Charity sailor recounts ‘every breaking wave’ after crashing onto rocks
A solo sailor has spent seven hours trapped on his yacht after it smashed onto rocks off the Coffin Bay National Park on South Australia’s west coast.
Key points:
- Will Fantom was circumnavigating Australia when he ran aground near Coffin Bay
- Mr Fantom was trapped on the yacht for seven hours before making his way onto the beach
- He is raising money for Solo Sailor for the Disabled
Will Fantom clambered off his yacht SV Skeese with the clothes on his back, his dog Mistchief and a few belongings at low tide after the accident to a sandy beach 300 metres away.
He was later flown by helicopter to safety.
Mr Fantom was circumnavigating Australia raising money for para-sailing funds, which support people with a disability in the sport.
The 49-year-old, who lives with acute anxiety and agoraphobia, said he had not worried about his safety during the ordeal, just that of his yacht and first mate Mistchief.
Mr Fantom said he had planned to live the rest of his life at sea on the SV Skeese and was raising money as a way to “give something back” after living on the streets and in and out of refuges and foster care since he was 11.
He had sailed from Newcastle, around Tasmania, across to Victoria and was heading across the Bight after stocking up with fuel and supplies at Port Lincoln when the yacht struck rocks about 2:00am on Sunday.
Rough seas
“At some point on Saturday night I must have got turned about because I set myself up for my direction after leaving from Port Lincoln to head west,” Mr Fantom said.
“The autopilot maybe failed, I’m not too sure, but I woke up to my nautical alarm and radars, at two nautical miles, going off.
“I then fought that as best I could but it got to a point where I just got picked up and dropped onto the rocks and just kept getting smashed up against them.
“Once I hit the rocks I knew it was all over because I heard the crunches and because I was getting picked up by rollers and swell.
While trapped onboard, he activated his emergency plan. He had an Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and satellite phone.
Eventually, the boat became stuck, wedged at about 60 degrees. But Mr Fantom said it did not hold much hope that the vessel was salvageable.
Clean-up attempt
This morning Mr Fantom headed out to the park with a national parks ranger and volunteers to try to salvage what they could.
He also wanted to clean up the mess.
“We’ll be lucky if she’s not in pieces — I watched my kitchen get stoved in by a rock,” Mr Fantom said.
He said life on the streets had given him the independence and resilience to tackle this hurdle.
“I have to deal with it, so I’ll clean up what is possible.”
He praised marine rescue services and the local community for helping him.
“I just need to get a boat and get back on the water,” he said.