AMAZING VOYAGE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 84, 20 January 1930, Page 5

AMAZING VOYAGE.

BLOWN ACROSS THE ATLANTIC SMALL COASTING VESSEL. United Press Association —Copyright.) LONDON, January 18. One of the most amazing voyages for many years was revealed when the coasting steamer Neptune, of 129 tons, anchored at Tobermory,'lsle of Mull, in the Hebrides. Forty-seven days ago the tinv ship left St. John's, Newfoundland, with 10 men and one woman aboard, for Newtown, a coasting station 100 miles away, which it never reached. Instead, it encountered a storm almost before it was out of sight of the land. A huge wave earned ott tlie wheelhouse, smashed the boat s bulwarks, and left it helpless'. It was blown and drifted right across the Atlantic through storm after storm.. ",I had no idea of our positipn." said the captain, Job K. Barkow. " Aly knowledge of navigation is very slight, for on the usual route I am seldom out of sight of land. Therefore, though a large steamer gave me our course, f was little wiser." The ship picked up a light on January 14 which was thought to be Eddystone, but it was Skerrymoro, on the west coast of Scotland. ' - Those on board lived on the cargo ot fruit, but water had to be rationed, a (dass per dav. Mrs Humphreys, wife of one r«f the,crew, said that during long periods she had to stay in the forecastle with tlie men, as it was impossible to remain aft owing to the tremendous seas. Four of the 10 men passengers were bound for Newtown.