ADRIFT IN SKIFF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27273, 27 December 1949, Page 6

ADRIFT IN SKIFF

TWO MEN RESCUED MOTOR LIFEBOAT CREW’S FINE EFFORT PA WELLINGTON. Dec. 26. A dramatic rescue of two men in a half-sunken skiff in Wellington Harbour was made during the gale on Christmas Day. When taken from the water they were exhausted. The two men are William Edward Anderson and lan Cameron, members of the Wellington Rowing Club. They had been drifting helplessly in wild seas about half a mile from the boat harbour. The rescue was made about 10 a.m. by the motor lifeboat’s crew from the New Zealand Shipping Company’s Haparangi in the teeth of a northerly gale which reached 78 miles an hour. The rescuers drove their craft through high seas with the wind sending sheets of spray 10 feet high. The lifeboat was manned by eight men, with the ship’s second officer, James Beattie, in charge.

The two men had ventured out in a rowing skiff into a gale which was so bad that it had forced the postponement of the Wellington-Ficton Ocean Yacht Race. They intended to keep in the comparative shelter of the city wharves, but were helpless before the north-west gale. They were blown out to mid-narbour, and the unseaworthy skiff soon filled with water. Members of the Haparangi’s crew had been watching the skiff and' realised the danger it was in. The men were rescued after only 15 minutes in the water, but they had been buffeted heavily by the seas. They were taken to the Haparangi, given hot baths and wrapped in blankets. Both revived shortly aftef.

Father Christmas called at Mosgiel on Friday night and brought with him sweets, balloons and cordials for more than 400 children, who queued up in the park to meet him. He was the guest of the Mosgiel Business Men’s Association.'