YACHTING DISASTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13454, 5 April 1907, Page 5

YACHTING DISASTER.

FOUR LIVES LOST,

FORTY HOURS ON AN UP-

TURNED BOAT.

SOLE SURVIVORS THRILLING

STORY

The scow Era brought news to Auckland yesterday of the missing patiki yacht Marion, which had not been heard of since Monday last. The worst fears for the safety of the party were confirmed, for, of the five mer who were on board the Marion, onlv one has survived, namely, Mr. John Edward Pilkington. The four members of the yacht's company who have lost their lives are the following:— HARRY PILKINGTON, aged 15, draper. FREDERICK PILKINGTON, aged 17, carpenter. LIONEL SKINNER, aged 19. bricklayer. WILLIAM McANENY, aged 18. butcher. The party left Auckland for a cruise in the Hauraki Gulf at ten a.m. on Monday. and when off the north side of Mottitapu the yacht capsized, and, as a. result, three of those on board were drowned, one died, and one only lives to tell the story, and he the eldest of the party. MR. PILKTNGTON'S STORY. On being seen by a representative of the HERALD at his residence, H&rgreaves-street, Ponsonby, yesterday, Mr. Pilkington, who was in a very exhausted condition, gave an account of the disaster. He is a wellbuilt man of about 45. and although showing unmistakable marks of his terrible experiences, is evidently possessed of a splendid physique. " I'll tell you how it happened," he said, "as well as I can remember; but it was an awful time. We left Auckland ; n the Marion, as happy a party as you would wish, and made a good run out round Rangitoto. "It was about twelve o'clock, when I said to Skinner. 'Here, Lion., you take the tiller, while I get something to eat.' He took the tiller, and I could trust him, for he was well acquainted with the boat. ; There was nobody in the boat who did not know how to handle her. THE BOAT TURNS OVER. "While I was getting forward to the basket with the food in it the boat turned right over. I don't know what caused this. We had the sails close reefed at the time. We were not struck by a squall, so far as ] know, but a sudden gust off the land might have caught the top of the sail. If it did, I did not notice it. We were then between Rangitoto and Rakino. Why, we were close into laud; not more than 150 yds off the shore of Motutapu. " Skinner and my boy Fred, were in the boat, and were kept down by the sail and other gear. I hung on to the upturned edge. The leeward edge of the boat was over 4ft under water, while the edge where I was hanging on to was awash. "McAneny left the boat. Whether he jumped off or fell off I cannot say. He said, 'I'm going to try to get ashore. I think I can do it.' And he struck out. I never saw him any more. I don't think he could have reached the shore, although it was so near.

" I still bung on to my boy Hatty, but saw nothing of the other two. None of my boys could swim. .1 can swim a little, and so"could M'eAneny. My son Fred, and Lionel Skinner were drowned in the boat. Fred., I know, was right away forward when she went over. He was under the deck, and must have been jammed in by the ropes and sail. Skinner's body went out of her the last time the boat rolled over. She rolled right over several times. I had heard him say, 'It's no use me hanging on here,' and soon afterwards I missed him. ALONE WITH TWO DEAD BODIES. "I held on to Hairy until five o'clock in the evening. Then he died. We were both on the upturned edge of the boat. 1 made Harry's body fast in the boat, and that left my hands "free, so I cut away the ratlins. Harry had got knocked about a good deal when the boat turned over, and this, no doubt, exhausted him. When the boat came up a bit I saw Fred.'s body in it. He evidently could not get out. 1 kept both bodies "in the boat, and bung on to her as well as I could, hoping that help would come. A motor launch came quite near to me, and I tried to attract her attention, but it was then dusk, and they could not have seen me. Our bout was then very low ii> the water, and could Have been easily overlooked. " I managed to nearly right the boat at night, one side being' about 18iu above water. The. centreboard and the rudder are pretty heavy, and they interfered to some extent with mv keeping on the boat at all. I was able to cast the rudder adrift. and then the boat rode easier, but i! 1 could have got the centreboard out I think ■she would have, righted.

