Last Messages from Blessed Be
New information about the last heard of messages from the Blessed Be has emerged. Drew Woodhouse, son of Graeme Woodhouse said the boat suffered a knockdown in horrendous weather conditions off the Queensland coast.
'Marina image of Blessed Be - photo courtesy AMSA'
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The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) on Friday night suspended the search for Graeme Woodhouse, 60, a retired Qantas pilot and father of three from Sydney, and Bruce Glasson, 58, a retired electrical wholesaler from Uralla in the NSW Northern Tablelands.
The men - both experienced sailors - were sailing from Fiji to Brisbane, via Noumea in New Caledonia.
Drew Woodhouse, 29, said his father and Mr Glasson survived the knock-down, but the 12.8-metre vessel has been missing since August 24 despite an exhaustive sea and air search.
Mr Woodhouse, who often sailed with his father, learned of the knock-down as emergency teams scoured the seas from Bundaberg to Port Stephens, in NSW. The search team included 21 aircraft and two police boats.
He said a marine emergency service received a message from the boat's high-frequency radio on August 23 saying the boat had been knocked down, but the men were unhurt.
'The weather must have been really bad for a knock-down but the boat righted itself and the message said they were OK,' he said.
He said his father emailed his wife on August 21.
'Dad said they were making slow progress but all was well and they expected to be in Brisbane in about three days,' he said. 'That was the last news we heard from him.'
Communications between the men and the Australian Customs Service reveal severe weather struck on August 22 when they were about 150 nautical miles off Maroochydore, less than two days' sailing from Brisbane.
The weather was so bad with gale force winds of 34 to 47 knots the men changed course and headed north-east to go with the winds.
In an email on August 23 to the Australian Customs Service and sighted by The Sun-Herald, Mr Glasson wrote: '... very bad SW winds last night and today have forced us to run NE with the waves and winds so we may end up in Bundaberg. We are towing long warps to slow us down, vessel and crew are fine, will keep in touch.'
This was the last communication received from the men.
About five hours earlier, Mr Glasson used the satellite phone to call his wife, Anne, and a friend, Garry Palmer, from Matcham on the NSW Central Coast.
by Kate Dennehy, brisbanetimes.com.au/Sail-World 
Port Melbourne, VIC
