Mal McCarroll started his working life as an Able Bodied seaman at a very young age. He actually lied about his age to be able to join his first ship as a deck hand. He was lead into the seagoing life by his older brother George, who was also an Able Bodied seaman. He loved the life at sea and travelling.   

He married quite young when he met Joan Coughlin in Rockhampton.  They had a whirlwind romance and were married within three months and moved to Nelson in New Zealand where their first child was born 18 months later while he was away at sea. They eventually returned to Australia and settled in Tasmania in 1963. They had a total of four children, but he only managed to be home for the birth of their fourth child, Donna. 

Mal’s love of travelling and seeing the world was made a fair bit easier for him by being able to sign on to ships that travelled to other countries and this meant that he was away from his home and family for long periods of time which meant that the primary role of raising the children was left to Joan. He was always a good provider for his family and in part this was his way of compensating for his not being there as a father figure and contributing to the care and raising of his children. 

The sinking of the Blythe Star, when he was still quite young (only 32), was an ordeal that can not really be fully explained by someone who was not there. It came in the middle of his working life as a seaman and to some extent it shaped the man he became in his later years.  

Mal had always liked to have a drink and a yarn with his mates when he was on leave and his favourite drinking hole was the Gloucester Hotel in Launceston. But in all the years after the Blythe Star sank, not once can anyone recall him ever talking about the ordeal he and the rest of the crew went through, even after he had had a few drinks. The only times he spoke about it was the day after he was released from hospital, he made a tape recording of what happened (whilst it was still fresh in his mind and hopefully so that he would not be required to have to speak publicly about it again, which turned out not to be the case, because he was required to make statements at the the Public Inquiry and Inquest.   

Mal’s other loves in his life, other than going to sea and travelling, were fishing and spending time at the family shack at Five Mile Bluff, a special place that allowed time away from everyday life.  There was no power or running water. There was no telephone and if you didn’t know the right way to drive in, and you got bogged in the sand traps, you had to walk in. You had to make your own entertainment and most days it was about fishing so you had a good feed at night. Everyone who ever visited loved the place. If you were going to visit or got to the shack you one condition of entry was to bring fresh milk, bread, beer and the newspapers. Mal was always trying to finish a crossword from the paper.  Mal had managed over the years to ensure that he would be on leave from November to February (over the summer months) just so he could spend those months at the shack.

Mal’s working life was cut short when at the age of 48 he was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy which resulted in him being forced to retire. He lived with the condition until at the age of 52 he had a heart transplant. Although the heart transplant was successful he died approximately six months later due to rejection.