HIGH AND DRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 September 1924, Page 5

HIGH AND DRY

AVAKATU ASHORE

CARGO DISCHARGED.

PROSPECTS OF REFLOATING VESSEL.

tBV TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.;

T . AV . . BLENHEIM, Sept 7 ... ,v ie Y akatu is high and ary at Jow nit 1 d b ]f suffering severe poundi g at every high tide. Providing the weather remains calm, there is a, Ti.PSF* 1 th s sh, i> tei »« te “- days- rough weather would S ee her pounded to pieces, as • he is m a very exposed position, witilth l - '°, Up e ut hundred yards of ail tffat is left of the Tairoa, which wont H«6 ,e VVlt l appal,ln K loss of life in

uh/rlJii Was , wreck ed in 1881, hen 130 lives were lost, including a wiv£ Th er - 0t minis ters and their yYYY^i-'V IO "® re re turning from a Methodist conterenee..] Saturday morning carts and drays weie backed alongside the distressed steamer and the., whole of the cargo "a* qmte undamaged The snip has suffered fairly extensive damage a hole about ten inches in diameter .being visible under the starboard . ..arter, while many 0 f her plates are buckled and cracked, and the rudder 'Ll'mVl i mag r Fl '° m the iHsid * of 1 i b€ / seen the ship’s iimMe thY badI ‘ y , se Y the staunchion nsioe the vessel being crumpled, and >t would be necessary to undertake repairs to the ship’s bottom Sreaftemptmg to refloat her. As the risks ot disaster at every high tide are sc. f^f at , the crew will not be asked to spend the night on the vessel, but null »e round accommodation at Mr 4. T Murray's AA r oodbank station * ' ' The vessel, which 'is owned by Levin P°” , was hudt at Nelson m 1879. s>he lias been trading for many years between Lyttelton, Kaikoura and AYellington, and though small she- is a comfortable .passenger steamer. It is understood that she is not insured in the ordinary way. There were no passengers on board at the time of the wreck. -

? T ? b , ertscm > who has commanded the AYakatu for about three YffVn- 1 *! that on Friday night he left Wellington at 8 6’clock The night was a very dirty one, with a thmk mist blowing from landward and blinding squalls of rain coming up on s ou tJi-easter. He was qii the bridge at the time the vessel struck, but he had no warning of the fact that lie was close to shore. He believed he was on the usual course, which would have cleared AVaipana. by two and a half -miles. He did not notice the boom df the surf, . which might have warned diim of disaster. Tho first indication of trouble wus a slight jar. He rang for full speed astern, but the vessel grounded heavily, and was bumping badly and making water in the enginerroom. He sent up distress .signals, and ordered the boats to be prepared, biit the coming dawn showed that the vessel was practically high and dry, and the crew scrambled ashore. They rejoined the ship when the tide went down, and with the assistance of the Public Works Department’s staff from the. Clarence Bridge works and of Mr Murray, of AA oodbank, all the cargo ivas saved. The captain has communicated with the owners, but is awaiting instructions in regard to salving the ship. CHRISTCHURCH, Sept: 6. A message from Clarence Bridge this afternoon states that the nearest station-holder to the scene of the Wakatu mishap is Mr A. J. Murray, of “AVoodbank,” Clarence Bridge, and Mr Murray had been out to inspect the vessel in company with the captain and crew. He-:.stated there was a fairly big sea running yesterday; but last ni£ht could not be described as a bad one, though there was a-drizzling rain, and it was hard to see any great distance. The vessel struck at 4.30 a.m. The bc*acli at this snot is composed of small shingle, and is very steep. The captain and crew were able to walk ashore without difficulty immediately after the vessel struck. -The first communication of the mishap was made from the post office at Clarence Bridge, to which place the captaan walked from the shore. Mi* Murray states the captain informed him that he had no idea how the vessel came toi strike. He was on the bridge himself at the time, and according toi his “set’? should have been two and a half miles out to sea. The. only theory he has is that there was a very strong current, which must have carried the vessel shorewards.

A horse waggon was able to draw up alongside the Wakatu on the beach this morning, and all the goods for Kaikoura, consisting of four er five waggon loads, were taken off the vessel. This affords some idea of how high the vessel really is. An inspection of the Wakatu shows that there is a small hole ne-ar the engine-room, and it is thought there will be good prospects of , repairing this hole this afternoon when the tide will be ont. It will be low tide at 6 o’clock this evening, and the captain is hopeful that bv shovelling away the shingle and jacking 'the vessel up it will be ouite possible to tow her off at hish tide.

Mr Murray thinks the vessel will got off all right if the sea does not become too high. A great deal depends on the weather and the sea.