MOUNTAINOUS SEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 212, 8 September 1930, Page 3

MOUNTAINOUS SEAS.

HIKURANGI RIDES STORM.

LIFEBOAT STOVE IN.

ROUGH TRIP FROM NORFOLK.

The newly-repaired bulwarks and stove-in lifeboat displayed by the steamer Hikurangi when she returned to Auckland from Norfolk Island this

morning were testimony of the stormy weather through which she had passed. Although she showed herself, Captain G. H. George says, a splendid sea boat, she could not escape damage from the mountainous seas that beset her during the voyage.

The Hikurangi left Auckland on Friday, August 29, and on Sunday morning ran into a strong gale from the north-west. The wind eased the same night, but the sea continued to run very high. Norfolk Island was reached without mishap, and there the Hikurangi lost a day waiting for the Burns Philp steamer Makambo to vacate tha loading berth. Thirteen hundred cases of fruit and vegetables were loaded, and the Hikurangi sailed again for Auckland last Thursdav afternoon.

As soon as she was clear of the island she ran into a southerly gale. Captain George could not return to shelter, for he did not know how long he would be delayed, and his cargo of fruit might perish. He set the staysail and two trysails and decided to face the tremendous head seas that were rolling up from the south. Steadied by the sails, the Hikurangi behaved splendidly, and shipped only two big seas. One of these, however, on Friday morning, almost overwhelmed the little vessel. It swept right over her, smashing the extra lifeboat that had been shipped in accordance with the Marine Department's regulations, and which was secured on the forward hatch. A fresh water tank was carried away, and the starboard and forward part of the bulwark round the bridge was stove in. Even the funnel was shaken by the weight or water that rushed against it.

That sea marked the height of the storm. By Saturday evening the wind had dropped to a moderate southerly, and the Hikurangi made good time to port, arriving only twelve hours later than expected.