Pam E

Mark Francis Foster was the son of Kevin Francis Foster, plumber and Elaine Mary Meade, married in 1957. Historically the family name was Fostineo. Like many families they anglicised their name in Australia. Mark was born on 16 March 1959. 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 was working his second crayfishing season on the Pam E, owned by Geraldton cray fisherman Lex Eley and skippered by Geoff Stewart.

Geoff, nick named Boondie, was born in South Australia with the official name Geoffrey Ross Schultz 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 was a 9.8 metre bondwood cray boat working approximately 50 kms south of Dongara, off Little Freshwater. It was a popular area for catching “the whites” [migratory rock lobster].

On 31 March 1983 Mark was working on deck. He had put 28 pots on deck. Geoff had decided to move the pots to new ground, deeper and to the west of Little Freshwater. They were steaming in 28 fathoms when a swell caught the boat.

There seems to be two theories of how the Pam E sank. The first is that the boat capsized when hit by a big and sudden swell.

The second is that the boat started taking on water while steaming. Boondie pulled the boat out of gear to go and see why. Without the boat’s forward motion, the water rushed to the front of the boat, sending her into a nosedive, straight down to the bottom.

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. Pam E sank quickly. In 15 minutes, she was out of sight.

When Pam E did not make it home, alarm bells went off. Dongara was the nearest small community, and a missing boat was every fisherman’s worst nightmare. At first light the Dongara fleet had boats looking for Pam E. Their own pots had to wait.

The pots from the Pam E had gone to the seabed after the vessel sank. The ropes were too short for 28 fathoms, and they stood vertically to the surface with the floats attached. When waves rolled through, they were submerged, but when a wave had gone the floats just reached the surface. The men held a bunch of floats each 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.

Towards evening the swell increased and the men had to hold on harder and stay under the surface for longer. The cold became numbing. They swallowed a lot of water. By 10 pm Mark was physically exhausted. Geoff tried to hold him up but no longer had any strength. He could not hang on to him. Mark drifted away.

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 first light he was seen by Trevor Knight on Jo-chelle D45. Apparently the most memorable part of the rescue was the grin on Trevor’s face leaning over the side of his boat looking at Geoff. They 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 10 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.

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 years, 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. Mark was joined by his father in 2010.

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