LIVELY TRIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 10

LIVELY TRIP.

THE RANGATIRA.

14 HOURS' BATTLE.

BIG SEAS ENCOUNTERED.

SHIP BADLY BUFFETED,

(By Telezrapb.—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Berthing at Lyttelton more than three hours behind schedule this morning, the inter-Island steamer Rangatira brought 700 sea-weary passengers to port after a night of gales and storms of unusual intensity. For over 14 hours the ship had wrestled with mountainous seas that crashed over her bows, and the buffeting she received was described by her skipper, Captain B. B. Irwin, as the most lively he had experienced during his command of the Rangatira. The piping grale blowing In Wellington Harbour gave passengers an early hint that a rough crossing was in store for them. The more faint hearted of

the passengers went below at once, but some of the younger members, among whom there were many girls, stayed on deck to see the fun. Some of them had early cause to regret this decision. As the ship was r,assing Barrett's Reef the first of a long series of heavy seas crashed over her bow and the flying spume, driven by the wind, spread down the deck like spray from a hydrant, dousing everyone within range.

The Biggest Sea of Trip. Out in the Straits, the Rangatira met the full force of the southerly gale, and seas were pouring over her bows continually. Until she reached Cape Campbell her speed was slowed down to 10 knots, and the Cape, which is normally reached at 10.15 p.m., was not brought abeam until midnight. At that hour the biggest sea of the trip was encountered, a mountain of water submerging the bows completely and crashing over the bridge. Captain Irwin spent some of the most anxious moments of his life when this monstrous wave struck his ship, but the glass in the windows of the bridge was equal to the strain. Though the seas moderated slightly after Campbell Light had been left behind, conditions became worse for passengers, who were affected by the action of the ship that was now ploughing through heavy seas on the top of a south-easterly swell. The Ship "Waltzes." The Rangatira was not built for ballroom dancing, but for the next two hours she came as closc to waltzing as any ship that has ever sailed the seas. Not many of the passengers appreciated her efforts. For the men on the bridge it was no fun, either. Visibility was nil, and nothing was seen after leaving Cape Campbell until the Akaroa Peninsula was picked up. The dim outline of land was seen through heavy rain. About 50 of the 700 passengers aboard appeared for breakfast, and of that 50 a fair percentage put in the merest of formal appearances, and left hurriedly for the deck. With the wind and 6eas moderating, the ship began to pick up speed, but Ft was not until 7.30 o'clock that her skipper deemed it wise to ring for full speed. She was then 24 miles from the Lyttelton F ads. The remainder of the trip was, comparatively speaking, comfortable.