TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19320, 6 May 1926, Page 6

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.

TWO DAYS IN A GALE. BOAT'S CREW AND A CORPSE. A terrible experience recently befell a crew in a 30ft. boat which travelled 25 miles through raging seas, from Flinders Island, Victoria, to the mainland, with extra ballast in the shape of a corpse they were taking to the coroner. James Everett, a half-caste, while mutton birding on Babel Island, died suddenly. News of his death was carried to Andrew Maynard, on Flinders Island, and he determined to take the body to the coroner at Lady Barron, 25 miles away on the mainland. In Maynard's boat, the Evelyn, they set out, into the teeth of a terrific gale. Headway was made, literally,at a foot a time, and the occupants of the boat, who were without food, were threatened with swamping at any minute by the mountainous seas. It was considered when they started that even against the wind they would finish the journey that day. But the, wind and sea combined to keep them off the land until late the next day, when, tired out and hungry they gave up the attempt to reach Lady Barron. Instead, the boat stood in towards the shore, and, at the risk of their lives, two of the crew swam through an enormous surf, carrying lines. They reached the beach absolutely exhausted, and lay there for a time unable to move. Eventually they signalled the boat, and her dinghy, in which the coffin was placed, was attached to the end of the line. Working the lines so as to bring the frail boat through the surf without swamping it, the men toiled for hours and were rewarded when they beached the dinghy safely. The corpse was then sent to the coroner.