Yacht Found Wrecked; Crewmen Rescued

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31161, 10 September 1966, Page 1

Yacht Found Wrecked; Crewmen Rescued

(New Zealand Press Association)

KAITAIA, September 9.

The two survivors of the sloop Erewhon, wrecked near the entrance to Herekino Harbour early this morning, were safe in Kaitaia tonight after a search party found them sheltering in sand dunes.

They are Rolf Rodahl, of Clifton road, Takapuna, and Sverre Sand o y, of Herne Bay.

Earlier today an R.N.Z.A.F. Sunderland aircraft found the wreckage of the Erewhon, which had been overdue on a voyage from New Plymouth around North Cape. The aircraft dropped food to the men, who waved from sand dunes about two miles from the wreck, but they said later they had been unable to find it.

A search party from Kaitaia, which had been alerted by the Air Force, set out for the remote harbour early this afternoon.

The Erewhon left Nelson on August 31, called at New Plymouth and left there on September 1. She was due to arrive at Whangarei on September 5. There was no radio aboard. When the sloop had not arrived at Whangarei by Tuesday, all ports, radio stations and the Northland police were alerted. The Air Force said the sloop appeared to have capsized.

Neither man was injured and apart from lack of sleep both are fit and well.

It is not known how badly Mr Rodahl, a married man the sloop has been damaged, with two children, bought the A further inspection will be Erewhon only a fortnight ago made tomorrow. and was sailing her to her new

About 4 p.m. a police search party, headed by Sergeant K. Marsh, found Mr Sandoy tramping over 300 ft high sand dunes on his way towards habitation. Mr Rodahl stayed by the boat. The sloop met heavy weather all the way from Nelson, with conditions becoming worse after New Plymouth. The sloop was running into a screaming easterly gale when the Hokianga Heads were sighted on Monday. Several attempts were made to enter Hokianga, but gale force winds and heavy seas drove the boat back each time. The gale then blew the Erewhon, with bare poles, 120 miles out into the Tasman. To make matters worse the motor would not start. When the storm eased, the sloop once more made toward land, which was sighted late yesterday afternoon.

The two men were forced by huge seas to keep the sloop well offshore. When the jib broke all effective control was lost.

Mr Rodahl said tonight that they could not see a yard ahead of them, but knew they were getting near the shore because of the heavy surf. The dinghy was launched but sank immediately.

base. His crewman, Mr Sandoy, was on a “busman’s holiday”—he is a crew member of the Union Steam Ship Company’s collier Konini and had taken leave to help sail the Erewhon to Northland. He is married, with four children, and his first action on reaching habitation tonight was to telephone his wife in Auckland to let her know all was well. Then he fell asleep over his meal—the first sleep he had had for more than three days.