LAUNCH CREW SAFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20255, 15 May 1929, Page 14

LAUNCH CREW SAFE.

VESSEL BLOWN ASHORE.

DRIFTING HELPLESS AT SEA.

TWO NIGHTS IN FIERCE GALE. FORTY HOURS WITHOUT FOOD. Miraculously saved' from what seemed almost certain death, the seven men who had been missing from Coromandel in thQ launch Ngaru scrambled ashore in tho darkness on the rocky peninsula of Whangaparaoa yesterday morning and found their way in a semi-exhausted condition to the homQstead of Mr. Robert R. Shakespear. They had been without food for 40 hours, battling for their lives in a frail vessel whose engine was out of order, at the mercy of a gale which threatened them every moment with destruction.

The launch was blown by a fierce easterly right across the gulf from east to west until she struck tho rocks at the foot of the Whangaparaoa cliffs. A hole a foot in diameter has boon torn in her side, and she will probably become a complete wreck. After receiving succour from Mr. Shakespear's family, the men were brought to Auckland by launch, leaving one of their number, Mr. W. McGee, at tho scene of the wreck. According to Captain E. J. Crogan, to whose knowledge of navigation all seven owe their lives, it was only by a iniraclo that tho 'little craft was not smashed to matchwood on the northern reef of the peninsula. Instead, she was blown close into tho cliff-face a short distance south of the reef, whero a landing was effected without undue difficulty. Battery Fails to Start.

" The whole trouble was caused by the breaking down of our engine," said Captain Grogan on his arrival in Auckland yesterday. "We left Coromandel about noon on Sunday, did a little fishing, and then, lit three o'clock in the afternoon, discovered wo could not get the engine to start. Mr. McGce reported that the battery had run out. A strong wind was blowing off the coast, preventing us from returning to Coromandel, so all we could do was to drop our two anchors with 60 fathoms of lino and trust to the shelter provided by Goat Island. " We tugged at our anchors all night, the gale rising every hour, but they dragged in spite of all our efforts, and when daylight came we found we were half-way across the gulf. In order to keep the launch's head to the sea we rigged up a bit of canvas on one side and a blanket on the other. The sea was pretty big by this time, and there was nothing to do but drive before the wind, shipping sea after sea, which made it necessary to keep the pump going. No Food or Water. " We had no food or water on board with the exception of one piece of bread and two big bottles of lomonade, which we consumed between us during the first night. Thirst was our principal problem, and we tried to catch rain water, but every time the launch rolled she shipped salt water, which filled our bucket. We soon had to give up that idea. " All Monday we drifted before the gale along the north coast of Waiheke, and between nine and ten o'clock on the second night found ourselves up against tho Noises Group. It was hopeless trying to go round them; wo drifted right through them, tho islands completely obscured in the rain and spray. It was there that we lost our first anchor. I think that was the only time I really had the wind up. I knew how narrow and rocky the channel was, and I can tell you it was an anxious moment. Signals Not Seen.

" About this time the wind changed round to south-east, causing us to drift in a slightly northerly direction into the Whangaparaoa Passage. We drew closer and closer to Tiri light, and about one o'clock in the morning tried to signal the lighthouse by waving a stick on which we tied a blanket soaked in kerosene. We were evidently not soen, for we got no signal in reply. The next thing was we lost our second anchor. I think it must havo fouled the cable from Tiri. We were pretty helpless then. I made all on board put lifebuoys on, and shortly afterwards —it would be about 2 a.m.—we struck the rock. At first I thought it was the reef north of the Whangaparaoa Passage, but soon found wo had missed it. If we had struck that we would not be here to-day." Captain Grogan decided to remain in the boat as long as possible rather than risk lives by trusting to the breakers, so for hours the seven men crouched in the stricken launch, expecting her any moment to break in pieces. The little vessel was fast 011 the rock, under a towering cliff, and at 5.30 a.m., just as dawn began to break, it was seen that the tide was out sufficiently to enable the shivering occupants to scramble ashore.

All wore feeling famished and exhausted and Mr. J. Coghlan, who is 70 years of age, was verging on collapse. It was decided to set out immediately for the nearest habitation and the three miles to the Shakespear homestead were covered in hours, Mr. Coghlan having to bo assisted a great part of the way. All speak in glowing terms of the hospitality shown by members of the Shakespear family. Captain Highly Praised. Unstinted praise of Captain Grogan's seamanship was given by members of the crew. Luck played >lO small parfc m their escape from disaster, they said, but Captain Grogan at all times was calm and reassuting. Ho handled the vessel in masterly fashion. Heedless of the vivid streaks of white lightning which heralded deafening roars of thunderclaps, and lit up in spasmodic flashes the wild waters, he moved about with impassive swiftness. He was acknowledged a seafaring man of much experience and had the confidence of the men with him. When the battery ran out and the anchors failed to hold, the civw realised their peril. They knew the weather fairly well along that coast and they were aware the seas and currents were dangerous. They realisod they were at the mercy of the elements. "We all know wo are lucky to bo out of that ship alive," said one member of the party. " After the second anchor brpke wo just sat in the cabins and more or less waited. We wero helpless." And they waited in comfortless surroundings, with tho frail craft rolling, pitching, tossing, arid straining. " When she was piled up pn the reef and wo had scrambled out on to tho rocks wo found a hold in the bottom of her side big enough to let a man crawl through," said one member.

Relating how the launch came to niake •tho fishing excursion on Sunday, Captain Grogan stated that Mr. McGeo had been asked by: tho owner, Mr. Pickering, to test the launch's engine out in tho latter's absence and take the vessel round to Kennedy Bay in- a few days. Mr. McGeo. therefore, took the launch out on Sunday and asked Captain Grogan and tho others to join him. Mr. McGeo remained at Whangaparaoa yesterday to try and salvago something from the disabled launch, and two carpenters were sent' to the scene of tho wreck from tho Shakospear homestead. . .