Ballina News
Celebrating 50 years of Las Balsas Expedition
Celebrating 50 years of Las Balsas Expedition
By Samantha Elley
When 10 year old Fernand ‘Fern’ Robichaud heard the story of Marc Modena and his trek across the Atlantic Ocean on a raft from Canada to England, it was a story that would stay with him over the years.
“When I was 24, I contacted him and after that we became good friends,” said Fern at the 50 year anniversary of the Las Balsas expedition held last weekend at Ballina Naval & Maritime Museum.
“He invited me to come on the expedition.”
That expedition would make world headlines as it left Ecuador on May 27, 1973 and sailed for 178 days across the Pacific Ocean, having covered around 14,000km with 12 men on three rafts. (Balsa is the Spanish word for raft).
They saw their fair share of bad and good weather and amazing sea life.
“We sailed through a hurricane and were in the eye of a cyclone,” said Fern.
“The rafts became a floating atoll.
“First you had the little fish feeding near you and that attracted the bigger fish and then, of course, the sharks.”
L to R: Col from the Idaho, Dick Greaves, President, Ballina Naval & Maritime Museum, Las Balsas expeditioner Fern Robichaud, Ballina mayor Sharon Cadwallader, Brock from the Enterprise ready to cut the cake.
Seafood was definitely on the menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Then there was the issue of toileting procedures.
“It was the best seat on the raft,” laughed Fern.
“It was the only seat, so it was often used to sit on to read a book as well.”
Fern is very adamant when he talks about the two greatest highlights of the whole expedition.
“The first was when we left Ecuador and you realised that it was too late to jump off and go back to shore,” he laughed.
“And the second was when we arrived at Ballina.
“There were heaps of people on the shoreline and everyone was happy to see us.”
The expedition was originally bound for Mooloolaba on the Queensland coast, but a strong southerly current carried the rafts down the coast and the three rafts crossed the bar, with the help of some local trawlers, on 21st November, 1973.
Australia obviously had an impact on Fern as he now resides permanently here.
The same can be said for the expedition on the town of Ballina.
Fern Robichaud with his assistant Kelly Morton
President of the Ballina Naval & Maritime Museum, Dick Greaves, said when they moved into its present site, a purpose built extension was made to the roof of the old Ballina Information Centre to be able to house the last remaining raft of the Las Balsas expedition.
Two of the local trawlerman Col and Brock were on hand at the 50 years celebrations to share their stories of the arrival of the expedition.
With the Navy’s HMAS Labuan following the rafts from Brisbane to Ballina, they called out for help to get all three rafts safely over the Ballina bar.
The Idaho, which Col was on board, and the Enterprise, that had Brock, responded and two rafts were safely brought in.
The third raft was too water logged to take the strain of being towed and was cut loose, where it drifted down to Newcastle, towed into port but eventually destroyed by vandals.
The two rafts that landed in Ballina were combined using their best parts to recreate one raft, which now stands proudly on display at the Ballina Naval & Maritime Museum.
For more local Ballina news, click here.
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