December 18, 1953—January, 1984
Gordy Eschner
Something happened on that crossing. Sailors say weather, Psychics say murder.
Either way, we miss them dearly and treasure the continued contact from those who knew and loved them.
My intention is to write a book about them so if you were their friends (or their foes) feel free to send your stories and experiences to add to the puzzle! Eve Eschner Hogan
This is the story of our time with Kim and Gordon Eschner. At the time we sailed with Kim and Gordy, we had a Triton 24' boat called Nardoo. She was 24'9" long and 8'6" beam designed as a s harbor racer.
August 9, 1983, Pancake Creek
We stood off Pancake Creek all night because we were too late on the 8th of Aug to safely enter.
When we mototed in early on the 9th, at anchor were about 3-4 other boats, one beinga pretty 30 Ketch flying the Stars and Stripes.
As we had been up all night, we hit the sack and woke up around noon. One of the boats at anchor had raised a signal flag saying, "BBQ on the beach tonight." That evening, we motored our little tender over to the beach. This is where we met. They were a friendly, happy couple, well tanned and looking very fit. We had a short conversation, a few beers and a bit to eat and all went back to our boats. Next morning we went our separate ways.
August 24, 1983, Middle Percy Island
It had been a couple of weeks since we met and as we sailed into the anchorage, there was that pretty ketch again, flag still flying. We went over to say "gooday" and were invited onboard. We were now sailing in company with a 27 footer called Osprey crewed by Paul and Penny. They rowed over and came onboard, too. We introduced them to Kim and Gordon and we sat down and got to know each other. Paul and I hadn't had a cold beer for a while so Gordon produced 3 coldies. We thought they were VB's (one of Australia's favorite beers) as the bottles were VB's. Cold beer on a hot day, Gordon was a hero, and VB, too! Then he told us it was his home brew made with honey. "Bloody nice drop!" we both exclaimed.
Later, we went off to the beach for the mandatory BBQ. There were a few yachties on the beach where visiting sailors in the past had built a rather elaborate A-frame with a BBQ that had a spit.
Next morning the wind came onshore and the anchorage became very animated indeed. The previous day Gordon, Paul, the girls and I had been talkig about going to Digby Island. I was checking my anchor and looked over to Tekea and Osprey, seeing them both on deck I pointed towards Digby. So in a 3-foot chop, we up anchored and sailed in that direction.
Digby was a short sail from Middle Percy and we were soon at anchor in a nice little peaceful bay. We all soon had our dinghy's in the water and rowed ashore. Our visit was very short as the mosquitos on Digby were big enouch to carry you away. So we retired to Tekea for a nice cup of tea and a chat. Soon, Gordon and I were talking about cars and I mentioned that I like Bug Eye Sprites. To my astonishment, Gordon proudly announced that he owned one! Wow. What a mate I had found here as he went on to say that if we visit them in the States, Deb and I could borrow it for a few days. That afternoon, we had sundowners and an early evening as your stay on Middle Percy had been non-stop partying with little sleep as the anchorage was very exposed and rolley.
We left Digby and headed for Mackay.Osprey and Tekea promptly put spinnakers up and flew away from us. I had no spinnaker and turned to Deb and said, "First job in Mackay, BUY A SPINNAKER!" We reached the outer harbor and Osprey and I took up two empty pile births. Tekea anchored near the yacht club.
Next day we all went to town some 2-4 kilometers away by bus. Now Kim and Gordon had a cat called Beezer that I had met by him clawing one day as I held Tekea's gunnel and gave me a rather painful cut that took a long while to heal. Gordon suggested that we needed a cat so we went to the local pet shop and paid $5 and Deb and I had a cat. Very strange really because I hate cats and soon this little pussy realized the fact and gave me hell. It ate my electrical wires in a very hard part of the yacht to reach and fix and generally disappeared in the dark regions of the boat for you know what. Later at Airley Beach, I managed to give it to another boat along with a six pack of beer to sweeten the deal. When Gordon asked after the cat later, I said the poor cat fell over board and was quickly taken by the tide before I could save it. I don't think he believed me, but we spoke no more of the matter.