" 1 was up to my waist in water pretty well ail the time. The water was not cold at all, and the sea was smooth. All this time he boat was drifting out farther to sea. Night was a cold and terrible time. I could see the Tiri light gleaming a long way off, and knew that if they hud any idea of my position something might have been done. THE PRESENCE OF SHARKS. "The whole thing seems too terrible to be true. There were four sharks constantly round the boat after Lionel Skinner's body was gone. They seemed to know that I was banging on for life. I don't know whether they were attracted by the dead bodies in the boat or not, but they kept hanging around. A small one came quite close tip to the boat, but three very large ones kept about 20i't away. By day I could see them quite plainly, just swimming around the boat; sometimes their big back fins would be showing above water. They must have been there by night too. The sea was quite calm, and the water just lapped the side of the boat. " I kept the bodies of my sons Harry and Fred, on board until Tuesday night, and then put them overboard.

THE VERGE OF DESPAIR. "On Wednesday morning 1 felt that 1 could not hold on much longer. I had then been on the boat without food and drink, and most of the time in the water, for over 40 hours. 1 had held my youngest boy in my arms until he died. I had seen my other son, Fred, and his two mates, drowned, and I felt that it would soon be all over with me too. SUCCOUR AT LAST. "' It was about daybreak when I saw (lie scow. I did not. then know her name. She must have come up to me, or I must 'lave drifted towards her during the night. She was then lying becalmed. I suppose she was about 10 miles outside Tiri. 1 shouted my hardest, and I could see by the movement of the people on the scow that they had heard me. 1 could not hear them, I saw them lowering a boat, and presently pulling towards me. It was °nly just in time ; I was nearly done for. Besides, the boat was well down in the water, and she might not have kept afloat much longer. "I cannot say too much about the kindness of the skipper and crew of the scow. They were very kind to me. I could hardl.V speak, and only had on my shirt, and trousers when taken aboard. I had suffered a good deal from thirst; more from that than from hunger, but 1 only took « little in my mouth just to moisten it. * did not drink any."

STATEMENT BY CAPTAIN BURK

SIGHTING OF THE DRIFTING BOAT. '

According to a statement made by Captain Buik, of the scow Era, yesterday, the mental and bodily strain through which Mr. Pilkington had passed was fully depicted in his genera] appearance when picked up. "He. would not," said the captain, "have lasted more than another four hours." It was about five o'clock in the morning when the captain was awakened by De Suza, who explained that he had heard shouts some distance from the scow, but owing to the fact that it was hardly daylight, he could not say whether ii was a fishing-boat, or what it was. The scow at tile time was heading towards Kawau, hut was making but little progress, owing to absence of wind. The scow was then headed in the direction of the shouts, and in a few minutes lie (the captain) and his crew discerned a shirt upon a gaff. Then a pitiful sight came into view. There was a patiki practically submerged, with the water washing over it, and protruding out of the water in the boat was a man's head and shoulders. No time was lost. The captain ordered a boat out, and two of the scow hands mad*» for the patiki, and in half-an-hoiir had the nun. who turned out to be Pilkington, safe on board. THE RESCUE. Charles Hanson, the male. who with De Suza went off in the scow's dingey to Pilkington, told a Hkkald reporter that on arriving alongside the patiki Pilkington A'as leaning in an exhausted condition against the centre-board, with his head just out of the water, the boat being full. All Pilkington could say was, " I am very near done," and that they themselves could see. They lifted Pilkington out of the boat and returned with him to the scow. ON BOARD THE SCOW. Almost the first words spoken by Pilkington when he got on board the scow were, "Give me fresh water." He was, said Captain Burk, quite conscious all the time, but it was very evident that he had suffered considerable mental distress. The captain did not immediately give, him food, but had him taken into the cabin, rubbed down, and generally revived, and puf in a bunk. "His hands, said the captain. "were as white as a sheet, as also were his feet, and his mouth was absolutely raw. He was in a bad state, but he must have the constitution of a horse to have stood all he did.'' After receiving hot coffee, and changing his clothes, Mr. Pilkington pulled together very quickly. He would not eat much, out was craving for water. When discovered the unfortunate man was wearing only a singlet, the remains of a pair of pants, and an oilskin coat, while around his head was a piece of a jersey. When asked if Pilkington spoke much on the scow, the captain said lie did not encourage him to do so, knowing himself too well what must have been the thoughts and desires of a man who had lost two sons. However, said the captain, at different times during the day he would refer briefly to the affair. He once said, referring to the son who died in his arms, " I ne!d on to the little fellow as long as I could, but the waves were washing clean over me, and there were five or six sharks about, and I had nothing to defend us from them ; then I had to throw the little chap overboard." Pilkragton also, said that, he liad washed his mouth out with salt water, and while doing so thought someone advised him not to drink it.

