THE JOSEPH CONRAD.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13313, 21 July 1936, Page 7

THE JOSEPH CONRAD.

EVENTFUL CRUISE. GROUNDS ON CORAL REEF. Mr Peter Henley, an Auckland yachtsman who joined the ship Joseph Conrad here last Febiaiary for the voyage to England, is gaining all the experience he hoped for, judging by his diary. After leaving Auckland they had fairly good weather to Samarai, except for the first three days, when nearly all paid tribute to Neptune, Henley being an exception. The auxiliary mullet boat shipped at Auckland for the use of the .gold miners was unshipped at Samarai with the assistance of the regular- Australian steamer, and the ship then left for Tahiti. At Samarai, Mr. C. V. VickerstafF, who also joined the ship at Auckland, says in a letter home he was offered a position as overseer on a big rubber plantation in New Guinea, and and left, the r .vessel to take op his new duties. The job was quite a handful and when alter a few weeks the boss left him in sole charge lie decided to resign, oh his return. From Samarai he went on fo Wau, ,the fern nos -g<>4d4i dcfeJif ’New Gdiirea, travelling by air, as all have to do, and at is dhiiig well, his Icw^of'music coming in handy at tlie gofdmin ing town. BeTore the Joseph Conrad cleared New Guinea she was becalmed and cue (welling she fetched up at the isle. ik! of Wari, entering the lagoon through the reef for the night. The island is a pretty one, occupied only by natives, who keep themselves and their village very clean. Tobacco was traded for fruit and vegetables, and when ready to leave, the vessel, which could not use her engine, as it was out of order, hasl some difficulty in negotiating the passage through the reel: to the sea.. The wind fell Light and the port lifeboat’s crew were stmt out ahead with a tow-rope to he!], keep way .v. the ve• s<4. The force of the current caused the ship to ground on the coral reef half-w ay through] the chan-

nol. An anchor was at- once taken ( lit ancl the windlass was manned, but the anchor came home and she tell back on the reef, pounding pretty hard. The big anchor, weighing about »• ton, was then got clear and as it was too heavy for one boat to carry, a spar was rigged across the two lifeboat and the anchor slung in the centre. It was a. job for ‘ all hands and the cook” to row the big anchor out into the channel, but it was done, and all hands manned the windlass and slowly drew the ship off the reef, where she had been bumpthe Australian coast and fetched ing for about three hours. From Samarai the ship laid down Lord Howe Island, where the Auckland yacht Ariel was at anchor. Mr Hick Wellington went aboard and renewed acquaintances and swapped yarns w ith the Auckland boys on the Joseph Conrad, which was only a short time at the island, a fair wind coming up and she left at'short notice. The ship fetched the western entrance to Cook. Strait on May 20, sailing through past Wellington and headed north-east on her course to Tahiti, where she arrived on June 18. It is quite possible that in the course of beating north-east she may have stood in towards the New Zealand coast near il.I-fated Porangafiavi, where a square-rigged vessel was reported to have, been sighted. This will not be cleared up until further information conics to hand from Tahiti.