YACHT-LIKE TRADER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21132, 15 March 1932, Page 10

YACHT-LIKE TRADER.

TOPSAIL SCHOONER HUIA.

HANDSOME LITTLE VESSEL. YEARS OF USEFUL SERVICE. Although almost 38 years old the auxiliary topsail schooner Iluia, now completing an extensive overhaul at .Auckland, is still as sound and seaworthy as the day she left Barbour's shipbuilding yards at Aratapu, on the Northern Wairoii River, and by general consensus of opinion 011 the waterfront she is still the prettiest craft that enters the port. This little vessel of 251 tons has been owned by the Nobel Explosives Company for the past 20 years, her principal occupation being the carrying of explosives from Australia to New Zealand. She generally has a return cargo, usually of timber, and she has some exceedingly smart passages to her credit. The Huia was built for the Mitchelson Timber Company, of Kaipara, and was placed under the caro of the veteran shipbuilder, Captain George McKenzie, who is still a prominent figure in Auckland shipping circles. Even then, when ships were less rare than is the case today, the Iluia was greatly admired for her trim appearance and phenomenal sailing qualities and her many trips to Aus tralia with timber from the Kaipara and the return journeys with cargoes of coal were watched with considerable interest. Captain McKenzie handled her with rare skill and made many passages that made the steamers of her day look to their laurels. Pride in Appearance. After some years Captain McKenzie bought the vessel and built up a trade betweeh Kaipara and Lyttelton, carrying timber south and returning with produce. She was then purchased by the Nobel Explosives Company and has been engaged ever since in what most shoreloving people would regard as a dangerous trade. The company has taken the same pride in the condition and appearance of the handsome little vessel as did her former owners, with the result that she is one of the best equipped vessels of her class in Australia and New Zealand. Her yacht-like appearance is always admired by seamen in every port she visits. For the past fortnight the Huia has been getting her customary o% r erhaul and no racing yacht receives more thorough treatment than she does on these occasions. While on the patent slip her copper has been scrubbed clean and her white topsides have been burned clean and repainted to a glossy finish. This most recent examination has revealed that her kauri planking is perfectly sound and her puriri frames show no signs of deterioration. Some Smart Voyages. The Huia is one of the only two topsail schooners still actively engaged in Australian and New Zealand waters, the other being the Alma Doepel, of Hobart. Another well-known vessel of this rig, the Joseph Sims, was wrecked on Flinders Island more than a year ago. It is apparent that age has not robbed the Huia of her fleetness, for a little over two years ago she sailed into Auckland with a full cargo of hardwood only 7£ days out from Grafton, on the Clarence River, New South Wales. j On one day during that trip she logged 220 knots. On another occasion she made the trip from Awanui to Sydney in 6£ days, although loaded with 100,000 superficial feet of timber. Yet another smart trip to the credit of the Huia was that from Grafton to Tauranga in seven days, the best consecutive run being 600 miles in three days. These trips have been made under the command of Captain H. E. Lane, who has been in charge of the schooner for about 15 years and has a reputation for skill not surpassed by that of the old-time sailing masters. The Huia will go into commission again this week, sailing for Southern ports with explosives. She will return to Auckland with general cargo. It is Jikely that she will then make one of her usual trips to Australia.