A YACHTING TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1831, 10 April 1907, Page 2

A YACHTING TRAGEDY.

■ FOUR MEN DROWNED.

THE SURVIVOR’S STORY. - ' “““ ATTGEL AND,. April 4. : •v rTlie missing patiki was picked up outside of Tiritiri. by the scow Era* . having been driven to "Sea by a. gale. ■Only/-one- of . the five aboard —J. Pilkin- tlie' boat, -the otlier four ..-having perishecK-viz:, A. and F. Pillc--j.ington (sons of tho"’survivor), Lionel. - Skinner,; and W. HcAneiiey. ./“ V ■; ■ ■ {“iMLkingtok, (senior; in ter vie wed... by- a -“'Sta“/reporter,-- stated that the,crew . /of: the patiki included himself. (forty-; : three years' of age’), Frederick Pilkingt toh Sliinner. (19), /and- W. McAneney (18).; :( they'left Auckland at 10.30 on Monday : morxiiiig to cruise round. Motutapu - (and- back: - Pilkihgton, senior, was; at the t i ller _till.the. boat had passed Motu/•tapu. Between that island gnd Ka-7tkinold>eihgktired,:-he: gave: the. tillen-to-Lionel Skinner. ‘ About noon . he himself .proceeded to get lunch ready. ' Five'., minutes later a’ ■ puff-; of wind - struck tlje small 'craft. Pilkihgton, ' let the’ sheet go. ,The patiki r reeked’ a; few times then ■ went gunwale under. - ; “(V"';. ■' _ M.cAneney, whoavas-a good swimmer,. . struck out for the shore, - 250 .yards • away. Pilkington, senior, heard him shout,' but saw: nothing more of him. The water is infested with, sharks. News of his reaching shore/must have been received before if he had been •alive. Pilkington, senior, Skinner, “Fred Pilkington, and Harry Bilking-’ ton stuck' to the boat, which was full of water. Harry Pilkington, being a .weak la-d, his father had to assist him .to retain his / hold of the gunwale. Now and again the boat would turn right over, and the unfortunate four had to get a fresh bold. She was full //of;.water, the gunwale being about / -din: only above the surface. ' ’ , ’ AN; AWFUL.. EXPEDIENCE. .:/ Mr Pilkington continued : “About a k couple of hours after the accident I .Vhbard Lionel Skinner .say, Hit’s. no use / hanging on hero,’ and . next time : she turned over he . disappeared, and ■ was.seenno More. Fred disappeared soon after, and I found his body ■ .next morhing tinder the deck of the ' boat.. kShe had evidently., turned over ..on .top . of., him, and thus; he' was - <lrowned. kMy son Harry, the yquugest of the party, was not very strong, ; and I did everything I could to keep ..him hanging on to the- boat. There . was-not much' of a sea on, but the k buffeting about he got when the boat /turned oyer - ./and ’ while' hanging -on ' A’as - tob:' much for/him,; a'nd after - a while ho" :lost consciousness. , T hung , to’ him, but he gradually ' ceased breathing,, and at about 5 o’clock the ’same - evening . he died, and I alone /was left alive.- I kkept him in the - boat until the following night, when I was’obliged to cast his body adrift, and also that of Lionel Skinner. ' "“After Harry’s death I set about . trying to right the boat. While I .was. thus engaged a motor launch • -passed .. ipe, : just ; abo;ut dusk. I did hot see her until she has just passing . me. I then shouted to her crew, but “they:did riot hear me, nor did they see me,, for there, was practically only my. head arid’. Oin of the boat out of /,the . water, aiyd ..that hope of safety passed.- With great difficulty. I mail-. / aged to get the mast unshipped, although I could not free it from” the -. iuggirig. I-cut the;ssails adrift, and -k: throw .•cut; everything I could get hold .. rif .in order to; lighten .the boat.' 'She. k then, floated somewhat evenly, ~ one “ side being about’ ISin out of the water, and % the other just -awash.' There was an iron rudder weighing 201 b or 301 b. This made it difficult, .for me to keep, “buy for’, first one end and. then the ' other .went- up--and down, sothat I ’ “had (to -'change, jny position, to- keep • afloat. ; I managed to get the rudder ’ adrift,N and . then she , floated more • lyeasily, and-I. was able' to keep in the “brie positionf. ori thedeck, about up. / ’.to./My > waist, in . water. ■ "I. was/uhable, y “rivi-tli 'unaided hands, to get the centrek. hoard .ad juft. She- would have "floated -.much bette.r had-1 be eh (able to do so. //“(‘I 'driftecl but' toward the open sea •: > f rpm’ the time of tlie a ccident. ; I pass“(ed; fflbse'to the end- of the/Motriihi Is- . land,- but could .riot risk an attempt “to ’ s-wiiti “shore, • not /being a . good . hwirpmerk. : Then - I drifted; out through--7“ho; ;?hiisiesvkirito (the/ gulf/past; Tiri /Tiri./Another vessel passed .within //five or sik. miles of me, and they were “unable' to .see me, as :I offered' a very j ' small; -mark, being nearly level .with * (. (the surface - of the water. " At v day- .. .. break -riext .; Morning I sighted the kksf:ow. Era,'- arid shouted out to her: “jShri jwos. lying near me,. almost be- “ riahned: - The erew heard. n# - cries, and shouted back in response. They heari'ivliat 1 I said, hut I could 7: Mot-hear C-them, because. my voice was “gojiig with the vvind,; while theirs was • against it. Tlie scow put about, lowr '“red, akboatv and “icked me up.. I h “ad then been forty-two. hours in the ' kwater, arid, was pretty well exhaust“ed rik".:k;'Vy.- V-