We arrived around lunchtime and went ashore to have a look at the resort. We were still in company with Paul and Penny. Penny was British and had only been in Oz a short while and actually had to marry Paul to stay in the country. They were an item anyway, but a few years later split up. Paul was also a Brit, but had been in Oz since childhood. They were an amiable couple and we all got along well. We had a beer or two at the resort and retired to our boats. That evening, Deb and I were on Tekia for sundowners when Paul rowed over rather briskly, grabs the gunnell and yells, "MURDER!"
"Come on, Paul! Have a drink your going mad!"
"No, no! There's been a murder on the island, just heard on the radio a waitress was found on the back beach stabbed to death."
We had an uneasy nite as the anchorage was exposed. Early in the morning, we all met on Tekia and listened to the nine o'clock news .The murderer had not been found and nobody was allowed to leave until the Detectives arrived from Brisbane. Not wanting to be stuck in an uncomfortable anchorage for days and nobody to stop us, we up anchor and sailed.
Goldsmith was only a short sail from Brampton so we arrived early.Paul soon went skin diving and came back with a couple of nice Spanish Mackerel which we cooked on the beach that afternoon on Tinsmith. Gordon being a vegetarian most enjoyed the mackerel and that evening honoured the occasion by giving us a rendition of Rocky Racoon which he did quite well .
The next day we ventured across to Goldsmith where there were some buildings . There was a retired couple living there in one of four posh units . They had a flash cabin cruiser to get to the mainland. During a short conversation they showed us a well they had been digging and asked if we would do some digging. Gordon made a hasty departure later saying to me that they obviously had plenty of money but were still looking for slaves to dig holes and he was having no part of it. We moved to a more protected anchorage and stayed another nite.
Paul and Penny needed to do some business so left us and went to Airley Beach. Tekia and Nardoo sailed into a beautiful little bay on Thomas Is. We launched our dinghy's and found some curious growths at low tide. Both Kim and I took photo's but I can't find mine but I have a photo of Kim furling the sail on there dinghy with Gordon at the oars. This was the first time there was only Kim Gordon Deb and myself . That afternoon Kim Rowed across by herself to Nardoo and formerly invited Deb and Myself to dinner with the promise of a real treat. ( This was a changing point in Deb's life as this is where Kim got Debbie addicted to CHILLIES ) Kim cooked up a vegetarian Mexican dish that was completely new to us Tortila's and bloody hot they were so after a few bites the heat set in,Gordon beer bloody beer quick mate. I never did get the taste for chillies but Deb puts tobacco on corn flakes LOL
Lindeman Island 3rd September 1983
Now it was the prelimaries to the America's Cup so as we sailed from Island to Island it was always's a race and as I now had a spinnaker and conditions were always's lite I was giving Gordon a bit of a thrashing but Gordon was to get me back later.
We anchored off the resort which these day's boats are chased off from. Went ashore and management gave us a key to a vacant unit so we could all have hot showers and get dressed in comfort. Kim who always' washed in salt water with a litre of fresh to rinse off spent a fair while in the shower apparently giving her long dark hair a good well deserved hot fresh water wash mind you her hair always's looked fantastic and Deb wondered how she kept it that way. Because of the kindness the resort had shown us we decided to a meal at the restaurant and put a few bucks over the bar.
The next day we went ashore and apologised and thanked them for a great time.
We were quite good friends by now and we enjoyed Kim & Gordons company immensely
Hamilton Island 4th September 1983
This was where I took the photo of Kim & Gordon with the oysters.
We rowed ashore for a look at the new airstrip being built then wandered along the rocky shore . We found some oysters so not having a bucket with us took off our T shirts Gordon and Me not Kim and Deb of course .Well Gordon Walked ahead collecting oysters and then all of a sudden he dumped his oysters ,I thought that's strange what's wrong with them I closed on him and asked the question , he replied there not oysters and pointed to a patch 3 times the size and announced their oysters.
That nite we spent on a large yacht with an elderly couple I just can't remember their names but on that yacht we cooked the oysters. They were that big we battered them , made a tartare sauce and feasted.
