18-MONTH CRUISF IN PACIFIC

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27498, 4 November 1954, Page 11

18-MONTH CRUISF IN PACIFIC

Auckland Yachtmen’s Adventures (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) SYDNEY, Nov. 2. Three adventurous New Zealand yatchtsmen whose 33ft yawl, the Bounty, survived a hurricane, a tidal wave, and an earthquake, and which was almost wrecked, during an 18month “pleasure cruise” ip the Pacific, arrived in Newcastle today. The men said that two days after they had completed repairs to the yawl on Lau Island, near Suva, the island was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake. The men, Ken Furley, aged 31, the skipper and owner and builder of the yawl, Ned Henderson, aged 31, and Max Jenkins, aged 23, all of Auckland, said they left New Zealand 18 months ago on a six month cruise. Here is a history of the yawl during the cruise: A hurricane 500 miles from Tonga struck the ship, stripped it of all its gear, and almost swamped it three times. The sails and masts were swept overboard, fouling the rudder, and almost capsizing the craft. The Bounty drifted for 19 days in shark-infested waters before currents carried it to Tonga. In Tonga harbour the yawl struck a reef, sprung a leak, and but for the help of 20 native boys, the rhen said, the craft and all their possessions would have gone to the bottom. '