THE AOTEA WRECK

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17908, 12 October 1932, Page 11

THE AOTEA WRECK

LOST WITH ALL HANDS DRIVEN ASHORE AT WAIPIRO Some interesting details of the wreck of tlie schooner ■ Aotea at Waipiro Bay 26 years ago, which was referred to by Mr- T. Todd in the course of his speech at the Cook anniversary on Saturday afternoon, Were given in mi interview to.;day by Captain A. Thomson, of the Gisborne Lightering Company’s tug Karoro, who, until about 12 months of the disaster, was a member of the crew of the ill-fated vessel.

The Aotba, which was a schooner of a deep draught, had been built a number of years at the time of the wreck, her construction having taken place at Whangaroa, North Auckland, a scene of shipbuilding activity in the early days. She was a vessel of 85 tons register and was a remarkably last sailer. On one occasion, Captain Thomson recalled, when travelling along the coast in the vicinity of East Cape, she had entered into a race with the Wimmera and for some miles had been able to keep up with the steamer, although eventually dropping behind. In addition to sails, she> was equipped with a small 15 h.p. kerosene engine, which provided just sufficient power to take her in and out of the various bays. Between the mouth of the Motu River and Gisborne there was scarcely a beach which she was not accustomed to work. At some she would call in and put out the surfboat to land onlv a few sacks of flour. The wreck of the vessel with all hands occurred at Waipiro Bay in September, 1906. when she was on her way from Auckland to Gisborne. At the time, Captain Nicholas was in command and, as was her custom, flic vessel had been working the bay during the day. At night a southerly gale came up suddenly and before the Aotea could make her way to the open sea, she was trapped in the hay. In the morning the upturned hull oil the rocks at one end of the beach was the first indication to the inhabitants of the locality of a disaster, which is ranked as one of the greatest that has occurred on the East Coast of New Zealand. Not a survivor remained to tell the tale of the vessel’s battle to regain the open .sea, and among those lost were Mrs. Nicholas, who was accompanying her husband on the voyage, and one child. On previous voyages it had been the practice of Captain Nicholas to take with him a large St. Bernard dog, a devoted companion, which was also an extremely strong swimmer. On this particular trip the dog was left behind for some reason, and when the news of the disaster became known, not a few people thought that had the dog accompanied the shin it would have been able to save the life of the child at least. For about two years afterwards, Captain Thomson said, the animal was a familiar sight on the Gisborne waterfront and would meet every vessel when it arrived, as if waiting for the return of his master. This was a pathetic illustration of the sagacity of the St. Bernard, which frequented the wharf until it died.