YACHT IN STORMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21345, 21 November 1932, Page 6

YACHT IN STORMS

ABOARD THE HEARTSEASE

THE VOYAGE TO TONGA

/ .WIRELESS OUT OF ACTION

ORDEAL FOR THE CREW

'An interesting account of the voyage Cf the keel yacht Heartsease from Whangarei to Nukualofa, Tonga, is contained in a letter to Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Silk, of Wanganui, from their son, Mr. Trevor N. Silk, who is a member of the crew. The yacht left New Zealand on October 4 and and no word of it was heard in New Zealand until November 9, when it arrived at Suva, although it reached Tonga 22 di-.ys after leaving Whangarei. The trip to Suva from Tonga was made in four davs.

The members of the crew are: Captain 3: A. McArthnr (master), LieutenantCommander W. C. Juler (navigating officer), both of Auckland, Mr. W. G. Douglas, Hawke's Bay, Mr. Trevor Silk, Wanganui, Mr. ,R. G. Hutchison, Masterton, / and Mr. H. Dixon, Wellington. The yacht left Whangarei at mid-day on October 4 and received an enthusiastic Bend-off from a large crowd which assembled on the wharf. The motor was used until the heads were reached, a distance of 20 miles, when the yacht drifted , all night becalmed. The following night at 9 o'clock Cape Brett wa£ abeam, the wind -blowing fresh from the north-east. 'As the cape was the striking-out point, the crew intending to run 'due north from that point, a long last look was taken at the New Zealand shores before going below. The following morning land was out of sight.

Shortly after daybreak the wind from the north increased to gale force, which made it impossible to bear to the north, so that a north-north-west course had to be taken. "It was far too rough to cook and we only had dog biscuits and water to amuse' ourselves with," writes Mr. Silk.. "It was a case of crawling from the bunk to the tiller. We had not seen the sun. since leaving.. The wind dropped considerably ( 'in the evening, however, and the seas moderated." "A Very Dirty Night". On Friday, October 7, the conditions were much the same and the course was kept to the north-north-west. The log showed that Cape Brett was 315 miles to the south. The wind continued throughout the next day and " a very dirty night" was experienced. On Sunday morning it was raining hard and a heavy sea was running, making conditions uncomfortable "below." As the crew had had no hot food since leaving New Zealand, Captain McArthur "struggled to cook a meal," in which he succeeded to everyone's evident satisfaction. " We have been unable to transmit on the wireless so far because the lead-in wire from the aerial has been under water, and also because the salt water has messed up the batteries," Mr. Silk wrote. "We shall have to wait until we get to the first port and then make a lot of alterations." Late on Sunday a heavy squall was met and "we couldn't see the deck for water." The wind was now running to the,west so that the Heartsease could head clue north for the first time. " At last the sheets are eased and we are legging along ■'at about six knots."

. Disaster to a Suitcase October 10 brought better weather, sunshine and little wind, so that the crew commenced drying out their clothes. Unfortunately for Mr. Silk he found that his suitcase had been saturated and thai the stain of the leather had run on to all his clothes and could not be washed out. The sights j, showed that 800 miles had been covered. The following day Mr. Dixon set the wireless receiver to work and the crew listened in to 2YA and heard a boxing report. The weather was again fine and the crew spent more of their time on' the deck in shorts. The average speed was now 120 miles a day. An attempt to transmit was made and the engine was put into motion to charge the batteries but no success was met with on account of aerial trouble. During the next four days a course north-by-west was set, but the yacht was "unable to lay Tonga owing to a head wind. We Teached Nukualofa's latitude and then went about for two days." On October 17 and 18 the yacht was becalmed all night and the engine was started. After two or three days of similar weather, no wind, with hot sunshine, during which time most of day and night wass spent on deck, a course for Ata, an island 85 miles south-west of Tongatalbri, was set and the engine put in motion again on October 21. Later land was sighted and this proved to Nukualofa.