Boating History "Sailing a dry Lake - Shipwreck on a wet Lake "

The following chronological history of boating on the Lake is by no means complete and will be supplemented as further claims appear. It is compiled from published sources listed in the bibliography, and where available, first person accounts. Although the LEYC primary interest is in yachting significant non yachting flood based events are also noted in this history.

Sources:
AA - Alvin Atkinson, skipper of the "Ibis" and LEYC Life Member
BS - Brian Sheedy "Exploring Lake Eyre"
DT - Don Thorpe 1976 LE TS 16 Championship Winner
GP - A Grenfell Price, Royal Geographical Society of Australia South Australian Branch
RC - Robert Clark, navigator of the "Ibis" and LEYC Member
RD - Roma Dulhunty "When The Dead Heart Beats Lake Eyre Lives"
RE - Rex Ellis "Bush Safari"
VK - Vincent Kotwicki "Floods of Lake Eyre"
VS - Vincent Serventy "The Desert Sea - The Miracle of Lake Eyre in Flood"
WB - Warren Bonython "Where Seasons Come and Go"
WR - Bill Rice, crew "Red Baron", skipper Kathleen M and LEYC Life Member

TBC - To be confirmed

1844-6

• Charles Sturt carried a whaleboat on a dray in the hope that he may reach the fabled inland sea. The boat was abandoned in the vicinity of Depot Glen and a replica of it at Tibooburra forms a monument to Sturts determination. Sturt qualifies as the Lake Eyre Yacht Clubs earliest "Gunna" member.

• Following Goyder's reports of water the SA Government dispatches Surveyor-General Freeling to Lake Blanche with a flat bottomed punt. The Lake dries over the intervening four months. The party commented that Goyder "could not be trusted alone in the Australian Desert with a mirage".

• 6.4m flood & Goyder Channel flows North to South Muloorina has 432mm annual rainfall in 1974. (RD)
• The Cooper Crossing exceeded 2.1m in 1974.(RD)
• March 1974 Blue Hughes and family the first people to water ski on the Lake. (RD)
• March 1974 Rex Ellis used two 3.7m flat bottomed punts to motor to the Lake from 200km (by river) up the Warburton. It took 3 days to navigate the Warburton. His group completed the first north-south crossing of the Lake during which one of the punts foundered at night in the middle of the Lake. Among his passengers were Vincent Serventy (Presenter of Walkabout) and Jim Dorward from Hawker. (RD, RE, VS)
• Rex Ellis also attempted to circumnavigate the Lake with a party including Vincent Serventy and John Olsen (artist). After another punt capsize they stuck to the southern shore for a few days.
• Rex Ellis twice took a party down the Cooper in punts. (RD,BS)
• Dick Lang took a party, including Phil Jones, down the Cooper in a conventional hulled boat. Algae in the Lake slowed his boat down eventually running out of fuel. He was rescued by Glen Hughes. (RD)
• Dick Lang becomes first person to water ski across LEN. (BS)
• Bob & Bill Mossel and Annabel Hill navigated the Cooper in a 2.7m Dinghy and proceeded through the Goyder Channel to Curdimurka on LES. (RD)
• Mike Steel used Blue Hughes boat to sell snacks & drinks at Elliot Price Lagoon (?) and also took tours as far as Shelly Island. (RD)
• A Flinders University Group led by Dr John Bye spent 10 days travelling from LES through the Goyder Channel to LEN and around LEN.(RD)
• In July 1974 the Dulhunty's did 1860km on the Lake in "Lake Eyre 3". (RD) A John Clarke from SA's Electricity and Water Supply used Hughes boat on the Lake.(RD)
• Charlie Phipps, his son Ric and Sandy Street traversed (measured the depth of) the Lake using Hughes' boat
• In September Brian ? and Elizabeth, Michael & ? Blakeman motor to an island in Madigan Gulf in the dinghy "John Eyre". (EB)
• In late October David Norrish, Roger Langmead and Alistair Muir sail the first yacht on The Lake - David's Surfcat towing a rubber dinghy. They travelled 150km around the southern shore of Lake Eyre North from Level Post Bay to Belt Bay and return.

• Local rain floods LES and overflows through the Goyder Channel filling LEN to 3.5m. This is the first time Europeans witnessed water flowing south to north through the channel. Vincent Serventy and Clifton Pugh drifted down the Diamantina making a documentary. They had trouble in the shallow water found in the Warburton as most of LEN water came from LES and local rain. They were unable to travel out into the Lake as the Warburton Groove had dried.
• In May John Freeman lands Cessna 185 seaplane on Lake Eyre. (AA)
• Ted Madden sailboards at Level Post Bay

• Local rain again floods LES and overflows through the Goyder Channel filling LEN to 3.0m. Roxby had 13" in two days!
• Approximately 2km of old railway embankment washed away at the Stuart Creek bridge, Curdimurka.
• Denis Bartell starts from the Dig Tree on his journey down the Cooper but runs out of water before the Birdsville Track.
• In June Rex Ellis uses two punts to motor on Lake Torrens from Beda Hill to Andamooka Island.
• In September Bill Rice launches "Kathleen M" on LES but strong winds prevent him sailing. Not to be daunted he and son Peter launch at Beda Arm and investigate the southern end of Lake Torrens to become possibly the first (and only) to sail on that lake .
• In September Richard Clampett sails a Hartley TS16 on Goyder Channel and Lake Eyre North.

