A ROUGH PASSAGE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20706, 2 May 1929, Page 6

A ROUGH PASSAGE.

THE UUMAROA’S ORDEAL. TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS LATE. (Special rn Daii t Times i WELLINGTON, May 1. The Ulimaroa, from Sydney, berthed at the Queen’s wharf at 2 o’clock this afternoon. The yellow colouring of her funnel waa transformed into a dirty white by a coating of salt, bearing testimony to the height of the seas she had met, but she had no other signs of her ordeal—one of the stormiest passages across the Tasman in recent years. The Ulimaroa left Sydney at 3.30 p.m. on Friday, three hours behind her usual time, and ran into bad weather as soon as she cleared Sydney Heads. Strong south-westerly winds buffeted the vessel and lashed -the sea into huge waves, which bore down upon he’, so that her progress was considerably retarded. After their first taste of the storm most of the passengers retired to their bunks and stayed there throughout the voyage. The waves swept the deserted decks, and no one on board was injured. The Ulimaroa came through the storm very well, the damage being confined to the smashing of' five or six ports.' The Ulimaroa maintained her progress unchecked from the start, although her ■ speed was reduced from the, customary 14 or 14J knots to about 10 knots. Last night the weather moderated, and with the sailing conditions much improved the vessel was able to make better time. She arrived in the stream at about 1 o’clock—some 27 hours behind schedule, and berthed an hour later.