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Remembering Doug Rickard

I take this opportunity to remind the List of one late member in the form of Doug Rickard whom I will always fondly remember and his hilarious stories about his amphibious Land Rover and of course the undetectable error lamp. For those who did not know him Doug was a real human being and in his professional life and a scientist despite being an engineer.  :-) 
Sadly Doug died from the effects of radiation exposure at the Maralinga Nuclear Tests under circumstances that should not have happened and to the undying discredit of those managing the Project to say the least of it.  Doug was also responsible for designing the ABC lissajous logo figure which hopefully will be a permanent reminder of his contribution to this Society.

Look up the archives for his posts they are well worth reading.

Re the ABC Logo, Doug always said he had the receipts from the ABC to prove it.

You deserve all credit for trying to help him, I wasn't in a position to do so and in talking to him he seemed pretty negative about getting a match any way but I think Tamara was closer to him than any of the rest of us. I am not really a violent person but when human rights are trampled on as we see our Governments doing on a regular basis with disdain for the victims I tend to feel maybe we should be a bit more confronting. In Doug's case I would gladly have hung the bastards by the crown jewels and left them to rot, consider today the value of those nuclear tests carried out at enormous expense - no peer revue on that methinks!

Toby Fiander wrote:

I am keen to have access to Doug's story about the telephone exchange after the cyclone.

Doug started as a telephone technician with the then PMG department and went on to be involved in Australia's space program, the nuclear program and much else.

So many years later, when he was in Queensland after a cyclone, he went to the local telephone exchange to see if he could make it work.  There were no lines out to the rest of the world.  The rest of it was jammed with shorted service lines, and he could only get into the outer part of the building. But he thought he could make it work partly by hearing the clunk of the old analogue relays inside the part of the building he could not get to.  There were batteries enough for days and he thought he could probably charge them later anyway.

Effectively he disconnected shorted lines and allowed the rest of them function.  It worked enough to be very useful and a bunch of people had contact with doctors and rescuers several weeks before they would have otherwise.  There was also an ability to contact people and ask if they were OK.  Those who could not be contacted were visited.  Phones made the task of recovery actually possible with the resources available.

The purpose of the story as far as Doug was concerned was what happened next.  His politics was not conversative - he hated bureaucracies and empires.  So a bunch of those of opposing views tried to have him prosecuted for interfering with Commonwealth property.  It looked bad until the local supervisor of the exchange said, well, of course, Doug was acting with his approval and what a great job he had done.

It makes you think that there might be some equity if only a few of us tried to see that it happens.  Doug was a lot of the time every Australian boy's icon of how to be useful to the rest of the world and never give up trying.

Peter Macinnis replied to .Nisaba

I did my best, guys, I really did. Here am I, jumping with healthy bone-marrow cells...

Meredith (Soundwarp) answered:

Doug's wonderful story...

Cheers!

Meredith

Early in 1975 I moved to Townsville to take up a position with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). At that time AIMS was at temporary quarters in the old quarantine station at Pallarenda Point just north of Townsville. I had an old Series II Land Rover at the time and my son Jerry and I used to do lots of trips to various places of interest, such as the old silver mining town of Argentine, where now nothing but an old brick smokestack remains, and many other places.

About a year after I arrived in Townsville, on a lovely sunny Summer Sunday, we decided to take a trip to Shelly Beach. Shelly Beach was just round the headland from the AIMS site, but the headland came right to the waters edge, so there was no short cut round to Shelly Beach. Instead we had to go across the flats where the flamingos congregated and get to Shelly Beach from the northern direction. With the four-wheel drive of the Land Rover the sand dunes were no problem, and soon found ourselves on the northern end of Shelly Beach.

Shelly Beach was a lovely beach. Isolated as it was, there were few visitors. As luck would have it, at the time we arrived at the beach it was
the lowest tide for about 6 months. So much so that the sand flats were exposed for about half a kilometre out to sea. It was lots of fun racing
along these sand flats.

Now Shelly Beach was also noted for its oysters. Because of its isolation the oysters grew to be large and succulent. The trouble was that most of them were on the rocks at the southern end of Shelly beach, just near the headland. However we were having a whale of a time racing along the sand flats and we saw no obstacles in getting down to where the oysters were.

There we were, racing along the sand flats at about 60 Km/hr having lots of fun, when suddenly for no apparent reason the Land Rover started to slow down. I had put my foot on the accelerator but we still slowed down until suddenly we came to a full stop. Only then did the awful truth dawn on me.

At this end of the beach, the sand flats were only about 100mm deep.

Underneath that was just thick sticky mud, and we had broken through the sand crust. Slowly the Land Rover sunk into the mud until the floor was sitting on the sand.

I have already said that it was the lowest tide for 6 months, and the tide was way out. Well we were way out too. Much too far to get a rope to any of the trees back in the sand dunes. We tried everything to get that Land Rover out. Gradually however the rising tide told me that we were going nowhere.

