jacket were also found and returned to Dongara Police.

The same day that William George Foster headed off to search for his brother, an urgent meeting was organised by Michael George Kailis at the Irwin Shire Hall in Dongara. It was chaired by James Bailey and was attended by about 200 people, including The Hon. Ronald Thompson (MLC), Fishermen, Crayfish Processing Companies, The Police Department and Fisheries, as well as the Press and TV.

The meeting was generally critical of the delay involved in starting the search, and the inadequate communication between air, sea and land search efforts, which at one point had prematurely called off the search.

There were a series of recommendations from the meeting, including allowing shore-based processing companies the use of transmitters to communicate with their boats, self-inflatable rafts to be carried on all boats, the registered number of the boat to be painted in large letters on the wheelhouse roof for easier identification by air, and many others.

By 18 March that same year, Premier David Brand declared a Royal Commission in relation to the safety of ships. By November, the findings were handed down, and in his conclusion, Royal Commissioner W. J. Wallwork noted:

“It would not be proper to conclude this Report without paying a tribute to the career fishermen who, assisted by private enterprise and their own co-operatives, have built up an export Industry to such an extent as greatly to exceed all other Australian states combined and, within this State, to rival all other exports of foodstuffs, grain alone excepted. Crayfish export is second largest in the world - a close second to south Africa.

Quotations in the Report from the transcript notes of evidence should convincingly Illustrate the courage of the full-time professional fishermen in carrying out their dally occupation on the treacherous reef country which is the habitat of the crayfish, day-In day-out from November to August. It takes a gale-force wind to stop them venturing out, or a heavily breaking sea, or both. This is not stupidity on their part. There are boats and gear to be paid for, loans to be repaid, families to be maintained, children to be educated. There is no 40- hour week, no sick leave, no holidays. New gear and leisure time can be assured only by money in the bank or a good credit rating with the Co-op or private trader. Theirs is a kind of courage which has distinguished the native born and the naturalised Australian citizen in other fields. The career fisherman is an Individualist ready to learn and to calculate with care the risks he knows he must take.

The degree and quality of comradeship shown between fishermen in rescue work has the same high rating as their courage. There exists an ever-present readiness to risk boats and lives in search and rescue, gale force winds and heavily breaking seas notwithstanding…”

Later that year, on 18 August, an 18-foot section of the stern of the Cathy Jo was recovered off Dyers Island near Rottnest, 12 miles west of Fremantle by the harbour and light ship, Cormorant.

This discovery re-affirmed suspicions that a warm southward-flowing current existed off Western Australia. It wasn’t until the 1970’s, with the advent of satellite technology that the existence of the southward current was confirmed, named the Leeuwin Current.