RUAMANO RETURNS.

Auckland Star, Issue LVII, 1 March 1926, Page 9

RUAMANO RETURNS.

THE LONG CRUISE CLOSES.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE VOYAGE. A WARM WELCOME HOME. "It's been a great trip, but it's great to get home again!" This was the verdict of one of the adventurous five who formed the crew of the Ruamano as the Auckland launch ran alongside the steps at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The appearance of the little party certainly bore out the first part of the comment. Wind-tanned they were (for little had been seen of the sun in southern latitudes) and the picture of health and happiness.

Under most depressing weather condition the Ruamano received her welcome home. About 11 a.m. she met the picnic-bound Wakatere in Waiheke Passage, but not even a downpour of rain could chock the outbursts of greetings that poured from the throats of the crowd of pleasure-seekers as they recognised their employer standing in the cockpit of his launch. Hundreds of flags were waved from every vantage point of the steamer, whose siren joined with the calls and cheers. Mr. A. H. Court boarded the Wakatere and had a ■busy time responding to individual and collective congratulations as the big party proceeded to Cowes. Here there was the happiest of reunions between the voyagers and hosts of relatives and friends. Adventures and anecdotes of the trip had to be told and re-told, till at last the Ruamano got under way with a number of guests delighted to join in the final few miles of the three thousand miles journey. There was a cheerful scene of welcome at the man-o'-wa. steps, while cheers came from members gathered at the windows of-' the Royal Yacht Squadron Club. Among the first to greet the party were the captain and one of the officers ol the French sloop, Cassiopee, who had so hospitably entertained the New Zealanders when the Ruamano came unexpectedly upon the warship in lonely Preservation Inlet, in the far south-west of the Dominion. Captain Decoux expressed his delight at renewing the acquaintance then formed and added his •'onjjratulations on a fine and remarkable achievement.

Then up tne harbour went the Ruamano, cheered by passing yachtsmen, till she picked up her moorings off Ponsonby in the gathering dusk, and so concluded a cruise-unique in the history of New Zealand. Impressions of the Cruise. Chatting to a representative of the "Star," who travelled the last mile of the voyage, as he had travelled the first on Christmas afternoon, when the launch stole so unostentatiously away, Mr. Court and his crew gave a few of- their general impressions of the holiday venture. When the trip was mooted many had foredoomed it to failure. Mariners who knew the whole of New Zealand's rough and stormy coast, had characterised the ofl'ort as *oolhardy, except under ideal weather conditions. The weather experienced was just the reverse of ideal. Rain was most persistent, it blew continuously, at times with almost hurricane force, yet the little craft kept to her time-table throughout. On one occasion only, at Port Chalmers, was her departure delayed. At all other places, when the hour of leaving was iixod. out went the Ruamano. So seaworthy was she ohat not I a "green one" was taken into the cockpit throughout the trip. A smile greeted the query as to whether there were any anxious or perilous moments. "Our navigation was purely of the amateur variety," it was explained, "but it was nevertheless efficient." Much of the voyaging was clone at night, though there were long runs with no land in sight between Varia Van Diemen and New Plymouth, and between Greymouth and Milford. T:i each case an exact landfall was made, and at no time was there any feeling of doubt as to accomplishment of an objective. The crew divided themselves into two watches, the skipper, Mr. Court, and the second engineer, Mr. Collings, taking one, while the navigator, Mr. Johnston, the steward, Mr. Xoton, and Mr. Kelly, chief engineer, shared the other. All fared well, and the sea yielded plentiful tribute to the larder. Interest in the Voyage.

All outstanding feature of the trip was the interest evinced in the Ruamano wherever shs palled. During her nine weeks away thousands of people had come aboard, and viewed her from stem to stern, and at some places thn visitors literally crammed themselves into her. In each port the boating fraternity mustered in force, took charge of shore arrangements, and left not an idle or dull moment for the visitors. They expressed the hope that others would follow in the wake of the Ruamano. Harbour Board officials went out of their way to provide berth-age and comfort, and the officers of the Post and Telegraph Department, in particular, came in for a special word of praise for the trouble they took in connection with wires, letters, and parcels. "Dinners!" commented one of the crew. "Everybody -wanted to ask us to dinner, and in many of the hotels proprietors insisted on us being their guests, and treated us royally."

It was hard to get unanimity as to the best portion of the cruise, for, as one of the party put it, everything was so wonderful, and all welcomes were so unprepared and spontaneous. Milford certainly took the palm for grandeur, but among the other sounds .there was a similarity of scenery, though despite rain, wind, and low temperature, this did not pall. Outside of the sounds it was considered that Port Chalmers, viewed from the .beautifully green hills above, not from its dingy precincts, wus the iinest bit of scenery the ports had to show.

Records of the Trip. Probably the most treasured possession of the voyage, in Mr. Court's eyes, is the visitors' book, with its signatures from Russell to Stewart Island, and its many cheery comments that will bring back happy recollections in years to come. It is a volume that the owner of the Ruamano could not be persuaded to part with. Though the weather was of the worst for photgraphy, Mr. Collings, the camera man of the crew, secured dozens of views of scenes and gatherings that will keep him busy :n his darkroom for many days ere the demands of local and Southern friends are satisfied.

Now that the long voyage is over the Ruamano is not to be "allowed to rest on her laurele. Already there is talk of a still more ambitious venture. It is quite probable that in Hay the launch will be shipped to Suva, and that that port will be made a base for extensive voyagings in the South Seas. There the coveted swordfish will be pursued and studied in haunts where his capture has not yet become a pastime.