VENTURESOME VOYAGE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3147, 11 December 1922, Page 7

VENTURESOME VOYAGE.

The five-ton yawl, Islander owned by Mr Harry Pidgeon, now lies at anchor in Suva harboii. It is such a tiny craft that it pisses unnoticed among the many cutters around it, and it seems almost inconceivable that any man could undertake a voyage across the mighty Pacific in this small vessel without company. Hr Pidgeon is not a young man. His bronzed face betrays an adventurous career. His slight, lithe, body, gives one the impression that severe trials have been borne. When interviewed in the small cabin of the Islander, he was busily engaged in typing an account of his voyage for his friends in California. In a totally unassuming way. he spoke of his trip. When he had left Los Angeles, he said he commenced on the worst part of his whole voyage, for. after passing a small island, three miles from the American coast, ho saw neither ship, smoke, sail, or land for 42 days. Asked whether he ever felt lonely, ho replied: “When 1 left Los Angeles I was a hit lonely, hut once out on the open sea I was happy and contented. I fixed my mind on the next port and wondered what it would he like.” Prom Los Angeles, he proceeded to the Marquesas, thence to Tahiti, the Society Islands, and Samoa. He left Pago Pago on October 23rd, and arrived at Suva seven days later. He is anxious to visit Auckland, and will probably go to New Zealand early in December. At present he is “studying up,” as he terms it, finding out weather conditions. Undoubtedly it calls for much courage in a man to cross the Pacific alone. When he returns to Los Angeles he will have an interesting story to tell.

The Islander is a vessel of a type now is an auxiliary engine, hut is not usedi to those waters, and was designed and built by Mr Pidgeon himself. The yawl is a 25-footer, and is of five tons. There as the.owner considers it might prove dangerous to carry fuel.