THE KAIPARA ACCIDENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1927, Page 10

THE KAIPARA ACCIDENT.

I ILL-FATED LAUNCH TRIP. j SEARCH FOR MR. WATERS ABANDONED. J BOAT"? TERRIFIC BUFFETING. : DECKHOUSE SWEPT AWAY. Stripped of her wheelhouse ami a j length r.f jxer deck rail, and with her two mast? mapped off short, the launch Merejn, which was driven ashore near the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour early on Wednesday mnrninp. now rp=t* evenly r.n the l.each. Tim four survjv. ln - member* of tho crew are rec-ovenn;: nfter their terrifying experiences, but all hope nf finding alive the fifth men,her of the little party who set out to take the launch on her adventurous cruise from Mercer round the North Cape to Auckland has bei?n abandoned. To-day preparation? were finalised to pet the launch off the beach.

Further particulars of the accident show that the engine first began to give ! trouble about eight o'clock on Tuesday | evening. An hour later the anchor was dropped in deep water about five miles off the Kaipara Heads, it heinp the in- ! tention of the party to put into Helens- ! ville as soon as the day broke. During the night the wind freshened and the ' sea increased, with the result that the [ anchor began to drag. Between two and three o'clock the next morninp the ! anchor line—a new ro po — parted. With I the found of the breakers in their ear?. I the crew realised that prompt action! was necessary if they were to escape' with their lives, and while Willoughhv Olliver toiled to coax a turn out of the engines the other member? of the crew ! got sail on the launch. j With the engines working spasmodi- ' eally and the sails filling well, it was decided to attempt to make the south channel., and a course was shaped accord- i ingly. Under normal circumstances there is no doubt that the launch would have pained the harbour in safety, but ; by this time the sea was running very heavily, and the rollers were breaking right across the channel. Realising the danger Mr. Olliver, sen., ordered the rest of the crew to take refuge in the after' cabin, he himself manning the wheel.

To make matters worse a violent ' lurch of the launch threw Clem Olliver. 1 a lad of sixteen years, to the floor' rendering him unconscious. He was made as comfortable as possible in the cabin. j The Last Seen of Mr. Waters. It was when the launch was approaching the breakers that the missing man.' Mr. L. K. Waters, remarked to one of the others that he was going on deck to give Mr. Oliiver, sen., a hand at the wheel. He left the after cabin and was not seen again, and it is not known whether he lost his balance and fell' overboard as the boat rolled, or whether he was washed away later when the launch got into the breakers.

About ten minutes after Mr. Waters had left the cabin the worst happened. Just as the launch, which was behaving splendidly and keeping well on her course, got near the breakers the engine failed altogether. Below Mr. Will Olliver worked madly to remedy the! trouble, but without result. In this condition the launch was helpless. A heavy sea took her almost broadside on, and in a flash the rollers were upon her. The first crashed right over her, smash-: ing the masts, as if they had been two matches, twisting the deck rail, carrying the deckhouse bodily over the side,'and washing Mr. Olliver, sen* into the sea. It was either this or the succeeding roller that turned the launch completely over, but she shook herself clear before the' next was upon her. Although half a 'dozen other rollers broke on the stout; craft she came through the ordeal with-! out further damage, and in a short time was in comparatively smooth water. : The sails and broken masts trailing over I the side acted like a huge rudder, keeping the launch more or less head on to the beach, so that she was carried well on to the sand. j

When, after some little time, the three remaining members of the crew, believing their companions I6st, left the cabin, they found that the tide had ebbed! leaving the launch in a few feet of water. Almost exhausted, they struggled through the surf and threw themselves on to the beach.

Imprisoned in the Deckhouse. In the meantime Mr. Olliver sen, had passed through a terrifying ordeal | Whipped over the side iii the wheel ! house, he had been whirled round and '. round in the breaker?, but eventually ' had succeeded in extricating himself j from the wreckage. In his attempts to j escape he had been badly cut about the face, limbs and body by "the glass of the broken windows. Once'freed he had been overjoyed to see the launch some distance away and had set out to swim to her. Before he could reach the launch, however, a huge wave broke on top of ] her and it appeared as if she had been swamped. With the launch gone, Mr. Ollivers chance of rescue had appeared , slight and he had almost given up hope ] when, by one of those curious whims of fortune, the door of the deckhouse i floated past him. Clasping the door to i him he had used it after the fashion of I a surfboard and had eventually reached j the shore, but not until after a tiring battle with the strong undertow". | Severely bruteed and cut. he had col- ! lapsed on the beach. When he had \ awakened the sun had been shining. ]

As reported in last evening's "Star."' Mr. Olliver trudged overland until he stumbled on to the Buckland homestead, where he reported he was the sole survivor. Shortly afterwards news was received at the station that three other members of the crew were safe.

Search for Mr. Waters was made from ] daybreak yesterday until late in the! afternoon by Constable Hunt and four men from the station, the party scouring the country from the South Head to- . wards Muriwai for almost twenty miles. About a mile from the launch was found portions of the deckhouse, and still further on the door which had been the means of saving Mr. Ollivers life. Cases of benzine and pieces of wreckage were strewn about the beach, while almost at the heads was all that remained of the dinghy—a pile of matchwood. Numerous tracks were found in the sand, but all were accounted for, and towards evening the searchers were compelled to give up their quest. Constable Hunt returning to Helensville. I