Adrian Dale passes: Keen sailor, conservationist and Bruny Islander remembered
Tributes flow for Bruny Island identity, avid sailor and revered conservationist Adrian Dale who has passed at age 76, just shy of his 77th birthday.
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Bruny Island identity, avid sailor and revered conservationist Adrian Dale has died at age 76, just shy of his 77th birthday.
Born in Suffolk, England, Adrian took to sailing at the early age of nine, becoming the youngest Chief Engineer for P & O shipping line at age 26.
He enjoyed a 37-year partnership and romance with Allegra Biggs Dale.
The pair made Bruny Island home after Adrian sailed the 1990 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, where they established the large landholding ‘Labillardiere Estate’ bordering South Bruny National Park and Cape Bruny Light Station.
Adrian played a major role in designing solar power when Tasmanian island lighthouses were automated at Cape Bruny, Deal and Maatsuyker islands.
In his capacity as a Marine Engineer, Adrian consulted for numerous companies and was known for his inventions, ship conversions and project management for offshore installations throughout the Asia Pacific where he became a champion for women in the male-dominated industry.
Adrian took part in an expedition in the South China Sea to protect as a war grave the British battleship, the HMS Repulse, sunk by Japanese torpedo planes in 1941.
Adrian was a collector of British Seagull outboard engines and twice circumnavigated Bruny Island in dinghies powered by Seagulls – the second trip ‘Bruny Island Classic II’ in Richard Bennett’s Huon pine dinghy ‘Lollipop’.
Adrian had been refurbishing a 14 foot Tasmanian cray fishing boat with the aim to cross the Bass Strait with two of his trusty ‘gulls’ before his plans were put on hold after he suffered a stroke in early 2016.
Adrian was a keen bush walker and as a young man walked alone the 430 kilometres ‘Penine Way’, England, up to his waist in snow.
He was a supporter of Sea Shepherd Australia’s successful campaign to end whaling in the Southern Ocean, and volunteered the on the Steve Irwin to survey for necessary repairs.
A bird lover from a young age, Adrian supported the protection of Swift Parrot habitat and the plight to end native forest logging on Bruny Island.
Close friend and peer in environmentalism Bob Brown praised Adrian’s extraordinary life and described him as a man of great wit, wisdom and innovation.
“Adrian was a brilliant engineer who made Tasmania his home and was an avid naturalist and supporter of the conservation of Tasmania’s oceans, forests and wildlife,” he said.
“He and Allegra have done a great deal to protect the natural amenity of Bruny Island.
“We will miss his wit, wisdom and flair for meeting the environmental problems of our age with innovative ideas and practical solutions.”
Adrian Dale is survived by Allegra and his two sons in the UK, Vincent and Stuart, Vincent’s children Megan and Charlie and Stuart’s children Lewis and Thomas.
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