Gold Coast builder Keith Richardson spent five days marooned on Mosquito Island after his boat ran aground
A builder, who went viral after council threatened him with a $740,000 fine over his kids’ cubby house, has just survived days shipwrecked on a deserted island.
A wild series of unusual circumstances made the 32-year mariner “look like a rookie”, builder Keith Richardson told The Courier-Mail – sparked by engine failure during king tides in a notoriously temperamental stretch of water.
High and dry on Monday after king tides, engine failure and bad weather
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The 52-year-old thought he was just taking his newest toy, a 22-year-old Mustang, out for a routine test run on Sunday afternoon “after having lots ($16,000 worth) of mechanical work completed” when disaster struck.
A sudden engine breakdown near Jumpinpin Bar triggered five days of living rough he can barely believe happened given his 32 years of experience on the water.
“The motor had stalled and wouldn’t start again when I was at Jumpinpin Bar,” said Mr Richardson who is the managing director of Imagine Kit Homes.
“There was a very strong wind and fast-running tide which pushed me into Swan Bay. The waves and a higher-than-usual tide pushed me up the beach and wedged the boat against a tree. This caused the motor to dig into the sand.”
Exclusive images shared of how he set up for the night waiting for rescue or a super high tide whichever came first
“So when it was high tide at 11:30 that night, and I couldn’t push the boat off, I decided just to wait 12 hours to the next high tide and try and get it off the beach then. Unfortunately, the next high tide wasn’t high enough.”
Images Mr Richardson shared exclusively with The Courier-Mail show the 22-foot Mustang sitting wedged high on the sandbank, with Keith setting up camp inside the cabin as high tides continued to hold the vessel hostage.
When he realised at midday on Monday that he would be stranded for another night, Mr Richardson drew solace from his work – delivering prefabricated homes to remote locations across the Pacific – and realised he was actually sitting on prime real estate.
A generator and Weber barbecue running on the sand while Keith answered work calls from the cabin
“We deliver homes to very remote locations in the Pacific region, and during our research I often say that it would be a great place to be shipwrecked,” Mr Richardson said ironically.
“I never realised that the best spot was actually Mosquito Island. Someone probably named it that so no one else would go there.”
Rather than panicking, he set up his mobile office from the cabin, waiting until Monday afternoon to break the news to his wife – who began co-ordinating supplies and a recovery plan.
“I was still working, answering phone calls and emails, which kept me busy,” he said.
Monday morning, waiting for the next tide
Attempts to bring in makeshift sliders
His wife organised supplies and sent out their 18-year-old son Kodi with Adam Henly, a bricklayer from Mirfield, West Yorkshire England, who had been working at Mr Richardson’s home when the incident occurred.
“The bricklayer has only moved to Australia two months ago and was keen to help,” Mr Richardson said. “He thinks this sort of thing happens all of the time, and wants to get a boat as soon as possible.”
Then his wife, 16-year-old son Marcus, and Mr Henly dropped off another boatload of supplies – including 6m lengths of aluminium meant to act as makeshift slides under the hull.
Even Cindy, his trusty Border Collie who “never misses a boat trip,” decided to just resign herself to being high and dry on the island, he said.
The team laid 6m aluminium lengths under the hull to act as tracks to slide the vessel into deep water
MRQ maintained radio contact and monitored condition updates while awaiting Thursday’s peak spring tide – when volunteer Skipper Brett Campbell and his crew mounted the high-stakes recovery.
“I had a mate and Adam the bricklayer there helping to dig while Brett and his crew dragged the boat off the beach,” Mr Richardson said.
MRQ Jacobs Well Unit Commander Shaun Quilty told The Courier-Mail the incident was far from a routine job for his crew.
“We have over 400 activations a year in our region,” Commander Quilty said. “This was a very difficult recovery because of the size of the boat and how high it was on the beach.”
It took days before it was feasible to try to get off Mosquito Island
For Mr Richardson, there was a bit more in store before he could get home though.
“Once we were in the water, it took over an hour to pack up. The boat still wouldn’t start,” he said.
Then a little bit more drama: “Unfortunately, as we were leaving, my mate ran over the tow rope. We had spent two hours drifting in the bar trying to untangle the tow rope.”
“We managed to get to South Stradbroke Island, where I spent night 5. By then I was exhausted and just wanted to get home.”
On Friday morning, a mechanic and another mate finally got it all fixed so Mr Richardson could head home intact and under his own power.
MRQ Jacobs Well’s JW31 vessel pulls the tow line taut during Thursday’s high-stakes spring tide extraction
But Murphy’s Law was still kicking in: “When I was attempting to park, I ran into another boat with the big aluminium poles we had used as slides on the beach”.
Now back on dry land, Mr Richardson can scarcely believe the domino effects he went through, but was thankful the team at MRQ Jacobs Well helped him get home safe.
He said Skipper Campbell even called him at work in Loganholme on Friday to check on him.
“It highlights how important the Volunteer Marine Rescue organisation is to the boating community in our region,” said Mr Richardson – whose marooning comes a year after making national headlines when he was threatened with a $740,000 fine for a council-approved double-storey cubby house he’d built for his kids.
The stunning isolated located he was marooned in after engine failure and bad weather
At the time a new neighbour to their area complained, branding the playhouse an “eyesore” – demanding it be torn down– which Mr Richardson responded to by renting that house out and buying his family a home on a larger block where he built an even grander cubby house.
Reflecting on his latest adventure, he said his family took his high-seas antics completely in their stride.
“They say it’s never boring when I go boating,” Mr Richardson laughed. “Cindy the border collie never misses a boat trip” – going on to name this one “a great trip full of adventures”.
MRQ Jacobs Well Commander Quilty said, “we would like to encourage boating safety and proper planning.”
Images of the vessel waiting for another king tide or at least high enough to force it off the island
