OVERDUE YACHT

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 77, 10 March 1931, Page 8

OVERDUE YACHT

WINDWARD MYSTERY In the following statement the Eev. W. S. Boilings, father of the skipper of the missing yacht Windward, sets out a number of facts regarding the boat, gathered from the official records of the Post and Telegraph Department and the Marine Department and from other reliable sources: — The members of the crew arrived at the Chatham Islands in good health and in great spirits. For twelve hours during a .southerly gale they were hove-to, and went below and slept. 'ih.y made the island on a true course. The wireless receiving set installed before leaving Wellington functioned perfectly; the receiver and batteries on arrival were pronounced O.K. by the men of the wireless station. They received New Zealand stations practically the whole way across, and took bearings from Chatham Island radio station on the day of arrival. The receiver was not used for broadcast reception, ,as the batteries were being reserved for use with the radio direction finder. They said they could not convert the receiver into a transmitter and had absolutely no knowledge of such procedure, and did not consider it would be necessary. They considered they might bo two or three weeks on the return journey owing to having to tack against contrary winds, but had no doubt whatever regarding their safe arrival back in New Zealand.

They were warmly .welcomed by tho islanders and walked right into their hearts 5 and a letter from the skipper speaks with great appreciation of tho royal way they were entertained during their stay and of tho many friends tjiey made.

They re-provisioned before leaving, and told the radio men they had enough food for substantial meals for a month and then could ration for some time. One of the wireless operators gives it as his opinion that they had sufficianot food for two and a half months. They carried a rifle and "cartridges, and also fishing tackle, and c(iu ! 'l add by such means to their food supplies. They had 40 gallons of water when leaving Wellington, and used only six on their seven days' trip to the island. These facts show there was little danger of their famishing even were they afloat and drifting for two or more months. On 6th January at 11.30 a.m. they received a special weather report from, the Meteorological Office at Wellington which was favourable. This determined their departure. They left that evening at 5 o'clock and had a great send-off from the islanders with cheers and the firing of guns. They were in perfect health and good spirits, and their boat was in perfect condition. They cleared the island on a short tack. The skipper told tho Schoolmaster, Mr. Jack Cooke, that he intended bearing to the south, expecting to pick up a southerly and come up with it into New Zealand waters and .so make Wellington. For several days after they left on the return trip the weather in the Chatham Islands part of the ocean was good. The winds, though contrary, from north-west to west, were light, and the sea was calm to moderate and would give yachtsmen no trouble.

Mystery up to the present shrouds their movements since. The Aleteorological records show that January was the windiest month over recorded in Wellington. North-westerly winds, several times reaching gale force, wcro almost continuous. And the contrary winds and heavy seas during that time would challenge to the utmost the seaworthiness of the little "craft, and the skill and courage and endurance of her crew. Had they experienced the average January weather with only one or two gales, they doubtless would have made port, safety. Tf thev have gone down it must he reckoner) among the misadventure.'; which overtake courageous spirits through abnormal vagaries of the weather, such as caused the tragic disaster in January of Inst year on the Tasman Glacier, when through n blizzard n guide and four ladv tourists lost their lives. Many of the Chatham cling to the belief that they are still afloat, and that, probably dismasted, they have been driven south, and have made one of the islands.