The MV “JANE”: From Work Boat to Whitsunday Legend

Aquaplanning MV Jane in 1949  

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The MV “Jane” was a 14.4 metre launch; an ex-navy wooden work boat. Local lore heavily maintained that the vessel had originally served as the personal boat of General Douglas MacArthur during his command in the Pacific theatre. Whether completely factual or enhanced for tourism, this legendary pedigree made her a highly appealing attraction for early holidaymakers.  

Skip Moody brought the “Jane” to the Whitsundays in 1946 to support Daydream Island Resort, using her for early day trips, coral-viewing cruises and aquaplaning. She became a key vessel in the post-World War Two Whitsunday tourism boom, operating as a cruise boat until she was wrecked at Stonehaven, Hook Island, during Cyclone Ada.  

Rupe Wilson, owner of a baker’s shop in Proserpine, skippered “Jane”, while Jack Stewart, underground manager of the then-thriving Dittmer Mine, regularly took tourists out aboard her. As Jack did not hold an official marine ticket, Skip was forced to accompanythe trips to ensure the operation remained legal.  

In 1948, the Moodys sold Daydream Island to Barrier Reef Islands Pty Ltd, an Ansett Transport Industries subsidiary, which added “Jane” to its resort fleet. After cyclone damage in January 1950 drove her ashore, Ansett reshaped and redecked her with teak from a World War Two wreck before basing her at Hayman Island.  

Cyclone Ada Claims a Whitsunday Icon  

On January 17, 1970, the MV “Jane” sheltered from Cyclone Ada at Stonehaven, Hook Island, alongside her sister launch, the 11.4 metre “Little J” (MV Jillian), and “Island Gypsy”. Skipper Bill Hutchinson and deckhand Trevor Buschel repeatedly reset her dragging anchor as the wind intensified, but conditions soon became too dangerous. The chain snapped, “Jane” turned broadside, rolled heavily, and a fuel tank broke loose and burst, flooding the vessel with diesel. At 12.30am on January 18, the wheelhouse windows failed and the wheelhouse disintegrated, forcing the crew into the water. They clung first to a mast section and later to a fish-box grating before reaching the northeastern shore of Stonehaven near dawn, delayed by torrents of rainwater pouring off Hook Island. There they found another survivor, the skipper of a wrecked barge also sheltering at Stonehaven.  

The next day, a rescue mission was mounted from Hayman Island using the only undamaged boat, the island’s speedboat. Ray Buschel, father of Trevor, and the boat’s driver headed for Stonehaven and picked up the three survivors all of whom fortunately recovered from their ordeal.  

Her smaller sister boat, “Little J”, capsized in the same bay with the loss of its skipper and deckhand, though that hull was miraculously salvaged and restored decades later.  

But not so for the “Jane”. With her superstructure torn off and hull badly holed, she was abandoned where she lay. She was stripped of her motor and any other useful gear and left to rot. While the wreck sat on the island for many years and was heavily documented by local historians, there are no longer any physical remnants of the MV “Jane” remaining on the beach at Stonehaven.  

A Final Piece Preserved  

The ship’s historic great fore peak knee was later officially retrieved from Stonehaven by John Williams and local historian, Ray Blackwood. John donated the prow to the Proserpine Historical Museum where it is displayed as a tribute to traditional maritime carpentry. Hand-selected, shaped and crafted rather than factory-made, it represents a different, more artistic era of boatbuilding. The prow and historical photographs of the wreck at Stonehaven are now preserved at the museum.  

Story sourced from Museum archives and past patron, Ray Blackwood. Photo sourced from Museum archives.  

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