By the time that the incoming tide reached the Land Rover I had accepted the fact that the vehicle was lost. So what could be saved? I had a good tool kit with me and soon had the generator, the starter motor, the distributor, the carburettor, and anything else that was easily removed up on the dry sand.

Being the lowest tide for such a long time meant that the high tide was going to be correspondingly the highest tide for quite a long time. It was apparent from the line of flotsam on the beach that the Land Rover would be about two metres under water when the tide was at its peak. There was no way the vehicle was going to get out of this easily.

The sun was just starting to set when the water reached the dashboard, so we turned our backs on the Land Rover and started the trek around the headland back to the AIMS site where there was at least a telephone, and a lift home.

As we trudged along I cursed my luck, and my own stupidity for not checking the surface before we drove over it. In my mind I had already written off the Land Rover and was considering what vehicle I should get next.

The next day at work at AIMS the news about Doug's Land Rover had done the rounds. Everyone was having a laugh at my expense. However, we all considered our selves to be pretty resourceful souls. Surely a bogged Land Rover was not beyond our capabilities.

The first try was with the Institute tractor. Normally the tractor was used for putting boats in and out of the water. I took the tractor the same way around the north end of the headland hoping to take the same track to the beach. What I had not taken into account was that it was only a two-wheel drive tractor. In fact I couldn't even get the tractor through the dry sand hills. I ended up getting the tractor bogged several times in the dry sand dunes before we realized that this was not going to work.

Next we talked to the Army. We had a number of people from Lavarack Barracks on site who were building the walkways through the mangroves at Hinchinbrook Island. Surely the Army knew of methods of getting a Land Rover out of a bog. After all the Army could float a truck across a river by wrapping a tarpaulin underneath it. However when the Army blokes saw just how deep the Land Rover was bogged even they threw up their hands in disbelief.

By the end of the week we were starting to run out of ideas. However there was still one thing we hadn't tried - floatation. What would happen if we tied a number of empty 44 gallon drums to the Land Rover? It was worth a try, so during the day while the tide was out we loaded a boat with empty 44 gallon drums and motored round to the Land Rover. We tried various methods of attaching the drums to the vehicle, all initially without success. Then it occurred to us to tie the drums under the vehicle. Out with the spades and shovels, and we soon had a big hole dug under the front bumper of the Land Rover. A drum was wedged into place and lashed on with ropes. After the first one the rest was easy. We soon had two drums tied along each side and another one at the front and rear. There was nothing else that we could do now until the tide came in, so we headed back to base.

That night, about an hour and a half before full tide that was due at midnight, George, Aussie, and I took one of the Institute's boats round to
the Land Rover. It was a 17 foot aluminium boat with two 35 horsepower outboard motors for main propulsion, and another 17 horsepower motor as a spare. We figured that should be enough power to move a Land Rover. Anyway, the tide still had several feet to rise, so there was nothing we could do but wait. Gradually the tide rose, first to the top of the tyres, then to the top of the bonnet. I was standing next to the Land Rover, up to my chest in the warm water. This was about the time of truth. Any time now we would know if we had been wasting our time. Then suddenly the Land Rover was showing signs of flotation. The wheels were still stuck way down in the mud, but at least we had flotation. Gradually as the tide finally reached its peak, with one final jerk the wheels were free from the mud. Gradually we were able to push the Land Rover out into deeper water and it was floating well, with the water level just over the bonnet, and just below the rim of the back tray of the ute.

Our idea had been to try to tow the floating Land Rover round the headland to the boat ramp at Pallarenda Point. So the first thing we did was attach a long towline between the front of the Land Rover and the boat. It didn't take long to see the fallacy of this approach. We were essentially trying to drag a brick through water. The Land Rover was in no way streamlined. First it veered out in one direction till it was almost at right angles to the boat. Then it would veer in the opposite direction until it was at right angles in the other direction. At the extremes of this yawing the risk was that the boat would be pulled over sidewards and sink. Something else was called for. Next we tried a rope yoke attached to either side of the bumper bar of the Land Rover. This just increased the speed at which the Land Rover yawed.

Eventually George made the absolutely stupid suggestion of putting the 35 HP motors on the tailgate of the Land Rover, and letting the boat use the 17 HP motor. By this time were prepared to try any idea, no matter how foolish it sounded. Well you could have knocked me down with a feather. It worked.

First we tried to use the boat as a way of controlling the direction of the Land Rover through the water. It didn't take long for us to realise however that the front wheels were having a greater effect on steering the vehicle than the boat was. So we dispensed with the rope to the boast and just let the Land Rover do its own thing. I sat on the back of the drivers seat and using the steering wheel was able to direct the floating Land Rover just where we wanted it. Finally after an hour things were under way.

Things were just starting to go steadily when we hit our first snag. The first evidence of the problem was a small camp fire on the beach. Now Shelly Beach was a restricted fishing area, and fish netting was forbidden. However the fishing there was so good that illegal netting was fairly common. 

