One of the pleasures of being at sea is that it can be a positive catalyst to socialising. It’s not a big ship with thousands on board so we often find ourselves sharing a lunch or dinner with other guests and it is the perfect time, over a few drinks, to hear their story.

Well I wasn’t expecting this one !

John Peterson wrote Big Swim about 50 years after his big swim. He is now in his 70s a tall solid man with lovely blue eyes. He is back on the water and enjoying it.

A mate, Graham invited him on a fishing trip in July 1971. He loved fishing so off he went in Graham’s boat, an old boat he had just bought called Easy Rider.

He relates how growing up in the town of Bundaberg in Queensland he was a strong swimmer at school and loved sport. He became a trainee carpenter. He enjoyed fishing and having a drink at the pub. He was 24.

They set off on Friday 2nd July. Remember it’s winter time here in QLD, there were no navigation aids apart from compass readings and they were heading some 18 miles off the coast to a gutter, a small trench that drops 10-15 m from the surrounding sea floor with lots of reef fish. There were no air rescue aircraft’s or emergency beacons either.

Fifteen minutes into their return journey with Graham driving the boat hard, John noticed the boat was taking in water. No amount of bailing could save the boat and it sank quickly leaving the two stranded in the water. Graham had a wet suit on and they shared a pair of flippers. John had the only life jacket on board.

They swam for miles. Graham realised he was too weary to continue, handed John his flipper and told him to get help. John realised it might be the last time he saw Graham.

The Big Swim lasted for 18 hours in cold choppy water. Eventually he was able to see the light from the Burnett Heads Lighthouse. He saw passing vessels but no one heard his calls for help.

In a dazed state he reached the bank of Burnett River, crawled out, there was no one there, but he found an old ute and the keys, drove himself back home and fell out of the ute exhausted. As he said the neighbours must have thought he had a big night drinking!

He raised the alarm but neither the boat nor Graham were found. John spent a week in hospital recovering physically from his ordeal.

The mental recovery took some 50 years, as he gradually felt more comfortable going fishing again and finally deciding to write his story.

An extraordinary tale of survival.