NGATAKI RETURNS FROM SUNDAY ISLAND

Northern Advocate, 3 January 1938, Page 2

NGATAKI RETURNS FROM SUNDAY ISLAND

Completing :: short cruise to Sunday h 'and. tin; yacht Ngataki stayed the .vook-end at Whanuarei. Fail in:;' condh ions were splendid on the return trip so good j u i uct that (lie Mgatasi lead its spinnaker out for n considerable part ()i the journey Cor three of the four: days the yacht lot ni u) reach Nov, /waland. she ran without the sail being moved. Whilst the railing breeze was excellent, the weather was thick and for three days the crew saw neither land nor san. Navigation war a ease of dead-reckoning and Mr Johnnie Wray, in charge of the. craft, was anxious to make a landfall as soon as possible, and this he ] did at the Hen and Chicks, !• rom there ho came* .straight down ; iho court 10 Whangarcd. Departure For Auckland. After lying in harbour until this ■ morning, the Ngataki sailed at approxii mutely 10 a.m. for Auckland. It had : been suggested that she would make i a call or two on the way—possibly at the Barrier—but it is nut known whether tiais plan will be carried out. Mr J. Wray is a yachtsman of considerable experience. He is considered 1 1" be Auckland's premier deep-water j yachtsman, and has sailed to Tahiti

on three or four occasions. For him ■ the? trip to Sunday Island was little . more than a jaunt. Accompanying him . is a crew of lour including his brother. ! Built on the Fayne principle—that la ; with a "V-shaped bottom—the Ngataki is over 30 feet long. She is ; soundly built and well found, and is j altogether an ideal craft for doop{water sailing. A recent improvement j was carried out when the boat was 1 fitted with a Kelvin auxiliary engine, j She is equipped with a receiving wireI less set and has electricity installed. I There is-sleeping accommodation for | six, and there is also ample locker j room. Cooking is comparatively easy j on the Ngataki. for, in addition to her I primus, she is fitted with a small coalj burning stove.

: Built on Front Lawn. | To see the craft—which is little more ■ than two years old—and be informed j that she was built by Mr Wray on the ! front lawn of an Auckland residence, j k to realise the skill and splendid {workmanship of this amateur boat* j builder.

"The Ngataki is a credit to Mr Wray.” remarked a local yachtsman, V" ho inspected the craft this week-end. "She is particularly well built and ideal for deep-water work." The Sunday Island cruise was most enjoyable. So much so, in fact, that aboard the Ngataki there is already talk of a cruise even further afield this Easter, when Mr Wray will possibly take the craft to Rarotonga.