OCEAN CRUISE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22792, 28 July 1937, Page 16

OCEAN CRUISE

YACHT TE RAHJNGA HAWAII TO VICTORIA NEW ZEALAND CREW FIERCE STORM ENCOUNTERED BY ROY MURDOCH (Copyright) VICTORIA, July 7 In ocean yacht cruising one's expectations of fair weather or foul on any voyage about to be undertaken are rarely fulfilled —at least, so it has been found by the crew of Captain Georg Dibbern's yacht To Rapuuga, Miss Eileen Morris, of Napier, and myself.

On July 3 To Rapunga arrived at Victoria, British Columbia, at the end of the longest, yet easiest, voyage since leaving New Zealand in September, 1035. The 32ft. ketch made the trip from port to port in 31 days and made a landfall in 2!> days. We sailed from the Hawaiian .Islands with expectations of head winds and a fair percentage of storms. Instead, we experienced fair winds during the greater part of the voyage and encountered only two storms, arriving at Victoria with half our provisions and more than half our fresh water Untouched. Needed Repairs After lying at Honolulu for a little over a year, during which the hul'l was completely retastened and the greater part of the standing rigging renewed, the yacht sailed on the evening of May 10 for Kauai, lying about 100 miles to the north-westward of Honolulu. It was a dirty crossing for tropical waters, but we were grateful in one way for the rough weather, for it showed us that the decks still leaked badly. , Te Rapunga lay at Nawiliwili, the principal port of Kauai, for almost a fortnight, during which time we fitted up waterproof screens, sewed new hatch covers and canvas weather dodgers, set up the new rigging and saw the sights of one of the loveliest spots in the Pacific. r llie ship was well found when she finally cleared the Hawaiian Islands on the last day of May.

Rising of Storm On the night of June 17 we had our first storm, the most severe that Miss Morris and I have yet experienced. For about a day and a-lialf the ship had been snorting along at eight knots before a south-westerly wind, but that night there was every indication that we were in for a blow. Storm clouds came up astern and the sea, already heavy, steadily increased until it was standing mountains high. However, running under trysail, squaresail, fisherman's staysail and mizzen, with wind and sea 011 the port quarter, the-ship did not seem to be straining herself at all, and we decided to carry 011 as long as possible without shortening sail.

Halfway 'through my watch, from .8 p.m. to midnight, it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold the ship from broaching to, and .1 called Georg to take a look at the weather. Georg poked liis nose through the hatch, took a look round, thought the ship could carry 011.for a while longer, and went back to bunk. Backstay Torn Away

,In the next 10 minutes wind and sea rapidly became worse and the ship was beginning to take charge. I had a feeling that something was bound to go, when, with a loud bang, the mizzen topmast backstay carried away. A yell for the others quickly brought Eileen and Georg, the former with an oilskin over her pyjamas, up the ladder, just as the weather lower backstay of the mizzen mast tore away at the turnbuckle, leaving the mast entirely unstayed aft, at a timo when backstays were most needed.

The thin little mast was bending like a reed as Georg and I scrambled forward to take in the fisherman's staysail. As Georg let go the halyard I had to lie 011 my back and try to press myself down on to the deck to haul in' the sail. Somehow we managed to get the sail in, and then hastily lowered and furled the mizzen. letting the ship run under trysail and squaresail, the strain of which was carried mostly by the mainmast backstays. Shortened Sail

For two hours Georg and 1 worked to repair'tho mizzen rigging, while Eileen took the tiller. The broken turnbuckle of the lower backstay we were able to replace, but the steel wire of the top backstay on tho port side had parted. However, we managed to bring the corresponding stay on the starboard side over to port and shackled it home, making tho rigging as strong as before, although the mast itself was cracked 18in. below the boom. Under shortened sail, the ship ran easier and was not so hard to hold. But just after the others had returned to bunk the wind increased rapidly, and at 1 a.m. I had to call them out again, fearing that if we carried 011 much longer the sticks would bo pulled right out of the ship. With Eileen at the tiller, Georg and I battled to get in the squaresail, lowered and furled the trysail, a comparatively easy job, and finally furled the fore-staysail. Gigantic Seas By that time the wind was screaming in fury and gigantic seas were coming up astern. It was no longer a whole galfe, but a storm, with a wind of between GO and 70 miles an hour, and, under bare poles, the ship scudded before it at better than live knots. There was nothing for it but to heave to. The storm miz/.en was bent and set, and Georg, awaiting a lull, brought the ship's head round to the sea, after one unsuccessful attempt in which she rolled her decks under. Time seemed to pass rapidly', yet it took us almost two hours to heave-to. Only then were we able to ppreeiate the lull force of the storm. For a time we three crouched in the cockpit, marvelling at the height of the seas and tho terrific force of the wind, against which one could . scarcely breathe. Then we went below to sfrip oil' wet clothes and try to find some warmth in bunk. Second Storm Occurs

Once it had reached its height the storm quickly passed, and by the following afternoon the breeze was light, although the sea, unbroken then, was gigantic. Half-a-day of calm followed before the wind again settled in the south-west. My the morning of June 20, 20 days out from Kauai, we were half-way to the Straits of Juan do Ftica, but that night marked the beginning of a second storm. It was a hard night, hut we carried on under trysail and squaresail until tli e middle of the following mornimr. The velocity of the wind was not quite as great as during the first, blow, but the sea was considerably higher, and was breakimr dangerously, so that it took the united efforts of Georg and myself to hold ?he ship from broaching to before we were finally compelled to lieave-to at 11 a.m. This time the ship did not lie to as comfortably as before and frequently took seas over the deck, one of which -somehow found its way under the skylight covers and drenched Oeorg's hunk. The next morning wo were under way again, and from then on we had an easy run. Te Rapunga will remain at Victoria for a few days before sailing for Vancouver, whence she will proceed to United Statps Pacific Coast ports.