NIGHT SPENT ON SAND SPIT

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22308, 24 January 1938, Page 10

NIGHT SPENT ON SAND SPIT

Young Men Marooned At Waikuku CANOE UPSET IN CHOPPY SEA Two young men from Rangiora, Donald Macdonald and Albert Allen, who went out fishing in a canoe' at Waikuku Beach on Saturday afternoon, had an unenviable experience when a choppy sea prevented them from keeping their craft afloat, and they were forced to spend the night on a sand spit. Heavy rain and a cold wind added to their discomfort. When the tide fell early yesterday morning, they were able to wade back to the beach where a search party was already out looking for them. The light canoe was upset three times, and each attempt to board it was unsuccessful, waves filling it as soon as it was floated. Efforts were not continued after dark, the men scrambling on to the sand spit between the mouth of the Ashley river and Saltwater creek. There they made themselves as snug as possible, digging a hole in the sand and placing the up-turned canoe over them. The falling tide and the first light of day enabled them to wade up the Ashley and cross to Waikuku Beach about 4 o'clock yesterday morning. Beyond being cold and wet, they were none the worse for their experience. Meanwhile, members of their families in Rangiora were worried because of their failure to return by midnight, and a search party was organised at the beach in the early hours of the morning. There was great relief when two figures were seen walking along the north bank of the Ashley, dragging a canoe.