CHAMPION OF SAIL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 226, 23 September 1932, Page 8

CHAMPION OF SAIL.

"WINDJAMMERS WERE BEST."

TRAINING. TOR THE SEA.

"LEE i FOKE BRACE" LOOKS BACK.

; Like many ■ other men who learnt the way of the sea An sail/Mr. Forbes Eadie is .firmly of the opinion that a sailing ship is the only real school for the boy whose heart is set on a seafaring career,, and this despite the fact that the clipper days can never return. Better known to thousands of "Auckland Star" readers as "Lee Fore Brace,"" Mr. Eadie left for Sydney by the Maunganui this afternoon. He will return to Auckland towards-the end of the year on hie way to America, where he is to fulfil a broadcasting contract.

"I have often been asked why I deserted sail," said Mr. Eadie to-day. "I can say definitely that I never left sail. It was sail that left me. All the windjammers belonging to the company with which I served were sold foreign, and I could not find a clipper with an empty berth. I then decided to give steam a trial, but after three years on the China coast I resolved that the sea without sail was of no use to me. I have not had a berth since." A native of Argyllshire, Mr. Eadie first heard the music of a clipper running with a fair wind on the Springburn, one of the best-known ships that graced the San Francisco grain trade of 40 years ago. A four-masted barque, the Springburn will always be a happy memory with Mr. Eadie. In 'Frisco the ship was known as the- "lucky Springburn," for although she was frequently in trouble she always got out of it. For over 20 years she made good money, and it was not until the middle of October, 1917, that she met her end. Under the name of Alexandre, and flying the French flag, she v. as sunk by the Germans when beating up the English Channel with - cargo of nitrates. And it took five torpedoes to eend her to the bottom.

Twice Hard and Fast. Mr. Eadie was 15 when he shipped aboard the Springburn, and by the time he reached 21 been nine times round the notorious Horn, graveyard of many a good ship. Twice while he wa,s in:the Springburn the ship, was in serious 'trouble. On the first occasion she struck the Inner - Dowsing Bank, south of Flamborough Head, and was; high and dry for three days. The barque was eventually' got off undamaged. Mr. Eadie has • never . been able to . find <i record of any other ship getting off the Dowsing Bank after becoming hard and fast. On another occasion the Springburn struck the rocks off the Farrallones, outside 'Frisco, but again her luck stood to her and ehe was got off.

For 16 years Mr. Eadie enjoyed a sea life in sail. .At the time when the company which paid him his wages decided to sell their full sailing fleet and run only coal burners, he held a chief officer's ticket and occupied the second officer's berth on the Rutenburn, another four-masted barque in the San Francisco grain trade. Once when Mr. Eadie was in the Springburn she went from Capetown to Portland, Oregon, in 72 days. That time, he says, stands to-day as a record •for a sailing vessel. He smiles when he recalls the time when 14 etowaways were discovered aboard the barque. "Our old Aberdeen skipper swooned, on the deck when he realised that he had 14 more mouths to feed throughout a long voyage." "The Only Real School." Facilities for a thorough sea training do not exist to-day, in the opinion of Mr. Eadie. A sailing ship is the only real school for the sea, he thinks, and a steamer or motor ship is a poor substitute. He is firmly convinced that every nation should maintain one or two windjammers for the purpose of giving boys the opportunity of learning the sea as they did in the age of sail. The sea and sailing ships are his hobby. His library, he claims, is the best of its kind in this part of the world, and he has between 4000 and 5000 photographs of sailing ships that are now only a memory. For some years he has contributed to the "Auckland Star" under the name of "Lee Fore Brace," and a further series ,of articles from his pen will be published early next year. Mr. Eadie has been speaking on sea subjects over the wireless for .Id months.