ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23500, 14 May 1938, Page 18

ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE

SETTLERS FOR DOMINION ENGLISHMAN AND BRIDE TRIP IN SIXTEEN-TON KETCH (From Our Owm Correspondent) (By Air Mail) . LONDON, Apl. 20. Planning to take up sheep farming in New Zealand, a young Londoner and his wife, Mr and Mrs Rex Stanley, have decided to sail out to the Dominion in their 16-ton ketch Lady Diana. The vessel will leave England shortly with a crew of three, the other member being Mr R. McGregor, also of London. ..... Mr Stanley was engaged xn the transport business in London, but after his marriage recently, decided to settle in New Zealand. He has done a fair amount of coastal sailing off the British Isles, but his wife is not an experienced sa ilor. The Lady Diana is a' good, solid boat, built in the west country. She is 39ft in length, with a beam gi 12ft, and carries normal coastal equipment, with- the addition of a wireless receiving set. She has al6 horse-power auxiliary engine, but petrol sufficient for only 100 miles will be carried on the voyage to New Zealand. The ketch has been used chiefly for sailing off the south and east coasts of England, and was bought last year by Mr Stanley, who had previously owned other sailing craft. She has been undergoing a thorough overhaul at Hamble, Southampton, and is now being equipped for the voyage. . It is planned to make a coastal tnp of a few days In the Lady Diana before the voyage proper begins, to test her out thoroughly. The trip to New Zealand will probably be made via Madeira and Panama, and thence as directly as possible across the Pacific, calling at islands en route according to requirements. Mr Stanley expects to reach New Zealand within a year of his departure from England. If all preparations can be completed in time, the voyage may begin at the end of this month or the beginning of next, but if the ketch cannot be got ready in time to cjross the Atlantic before the West Indian hurricane season, It may be necessary to postpone the start for some little time.