FIGHT WITH THE SURF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18994, 16 April 1925, Page 10

FIGHT WITH THE SURF.

SWAMPING OF A LAUNCH.

THREE MEN'S CLOSE CALL. STRUGGLE IN THE- DARK. After a heroic strugglo in the surf near Sydney one night last week three men at last reached shore, exhausted. Messrs. Charles Stockham, aged 27 years, William Jones, aged 22 years, and Thomas Hopkins, aged 40 years, all of Glebe, set out from Cronulla to bring a racing motor-launch to Sydney, and tho journoy was progressing satisfactorily until they had reached a point opposite Ma roil bra Bay. Here tho engine stalled, and after they had drifted some little distance tho Jefect was discovered, and the engine was again set going. Darkness was falling rapidly, and it was thought advisable to run into Maroubra Bay and draw tho craft up on tho beach. With this intention tho party was coining through the surf when a huge comber crashed down on the launch, swamping it and turning it over as if it were a cork. The three men were thrown into the water, and, luckily, Mr. Hopkins, who could not swim, found himself alongside a piece of flotsam sufficiently buoyant to support him. Even then ho and his companions, who were indifferent swimmers, found that they were entirely at tho mercy of the sea. They could make no headway, but were dashed hither and thither in the surf.

All tho men were becoming rapidly exhausted, when they perceived that each succeeding wave brought them a little closer to the shore. They would bo carried shorewards and then drawn back toward the open sea, but it was apparent that if they could remain afloat long enough they would be saved. Finally a big breaker caught them on its crest and hurled them on to the sands, where they crawled to safety.

Ambulance men were summoned when the three men were found, and restorative measures were applied. They were afterwards taken to a hospital. Mr. Stockham was admitted to the institution, but his companions, after treatment, weco allowed to leave.