South Australian sailor's voyage ends in tragedy

by Daniel Sluggett & Rob Kothe on 23 Apr 2004 A sailor’s 20-year dream of sailing the east coast of Australia has ended in tragedy, with his body found on a Victoria’s Ninety Mile Beach yesterday and his abandoned yacht aground in the shallows.

After 12 months of preparation Malcolm Halloran, 71, sailed from Port Adelaide aboard his Jarkan 34 Trulee Elizabeth on March 13th bound for Queensland.

He sailed almost to Kangaroo Island in company with fellow members of the Port Adelaide Sailing Club. His brother and sister-in-law were on board with him and he dropped them off in Port Fairy in Victoria last week.

Police were called to Woodside Beach, at the south end of Ninety Mile Beach on Victoria's south east coast about 8am yesterday after an early morning walker discovered Halloran's body.

His intact fibreglass yacht was located in the shallows near the shore about a mile away. There was no damage to boat, which had a single reef in the main.

It is considered possible that Halloran suffered a heart attack, but that will be a matter for a Coronial enquiry.

Halloran bought his 10.45 metre yacht Trulee Elizabeth, built in 1979 in the mid 1980's with funds from the sale of his bakery in Broken Hill, hoping to sail around the coast when he retired. When he and his wife moved to Adelaide, settling in Rosewater, he opened a trucking business.

When he retired in 2003, the father of three continued working on his boat to ensure it was suitable for his long-awaited journey.

Mrs Halloran, 62, had been unable to contact her husband on his mobile telephone for three days before his body was discovered, but she suspected the phone was out of range.

‘I was a bit frightened but never would have thought this would have happened,’ she said. ‘At least he died loving what he was doing. I just hope he wasn't in pain.’

Port Adelaide Sailing Club Commodore Jim Edwards said he was shocked to hear the news.

He said ‘ Malcolm Halloran had been a member of the club since 1985 and was well prepared for the journey. He had raced with the Club a lot in the early days.

He had fitted out the boat well. With a lot of attention to detail. He’d even fitted an extra trysail track on the mast, added a new HF radio, EPIRB and added a large sea anchor.

Last year, he’d cruising down to Port Lincoln as part of his preparation for his trip to Queensland. ‘

It is a great shock, at the beginning of the week, we received a happy postcard from Malcolm that he sent before he left Port Fairy. Now this news!’