KARU WRECK.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 1701, 17 April 1926, Page 13

KARU WRECK.

o\y-NER INSPECTS BARqAIN. POSSIBILITIES^OF SALVAGE. .DECK.CARGO WASHED ASHORE. Amid the wail of .countless.. seabirds and the waves droning,lier requiem- the Karu.still lies on the rocky reef-fringed coast where, she, was driven.ashore, neat Cape. Maris!'.::Tho vessel is now a 'batr .tered.wreck and in slow process of disintegration. The.pounding, of heavy seas has stripped her deck cargo of timber and removed the funnel and bridge.. .Part of the .bulwarks has gone, .and although tho. two masts are still stand, ing the aft one is shaky,.and.liable to go at .any moment over .the side; Tilted at a rakish angle, the vessel's bows are. clear of. the .water.,, and a-tattered, jib is all that,remains 'of; the :sailr,that was set by the crew in a, moment of dire, extremity and- endeavor, to reach a .haven of re •fuge. For the moderate. ,sum of £2O, : ,:the Karu and her timber rftrgo ,wero dis»; posed of at ,-a net ion, and ,t he. buyer,: Mr: W. C. Wright, of Ouohunga,.spent the Easter .holidays.: inspecting his bargain with a;.view of; determining the.,.prospects..: of-salvage. ; CARGO BELOW INTACT. Speaking to an Auckland, Star,.representative, - Mr Wright, said that it was about,' half .tide w.hem.they reached the Karu,. and as the, vessel's, bows were close to-.the. rocks, there ..was no difficulty in getting on board. A fairly ..heavy sea .was running, the after part of the. ship was awash, .and occasionally the water, cascaded, up the sloping deck right to the fo'c!sle.' They fbntid that all ,th,e deck-cargo of .fjnibor bad gone, but .although, the hatcliesj-had "disappeared, the timber cargo below whs. intact. "'*'« ; As much detailed inspection as possible was made,;,'and. after a .couplo of -souvenirs in tho form of a house flag and a name .board . bacl oi been gathered,, 'the party took their departure. WHY;-HE PURCHASED. "I bought..the .Karu on .the strength of a, photograph'that I S aw of her," said! MiV Wright, "and if the weather .remains calm I think, that the prospects of salvaging the timber are quite good." He. added that he had interested others in. his.venture and that they were.'now endeavoring, to. .charter' a.small steamer and several barges and were hopeful o! peing'able-,, during, the fine.; Weather, ito ; ; unload the t-imW out of appeared to them to be theniost feasible plan, as it was thought that' the' ."hull, would hold together, as long as it; was; packed with timber. 'The. deck cargo' of timber that was washed off,the vessel is strewn along',the beach close t 0, .( the wreck, and it is not known at the moment whether it could be salvaged.' ," A suggestion has been,, made that it might be possible'if a tug boat' were available to haul the Karu off her rocky bed, and if her timber cargo' would .koep her afloat to tow hcv in derelict; fashion to some sheltered, bay on the' oast/coast, but'-at was a miracle how thVKaru, ; vyitb unguidedhelm, nosed her way past encircliiic !veefs to the foot'of tho cliffs, and i,t did not appear possible to.ever.gef ,her out again.