"It was a pitiful sight, and only those who have been in somewhat like circumstances can fully realise the anguish through -which the man fought," said the captain, "and I believe that had he been adrift another four hours at the most he would have been settled. There was a hot sun, and this would have had a deadly effect upon him if nothing else had. As it was he must have passed through sufficient to kill most men, but lie has evidently a wonderful constitution. He was. when we picked him up. some seven miles outside of Tin', and was drifting out to sea. Had it not been for the fact that the patiki had no ballast in her, she would certainly have sunk long before." THE PATIKI'S SEAWORTHINESS. j The Marion is a fair specimen of the class of boat known as the patiki. She has a 7ft beam, and is 16ft long. Her mast and gaff are lying in the boat with a few pieces of the sail hanging to them. When asked for "his opinion on the safety or otherwise of patikis and like boats, if taken outside the harbour, Captain Burk replied : " 1 should like to know why we folks who manage scows ate compelled to carry all sorts of gear, etc., when these small boats are allowed to go out without even a lifebuoy. Why, on the scows there are often only three or four hands, while a little patiki goes out with half-a-dozen or more aboard, and often without anyone who knows sufficient about sailing a boat." STATEMENT BY MRS. SKINNER. A SECOND SOX DROWNED. Mrs. Skinner, mother of Lionel Skinner, .-aid the boys had been fishing on Saturday and Sunday. "On .Monday my son said to me, 'Mother, we're going for a sail round the Gulf, and are not going to do any fishing.' They all went away, a merry, light-hearted party, and that was the last I saw of them"* Each one knew how to handle a boat. They had been out in the Marion very often, but had never had an accident in her. Mr. Pilkington is a very careful man himself, and generally bits hold of | the tiller; but my son knew thoroughly well how to handle a yacht. My married son, Albeit, was going out with the party on Monday, but he changed his mind in' the. morning, and decided to go to the races instead. Lionel is the second son I have lost by drowning. The first lost his lite in the Waikato River. I am quite sine that the accident could not have occurred through sky-larking, as Mr. Pilkington would have none of that kind of thing in a boat."

Mr. Bond, a member of the firm of Bond Bros., lolil a Herald reporter that on Monday night he, with others, mttit have been in the vicinity of the patiki. The night was moonlight, but while they passed other boats, they saw nothing of a patiki. Jt was rough] lie said, at Tin. but the weather improved as they came in. They came through the passage at eleven o'clock at night, and passed within 200 yds of Motutapu on the reef side. This only goes to show how unfortunate Pilkington was not to have been discovered by one of the many boats that were in his vicinity on Monday night. Inspector Cullen, of the police, requests us to mention that in all eases where boats do not return at the specified time information should be at once given to the police, so that they can institute a search and inquiries without the slightest delay. If the police had been notified the first' thing on Tuesday morning that the party had not returned, a boat would immediately have been sent in search.

Mr. Alex. Alison, of the Devonport Steam Ferry Company, expressed his regret that the first news of the missing yacht was given by the press. " Had we known in time," lie said, '"we might have done something. Our steamers arc always up and down the harbour in the neighbourhood of Rangitoto and Motutapu, and since the boat was reported missing we had been keeping a sharp lookout. Had we the slightest inkling of where she was we would have gone there and made a most careful search for any traces of her."