In 1854 seven Cornish fisherman had decided to leave behind the hard times they were experiencing at home and try their luck in the Australian gold rush. They were all shareholders in a fishing boat, a 37 foot Mounts Bay lugger called Mystery. The group were considering selling the boat to pay for their passages when it was suggested over a pint in the pub that they should just set sail in the Mystery.
The group set sail on 18th November 1854 and covered the 11,800 nautical miles to Melbourne in 116 days, stopping only in Cape Town for supplies and repairs.
153 years later sailor and adventurer Pete Goss was looking for a new challenge when he came across the story of the Mystery and decided to re enact the voyage. The project commenced in August 2007 with design and building of the boat. Spirit of Mystery was launched on 21st June and will be fitted out over the coming months. The boat is a close replica of the original Mystery. No plans were used to build these boats in 1854 and no craft from that era have survived to the present although the basic dimensions of Mystery are known. Fortunately plans for a Mounts Bay lugger were found in a report into a 1848 storm in Scotland which sank 124 boats greatly assisting designer and builder Chris Rees.
Goss will be sailing with a crew of three making it considerably less cramped than on the original voyage and there will be a few modern conveniences onboard that were unavailable in 1854 including safety and communication equipment. However Goss intends to sail and navigate the boat just as it was done on the original voyage using a sextant and celestial navigation. An engine has been fitted to the boat for legal and practical reasons but the intention is not use it on the voyage. There are no electrics apart from a solar panel for the satcom.
Goss hopes to have the boat completed in time to set off in October and be in Cape Town for Christmas.
No stranger to adventure Goss, a former Royal Marine has taken part many offshore yacht races and organised expeditions to the North Pole. He famously rescued fellow competitor Rapheal Dinelli in the 1996 Vendee Globe. His revolutionary catamaran Team Philips broke up in a storm in December 2000 on its way to begin “The Race” to be the fastest boat to sail around the world.
Click here to visit the Spirit of Mystery website.
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