IN HEAVY WEATHER

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 130, 29 November 1926, Page 9

IN HEAVY WEATHER

TWO SEAMEN OVERBOARD

FINNISH MARQUE SEEKS SHLLTEH AT SYDNEY.

(From Our Own Correspondent)

SYDNEY, 18tli November

Bound from Callao to Port Lincoln, South Australia, the Finnish barque Killoran arrived in Sydney unexpectedly this week, after battling for nearly a month with mountainous seas, during which two seamen were washed overboard and" drowned. The Killoran, which was in ballast, was blown many miles out of her course by howling westerly gales, and 11s provisions were running low the master decided to make for this port. Having delivered a cargo of Newcastle coal at Callao, the master received orders to proceed to Port Lincoln to pick up a cargo of wheat. The vessel sailed from the South American port 011 25th August, and she had a good run across the Pacific. On 9th October Lord Howe Island was sighted, and about a week later the Killoran was about 00 miles cast of Sydney Heads. Shortly afterwards the bad weather was encountered. All sails were furled with the exception of the lower topsails. Huge waves' swept over the poop. Four times the Killoran entered Bass Strait, but on each occasion she was blown back by the westerly gales. One morning disaster came. One huge wave swept over the ship, and two men tending the wheel were washed from the poop down a companion way to the Hooded main deck. The crew seized whatever was handy. In the rush of water several of them were carried outside, the ship, where they hung on grimly until another wave washed them back again. The wheel, binnacle, and compass, were carried away. The pump wheels and pin rail of the main mast were thrown aside. Sails were ripped to shreds, and the barque listed dangerously. As the afternoon wore on the weather became worse, and when night fell, the crew, convinced that their last hour had come, gathered in the mess-room and prayed. It was a night of horror. The barque was the plaything of the elements. It was a dread night of interminable waves. But when day dawned the wind had dropped, and after four days spent iv righting the terrible list, ihe Killoran was able to limp into Port Jackson, guided by a lifeboat compass mounted on a flour-barrel, and steered with a wheel made from capstan spars lashed together.