‘Miracle’ rescue of Pacific adventurers

Press, 26 August 1977, Page 21

‘Miracle’ rescue of Pacific adventurers

PA Auckland In a ‘ miracle'’ rescue on Sunday night, a Chilean tug rescued Conrad Siers, aged 10, his author-adventurer father, Jim Siers, their Ham-

ilton navigator, Robert Lomas, and four Pacific Is-; land crewmen from a life-1 raft about 120 km north-west of Niue. They were taken to Niue, arriving on Tuesday morn-i ing, and are in hospital res-! ting and being treated for salt water ulcers. Seventeen days earlier, 1 sailing east from Niue, their 17-metre Gilbertese outrigger canoe Taratai II was over-' turned in heavy seas by a double wave. After taking to a liferaft,' they drifted with wind and current, living On canned fish and corned beef, milk buscuits, cracker biscuits, ■ nd 113 g cf water each day. Conrad slept on top of his father and a Gilbertese crewman to keep out of the water. Mr Siers, who was trying to prove his theory that ancient Polynesians could have migrated eastwards, described the ordeal: “We were sailing about 180 miles east of Niue. We had had fairly rough! seas for about four days. We had broken a mast, so we put our spare mast up with a small storm sail to try to keep the boat going to windward. 'There was a big swell, some of which was breaking. The canoe went off a big wave into a deep trough, then a very heavy wave swept over us as it was righting itself. The outrigger snapped off and fell away. “The canoe turned on its side, but not right over, so we had plenty of time to get everybody out and into the eight-man raft. “With the wind and current I felt certain the liferaft would be carried west to a Point where we could turn on the radio beacon and try to signal planes flying to Niue." Within four days they were within range of a flight path to Niue but got no response, and failed again when directly under the flight path from Apia to Niue. “We were faced with a 321 km drift to the northern islands in the Tongan group cr 640 km to the Lau islands cf Fiji. It did not look too Rood. We had four gallons pf water left and the liferaft •iad sprung leaks." Two days before they cere picked up the raft iprang more leaks. "On Sunday at 8.30 p.tn.

• when Rob was on his shift ii baling, he said he could hear an engine. It was the first h still, quiet night we had' had.” The Tongan crewman saw

a ship, and they fired a ; rocket flare. The ship turned I and came towards the raft. The tug captain had ac-i tuaily decided to go wind-! ward of the liferaft and re-1 sume looking for them in' the morning, said Siers. Mr Siers is sure the voyage would have been “easy” if the outrigger had not) broken, and blames the use of Fijian kauri instead of the traditional coconut tree. : On a voyage from the Gil-' berts to Fiji in a similar canoe last year, the coconut ; beams had bent alarmingly : in heavy seas but had not broken. “We had broken so many things — the mast twice, two steering oars, and a yard of the sail. ‘On the night it happened I said to them, 'We have, b.oken everything except' the outrigger? Almost im'mediateiv it broke, as if wei had wished it." Was there any argument i

or dissension among them? ' “That is an area I would not like to get into,” Mr ; Siers said. “There was no dissension as such, but some things happened which

Mould have been better if, I they had not. “The atmosphere was; 1 pretty tremendous because: of the inherent faith of the' Pacific Islanders. It was one! I hell of a lot better than if had been stuck with six! Kiwis.” Mrs Siers said from her[ (home that all but her hus-i band had been discharged: front hospital. , The other New Zealander,| 'Mr Lomas, was reported to; be well and readv to return home. Her husband, however,: had said he might be another fortnight in hospital. Mrs Siers said she never’ enjoyed her husband’s vovages in the past — and! yesterday he was obviously a changed man. , “I do believe he has aj [new philosophy in life. I! could mean the end of gad-i ding about the Pacific and other voyages of discovery,” said Mrs Siers.