ARRIVAL OF THE VAVAU.

Auckland Star, Volume VII, Issue 1975, 8 June 1876, Page 3

ARRIVAL OF THE VAVAU.

The schooner Vavau, Captain Schlutir, arrived this morning from Tongatabu with a cargo of maize. She left Tongatabu on Saturday the 27th tilt,, and had fine weather for the first two days. On the 29th it came on to blow hard from the N.E., and subsequently from the SE, The vessel was hove to for 36 hours. A dead calm of 24 hours followed, during which the ves3el rolled heavily in the high ser i. A succession of S. and S.W. winds brought the Vavau to the Great Barrier on Tuesday morning. During Tuesday heavy S.W. winds prevented the ship making the port, and Wednesday was calm. The vessel brought up in Ragitoto Channel at twelve o'clock last night, and came up this morning, anchoring off the whaiJ at eleven o'clock. "From here Captain Schlutir purposes to return to Tongatabu. The visit of the Vavau is more interesting, inasmuch as she is the vessel which was orderrd by Messrs Goddeffron and Co , of Samoa, to be built in California at the same time as the firm ordered the Tongatabu to be built here, in Auckland, with a view, it was said at the time, to see which ship builders seat them the better craft. The two vessels are very different in point of size, so that it is somewhat difficult to compare them. While the Tongatabu registered 143 tons thejVavau only runs to 73 tons or just half the size. She was built by Mr Bendickson at Humbolt Bay. The Vavau'a dimensions ar ■> as follows: Length of keel, 82 feet; beam, 22 feet 6 inches; depth of hold, 7 feet 2 inches. She is built throughout of Oregon pine, and has a cabin above the deck, measuring about 12 feet square. Her stern ia eliptic and her lines though graceful are full and rounded with a very pretty shear. To compensate for her light draught of water she has a very deep keel of 34 inches, which enables her to stand very close to the wind when beating. This tapors away at the stem, a formation intended to facilitate her steering. It will be seen from these particulars that the Vavau is broad and flat, while the Tongatabu is built with much greater depth in comparison with her beam, and with more rise of floor. Captain Schultir speaks very highly of the Vauvau's sailing powers. Her arrangement of canvas is very different to that of the Tongatabn. In the first place she carries masts which are three feet longer thaii those of the Auckland vessel, in spite of the difference in size. The main booms are about the same length, but as is the case with nearly all American vesaeis, the Vauvau's gaff is very much the shorter after making the requisite allowance. The Vavau carries a single topsail yard, while the Tongatabu has double topsail yards. Prom this it is evident that the Vavau carries the greater stretch of

CMTvog ,but very much less of it is carried aloft than in the English crafj. The_ Vavau also has a squave sail containing .SCO yards of canvas very useful in running. The Vavau from her flat formation lakes only 21 tons of ballast to steady her, a less proportion than the Tongatabu. She is built with flat chain-plates, and cleasides, so as to enable Email craft to lord or unload alongside, while lying off and on at the Islands. No doujjt this vessel will bo carefully inspected while she h here. We may mention that her cost was dols 900 or£2,lGo, at which price she was certainly not a cheaper vessel than the Peerless, which was sold the other day for £2,075, or the Tongatabu which cost slightly over £3000.