Three men in a dinghy fulfil long-held ambition

An Irish-born Queensland dive boat operator, a Sydney Harbour ferry captain and an ex-Port Hedland mining contractor sound like the perfect combination for a “walk into a bar” gag.

But years of planning and a shared desire to visit one of Australia’s most spectacular and relatively secret natural wonders is no laughing matter.

Gary Walsh, Marcus Eakins and Jimmy Maddison realised a long-held dream this month when they reached Rowley Shoals in what could only be described as a glorified dinghy.

Measuring 5.5m long, the vessel, Pickled Brain, was refitted for the 630km round trip from Port Hedland in a notoriously unpredictable stretch of the Indian Ocean.

“We started planning it about seven years ago and got fuel tanks specially made up to undertake a trip like that,” Mr Eakins said.

“We had 750 litres of fuel all up, about 600 of which was under the floor.”

For a ferry captain whose biggest worry would normally be dodging other pleasure craft on busy Sydney Harbour, Mr Eakins said the 8½-hour trip to Rowley Shoals presented unique challenges.

“We’d been watching the weather for about three or four years,” he said.

The Rowley Shoals are three coral atolls on the edge of the continental shelf about 260km west-north-west of Broome.

The atolls, each about 85sqkm, rise from deep water with near-vertical sides.

The shoals are renowned for their virtually untouched coral gardens, giant clams, inquisitive potato cod and abundant fish life.

Mr Walsh, an Irishman who operators dive tours off Cairns, said it was a rare accomplishment to reach the shoals unassisted.

“Because it is such a big trip there aren’t many recreational boats that you get there, and if there is they’ll be bigger sail boats,” he said.

“I haven’t heard of this being done before.”