Ray Doneo

Raymond John Victor Doneo was 25 years old when he got a job as a deckhand on a cray fishing boat working off Rat Island, in the Abrolhos Islands off the Geraldton coast.

Ray was born in 1963. His father John Doneo and mother Victorine Ferrarin had two more children. They had emigrated from Middlesex in England. In 1989 the family was based in Duncraig, in the city.

Ray was working on Blue Skies, with skipper Robert Luis Della-Marta. Robert was a Sri Lankan, who came to Western Australia in 1925.

The 22nd of April 1989 was the fourth day of Ray’s new job. He was dropping pots at the Snapper Bank, east of Rat Island at 2.20pm. The boat was under power, Ray threw a rope over the side. His leg was caught in the rope, and as the weight of the pot pulled the rope tight around Ray’s leg, he was dragged over the side of the boat and into the water.

Caught by the rope on his leg, Ray was pulled into the deep. He was under the water for several minutes, before he could be pulled back on deck. Attempts to resuscitate Ray were unsuccessful.

Ray’s untimely death was number 78 of 1989. He was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery.