AN INTREPID VOYAGER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18565, 24 November 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN INTREPID VOYAGER.

— LArE V LIEUT. MUHLHAUBER. I V-. V- .-'TAN ADVENTUROUS CAREER - •> \rv — * jwi - ? SUBMARINE ' CHASING. ■,• -'• The late" ? Lieut. Q. H. P. Muhlhaoae? R.N.11., whose death followed upon operation in England, recently, : many friends, particularly among yachtii- * men, during his three months' sojournthe port of Auckland with his 29-toit yawl-rigged yacht, the Amaryllis. Thaw who were in close touch with him r jalisedl a that he was then far from well, bufc%,:ft cheerfully did he write from the manj ports of call during the homeward >pas»l»4 age that it was hoped he had regained!! his health. That hope has not been Jul.' filled, and death has claimed, at a comparatively early age. one of the -jnost f charming of men, and one of the most in. treoid of deep-sea travellers. ' : Adventure and the call of the open Mail were to Lieut. Mchlhauser the very, spier''" of existence. Before the war he .had% found some outlet for his love of the sea in yachting. As an officer in the lioyal Naval Reserve he did yeoman service in the " Q" boats, or " mystery ships,'" those ugly, but useful .little packets which were * called into being to frustrate the German submarine mena'- . From the base at Lowestoft, facing out to the North Sea he made numerous ciuites to the Channel* the West Coast of Ireland, the coast off* Norway, and the Mediterranean. Thosa' were moving, perilous days, and atfi Auckland man who was himself based at 5 Lowestoft, states that no one entered more keenly into that phase of modern sea warfare than Lieut. Muhlhausei. -in the " Q" boat Tay and Tvne. "We knew him well at Lowestoft," - said this Aucklander, " and he wag ? cheery a man'as one could ever wish to % meet.-To him danger had its own charm- ; he gloried in a cruise that held some i particular peril and excitement; and he i was absolutely without fear." The war ' over, Lieut. Muhlhauser 1 turned his thoughts to other phases oilseafaring and finally he decided to embark upon, a round-the-world cruise. Th# outstanding details of that cruise, mad® in the Amaryllis, are well known toAucklanders. But it is not, perhaps, well known that Lieut. Muhlhauser began i that momentous adventure when in ** state of ill-health. That may be accepted % as indicating his fortitude, and ' hir? strength of character. ! The Amarylliss served him w«H.? ; | she proved herself to be a splendid! sea-boat. But he admitted she wat& not ideal, and only a short , while"! before he . sailed for . home ,he spoke of' what he deemed to be. the best type of 3 yacht for long ocean cruising. ~ , To his mind for ocean cruising a 40-ton schooner rigged craft was the best type of vessel. 'He had figured out in his mind ft practically every detail of equipment. He - held that she should have a draft of about*! nine feet, should carry nearly all her' ballast in the form of iron moulded to the vessel's shape, and'should, of course, be ; I wheel-steering. The Amaryllis was' tillersteering on her outward cruise, but > had i a wheel fitted in this port. An engine was essential; so too, was a boat Withal auxiliary power. Finally, he strongly advocated _ lanyards f Q r setting up th» "gging instead of rigging-screws. "— -