• In April 2000 Bob Backway and son Stephen spend a week on LEN in Belt and Jackboot Bays. Lake Eyre Yacht Club formed.
• July 2000 Robert Clark and son canoe from lower Jackboot to Silcrete Island and return. Following this his son walks, bicycles and skis from this lowest point to Mt Kosciosko, the highest point in Australia.
• Another two canoeists attempt to cross Belt Bay from ABC Bay. Following two days of strong head winds they return.
• Rex Ellis does a number of trips on The Warburton and becomes the first to navigate the entire length of the Kallakoopah.
• September 2000 Bob Backway, wife Doreen, Stephen and Mindy spend a week on LEN.

• The Warburton floods but the flood is too small to put any significant water into the Lake .
• In March Bob Backway and Mike Wilkins sail down The Warburton and motor back in 11 days. They meet Rex Ellis on the river returning from his 16th journey and celebrating his 30 year association with river since his first adventure in March 1974.
• Rex does another three trips this flood.
• In April Ben Kozel and Tim Jarvis kayak The Warburton from Kalamurina and attempt to paddle the Warburton Groove - eventually walking out and into controversy.
• John (Johnno) Hammond from Mungerannie jet boats down The Warburton from Poonarunna to Lake Eyre.
• In July Bob Backway sails solo for five days on a very shallow Lake Eyre South (800mm max depth).

• The Warburton floods but the flood puts only a small amount of water into the Lake proper.
• In March Bob Backway sails solo down The Warburton and Kalawerina to the Lake, and up the Macumba and Kallakoopah to both rivers limit of navigation. Trip was 550km and took 13 days.
• Rex Ellis does one trip on The Warburton and a number of trips on The Diamantina and Georgina.

• Bob and Doreen Backway sail a canoe the last 40kms down The Warburton to Lake Eyre and return in a 3 day trip

• The Warburton and Kallakoopah flood putting water into Belt and Jackboot Bays.
• In March Bob Backway, Rex Ellis and his mate Len are filmed for Channel 7's "Sunday Night" program boating on the Warburton River.
• Late March Rex Ellis does a Warburton trip
• March-April Bob Backway sails solo down the Warburton River, Kalaweerina Creek and returns upstream via Kallakoopah Creek and used Kalakinna Link Creek for the first time.
• In April Rex Ellis does a Kallakoopah-Warburton trip using the Tumpawarrina Link Creek for the first time.
• In April John Hammond, Chris Harris, Bill Starr, Majid Andary and John Dunn kayak the Kallakoopah.
• Jack Miller from Goolwa also did a boat trek down the Warburton to the Lake.

• The Warburton and Kallakoopah again flood and the Cooper reaches Lake Eyre for the first time in 20 years.
• The number of people sailing, power boating and canoeing on the Lake and associated waterways reaches a level not seen since the mid seventies.
• In late June the "Top Gear" TV program attempt to sail on LEN
• In July the Lake Eyre Yacht Club hold their first official event, a Regatta, on Lake Killamperpunna to celebrate their 10th Birthday and the first Cooper flood for 20 years. 58 boats and 400 people attend.
• In late July Bob Backway, Chris Austin and Dan Towart sail 10 cold and wet days from the Cooper Punt to Lake Eyre and return.
• Rex Ellis does a number of trips on the Warburton, Strzelecki Creek and Cooper Creek.
• In September "the locals" organise a Tinnie Regatta at the Birdsville Punt to help Peter Ware celebrate his 20th anniversary of conducting boat tours on Cooper Creek.
• In late September Bob & Doreen Backway and Ian & Chris Linsell enjoy 3 days sailing two catamarans on Lake Eyre South.

• In early February major flooding on the Neales and Macumba Rivers fills Belt Bay to 2.0m.
• Lake Eyre South is filled from local rain in the SW catchment.
• In April Bob Backway and David Norrish sail for 6 days on Belt Bay.
• The Warburton and Kallakoopah again flood and the Cooper reaches Lake Eyre for the 2nd time.
• Peter Ware resumes tours at the Punt.
• In May Bob Backway, Chris Austin, Geoff Stride and Pat McCall sail a 584km Kallakoopah Warburton loop over 18 days on three Caper Cats.
• Rex Ellis does a number of trips on the Kallakoopah, Warburton and Cooper in tinnies.
• In June a couple kayak the Warburton and paddle/walk the Warburton Groove to Dulhunty Island before landing at North West Head. The same couple then paddle the Cooper from the Track to the Lake and are picked up by vehicle.
• The Lake Eyre Yacht Club holds a second Regatta on Lake Killamperpunna, Cooper Creek.
• Numerous others sail and kayak on Lake Eyre North and South defying an attempt to ban boating by the South Australian Government.