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‘ Vertues’ Lost....It is inevitable, over a span of nearly forty years during which hundreds of thousands of nautical miles have been traversed, that some Vertues should have suffered mishaps amongst so many successes. Although the possibility of losing our ships must, on occasion, have faced many of us. the statistics show that the risk is moderate. One can argue that the statistician can prove anything indeed one otthcni is reputed to have shown conclusively that, statistically, each one of us is more likely to be kicked to death by a donkey than to die in an air-crash. Nevertheless, the known Vertue’ losses amount to less than three per cent of the total built since 1936. Fatalities, fortunately. have been extremely rare. Considering the world-wide operations of these craft and the fantastic long-distance achievements many single-handed across the oceans, the figures of losses reflect great credit on ships and men. But no record would be complete without a mention of those voyages where the relationship between the two came to an abrupt end. It has been said that for a voyage to be successful, departures and arrivals should, eventually, add up to an even number. It is sad to record the few which didn’t:— To: owendov17@hotmail.com
Lyddie" left England on passage to Kiel. Germany. in July I 957. Her skipper was Douglas Thomson, present owner of ‘Serif, Sail Number 28. and with him he had a crew of two. During the night of 22nd/23rd July. off the Friesian Islands she was rammed by a German coasting vessel. She sank immediately as the damage was so severe. Douglas Thomson and one crew member escaped and were picked up safely. but the other member of the crew went down with "Lyddie" and was lost. In subsequent legal proceedings the Captain of the German ship was judged to carry the major responsibility for the disaster.
Was owned by Dr. W. E. P. Corbett, a Canadian from British Columbia who spent much time in the West Indies. In early 1959 he was in hospital in Barbados, leaving "Meulette" in the care of one Colin Sullivan. The latter stole her and sailed to Cartagena in the Republic of Colombia, where, after chiseling the registered number off the main beam, he sold her. Later Sullivan was apprehended in England. extradited to the West Indies and charged with the theft of "Meulette" and her contents. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. "Meulette" has not been heard of since.
"Austral Vertue" was amateur-built by her original owner Bernie Kavanagh in Melbourne, Australia in 1958. She was of the long doghouse, self-draining cockpit type, with an alloy mast and shortened wooden boom. Unusually, her planks were of Queensland maple and her frames of ‘yellow stringy bark". Mick McKeon bought her in 1966. Leaving Melbourne in 1970 he sailed her to Sydney then on to New Zealand, Fiji and the Gilbert Islands. Visiting the Elhice Islands early in 1972 he anchored her off Vaitupa as the coral lagoon there is only accessible to canoes. She lay there for four days without trouble, and Mick was talked into staying one more night to attend a social evening and dance, eventually sleeping ashore. The following’ morning, 8th April 1972, she had gone. Apparently many fishermen and villagers saw her drift away, and assumed that her skipper was aboard. Despite attempts to locate her, during which Mick received tremendous assistance from Ken Shepherd ("Bass Vertue", Sail No. 42) who alerted the Australian and New Zealand Navies and merchant fleets, she was not found. David Lewis, one time owner of "Cardinal Venue" happened to be in the area in his present boat and after being contacted he went into the possible drift area, but he too was unsuccessful in spotting her. So it must be assumed that ‘Austral Vertue" is lost, together with most of Mick’s worldly possessions. He still keeps in touch with the Vertue Owners’ Association and intends to settle in New Zealand. "One thing for sure" he says "if I do build a small ocean walloper, it will be a ‘Vertue’ ".
"Epeneta", built in 1938/9 by Woodnutt & Co., as already recorded was the winner of the class name. Bill McMenemy. a Canadian, bought her in Falmouth, England, in December 1971 from Peter Daniels, who had sailed her to Spain and back with his wife Rosemary earlier that year. Bill lived and worked on his dream ship for eight months, learning how to sail her. in July 1972 he sailed to the Isle of Man to visit a relative there. then returned to Falmouth. In August 1972 he slipped out of Falmouth again, healing for the sunshine of the Mediterranean. Calling at Corme near Corunna and various other small ports, by 21st September he was in a fishing port named Sines, and left on that day to sail the 70 Eiles to Lagos. Rounding Cape St. Vincent the Southerly wind backed to East and increased viciously. Although only about ten miles from his destination, "Epeneta" could not make Easting, and soon under bare poles. was running back into the Atlantic. She had a close shave in the shipping lane when a large freighter passed ten feet from her stern, filling the cockpit with her bow wave. Later, when Bill was resting below, "Epeneta" was smashed down by a rogue wave and he was knocked unconscious, the ship suffering severe damage and taking an hour to pump dry while Bill came round. Thereafter he pumped for quarter of an hour every hour to keep her afloat, and then suffered a second knock-down. By 27th September he was completely exhausted, and on seeing a ship about three miles away he fired a distress rocket. The Russian freighter came alongside, several crew jumped into the rigging and he was taken aboard and put in the sick-bay. Every effort was made to winch "Epeneta" aboard, but the hawsers parted and eventually she was abandoned and presumably sank later. Bill was taken to Montreal in his native country. The Russian Captain told him that they had recorded wind speeds of 60 knots in the Straits of Gibraltar before picking him up.
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