SURROUNDED BY SHARKS

Speaking to a “Herald” reporter Sir Pilkington said there Were four.- sharks constantly round the boat after Lionel Skinner's - body was gone. “They'seem-,. rid to know-that I was hanging on for life. I don’t know whether -they -were attracted- by. the dead bodies in the boat or riot. A small one came quite close tip to tlie boat,- but three very large ones kept''.about twenty, feet a Way. r I could see tliem quite- plainly, swimming aroxind thq boat. Sometimes, their big black fins would be showing.” - kMr;;GharlesTHariS:o ; nj mate of the 'sc'ow Era, stated to a, “Star’’, reporter that the Era was coming 'from Tairua, ladeh; with timber-for Auckland,, and when sax or .eight miles outside of Tiri Tiri, just at daybreak on Wednesday morning, the look-out heard a cry of distress, and, peering out, descried a hiiman figure clinging to a submerged boat; with a tattered shirt waving from a gaff ;as a- signal -of distress. A boat was lowered. ;from the. Era, arid all speed was made towards the patiki, which was all awash; ivith its solitary human burden dresse^d- in .a ,ragged pair of trousers and coat-, clinging to tlie. combings ' -and leaning exhausted against the centre-board case. As Pilkington was. rowed to the scow he managed to convey to liis rescuers that he had just given up hope, when the welcome sight of the Era gladdened his eyes. He could’speak'with the utmost difficulty, for, having been forty-two hours, without food or water, lie had sucsumbed to a maddening craving for drink: and rinsed his; mouth with sea water. It was in consequence raw and blistered. Afterwards he . recovered sufficiently to relate tlie tragic tale to his’rescuers. '" ' " ; . Mrs Skinner, mother .of Lionel Skinner, stated that her married son Albert . intended to go out in the boat on Monday, but at the last moment decided to go to tlie races instead. Lionel is the; second son she has ' lost by drowning, the first having lost his life in the Waikato river. She .states that Pilkington, senior, is a very careful man with a boat. The ill-fated patiki was towed to Auckland by'tho Era. She is of. a. type .common aroilnd Whitemata Harbour, about sixteen; to eighteen, feet long, and about seven feet broad. . •