THRILLING VOYAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20982, 19 September 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

THRILLING VOYAGE.

' MONTH IN 28FT. SLOOP,, ATLANTIC NAVIGATED. SURROUNDED BY SHARKS. In the course of a long and arduous voyage across the Atlantic in a :28ft. sloop, two young men, Mr. Ahto Walters, a 19-year-old Esthonian, and Mr. C. P. Barber, an Englishman, encountered several thrilling adventures. Between them they navigated the tiny yacht Ahto for 7000 miles, and the trip they completed was from Rhode Island to Plymouth. It took them 29 days to cover the 3000 miles, gales and flat calms having been experienced. At times the adventurers had to lash themselves to the mast to prevent themselves being swept overboard by the huge waves which engulfed their small vessel. For days the boat rolled so much that it was impossible to stand upright, and by way of contrast, for days they floated lazily on the Atlantic completely becalmed and Furrounded by sharks. One 14ft. shark—half the length of their yacht—swam round them within 6in. of their gunwale, and only 3ft. below the surface. "It followed us for days," related Mr. Barber, "as though waiting the opportunity to catch us sitting with our legs dangling over the side." The shark was a monster, nnrl Ahto got so annoyed with it that he decided to

try and kill it. "He got the boat-hook, tied a knife to it, and when the shark passed us he lunged at it. He ' nearly fell overboard when he stabbed the shark, but I grabbed hirn, and we saved the boat-hook, though we lost the shark. I think we killed it, however, because we didn't see it again." These two adventurous yachtsmen brought the Ahto across the Atlantic bv the Northern route, and for over a week saw no sign of life at all. They had no chronometer on boar<s, relying entirely for the calculations of their daily position on a watch, and an error of one minute on their watch would have upset their reckoning of position by 15 miles. Soon after leaving the United States Ahto forgot to wind up the watch, and they found themselves at sea with no idea at all of the time, and consequently no idea of their position. " Fortunately we passed the Nantucket Lightship," declared Mr. Barber, " and started our watch again, but we only had approximate time, and all the way across we wofidcred if our watch was showing the right time and if wo were on the right course or a couple of hundred miles adrift. However, we have got to our destination safely."