Anyway, we must have come across some illegal netters. We were proceeding along just off the beach at a slow pace when we saw their camp fire. The next thing we knew was they had jumped into a boat and were tearing off at a great rate. They must have thought that we were fisheries inspectors just looking for illegal netters. That's when George and Aussie in the boat yelled out. They had found a net in the water. One end of the net was attached to a pole at the waters edge, and the other end went out into the deep water. Sometimes these nets were up to a quarter of a mile long. We were worried about trying to go all the way out to the end of the net to get around it. However it was an illegal net, so no one could complain if it was damaged. I found an old Stanley knife in the glove box and started to cut my way through the net. That's when I found that the net was full of sea salmon about two feet long each. What else could I do with them? The back of the Land Rover was filled with water, with only a few inches of freeboard, so I proceeded to fill up the back of the Land Rover with sea salmon. Eventually we got through the net and were making our way along swimmingly when we ran into yet another net. Needless to say we soon dispatched this one in the same way as the first, and added even further to our catch of sea salmon. By this time the back of the Land Rover was a thrashing mass of sea salmon. 

Luckily the back of the vehicle had already been full of water, so the sea salmon didn't add any weight to the Land Rover.

As we started to come around the headland about half an hour later things started to change for the worse. The southeast winds blew round Magnetic Island and then across the bay before turning round the headland at Pallarenda Point. As we proceeded to round the headland the swell started to increase too, and we were headed directly into the oncoming waves. It was not long before the swell had become quiet a problem. As the waves became bigger and bigger the Land Rover was having troubles. Our speed through the water had reduced dramatically, and the wind was blowing the spume off the waves right onto my glasses so making visibility a real problem. The nose of
the Land Rover would come over the top of one wave and start to slide down the other side. Then as the next wave rose, the nose of the Land Rover would  keep on going down, so that I would have to stand up on the seat so as to stay above water. There would be a great shuddering of the vehicle, and then gradually the nose would start rising again, and at last the bonnet would break out of the wave. At every moment I expected the Land Rover to just keep on going straight down never to come up again, but time and time again I was surprised as the old girl came up again. 

Soon we were around the headland and the swell diminished, easing our fight with the elements. By half past one in the morning the Pallarenda Point boat ramp was in sight and things could only get better. However another problem was lurking, just starting to make itself evident. It became obvious that our job of tying on the drums to the vehicle could have been better because the ropes holding the drums were starting to come loose. There was nothing I could do except just turn up the throttles and head for the boat ramp as quickly as possible. Finally the inevitable happened and one of the side drums broke loose and bobbed to the surface. With one drum now gone the rest also broke loose and bobbed to the surface. However at exactly the same moment the Land Rover hit the hard sandy bottom just off the end of the boat ramp. We had made it!

It was now about two in the morning. It had taken about two hours to get round the headland. The tide had turned by now and was on its way out and there was little more that we could do. We were soaking wet and totally exhausted. We walked to the AIMS offices only 100 yards away and got one of the Institute utes. We unloaded all the sea salmon into the ute and took them to one of the Institute cold rooms. Then we headed home for a well earned nap.

Early that morning, with my son Jerry, I drove down to the boat ramp in an Institute ute. There were already many people using the boat ramp even at such an early time in the morning. However you should have seen the look of surprise on people's faces as the tide continued to go out and a Land Rover emerged from the depths. In the meantime we sat in the ute waiting for the tide to go fully out and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. 

Eventually the tide had receded enough. I quickly ran the ute backward down the boat ramp and tied a rope to the Land Rover. Jerry, even though he was only about 11, got in behind the wheel of the Land Rover to steer it, and using the ute we towed it into the grounds of the Institute just a short distance away. Mission accomplished.

Now that we had the Land Rover back, the rest of the recovery work started.

With Aussie's help we hosed down the vehicle with fresh water.  Many places such as the gearbox and differential were drained but showed no signs of salt water so the oil seals must have done their job. The engine was flushed out and new oil put in. The generator, starter motor, carburettor and other things that had been removed before the vehicle went under water were refitted. Luckily the Land Rover had an aluminium body so it experienced no problems. The chassis was sprayed with old engine oil. And then surprise, surprise, it started the very first go. 

Anyway, our catch of sea salmon was divided up amongst the AIMS staff. We had so much fish that by the end of the first fortnight we were all heartily sick of fish and were giving it away to friends and neighbours. The netters loss was our gain. At least the fish didn't go to waste.

I continued to drive the Land Rover for the next seven months. I ended up selling it to Aussie who had helped me rescue the vehicle. He was a mechanic, and knew what the vehicle had been through, and yet he paid me more than I had paid for the vehicle five years before.

The story of Doug taking his Land Rover swimming became a local folk story, and eventually ended up going even further afield. About 1981 I was at a folk party in Sydney. I overheard a chap who was telling a story about how he had a personal friend in Townsville who used to go sailing in his Land Rover. As he recounted his tale I recognised it as my own story, but I had never ever seen this person in my life before. So much for the folk process.

Thus was another Urban Legend  born.

Doug.

2000-10-07 Saturday.