About six months after Voyager 1.5 was lost, I received an email containing photographs of the boat.
The sender advised that they had found it in the car park at Broadwater beach (between Ballina and Evans Head) on 18th January 2019.
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| Approximate path of Voyager 1.5, 1200km over 7 months |
It was found in the car park. This implies that someone else had found the boat on the beach and carried it up to the car park.
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| Voyager 1.5 soon after retrieval from the car park, half covered in sea life. |
The SPOT GPS Satellite transmitter was missing from the vessel.
It was housed in 1 litre container that had been lashed down in the equipment bay.
The photo appears to show that lashing cord has been cut, and hence the SPOT GPS Satellite transmitter has been removed after the vessel left the water. (The cord would have washed away if appeared like this and was in the water.).
By coincidence, this device had only just been removed as the active device on the SPOT GPS account about 3 days prior, on the 15th Jan 2019. This was done, because no signal had ever been received since July the prior year, and the elapsed time was approximately the expected life span of the batteries.
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| The 3D Printed Label with the Return Email Address |
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| Transom area with remnants of steering gear |
Observations
Beaching in Northern New South Wales, near Ballina.
This was unexpected. It appears to have travelled North against the East Australian Current.
The most likely explanation is that it has travelled offshore, outside the East Australian Current and then come inshore again near the border with Queensland.
Bent Keel
It appears that the aluminium fin may have been bent, causing the hull to lean over, there by stopping the satellite transmitter from gaining a clear view of the sky.
The photographs showing the discolouration of the components and the coverage of sea life, suggesting that the hull was lying at an angle of about 90 degree heel.
Missing SPOT GPS Transmitter
This appears to have been removed by someone, rather then being lost at sea. The photo appears to show a lashing string that would not have remained if it failed at sea.
Missing Rudder
The plywood rudder, with stainless steel shaft and 3D printed plastic tiller are not present.
Steering Vane Vertical shaft and Steering Gear Frame
This all appears intact. The vane has gone and steering arms have gone.
Steering Vane Aluminium Counter Weight Arm
The Aluminium tube is broken and counter weight is missing.
I suspect that this was lost when the vessel was beached.
Broadwater is long beach that does not appear to have nearby rocks.
