End in sight for Byron yacht drama

 

Salvage operators are expected to remove a yacht stranded on a Byron Bay beach this Saturday, as owner Jeff Sutton reflects on extraordinary community support after his nearly four year journey ended just 40 nautical miles from its destination.

For Sutton, the latest development marks a moment of optimism during a time he has described as overwhelming.

“It’s looking quite good at the moment,” he said.

“I was contacted the night before last by a retired gentleman who owned and operated a global salvage company, and he’s offered his services to organise and oversee the project.”

“So, for the first time in a few days there’s light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not a big f*cking train.”

The vessel, named Wyuna 1, which Sutton has lived aboard for years of coastal and offshore travel, became stranded near Byron Bay on 2 May during what he said was the final stretch of an almost four year journey.

Sutton said the grounding occurred after he made the decision to temporarily leave the yacht anchored while sourcing parts needed to complete repairs before worsening weather arrived.

 

 

A retired commercial skipper and engineer, he said he trusted the vessel’s anchoring system based on years of maritime experience.

“I had total faith in my anchor, and the conditions were going to deteriorate, so I had to make a judgment call,” he said.

“That judgment call was to go and get the parts and fix it so that I could get out of there.”

Sutton said changing swell conditions prevented him from returning to the vessel by tender.

“Contrary to the weather forecast, the swell had wrapped around more, and I couldn’t physically get out that second day,” he said.

Sutton said the vessel later drifted ashore after key components of the anchoring system failed under pressure.

“I have been in far worse conditions … and she holds like a barnacle on a rock,” he said of the anchor.

“I trust my anchor, but when things start to break it’s a domino effect.”

With Wyuna 1 stranded, Sutton said authorities quickly moved to discuss salvage options.

“Two days later, Maritime came with their salvage guy and said, ‘The only option is to cut it up, take it to the tip and give you a bill of upwards of $200,000’,” he said.

Sutton said he rejected the proposal.

“I thanked them for their offer, tongue in cheek, and said, ‘Thanks, but I must try and find an alternative’,” he said.

Despite the logistical and financial pressure of removing the yacht, Sutton said he had been moved by the support from the local community.

“It’s not going to sink in until it’s done and dusted, and I’m sitting there just stunned, but I tell you, the people of Byron have just adopted me and the boat,” he said.

 

 

Sutton said he was initially met with strong support from the surfing and travelling communities gathered near the beach car park.

“The surfers were the first ones to see me … and that was the first big response, and I was just floored by it, because man, the offers of help and a cup of tea … they just rallied, and they helped me carry stuff. It just was amazing,” he said.

In the days that followed, Sutton said the wider community extended that support, pointing to the GoFundMe campaign set up by a local resident which has now raised more than $9,000 to help fund the operations required to remove the boat from the beach.

“I couldn’t do that myself,” Sutton said.

“I’m the old, we don’t ask, we don’t take … but look, I had no choice.”

“I was going to lose everything, so I had to shed what remnant of pride I had left and just put my hands in the hands of the people.”

Sutton said life at sea has left him with a strong sense of humility and appreciation.

“You need all the luck you can get out there, and I mean, no matter what you think you are, when you get out there, you are nothing,” he said.

Although largely a solo journey, Sutton credited friend Ben Edwards, who joined him crossing Bass Strait and later travelled to Byron Bay to help recover and store his belongings after the grounding, as a crucial source of support throughout the ordeal.

“He came all the way here from his place and got a trailer and his four wheel drive and he trucked all the stuff that I had to move back to his place and he’s storing it all,” he said.

Reflecting on the past weeks of media attention, fundraising efforts and salvage planning, Sutton said the experience had been far removed from the life he had grown used to at sea.

“For the last four years, I’ve been an isolated island,” he said.

“But man, these last two weeks, it’s just been a bizarre whirlwind … TV interviews, radio people …”

“I was going to say it’s a groundswell of this, but it’s more like a bloody tsunami.”

As the salvage operation moves toward a planned Saturday extraction, Sutton said he intends to complete his long delayed return north to visit his father, who is unwell.

“For the last year I’ve been desperately trying to get back to see him,” he said.

“I’ll get to see him probably on Sunday or so after we get the boat off here.”

Despite everything, Sutton kept returning to the gratitude he felt for the Byron Shire community, with the response even prompting him to consider renaming the vessel “The Byron Miracle”, despite the long held belief among sailors that changing a boat’s name brings bad luck.

“I have often said that I would rather be out at sea with nothing than on land with everything, but the exception is Byron Bay,” he said.

“I feel like their adopted son, and it will always be a special place to me.”

Those wishing to support the salvage operation can donate via the GoFundMe link: gofundme.com/f/wyuna-1-beached-at-belongil-lets-get-her-floating-again