IN BOILING SURF

Evening Star, Issue 23179, 31 January 1939, Page 2

IN BOILING SURF

YACHT MISADVENTURE ADRIFT IH HIGH SEAS AND WIND [Pee United Press Association.] AUCKLAND, January 30. Drifting helplessly in a high wind and 20ft seas, which constantly pounded the deck, while one by one the sails were torn to shreds, a holiday yachting party of four persons had an unenviable experience in the gulf between Kawau and the mainland in the early hours this morning. When the yacht Daisy, a 3Gft B ■ class keeler, finally went aground on the mainland about eight miles from Warkworth, she was dismasted and badly damaged, and the crew could not be rescued for several hours because of the angry surf. The party left Auckland on Saturday afternoon for a week-end cruise to Kawau, which they had not previously visited. The yacht was under the command of its owner, Mr John Ellison, of Wellington, who has been in Auckland about three months. He was accompanied by Miss Isabel Kirkby, aged 21, of Stratford, who is on a holiday in Auckland, her brother, Kenneth Kirkby, aged 19, a ship’s boy on the steamer Kapiti, which is at present in Auckland, and Peter Turner, aged 15, of Epsom. ( - Light winds on Saturday made it possible for the party to get no further than Whangaparoa, where the yacht was anchored for the night. Similar slow sailing was experienced on Sunday, when part of the day was spent in towing the yacht with the dinghy. Fog made it necessary to use the compass to navigate the course to Kawau, whore they arrived after 9 o’clock and anchored outside Mansion House Bay. Water washing over the deck awakened Kirkby at about 3.30 a.m. to-day, and on investigating he found the anchor was dragging and the yacht had drifted some distance in a hard north-easterly wind away from the island. The others were called, and an attempt was made to hoist the topsail, but tbo wire stay snapped, and the sail carried away. The mainsail with two reefs was hoisted, but immediately blew out, and the same happened to the staystail and jib, which were hoisted in turn. Finally the sail from the mizzen was bent on to the main mast, but it was useless. Meanwhile, an attempt was made to run into the shelter of Pine Island. They were forced to negotiate a reef on the southern side._ Going through the only passage, which is narrow and shallow, there was scarcely 2ft of clearance on either side of the yacht, and, considering the state of the seas, the party were in luck’s way to escape with their lives. Waves swamped the dinghy, which disappeared when the painter parted. Unable to anchor, the crew were forced toward the mainland. It was almost impossible for them to keep their feet on the deck, and Wiss Kirkby was locked below. Water was breaking on top of them the whole time, and as dawn came they ■ drifted inshore. In Baddeley’s Bay the keel jarred heavily on the sandy bottom, and the two masts snapped elf ,at the dcckline. The rudder broke off. and the sternpost was driven forward about Sin.

At the mercy of the boiling surf, the yacht shipped many seas, and bailing was of no avail. It was too dangerous to consider swimming ashore, and it was not until 8 o’clock, when there was dft of water in the boat, that the party’s plight was noticed by Mr C. L. Baddeley. Ho put off in a surf boat, but was unable to make a rescue until the fourth attempt at about 4 o’clock this afternoon. There was a temporary improvement in the weather then, and the rescued crew were practically exhausted and stiff with cold, their clothing having been saturated for many hours.