2023-08-02 Update: Added pics below
Background
Luke Purdy, known from Aussie Salvage Squad, has been working with his team of friends and volunteers for nearly two years now on an old rust-bucket they picked up for about $5k, restoring it, converting it to EV (an electric vehicle), and then fitting it out to underwater spec.
The Event
On the 29th July 2023, they then set off from Mandorah Jetty in the Northern Territory to cross the Darwin Harbour underwater. The two cables running up to the support boat were vehicle telemetry, and camera feeds – the vehicle was entirely self powered. The only times they gave them a little lift was whenever they got bogged in the silt and sand at certain points, and then to get over an underwater cable at about the 18m depth mark.
Whilst originally meant to take only 7 hours, the amount of times they got bogged resulted in it taking 12 hours all up, but they successfully completed it with a rotation of about 30 divers doing nearly 50 dives, and drove ashore to tears of joy, claps, and literally thousands of supporters on Mindil Beach.
Crew and Contributors
A huge congratulations goes out to the team, off the top of my head; Luke Purdy, Glen Summers, Taylor Smith, Dan M, Cohen, Jamie, Tom, Luke Gosling, Dingo, Travis, Matty, Finn and the rest! Huge thanks for the event support, media contributions and love from Maddy Stenmark, Richard Swindel-Hurst from Designed and Built, Liam McAllister, Josh Ruhl from E3 Productions, Seth et al from Oceantec, Tommy Lawrence and Ash Dunn from Cult Cars and Swashbuckler Productions, and anyone else I’ve forgotten!
Content
I stuck up a quick #shorts about it here but will put something a bit better together in coming days or weeks. When others put content out I’ll also link it here!
#landcruiser #mudcrab #worldrecord #darwin #aussiesalvagesquad #lukepurdy #nt #landcruiser40 #mydarwin #landcruiser40series #oceantec #harbourcrossing #cultcars
Inline Player
Gallery
All images are my works, but may be used with attribution and link-back. Dropping me a line is always appreciated I can check out the content too! Just basic edits done to crop and colour for feel – also not my forte.
