SHIP NEARLY MISSED

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 April 1939, Page 4

SHIP NEARLY MISSED

PASSENGER’S BUSY HALF-HOUR. [PEB PBESS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND, April 17. A breathless half-hour attempting to find a launch to catch the ship which was to take him to England for trailring' with the Royal Air Force was by chance brought to a happy ending to-night for a young New Zealand pilot, who missed the Shaw Savill and Albion motor-ship, Waimarama, when she left from King’s wharf for London. The pilot was Mr. J. A. Paterson, of Waikaka, near Gore, who, with seven other New Zealand pilots, was a passenger by the Waimarama.

Mr. Paterson, who recently completed a course of training at Wigram, had taken all his luggage to the Waimarama during the day, and arrived at the wharf shortly after 9 o’clock to-night, to find that the ship was moving down, stream. Fearing that his hopes for a voyage to England had failed, Mr. Paterson made frantic efforts to find a launch to take him after tho Waimarama. About 20 minutes after the ship had sailed, he called at the harbourmaster’s Queen’s wharf office, where by good fortune the owner of the launch Alert was making a visit. The Alert immediately put out after the Waimarama, which was signalled from Mount Victoria. The ship stopped in the Rangitoto channel about 9.45 p.m., and after a wait of about 10 minutes, the launch came alongside and Mr. Paterson was able to join the vessel.