Yawl Upturned Twice On Trip

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30339, 15 January 1964, Page 14

Yawl Upturned Twice On Trip

(New Zealand Press Association) NAPIER, January 14. How lashing seas twice upturned the 26ft yawl, Seafarer, on its voyage from Lyttelton was described in Napier today by the two men and a woman who survived the 11-day nightmare trip.

The trio are the Seafarer’s owner, Mr Timothy Heather, an industrial engineer, Mrs Heather, and Mr David Conmee, an engineer, all who live in Auckland. They sailed into the port or Napier just before midnight last night. The Seafarer struck heavy weather only a few miles out from Lyttelton. Hurricane-force winds and crashing waves nearly 30ft high battered the yawl. Mr Heather suffered a dislocated jaw and a dislocated knee as the boat took a heavy buffeting. His wife, a former nurse, was able to put his jaw back in place and give other assistance. Mr Conmee was also injured, suffering cuts all over

his body when he was tossed about the galley amid broken glasses and bottles. A south-westerly brought the Seafarer within sight of Cape Kidnappers on Thursday, but huge waves upturned the yawl and swept her away. The yawl struggled and righted herself but was then carried 100 miles out to sea. When the yawl capsized, her sea compass was lost overboard. However, Mr Heather still had a small pocket compass with which to work. The seas upturned the yawl a second time, and again she righted herself. On Sunday night, the westerlies dropped and a southerly sprang up which carried the Seafarer quietly into Napier. Mr Heather’s 12 years in the New Zealand Navy was a big factor in their reaching safety.