FOG AND DARKNESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21505, 31 May 1933, Page 10

FOG AND DARKNESS

CALMNESS OP SEA RUSH TO ASSISTANCE VESSEL FAST ON ROCKS SEARCHLIGHT AIDS TUGS rbt telegraph—own correstondkn r] WELLINGTON, Tuesday Fog and the deepening darkness under an overcast sky combined to make visibility bad when the Golden Harvest struck. The vessel ran aground on the outer rocks of Barrett's Beef and lay with her bows pointing seaward and her forepart slightly raised. The sea was calm, but during the evening the wind*was freshening. Lighted from stem is> stern, she lay motionless in the intense darkness, her hull faintly outlined in the reflected glow from the beam of the Fort Dorset searchlight, which cut swath in the murk. Description of Conditions "Dark and moderately foggy," the description of conditions at the harbour mouth at 6 p.m., given by Mr. C. J. Phelps, of Breaker Bay Eoad, who witnessed the Golden Harvest go ashore on the reef about a mile from the shore opposite his house. "Although conditions were bad as tar as visibility goes," he .said, "I have known them much worse. The foghorn was going full blast, but I could , see the shipls lights dimly from where I stood. Luckily, the sea was calm. 'J he ship was moving out slowly. For a few minutes Mr. Phelps did not realise that the Golden Harvest was in difficulties. She appeared, to have stopped in the fog and to be lying at anchor. Fort Searchlight Useid Later, when a searchlight from Fort Dorset was turned on the steamer, her plight was apparent. Her bows were lifted and she seemed to be fast on the reef. From seven o'clock' onward the fog cleared, but the evening was pitch dark.

AVhen the Harbour Board's tug Toia and the pilot launch Arahina reached the scene immediate steps Vere taken to attach" a tow-line to the stern of the Golden Harvest. The Toia waited with her hows facing up the harbour while the pilot launch hurried to and fro between the larger vessels. In the meantime the beam of the searchlight was lifted above the vessels, apparently to avoid dazzling those conducting the towing attempt. Merge signals winked from Fort Dorset and the masts of the Golden Harvest and the Toia. Rolling smoke from the funnel of the tug showed white in the searchlight's beam.Spectators on the Shore From vantage points on the hill above Seatoun, and in Breaker Bay Road motorists and near by residents watched the Toia's vain effort to assist the Golden Harvest to back off the,rocks. Under existing conditions it was possible only to guess at the progress of operations, but tlje lights of the steamer and the tug remained stationary. It became apparent that the larger vessel was hard and fast. At 10 p.m. the Union Company's tug Terawhiti appeared, and the two tugs made a joint effort to get the vessel off, but without avail. The tugs are now standing by.