Kim and Deb had become good friends and did heaps of girly stuff together which left Gordon and I free to basically grow down because we were'nt ready to grow up and we definitely didn't act our age ,Except when racing of coarse
Cid Harbour 5th september1983
Obviously this was my choice spelt different but pronounced the same. Not much happened here though there was a small spring fed water fall ,we managed to divert it out from the rock face and all had a cold shower. Kim once again giving her hair extra attention . At this point I should mention that Deb had long sun bleached hair that was also most beautiful . If Gordon and I had one thing in common we both had pride in our women and they made us look just a bit better than we actually were when in the company of others.
Airlie beach 6th September 1983
We went to Airlie as K & G had to meet up with friends . This is where Jim and Val come along . I believe they met Kim & Gordon in Southport. A little on Jim and Val is worth telling as we all became very close. J & V had 2 kids Danny and Jane .
They sailed out from NZ in there 36 foot round bilge steel sloop Taku Hoa. ( I believe al contacted Jim after Kim and Gordon went missing ) Jim was a shearer and with Jim what you saw was what you got .Jim wouldn't let you down . Val had a very dry sense of humour and big boobs ( Jim once said the only way Val could tan her belly was to sun bake standing on her head ) They were older than all of us and added a bit of wisdom to the medly .
It was Jim and Val that Gordon and Kim were going to NZ to visit. I feel Jim may have taken some blame on his shoulders I hope not as he was a fine man . Unfortunately we heard that they divorced shortly after the incident. Gordon and Kim were adventurous and wanted to visit New Zealand and that's all there is to it.
Nara Inlet 13 September 1983
Nara inlet is a nice calm anchorage where sailors had gone to great effort to paint there boats names on the cliffs .A bunch of guy's from Wollongong on a Yacht called Cairndo painted Cairndo in letters 10 foot high 30 foot down a shear cliff , God knows how they did it and we were all amazed and spent hours trying to devise the method they used to scale that cliff. This is also where Gordon and I developed a new sport ,
Rock A Rat. That evening we all went ashore for our ritual Bar B Que.
We lit a fire and started cooking ,soon the smell of food bought out the rats ( many of the Whitsunday Is's are infested with rats ) we ate our meal and Gordon donned his guitar and sang a few Beatles numbers but the rats were becoming very annoying so we threw some rocks at them to scare them off . They were most persistent though and starting to annoy us even more . Well we placed some food scraps along the top of a long rock about ten feet away and as the rats came we threw rocks at them knocking them off the rock. I noticed we were not really hurting them so if we put the scraps at the base of this rock we could crush them with our rocks against that rock . I was unsure how the guy's would take this , Jim had not much interest in our Rock A Rat game and was happy to have another beer but Gordon was soon laying baits for the rats at the base and we had a few kills that nite and grew down a bit more , I think the girls were a little disgusted in Gordon and My antics and talked of cooking or what not. That was Nara and Rock A Rat will always's be in my memory
Airley Beach 15th September 1983
We went back to Airley for the fun race. It's a sorta mad yacht race for cruising sailors ,there were more than 500 yachts in this race and it was mayhem. We came 15th in our class , there were collisions water bombings that drown boats electrics ,we're a mad lot . Tekia had pulled a deck fitting out that held mainmast runner . We found it was secured with self tapers ,a Hong Kong thing we guessed so we reaffixed it with through bolts and the other one as well.
At this time Australia was challenging you guy's for the America's cup. We were the only ones with a tv ( A six inch black and white one ) Kim Gordon and sometimes Jim and Val would come over in the early hours of the morning to watch the race and argue in favour of our respective country's, great times.
We spent some time in Airley doing odd jobs etc
Moconna Inlet 25th September 1983
We have very little in our log of this anchorage and by log I mean a book with a very brief outline of events. So I'll take this opportunity to introduce Terry and Anna another Kiwi couple who spent some time with us . I am not sure where but they were nice guy's who sailed in a 32 foot ferro cement yacht the name I sadly forget. They were the ones that told us Jim and Val had broke up a few years later when we came across them in Sydney harbour. So many people all lost to us now.
