Pam E

Mark Francis Foster was the son of Kevin Francis Foster and Elaine Mary Meade, married in 1957.Historically the family name was Fostineo. Like many families they anglicised their name in Australia. Kevin was the vice principal William Angliss Institute of Technical and Further Education. Mark was born on 16 March 1959 in Melbourne. Electoral rolls indicate Mark remained in school and was still registered as a student at the age of 21 years.

At the age of 24 years, Mark was single. He travelled to Western Australia in 1982 and was working his second crayfishing season on the Pam E, owned by Geraldton cray fisherman Lex Eley and skippered by Geoff Stewart. He planned for it to be his last, because he wanted to go travelling.

Geoff, nick named Boondie, was born in South Australia with the official name Geoffrey Ross Schulz on 15 March 1954.He changed his name to Stewart. Geoff married in 1981.He had six years of experience at the age of 30 years.

Pam E G331 was a 9.8 metre bond wood cray boat working approximately 50 kms south of Dongara, off Little Freshwater. It was a popular area for catching “the whites” [migratory rock lobster].The boat had passed its survey in October just before the season began and was deemed to be a seaworthy and safe vessel.

On 31 March 1984 Mark was working on deck. He had put 28 pots on deck. Geoff had decided to move the pots to new ground on Marshalls Bank, deeper and to the west of Little Freshwater. They were steaming in 28 fathoms when a swell caught the boat.

At 6.45 am Pam E started taking on water over the stern while she was steaming. When Boondie pulled the boat out of gear for Mark to drop a pot into the water, and Pam E rolled onto her port side. She sank stern first in 10 minutes.

Geoff was thrown across the cab and tipped into the water. He did not get a chance to make a distress call on the radio. Mark was thrown unceremoniously off the deck.

When Pam E did not make it home, alarm bells went off. Jennifer, Geoff’s wife contacted police. Lex Ely rang the Kailis factory and discovered Geoff had not consigned his catch. Lex knew that something was very wrong. Lex contacted police and requested an air search.

Dongara was the nearest small community, and a missing boat was every fisherman’s worst nightmare. Their pots had to wait. News of the missing boat was hardly necessary. The fishers could see she had not come back to her moorings. Stuart Johnston had seen an oil slick on the water, and on hearing the news about the Pam E, he rang Lex to tell him where it was.

At first light the Dongara fleet was looking for Pam E.

Lex left the moorings in his second boat, Pam E ll at 3.30am and was at Marshalls Bank before sunrise.

At first light an air search commenced with Neil Bradley as observer. He photographed Pam E’s floats from the air and directed search boats to the site.

Pam E’s pots had gone to the seabed, as they are supposed to. The ropes were too short for 28 fathoms, and they stood vertically to the surface. When waves rolled through, they were submerged, but when a wave had gone the floats just reached the surface. The men held onto a bunch of floats to help them to stay afloat.

It was hard to keep holding their breath for the waves, and some waves took a while to roll over, meaning they had to hold their breath for a long time. The water was cold, and the chill effect was more powerful, the longer the men were in the water. Their energy was draining away.

At 7pm Mark was getting cramps, and the cold was affecting him. He started vomiting and talked incoherently. Geoff started holding onto Mark to keep him afloat.

By 9.30pm the swell increased and the men had to stay under the surface for longer. They swallowed a lot of water. The cold became numbing. Mark was physically exhausted and became delirious. He told Geoff he was giving up. Geoff held him for two more hours, as long as he could. He held him for two hours until he no longer had any strength to hang on. Mark drifted away, unconscious.

Senior Constable Leaver and First Constable Trevenen in Dongara coordinated the search and rescue operation. In relation to Mark’s death, they commended Geoff, saying he had done all he could, and more than they though was possible to save Mark.

Geoff hung onto the floats through the night, battling to stay alive. He checked his watch regularly and every hour he defiantly shouted out the time and added “and I’m still here". He was in the water for 28 hours.

At 7.50am the next morning Geoff was seen by Trevor Knight on Jo-chelle D45. Apparently the most memorable part of the rescue for Geoff was the grin on Trevor’s face leaning over the side of his boat looking at him. Jo-Chelle’s crew pulled Geoff aboard, barely sensible. Jo-chelle was one of four boats searching the area for the Pam E crew. Within 30 minutes there were 16 boats combing the area for Mark.

Geoff was taken to Freshwater Point, where a helicopter with a nurse on board was waiting to take him to Geraldton Regional Hospital. He was admitted into intensive care with severe exposure and multiple chafe wounds. He remained in hospital until 11 April.

The search included an air search as well as the search by boats starting as soon as it was light enough to see. The weather deteriorated in the afternoon, and the search had to be scaled back overnight. It was recommenced on the following morning. Sadly, when the weary searchers withdrew, Mark’s body had not been found.

Geoff did not go back to sea. He took a job on a mine site at Wiluna. On 20 September 1989, at the age of 35, he had a heart attack at work and died instantly.

Mark has a plaque at the Sorrento Cemetery in Victoria. His death is recorded in the Midwest and Sorrento death registers. He left behind his parents and younger brother Christopher. Mark was joined by his father in 2010.

There is a fitting quote from Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” on Mark’s plaque. Tennyson uses the metaphor of crossing a sand bar in a boat to describe crossing from life into death.

Sunset and Evening Star
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning at the bar
When I put out to sea.