THE JESSIE NICCOL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12586, 22 August 1901, Page 7

THE JESSIE NICCOL.

' , ‘ . NAUTICAL INQUIRY. ’ ’ A wuitihal inquiry into the circumstances connected with- the abandonmienib of the schooner Jama iNScool ■was. held at Lyftel- - ton -yesterday, afternoony before Mr H. W. Bisboipq -S.M., amdi Captains Whitby and Lundy, • nautical assessors. ' Mr Stringer appeared for the Customs, Mr Mills, 00lLoior of Customs, being also present. Mr Jbeswick appeared for Captain Brown, master of the vessel.

Mr Stiinger called Baptadn Gilbert■ Brown,’ who said? 'that- 1 Ji«'"ra3 master of the Jessie Nicodlp'and' McE a master’d certificate', ' which wa¥ pfbduoed; 'The schooner was 93' tons register, and"’|eft Kaipara for;Lyittelt6n on August 8, 75,209ft.0f timlibeir, weighing about HO .tons, The vessel was well found, and thtf'CTOTr consisted of -fivei men besides .himself,..’ There were three A.-B.’s, -the cook and’ the mate.. The last-named -was an able seaman, At a quarter past five on Tuesday morning the cdbooner struck on a reefs but did not stay on it. This was off Cape Camp-; he®. The weather was fine aid fairly clear. There was a little haze, but the light was clear, and ■ mouintaiins could bb seen. At 4 a.m, Cape Campbell light was bearing south, and' ydtness whs steering south-east by south. A l t five, o’clock witness altered the course to south by cast. About fifteen mdantbea afterwards she struck. Up bad reckoned she was seven miles from the reef. A* the itaaaie shh Mruck he reckoned she was two mufllSHicff. - .The flood .tide, had sot her more in than, he reckoned. , The course steered and the bearings of the light made him’; think-he; was well clear of ,the/.ree'|,Hb nnecaicxilated-the time when ht hdy«;, : course. The the; iandi wWkywy,- 'deceptive. ,Be judged by sight.; . ’When the course was changed, Aif Dunross was-sfcceriasg, and another man was: bn" deck keeping, a' lock-out. The. vessel' ooUhimmcd on the voyage after .she struck. 'As she was making much water' he, threw overboard-the'deck cargo, about an hour after she struck. Witness sailed the’ schooner about seventy miles towards Lyttelton, and then' abandoned her- on account of the'Weather having ' ooime up rough- a** was unsafe to remain. The crew were .taken on board, the shcamsr Gulf of Ancud. ’ The night before the schooner stood iip to Cloudy Bay With a southerly wiinid. Had she kept on her couiae without change she would have deantdi the reef. She was travelling at about four or five miles an hour. He judged from the bearings of the light and the distance -he deemed hie was off. the land. Witness did! use instruments. Of course, he judged tho bearings by the compass, ■He felt justified in dkmmigmg the course, and thought he was further off the reef—from two to three miles off.To 'Mr Berwick: Witness had been traveUir.ig up and down, the coasib jsmcc 1866, and knew it. The Jessie Niocol was not loaded below, i her load : line.

(Tb&, wdtaess showed! cm the chart the potion <xf'the edrcdnier at various times). There was, he Bal'd; a slight' haze on the horizon. Ha would hove remainl&d in the vessel had the crew not refused to do P>. To Captain '. Whitby: The compass had not been adjusted recently. ■ There might haTO bciets 'deviations, which' might- have proved, deceptive. - - Captain Whitby said l that ho was satisfied, that witness had taken every precaution' to secure the vessel’s safety. , . To Mr. Striagiir: Witness had been...on the sahomw about six raoniths. ; ~.. j; 0. Ebseo, A. 8.; ■ said that : he -acted): ns mate .of the Jessie Nicccl. About 4 a.to. h« went'below', wheni the course was south-: eest by 'south.. 'He went cm dock; when' the' vessel struck. The distance from.'the land ■was shout two miles. It was hazy on the land just above the water, and the haze made it difficult to .judge the 'distance. Tho■Wei® dear. In rbply to Mr Be®wick,,the witriess inift<v.wi pa the' <jjsait""the. .posMom _of .the ▼essel. He cohsid'Bxcd that the. 'Captain Tvaa justified ip;*himikpinig ho was in the position ftn ••Wtoiih, Jhs. i&ougihih. he ..whs. ‘ * The look-out .roam,- stated that he thought the vewel was six or seven miles from the lamd/when -she struck. Witness at/, first thought ,«he had struck a log. The light was. deceptive, and he saw no reef nor broken rWater. Captain 'Brown, recalled, said that he umdetsbood .'that- schooner" jvas : insured for £3OO in the Affiance Office:' '<■ Mr Beswick called! the A.B. who had tfbeered. the vessel when si© struck, and wheh thi course -waw changed. He stated thatl there'''Was ■■nothing to cause alarm wheatho course was changed. He himself ■Would have dona the same thing. He thought' the land was six or seven miles of! when the course was changed. ; ' Captain’Amifrew''Running, master of the . echlo'cffiier.Awiio, IDS, stated ' that he, loiew the ‘coast very well, and' ho would hairs taken tiba' same course' aa..Capfcain Brown had taken. / l Captain .Kiennedy, master of the s.s. Gulf of Ancod!, stated that there was a, heavy mf»ag«on-the water on August 15, and this would, very likely, cause a miscalculadoxL ot distance. It made the light appear as ton miles further thanthe limit marked on the chant. . Captain Brown was very loth to leave the schooner wlwn'she was abandoned.

’After' a tariff • • reftfeeraent,- Mr Bishop stated that tie deloisaion, in which "botli the ■assessor? qjmcurred,.. was. that tho_ master Hik'd committed am error of judgment in altering the course, hub that it was uqb of uudh a* nature as to •warrant .dealing with fcis ceitMoirte. - Ho would he ■ordteW'di to pay lifts foela of the inquiry, and his certificate ■would ho returned.