Two Escape As Trawler Sinks

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30631, 23 December 1964, Page 3

Two Escape As Trawler Sinks

(\ew Zealand Press Association)

GISBORNE, December 22.

The 42ft trawler, Rose Marie, foundered and sank near Tolaga Bay about 5.30 a.m. today. The two men on board were rescued shortly afterwards.

Her crew, the owner and skipper, Mr R. Atkinson, a Bay of Islands fisherman, and his 24-year-old stepson, Mr G. Keene, who were forced to take to the dinghy with only a bundle of clothing, were picked up about a mile offshore shortly afterwards by the Gisborne crayfishing boat Taonui, skippered by Mr lan Lowes. He radioed the news of the rescue by ship-to-shore link, and sailed into port with the lost trawler’s sole salvage, the dinghy, resting on the Taonui’s stern deck.

The Rosie Marie, which left Gisborne yesterday morning bound for the Bay of Islands, ran into northerly winds on the way to Tolaga Bay and sheltered there for the night. The vessel was then leaking so badly that the crew decided to head back to Gisborne.

This morning the Rose Marie had just rounded Moutara Point when she started to fill quickly.

“Sank Fast”

’‘She must have sprung a plank or something, because she went down pretty fast,” said Mr Atkinson. The crew had time only to bundle a few clothes into the dinghy before the Rose Marie plunged. Weather and hull damage misfortunes had dogged the pair since Mr Atkinson recently bought the 30-year-old boat, originally built at Port Chalmers for cod fishing and later converted to a trawler. The Rose Marie left Paremata two months ago. Out of Wellington, she ran into 50 miles an hour southerly winds and off Castlepoint she began leaking badly because of the damage done by a bent shaft. While Mr Atkinson steered. Mr Keene pumped the water out.

‘‘Gerry pumped fcr about 14 hours and I steered for 22 hours,” said Mr Atkinson. It was 28 hours later that the Rose Marie reached Napier and was placed on the slipway.

“This is the worst trip I have ever had,” Mr Atkinson

said, “and I have been at sea since turning 14.”

After undergoing repairs at Napier, the Rose Marie sailed to Gisborne where further minor repairs were made.

“In spite of the delays the Rose Marie is still seaworthy,” said Mr Atkinson, before leaving Gisborne. Efforts are to be made to locate the sunken trawler with echo sounding gear.