LOST AT SEA?

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 530, 6 December 1928, Page 16

LOST AT SEA?

LAUNCH-OWNER’S FATE DINGHY CAST ON ROCKS Press Association INVERCARGILL, Wednesday. A fatal accident appeal's to have occurred in connection with a launch which left Port Craig about 2 p.m. on Monday. The boat, which was built by Mr. George Graham and was manned by him alone, was last sighted by the Oreti on Monday, when it had a dinghy in tow. At 2.45 p.m. yesterday the launch was discovered washed up on Ocean Beach. It was quite undamaged. It is feared Mr. Graham, who was 28 years of age and an employee of the Port Craig Timber Company, was washed overboard in the gale on Monday night. Mr. Graham’s relatives are patrolling the beach between Greenhills and Ocean Beach, but so far no body has been washed ashore. A dinghy, presumably that of the missing man, was found this afternoon on the rocks about a mile from Stirling Point, Bluff. The dinghy was examined by a constable, and the conclusion reached that it was the one the launch had in tow. It is believed Mr. Graham anchored the la,unch and made for the shore in the dinghy. High seas were running at the time, and it is thought the dinghy capsized and, owing to the anchor stanchions snapping, the launch itself was cast adrift. Mr. Graham had no nautical experience and was unable to swim.