WRECK OF A YACHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18460, 25 July 1923, Page 6

WRECK OF A YACHT.

1 . , CREW'Si DRAMATIC STORY, FIGHT WITH HURRICANE,, CAPTAIN NEARLY DROWNED. CASTAWAYS ON BEACH. r "■" Hardship and suffering were the lot>of . '' - the crew of the yacht Four Winds following their - sensational- escape from 1 death when wrecked at Venus Bay. Dramatic incidents abound in the .story told ;. .by them when they arrived in- Melbourne. ■ The yacht, which wa s valued at £3000, '■'■' ' p ; was :> a total loss. , ' ' . The yacht was wrecked in a, howling hurricane on the night of July 1. The party was .on a pleasure, cruise. * -lney : set but from Adelaide, intending to ;nd ■■'•■■ V among the islands, and go right round Australia, back to the Jnome port. _ From the moment they left ? Adelaide, • misfortune dogged them. Violent gales blew d PI , and buffeted the small craft, and for nine days they were unable to get out of oilskins. ,:' -'''""'J . , ( At about 8 D.m. on July 1, the captain • was at tho wheel; with all the rest of the party downstairs having supper. They were wet and cold, and tired with a long day's battle with the storm, and were glad of a moment's respite given by a lull. . , V , ■'■'■• They had barely left the deck when a sudden squall hit the yacht, snapping the mast clean off, and sweeping -the skipper from the wheel overboard , ; - As the great sea carried him along, Captain 5 Arnold clutched convulsively at the rigging, and by great good fortune c&Sofd of one of tho wire ropes, •■ 'Fighting for life, he clung or while wave ': after wave tore and tugged at his nearly weighted -body. Handicapped wth heavy ■•■'■'-sealwota and coat he struggled to work his way to the side of the yacht. Inch - by inch he beat the hungry waves.tot soon they tried a new trick, and interrSently dashed him against the side -'5 the vacht. Soon ho was utterly ex- > barely strength:left;to hang ••' 01 * Braised and Exhausted. . j

; In the meantime, the others were un- . aware of the mishap, and were busj at supper downstairs. Th«y were three " miles from the coast when the mast went, - and it was not until a roller picked I up the yacht and bumped it against a sand spit that the men ran upstairs to see the white-capped surf rollers omin- > ously close, and th& captain missing. Ihe -shouts from the deck brought a feeble answering hail from tha skipper. Then i followed a further battle agamtit the «lements. The skipper was quite close alongside by this time, and.-:■ the men threw a looped rope round him. With : the yacht dancing up and down like a - • cork, they tried to pull him on board. Twenty tim bs they - had him within grasp, when the green waves clutched the tiny craft and tore them apart. . i At last, after a battle of nearly half an hour, they pulled him on board, quite * exhausted, w and with his arms and , shoulders Vack with strain and his body .; covered with bruises.

(1 "... Graft Hailed High on Beach. J fc:" They :then fought to save the yacht > The : ropes ' were of wire, and they could 1 not cut the; mast away, ' The auxiliary engine was of no use in the heavy sea, ■with the weight of the rigging holding it \i '■■■' . back. -.' ;•■ :':?:',/ ''■:-,■■' c .,]\ -\\ -.■ 'a--- "■ '.:'■■■ :/T : '\ Great foaming combers broke over them, and; it was all they could do to J hang* on. Finally a monster wave caught ■v : the craft and ■•? hurled ;: it high ; on the • v beach. - ; V;*v-V~' ; l .'. . : '.y - - ,:,:■ Cook - jumped ashore, bearing , a rope, and," after a -desperate i struggle against the backwash, which threatened to drag him : out to sea again, he made dry land. ■ ; 'i. j■;" He held on to tha ,line, while :the others -• ;; , gained safety. • \'..^ ;^/:\V : ; . ; v,\.:;: ,?. v.- : '•. ■::.-!' i .'..".'„, Their troubles were by ;no >; means at . ; an end.' The night was pitch dark, and not a light could f be seen. Indeed, ■ they could only see a few yards, and they could, hardly open their ; eyes i for H; the .: ! ; sand, which, borne along by the hurri- ■'.': ..*;■. cane, whipped thair .faces until the blood ,', flowed. They ! ; wandered around the "V sandy, Inhospitable shores of Venus Bay. :'\ looking : for some sort of > shelter, but found none. j[i. Wet, .cold, and miserable, k ,-; they at last settled down in the sand, •■-' waiting for morning. , '" r'--J It \ was a - bitter •. winter's evening, and .-•■'.>^by> morning the : feet > of v several were :?; swollen id twice the 'normal siza, and ' they ware, pinched and , blue with the •i : 'cold. ■ ■ . :, vy ;; \' ; ;v'■■;■•:■k^".-'v ■■ ■' : ■ ' ■:•' '■'''-' /- - . . ,In a;; Sorry Flight. , ,■ .■ 3'.;' \ When; daylight ;came" they ' were still ; J; in a sorry plight. <■/ Several times they ; *asayed :■ to -walk inland)'?- but - the sand i , was dashed into ; their faces so viciously ;j that there was nothing for it but to re;Jl treat and stand still." The waves had re- ) treated somewhat, and ■■ they rescued ; a .'.• few spare-and some pieces of sail. With ; ; these they .mado; a [ tiny bumpy. Behind ■/ this frail shelter they stayed all day and ■ ]! the . following night, unable •to move fsr ']' owing' to the whirlwinds oft sand. v ■ rjf"' Visiting ; the ■ yacht was still va"; perilous • - task, but they managed to get some pro- :;; visions ashore. They fought ■ for hours ...'; ''% to j light a"y fire, : and -'- burned themselves ; 'iwith gunpowder before the firing of : a ; ; blue light gave enough flame to kin--f■>'■.'f die V some K wood. '■/'; Over this f fire, they . .boiled a backet Vof coffee. By the time "l 1 they drank it the . bucket was nearly half •'.-.'/ £jj}:full of sand, and when they tried to eat 1 J some - sausage ; moatbiulls of »&nd came Jlj-'-as" an';, added;:sauce.:'•:;■'';;■;■-'; j , V ''';:£%'. "The strange thing was," said ' Cap- -■::.-■ j'. tain Arnold, " although we were there • -in wet clothes, and miserably cold, for ;. two tights and a day not one of as caught : ;-;', t ■% : a cold." '»;•'?'-'': y -;'■' -;y'- ■''■ '.'■':'''/■■'' .■'"■■ -■ - ;? v On 'the second morning, the wind died ;'.; ' ■ down/ and , three of the party walked eight • . miles over, the' sand and found two of the ;■■■;■:-.,., Dunstan boys. These/ took the three men : '*, to their home ; ; and treated them hospit- ; ably. ;Then they returned and guided all ;;■;'*■"' the party ') to the house of Mr. G. M; n v Black, aVTarwin Meadow. He looked :/". after ; them for .•;;nine; day 3, until they were able ;to proceed to Melbourne. ! -•, They could get no one who would un- \ • dertake the.- the salvaging of the yacht, j which; was uninsured, ; and after' bringing j \;:all the fittings! ashore, ; they sold; them for i > ; what could be obtained on ; the spot, sold -', .the hulk to Mr. Black, and made for the ■.':■ ■■•y:"trainVir.^ju.v^v;V- : -^..'\'-..- ; , ■'.':; '.-''.';,-■ . •;■;-■•: