ALMOST LOST

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 88, 13 April 1923, Page 8

ALMOST LOST

ADVENTURES OF THE MAUI PRIVATIONS OF LAUNCH PARTY ADRIFT IN A GALE. Firit-hand details of the adventure of the steam launch Maui during- Easter week, as outlined in " The Post " yesterday from rumours received in town, ghow that the small party manning the boat came almost within an ace of losing their lives. If the storm which overtook them and disabled their stout little boat had continued for a few hours there seems to be little doubt that they would have been lost at sea. The owner of the Maui. Mr. C. Nichol, related his story to a " Post" reporter to-day. Dame Rumour had distorted some of the facts in speaking of the adventurous story, but the main facts remain. . After leaving the Boat Harbour on 20th March, the Maui made her way down the Heads and came to anchor at Seatoun, where she remained until the morning of the following day, Wednesday. It was Mr. Nichol's intention to make for Hawkes Bay, a trip he had never previously unde*i:aken, and Jne c:> pected to complete the first stage of the passage to Castlepoint in about forty hours. He had every confidence in his boat, which he was prepared to risk in any sea, and that this trust was not misplaced is apparent from the buffeting the launch survived in the heavy seas that were later encountered. On the Wednesday the trio made Falliser Bay, where they anchored awaiting the turn of the tide, as the current was too strong for them to proceed. Fine weather was experienced as they rounded the Cape, and they coasted up for about fifty miles till they reached Flat Point, where a heavy northerly blew down upon them on the afternoon of Thursday, the 22nd. The launch was set to the south in the strong gale, and when, night overtook j her the rudder was carried away. A jury rudder was rigged up, ana the men I battled against the weather on up the coast. At last the temporary steering gear was lost, and the boat' began to drift southwards. For thirty-six hours the occupants were at the mercy of the sea, and two sea anchors, with oil-bags attached, were thrown out. Though the seas were running " mountains high," the little craft stood up to her buffeting splendidly, and no water was snipped that caused any alarm. The great anxiety of the party was that they would be driven out to sea, and their fears were realised when, after drifting for two days, at dawn on Friday, 24th March, they found themselves out of sight" .of land. By this time the storm had abated, and the helpless crew were in a serious state of exhaustion as a result of their ceaseless vigil and lack of sleep. Salt water was being used for the boiler, and sifter four days the condenser was so badly corroded with salt that it was useless, and no steam could be got. At midnight, on the 25th the ■wind changed to the east, and the launoh drifted to within about seventeen miles of Cape Campbell, in the South Island. A Home boat with a red funnel was sighted, and frantic signals were made. The steamer altered her course and came within two miles, and then passed by and continued her course. Cape Palliser hove in sight on the morning of the 26th, and although the launoh was inside the bay no attention could be attracted from the lighthouse. The boat drifted out to sea again when the tide turned, and later was washed, northward. .. <"\

The crew were now in a really serious" plight. There was plenty of food aboard, but, as Mr. Nichol pointed out, food was of little use without water. Added to their sufferings through thirst, all were wearied through want of sleep and the buffeting of the seas, and Mr. Nicol himself had been considerably burned about the arms and legs through contact with the toiler as the boat swayed. At last the current drifted them inshore about five miles north of To Awaite, and a landing was made. in the dinghy. The men were so far gone that they were hardly able to stand, and welcome water was procured for them by a farm-hand at the Te Awaite station. The launch was anchored close up to the reef. Overnight a heavy swell was running, and the boat dragged her anchors, with the result that she was wrecked on the rocks.

Mr. Nichol expresses ■ his warmest thanks on behalf of himself and his two comrades for the assistance rendered by Mr. Young, manager of the Te Awaiti station, and his employees, who did everything possible to assist them, and extended to them the greatest hospitality. "If we had been another day at sea," he remarked, "we would have been lost. It would have been impossible for us to stand up against it. We could not have lasted another twentyfour hours. As a matter of fact, we did not expect to get back to land, and if the storm had not abated as it did we should have been lost."