Border Island 26st September 1983
We raced from Moconna to Border as this was the last day of the America's Cup .We were on our way to Hook Reef but as this is a very exposed anchorage 30 nautical miles out to sea and no protection other than the reef, as there is no Island there . We held up at Border for a couple of day's to wait for the wind to ease
That nite Kim and Gordon came over at midnight to watch the last race in the cup WE WON, they headed home tired as it had been quite a few late nites for us. At seven in the morning Kim Gordon Jim and Val rowed over to Nardoo. Gordon had two bottles of champagne They all came aboard and Gordon congratulated us on Australia's victory.
Hook Reef 27th September 1983
We sailed out to the reef and as the wind had droped it was a fantastic sail ,flat seas lite breeze . Tekia and Nardoo arrived together and Taku Hoa was already there. Gordon anchored in 50 metres but I didn't have enough gear to anchor this deep so I dropped my anchor on a coral bombie about 15 metres down and worried all nite that the anchor would drop off the bombie and leave us drifting. We had a quiet nite ,sundowners and we ate on our own boats that nite.
Next day we were all on Taku Hoa fishing . We noticed two small yachts sailing in amongst the reef slowly heading our way
( now keep in mind that Taku Hoa was at this stage 20 years old )
eventually one of the sailboats came along side and yelled AHOY Taku Hoa ,Val was on deck with us all fishing and said Gday .With this the visiting yachts skipper announced I built Taku Hoa we all considered this as an interesting meeting but Val promptly say's . Well the bloody decks leak. The poor guy was gobsmacked did she want warranty or something. Anyway after a few how do you do'es he sailed on probably to keep very quiet about any boats he's built in any later discourse. We had fish for dinner and the next day left I say left but it was not that easy as it took me nearly an hour to dislodge the anchor from the bombie that I thought it would fall off of . We set sail for Butterfly Bay
Now I must set the scene , it was lite breeze in the morning on our beam ,Taku Hoa being a much longer boat shot ahead while Tekia and Nardoo were having their usual joust ,we were now out to sea with no land to calm the waters and as usual in the afternoon the wind picked up .Gordon with Kimat the helm set staysail and fisherman and as he romped past us yelled THIS IS HOW REAL BOATS SAIL IN REAL CONDITIONS. This was his revenge and I bragged no more of my victories.
Butterfly Bay 29th September 1983
Not much happened here ,sundowners etc
From here it gets a bit vague
We go to Mackay to stock up and then sail south but during the day due to adverse winds we split up as I had an outboard motor with little range so Gordon chose to motor to Middle Percy and we sailed of to Pointer island .We would meet again at Rosalyn Bay
Rosalyn Bay 11th October
We are in Rosalyn Bay and hitchhike to town ( Yepoon ) to get supply's the next day off to Keppel
Keppel Island 12th October 1983
Gordon and Kim were anchored there waiting for Taku Hoa . When she arrived we all went ashore to take a look at the resort a low key affair where you can stay in a top notch unit or pitch a tent. We had a couple of day's there and relaxed in good company
Bundaberg October
Our log is getting a bit vague now . we all spent 3 weeks in Bundy I did a weeks work on a fishing boat which is a story in its own write. We shopped and went to the pubs a bit for meals as they were really cheap . I must be honest now we had all been together a fair while and probably needed to move on.
Southport November
We had all gone our own way's after Bundaberg ,Jim and Val sailed back to NZ and we made our wy south alone. We met up with Kim and Gordon again in Southport where Kim was working as a waitress which gave tham extra $ for a satnav and funds to extend their voyage to NZ
And this is my last tale . Gordon bought a satnav .2000 bucks ,big money back then but it didn't give correct positions .He sent it back to Adelaide for warranty They sent it back with a printed readout giving perfect fixes every time . But when back on the boat it still was inaccurate. I suggested that maybe they tested it in an air conditioned building and that in high humidity it failed. He sent it back again with this request . Test it in the same conditions it will have to operate in . They sent him a replacement that worked perfectly
We left to go home to Wollongong as I needed to do some work and never saw them again
Some time in January 84 I received a telegram from Jim ."Where are Kim and Gordon?" . I went to the water police who directed me to search and rescue Canberra . They said they would put out an all vessel and aircraft alert and that was all they could do.
Five years later in 88 we tried the same trip in a 27 footer but the people were not the same and the camaraderie was not there anymore
I hope this has helped you and rest assured I am typing now with tears in my eye's as it has helped me