''Spirit of Mystery'' is a replica of the

Mount's Bay Mount's Bay ( kw, Baya an Garrek) is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head. In the north of the bay, near Marazion, is St Michael's Mount; the origin o ...

lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or several masts. They were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively i ...

''Mystery'' which made a voyage to Australia in 1854/55. In 1854 a discussion in the Star Inn in

Newlyn Newlyn ( kw, Lulyn: Lu 'fleet', Lynn/Lydn 'pool') is a seaside town and fishing port (the largest fishing port in England) in south-west Cornwall, UK.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount ...

led seven fishermen to set sail in the hope of finding their fortunes. 116 days later, their Cornish lugger, ''Mystery'', a 37 ft fishing boat that had never previously been out of sight of land, arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, 12,000 miles away.

Construction

''Spirit of Mystery'' was built at Millbrook by Chris Rees for

Pete Goss Pete Goss, MBE (born 22 December 1961) is a British yachtsman who has sailed more than . A former Royal Marine, he is famous for his pioneering project Team Philips. He was invested in the Legion d'Honneur for saving fellow sailor Raphaël Din ...

. Construction took ten months. She is a replica of ''Mystery'', which made a one way voyage to Australia in 1854–55. ''Spirit of Mystery'' was launched on 21 June 2008. Incorporated into ''Spirit of Mystery'' is wood from ''

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of ...

'', and HMS ''Victory'', with some of the rigging coming from SS ''Great Britain''. Construction of ''Spirit of Mystery'' closely followed the design of the original luggers. The only concessions to modernity are watertight bulkheads and heavier ballast. Electrics have been fitted as it is a legal requirement to have navigation lights. An engine has been fitted but will not be used on the journey to Australia. Internally, oil lamps will be used, and navigation will be by the sun and stars, although a satellite tracking device allows the progress of ''Spirit of Mystery'' to be followed on the internet. As on the original ''Mystery'', a coke stove is installed. However, the diet and clothing of the crew are to modern standards, and there is a toilet and gas cooker on board.

History

Voyage to Australia

''Spirit of Mystery'' left

at 18:00 on 20 October 2008, bound for

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, just as ''Mystery'' did in 1854. Pete Goss is reported to have been in such a hurry to leave that he left his socks and pants in a tumble dryer at a launderette. ''Spirit of Mystery'' crossed the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

on 21 November 2008. The crew is Andy Goss, Eliot Goss, Pete Goss and Andy Maidment. ''Spirit of Mystery'' arrived in

on 25 December 2008 ''Spirit of Mystery'' left Cape Town on 13 January 2009, with an estimated arrival time in Australia of the first week in March. At 09:30 hrs local time on 4 March 2009, Time was 23:30 hrs, 3 March 2009 UTC ''Spirit of Mystery'' was hit by a wave which rolled her more than 90 degrees on her side. Although she righted herself, Mark Maidment sustained a broken leg in the incident. The boat's

liferaft A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts (liferafts) are also used. In the mil ...

and dinghy were lost overboard in the incident. ''Spirit of Mystery'' was off

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

and some off the coast of Australia when the incident happened. ''Spirit of Mystery'' sailed towards Australia in order that Mark Maidment could be airlifted off by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. He was originally scheduled to be rescued during the morning of 6 March 2009. ''Spirit of Mystery'' eventually put into

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

where Mark Maidment was transferred to an ambulance for transport to a hospital in Melbourne where he underwent an operation. The boat was damaged in the incident, and was reduced to a speed of . ''Spirit of Mystery'' arrived in Melbourne on 9 March 2009. The crew were greeted with a

pint The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is tradition ...

and a

pasty A pasty () is a British baked pastry, a traditional variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, South West England, but has spread all over the British Isles. It is made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetab ...

References

External links

{{Portal, Cornwall
''Spirit of Mystery'' weblog
Replica ships History of Cornwall 2008 ships Individual sailing vessels Luggers