YACHT’S ROUGH TRIP

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19377, 15 July 1937, Page 10

YACHT’S ROUGH TRIP

LORD HOWE REACHED SIX DAYS FROM AUCKLAND BUFFETING IN STORM (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, last night. The 2Gft. auxiliary yacht Roxane, which left Auckland on May 25 on a six months’ ocean cruise, has arrived at Lord Howe Island after a stormy passage. According to advice received from Mr. D. Wellington, the skipper and part-owner, the yacht proceeded from Auckland to Norfolk Island, where very bad weather was experienced. From there the Roxane left for Lord Howe Island, and that day she covered 180 miles. The second day was not so good, but at 8 p.m. the yacht was 160 miles from Lord Howe Island. An electrical storm was experienced later in the evening, and for the next four days the Roxane received a severe buffeting. The barometer dropped to 29.12, which was also recorded at Lord Howe Island —the lowest ever registered there. The wind blew from every direction and raised very big seas. The preventer gear was rigged to lake the strain of the yacht’s tall mast, and she passed through the storm ‘undamaged.

On the sixth day the vessel met a fair wind, which freshened from the east, accompanied by a heavy sea. All sail was set, including the spinnaker, in a desperate attempt to reach the island before the approach of the cyclone which swept Sydney and later Lord Howe Island. By midnight the yacht was under the lee of the island, and at 2.30 o'clock the following morning anchor was dropped in smooth water within the shelter of the reef. When the mail left it was the intention of the Roxane to leave for Sydney oh July 5. She will spend a week or two in Sydney, and will then continue her cruise to Brisbane and Great Barrier Reef.