SMASHED ON ROCKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 124, 28 May 1928, Page 10

SMASHED ON ROCKS.

KETCH GLENAE.

WRECKED IN GULF. MASTER ANO MATE SAFE. EVIDENCES OF HEAVY BATTERING. ITT CI IN ED AMI DISMASTED. \e\* -i of shipwreck mid the supposed l.i--, 11 r" two lives in (lie Ha 111a,ki I.nit received in Auckland late oil -.11 unlay ni'Jit. The vessel concerned ,- 1 he i:i ton kcU.li (dciiae, and her crew Captain A. H. Mitchell, master. 0. T. McLeod, mate. Vessel Bottom Up. The wreck whs discovered by Captain I: < ..11111-, ina-ler of 1 In- schooner .lane 1. illnril, mi Saturday evening. The crew . f 1 lie 1 ■ 111.1.111 e. \\ lii.ii was running in to -liclicr at Waiwcra, noticed a large, mi I'a miliar object mi I lie rocks some dis--1.1 nee mil. femu the mouth of the Puhoi I; i\e r. .line-dilation proved it to be the i.lcnae, lying bottom up on the reef, lioili ma-t - had snapped off short, aud 1 lie ketch -honed other signs of a teerilic battering. Heavy seas were running at the time, repeatedly burying 1 lie ketch iii spray. Of the crew of two 1 here was 110 sign, and Captain Collins • •mild do nothing but, report, the wreck in the VVaekwoelh police. Mi:•„'!• sens yesterday made any close investigation of the wreck impossible, lull it could be seen from the shore that Ihe ketch whs high up 011 the rocks and was not being badly damaged by the waves. Wreck Shifts During Night. U. daybreak this morning, it was seen tlnil, the incoming tide during the night hud lifted the ketch farther inshore, alt hough she was still on the rocks. The forward part of the katch appeared U> lie the more seriously damaged. It was evident. I hat the vessel's anchor had been torn away, and also the windlass ill Ihe how. I.ying some little distance away from I lie upturned ketch were the two masts, with a quantity of rigging trailing from 1 hem. The spars had been washed over the reef which held the ketch and had c mie on to the rocks at the foot of n el ill near the mouth of the river. Heavy Weather in the Gulf. Masters of coastal vessels report very heavy easterly weather in all part* of the Jfauraki Gulf on Friday and Saturday. At times the wind blew with almost, hurricane force, and a number of ve-sels hud to put into various bays along the coast for shelter. The Uloiuie, which is owned by Mrs. Kose Could'Vey, of Stafford Road, Northeote. was under charter to Captain Mitchell. She left port on Wednesday last, presumably for Kavvau Island, to load limber, although definite information on this point, is lacking. Attempts by the Auckland police to get into communication vvil.li Kuwait by wireless last evening were only partly successful. It was ascertained that there was plenty of sinool.ii water on the lee aide of the island during the storm, but tho police were unable to find out whether the ketch reached there, although she would have had ample time to do so. Previous Master Dies on Board. Captain Couldrvy, husband of the present owner, sailed the ketch for some lime, but. died on board about, a year ago. lie was found dead 111 his bunk when the vessel was anchored off Fonui Island, death "having resulted from natural causes.

The Glcnac, which was built at Omalm, in IIM)4, was well found and in good condition when she cleared out wards on Wednesday, having only recently completed an extensive overhaul. Her sails were comparatively new. The principal dimensions of the ketch are: Length, .">7 feet; lireadth, I<> feet; depth,