MIRACULOUS ESCAPE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18067, 19 April 1933, Page 4

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE

WATER LILY’S CREW DISASTER IN ISLANDS STRUGGLE IN OPEN BOAT. (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, last night. A story of a miraculous escape from drowning in the Pacific Ocean was brought to Auckland by Messrs. John Harris and F. St. J. Parson, of Christchurch, survivors of the wreck of the 'New Zealand ketch Water Lily, which was caught in a squall off the island of Vaitupu in the Ellice Group, early last month and abandoned in a sinking condition. The crew of four, which included the master, Mr. S. Gcrrard, and an Ellice Islander, entered the yacht’s dinghy and reached the short after a ferritic struggle against mountainous seas. “Wo were lucky to get out of it alive.” was the comment of one of the shipwrecked men when they stepped ashore from the Danish motor ship Victoria on her arrival from Nauru Island. “I don't think any of us will ever forget that trip in the open boat,” he said, 'We had to contend with a strong adverse current, high seas and a hot tropical sun. Wc had no clothes other than shirts and shorts with which to protect our skins from the scorching sun. Getting through the reef was a ticklish business, but we were used to that sort of thing after our experiences in the islands and, before long, three or four native canoes came out to meet us. The natives evidently knew- we would be suffering from thirst, for they had a plentiful supply of coconuts, which we broached with joy. Our arms and legs, which were severely blistered by the sun, swelled the next day to huge proportions. I cannot say too much for the. hospitality of those nativ.es.”

The ‘rescued men owe their lives to the persistency of a Government department. When the Water Lily lay at Wellington last year, she was detained by the Marine Department, which refused to allow her to go out to sea without a lifeboat. A 16ft boat was eventually donated to the crew by Mr. H. 10. Card, of Eastbourne. That boat, named "The Banker,” after the famous racehorse owned by the donor, which won the New Zealand Cup some years ago, saved the lives of the four men.