A LONG VOYAGE

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 79, 28 December 1925, Page 6

A LONG VOYAGE

ROUND NEW ZEALAND

AUCKLANDERS’ UNIQUE LAUNCH TRIP

*BY TELEGRAPH— SPECIAL COBEESPONDENT.:

Auckland, December 25. A little group of adventurous spirits abandoned all thought of rest after the Christmas meal and took upon themselves the no mean task of loading up a stout launch for a cruise that aims' at the circumnavigation of New Zealand. The party were Messrs. A. H. Court (owner), J. Kelly (engineer), C. J. Collings (builder), J. B. Johnston and R. "Noton, and the craft was the twin screw 43-footer Ruamano. With a cruise of over two months in prospect, the equipping and provisioning of the vessel was no light matter. Case after case of benzine went into the cockpit, yet this was but a small portion of what will be needed on the trip for the Ruamano with her 150-horse-power has an appetite for fuel that demands a case for every 12 knots. Tinned and fresh provisions, a crate of live poultry, shooting and fishing gear, and a serviceable sheet anchor, also went aboard. Details concerning navigation liad received careful thought. A complete set of charts of the New Zealand coast was under the navigator’s charge, while a powerful searchlight was fitted as an aid to night navigation in confined waters. The greatest problem to be faced in connection with the voyage that is unique in the history of the Dominion is that of the petrol supply. Though the launch could carry at a pinch about 70 cases in her tanks and cockpit, it will not be necessary to take this amount aboard, for fuelling depots have been arranged round the coast, and even at Milford Sound fifty cases have already been deposited. A couple of hours of bard toil saw every-' tiling stowed aboard, and then, quite undemonstratively, the Ruamano backed out from Ponsonby, called in at St. Mary’s Bay to pick up a very fine dinghv, and headed briskly for North Head‘and the gulf. The few yachtsmen and other followers of aquatics recognising the craft, and knowing her itinerary, raised a cheer as she passed on her way to the first port of call, Russell. Early next week the Ruamano will push her bow into the Tasman en route for Wellington, via Onehunga and New Plymouth. From the capital city the stout little craft will take the East Coast of the South Island to Dunedin, and Auckland will have another “court” at the exhibition. Visits to Stewart Island and to all of the West Coast sounds will follow ere tlie Ruamano comes up to Greymouth, Westport, Nelson, and then home via Napier and Gisborne.