A STORMY PASSAGE

Southland Times, Issue 19461, 28 January 1925, Page 8

A STORMY PASSAGE

WAHINE MEETS STIFF GALE. BREAKDOWN OF STEERING GEAR. (Special to the Times.) CHRISTCHURCH, January 27. fhe ferry steamer Wahine’s steam steering gear broke dow*n at about midnight last night when she was off Cape Campbell. A heavy gale was blowing and when the ship was hove to, many of the passengers suffered from sea sickness. The officers of the ship state that half an hour elapsed before she resumed her journey. The vessel did not arrive in Lyttelton until 9.30. and passengers missed the Invercargill express. A strong southerly gale was met with in Cook Strait, and the passage was a boisterous one. The large crowd of passengers, which included many who were returning from the Wellington races and a small number of immigrants from the liner Rotorua, had a lively passage. There was no alarm on account of the accident. The hand steering gear was brought into usA and with its aid the vessel was brought to port. The officers of the boat did not look upon the accident as serious. The gale was fierce during the whole passage and heavy seas were met with. The ferry train arrived in Christchurch at 10.15 o’clock and southern passengers transferred to the 12.20 p.m. Dunedin express. Hon G. J. Anderson, Minister of Marine, was aboard the ferry. He said that he got up after the vessel had stopped and had a look out. Everything seemed to be all light, and considering the state of the gale when the vessel left Wellington, there was very little roll. The vessel was hove to for about an hour. "Pretty rough.” was the w’ay in which another passenger described it and he added that the vessel set up a considerable roll as soon as it lost headway. Seasickness was very prevalent among the passengers. “Inconvenience? I should certainly say so,” said a woman passenger who had not quite recovered from the effects of mal de mer. The woman had some hard things say concerning the ferry service and said that- the ship rolled so badly that sleep was impossible. BAD WEATHER AT WELLINGTON. SHIPPING MOVEMENTS HAMPERED. (Special to the Times.) WELLINGTON, January 27. Though the southerly storm has not caused very heavy seas locally, the rain which has fallen during the past 36 hours has had the effect of disorganising the smaller coastal services to an appreciable extent. Cargo operations have been suspended on the majority of the boats, and departures have been postponed generally, except that the Lyttelton and Nelson ferry boats will sail as usual this evening. The New Zealand Shipping Company's big liner Tekoa is expected to get away this afternoon for south if there are any intervals between the showers to enable the cargo to be worked. The Manuka, w’hich was to sail last evening for Melbourne, was postponed until this morning, when she took her departure, clearing the entrance without any difficulty. The visibility at the heads this afternoon was very low, but the seas were not unusually heavy. It- is probable that the weather in the straits is fairly thick, for the Maheno which was due this morning from Sydney, had not appeared up to late in the afternoon. It is expected, however, that she will reach port either late this afternoon or this evening.