Whilst all the official and legal matters were being dealt with between Melbourne and London, quite exciting things were still taking place on the beach at Anglesea.

On February 5th the vessel broke up and two mounted police were called for as Customs were expecting trouble from the locals who would find one of those cases of whiskey to be too great a temptation to resist. Maybe the locals motto was: 'The only way to deal with temptation is to give in to it.' No doubt beach walks suddenly became very popular because there was no telling what handy items might appear on the beach from day to day.

The Customs men didn't have long to wait for trouble to arrive. On February 6th, one Joseph Gardner Mack, somewhat under the weather arrived on horseback with rosy dreams of employment on the salvage team. When he was refused he rode off after uttering some offensive remarks.

Apparently undeterred by the presence of the Customs men, he had come prepared with empty bottles tucked away in various pockets. He rode up to a cask, filled two of his bottles with whiskey and rode away before he could be apprehended.

However the long arm of the law caught up with him on 12th February at Jan Juc. Mack admitted using abusive language and removing two bottles of purloined whiskey. He was a well-known character and unfavourably known to the police.

As a large crowd had witnessed Mack's operation from the beach it was felt that a severe penalty was needed. This would, hopefully, deter others who might put similar ideas into action should the Inverlochy disgorge the remaining thousand cases of of ale and spirits onto the beach.

This was a nightmare for the Customs men, but a wondrous dream for many hopeful locals.