NO LIFE BELTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 99, 29 April 1933, Page 10

NO LIFE BELTS.

WRECKED MIZPAH.

SOLE SURVIVOR'S STORY.

TWO MEN INEXPERIENCED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) HASTINGS, this clay. "That John Weymouth Hurrell died at Porangaliau on April 25 from exposure and exhaustion, consequent upon the wreck of the yacht Mizpah," was the verdict returned by the actingcoroner at the inquest into the death of Mr. John Hurrell, who was found dead on the beach after having been washed ashore from the yacht Mizpah, which was wrecked on Tuesday morning.

Clifford Crag Harris, the sole survivor, said: "There was no life-saving apparatus aboard, 110 life belts or buoys, and the dinghy was lashed to the counter until the gale was at its worst, and then it had to be cut adrift."

Witness said the trip was a pleasure one, no wages being involved as far as he was concerned, also Hurrell and Naylor. His evidence indicated likewise that he did not know what arrangements hacl been made by Kelleway concerning the trip. The young men Naylor and Hurrell were not experienced yachtsmen, but if lie had known that at Auckland he would have gone 011 the trip just the same. The auxiliary engine was not powerful, the yacht under power being capable of doing two knots. The vessel had proved seaworthy.

The following rider was added: "That the Marine Department have jurisdiction over all privately-owned boats leaving their own waters to make ocean or coastal cruises, regarding the qualification of the master and the life-saving equipment on board."