YACHTS IN DIFFICULTIES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7022, 10 January 1910, Page 5

YACHTS IN DIFFICULTIES

SYEEN DRIFTS AMONG EOCKS. NGAIEA IN PEEILOUS POSITION. SOME ANXIOUS" MOMENTS. Members of the crew of the. Wellington yacht Syren had an exciting experience on Saturday evening as a conclusion to a fortnight's holiday sojourn .in Queen Charlotte Sound. In company with the Ngaira, another Wellington yacht, the Syren left Te Awaits a little before 1 o'clock and dropped down with the tide to the entrance to Tory Channel. There was very title wind, and the sea was smooth, with a few steady rollers pounding the rocky shore. \Vhen the two boats reached the entrance they lost the breeze, and found the current running out very strongly. In the hope of catching what might be left of the fading wind, the Syren kept close in to the INorth Head, but the air was still, and the crew had to get out their sweeps in an endeavour to keep the boat's head to sea. The Syren continued to drift along with the current, and was presently caught in an eddy and carried into a little cove inside the head. All this time the Ngaira had been following about three lengths behind, and her people had observed that the Syren was getting into trouble. Mr Chisholm, the captain of the Syren, called out for the Ngaira to stand by with her dinghy. The request was complied with, the boat shoved over the aide, and then the Ngaira's crew found themselves in an alarming position—they also were drifting perilously near the rocks. They had to turn their attention to securing their own safety, and by this time the Syren had been lifted inshore by the rollers and lodged between the mainland and a large pinnacle rock. The Ngaira's company consisted of Messrs A. Lancaster (captain), W. Hutchings, T. S. Hamer, M. Rowell, P. Bank and Mrs Lancaster and _ Miss M. Mounter. All hands were provided with, lifebelts, in case of emergency, and the men set to work in the dinghy to tow the yacht off. This was no light task, and until 11 p.m. they pulled—as they had never pulled before—to get their ship away from the shore, fearing that i when tho tide turned they would be dashed to pieces against the frowning cliff that forms the northern guardian of the entrance. Then a north-west breeze was picked up, and the yacht made a good run to Evans Bay, arriving about 7 o'clock yesterday morning. It was a very relieved little ship's company that saw the home mooring oome under tho bows once more.

The last time the Ngaira people saw the Syren's crew—Messrs Chisholm. (2) and three other men —as the dusk settled down, they had abandoned their yacht and were climbing the cliff. The yacht White Heather arrived from Pioton this morning. She reported that the Syren wag then near Wellington heads, and was apparently undamaged.