Bill Belcher back on board

Press, 20 September 1978, Page 7

Bill Belcher back on board

PA Acukland When the Nauruan sup* ply ship Eigamoiya berthed in Auckland recently, the first person aboard was the shipwreck survivor, Mr Bill Belcher, of Waiheke Island.

The lone yachtsman went to meet the crew of the vessel that rescued him from the sea off the Queensland coast in May, 28 days after his yacht Josephine II was lost on Middleton Reef.

Mr Belcher, aged 66, met the master, Captain John Garfield, and the third officer, Mr Martin Moore. The two other deck officers, including the second mate, Mr Gavin McGregor, who first spotted the yachtsman in his rubber lifeboat, have been transferred to other ships. Mr Belcher brought a

gift for Captain Garfield whose ship rescued him when all hope of his being alive had virtually gone. It was a tea set, made by his wife Aileen, a home potter.

“From my wife who values your services somewhat,” he told Captain Garfield.

Climbing the companionway to the captain’s cabin, Mr Belcher recalled the difficulty he had had doing this when he was hauled aboard the ship. The Eigamoiya (4426 gross tonnes) is making her first call at Auckland. She is loading 500 tonnes of urgently-needed food supplies for the tiny phrisphate island. The ship normally collects provisions from Melbourne but has been diverted to Auckland because of the waterfront strike in Australia.