42 years at sea best of Tony’s life
HE’S provided a warm smile for locals and visitors of Magnetic Island for more than four decades, now this champion of the sea has reflected on “the best 42 years of my life”.
Sealink farewelled employee Tony Wilson this week after announcing his retirement.
Mr Wilson began his work on ferries in 1972 and has been employed by 10 different companies during his life on the water.
He said he stumbled into the industry after looking for work during the off-season of another job.
“I turned up at Hayles, who were the only ferry company in town at the time, and went for a ride,” Mr Wilson said.
“It went from there.” Mr Wilson said he tackled whatever job was thrown at him over the years.
“I played engineer for a while with Magnetic Marine, I’ve also been a deckhand, hostess, crew’s attendant. Whatever came along.”
During his time on the ocean, Mr Wilson became good friends with many Magnetic Island families, some of whom he has known for three generations.
“It’s been fantastic, they’re great people on Magnetic Island. If you haven’t been over, you should, they’re good people.
“S o m e of the children have grown up to be doctors and lawyers in Sydney, some play netball for Queensland and for the Gold Coast Suns in football.”
Sealink has estimated Mr Wilson has t r a v e l l e d nearly 750,000 nautical miles between his trips to and from Maggie, on charters and trips to the reef.
“I’ve done a lot of kilometres. The one thing about it, you never get the same wave twice,” he said. “It’s been the best 42 years of my life. I’ve met some great people and worked for some great companies.
“I’ve been treated well all the way along and shown plenty of respect by everyone.”
Sealink paid tribute to Mr Wilson on its F a c e b o o k page.
“In his time with S e a L i n k , Tony has made such a positive impact in our b u s i n e s s , ” the post read. “H e ’ s been an a m a z i n g friend and mentor to many of our crew over the years and has willingly helped with fundraising for many charities.”
Mr Wilson had his final voyage on Tuesday afternoon and said he looked forward to “semi retirement”. “There’s no rest for the wicked,” he said.