Timothy McCarthy was the boatswain on the Valencia and survived on the last lifeboat, the No.5 boat launched the morning after the wreck, that became known as the McCarthy Boat. McCarthy hailed from Gloucester, Massachusetts, a prominent fishing port, where he grew up fishing in local waters. He had more than 15 years of seafaring experience by the time of the Valencia voyage, having worked on various steamboats and steamers.
The Valencia Disaster
1. The Valencia 2. The Voyage 3. The Boats 4. The McCarthy Boat 5. The Bunker Party 6. On the Valencia 7. The Rafts 8. The Turret Raft 9. The Rescue Ships 10. The Aftermath 11. The Survivors 12. The Lost
The West Coast Trail
Prologue 1: The West Coast Trail 2: When to Hike & Fees 3: Trailheads 4: Getting There 5: Considerations 6: Campsites 7: Shipwrecks 8: Routes 9: Sights & Highlights
The Valencia journey in January 1906 was only his second outing on that particular vessel. Contemporary descriptions portray him as wiry, of average height, confident, and respected by the crew for his leadership and seamanship skills. By the morning of January 23, with the ship disintegrating Captain Johnson ordered McCarthy to assemble a volunteer crew for the last remaining lifeboat (referred to as No. 5 or the "McCarthy Boat"). The plan was to row to shore, secure a line using a Lyle gun (a line-throwing device), and establish a breeches buoy system to rescue those still on board.
McCarthy volunteered first and gathered five hesitant crewmen, including Charles Brown and John Marks. They launched amid treacherous breakers, losing an oar early but managing to navigate away from the hull. They made no attempt to reach the shore near the Valencia, but instead rowed about eight miles up the coast where they landed safely at Pachena Bay at about 1 p.m. on January 23. Unable to return south along the shore due to cliffs and a waterfall, they ventured inland, discovered a telegraph line and a signpost reading "Three miles to Cape Beale," and realized they were on Vancouver Island (not the Washington coast, as initially assumed). They hiked to the Cape Beale Lighthouse, reaching it at 3pm, which turned out to be one hour after the Bunker Party alerted the world of the disaster.
