EARL'S OCEAN VOYAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20668, 13 September 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

EARL'S OCEAN VOYAGE

SMALL CRAFT'S LONG RUN.

OVER 4000 MILES AT 77.

ADVENTURES ON THE DEER

Lieutenant-Gcneral the Earl of Dua donald, at the age of 77, and Sir Thoma Fowell Buxton recently returned to Eng land by liner after a daringly novel voy age to South America—4,4oo miles—in i fourteen-ton yacht

They left Penzance on Saturday, Maj 3, with a crew of three Devonshire fisher men, two of whom are over 60 years o age. One attended to the engine. Mi Albert Light, one of the fishermen, mad the same voyage with Lord Dundon&li on a larger yacht in 1922, when th veteran Guards officer attended the cen tenary celebrations of Brazilian Inda pendenco. The Bonnie Joann, owend by Lord Dun donald, is a yacht of only 14.23 tons na register, and 58.8 . Thames measurement with a speed of seven knots. In place a a 1924 Kelvin engine, the Beegius Com pany installed their new model Kelvin Ricardo 30 h.p. engino with new shaf and propeller, the replacement being car ried out by the makers in tho recorc time of one week in Brixham Harboue inclusive of delivery from Scotland. The engine gave complete satisfaction sometimes running 70 or 80 hours with out stopping on a consumption of tw< gallons an hour. Before leaving Penzancq the little craft was furnished with bul warks 2ft. 7in. high, and these were founi to be of great advantage in tho heav] weather.

Bay ot Biscay Storm. Two days out, the voyagers encountered high seas in the Bay of Biscay, and hov« to for 2£ hours. Before daybreak oi Tuesday morning a light was sighted oi the Spanish coast, and this ilater waj found to be Beventy miles east of Cap« Finisterre.

The strong north-westerly wind, r* cently of gale force, had acted on th< current which sct3 into the Bay, and helped to tako (he vessel out of her pro. per course. Though the sea was rough, the little vessel rode the gigantic wavei splendidly; and as the wind was on shore, the reliability of the engine win invaluable in helping the crew flff a lei shore and rounding Cape Finisterre.

The first stop of four days was madi at Vigo, where the bowsprit was clamped with iron bands. Here the cook-steward, an ex-naval man, had to be sent home, He had taken his bed owing to illness, and one of the seamen had been doing th« cooking. This consisted of one dish foi everybody; all had the same food. Te ease the situation every one made hii own bed, a task which took about twq minutes. Later on, in the great heat, thfl beds were left " unmade."

On Sundays when it was not too rough, the party had the gramophone record of Dr. Fleming's Scottish Service at St* Columba's. Pont Street. Trouble With the Oooks.

At Vigo, Cook No. 2 was engaged, and came on board, but when he h&d heard where the vessel was going ha went ashore and did not return. Cook No. 3 came, and speedily followed th« example of No. 2. Cook No. 4—almost black—speni most of his' time in bed, and was useless. Hq was discharged at Cape Verde Islands. Cook No. 5, a Spaniard, said he had cooked in an oil tanker. He could boi| pork and open i» tin; that was his limit* But with no land in sight he could nofc bo retired. After Vigo, the next, stop waa made two days later at Lisbon, whem thin metal plates were screwed on out. side over the portholes, the glass of one light being cracked. The next stop, six days, was at Las Palmas. Between Grand Canary and Cape Verde Islands—distance traversed, 1,150 miles—strong wind and high seas were encountered on part of the voyage, and the iron attachment oi the mizzen-boom to the mast snapped.