ROWING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 270, 18 December 1914, Page 3

ROWING.

AN UNFORGETTABLE VOYAGE.

The most interesting event in Canterbury rowing circles this week was the voyage made to Akavoa on Tuesday night by the crews whici intended to take part in the Anniversary Day regatta. About sixty oarsmen and enthusiasts boarded the little coasting steamer Cygnet at Lyttelton at C» p.m. A howling nor'-wester, with a little cold rain/ was tearing up the harbour, and the sif.e of the various waves just outside the moles made one wonder what it was going to be like outsicb. There were one or two of che ''cheerful" prophets who are always to be fouml on such trips, and they did little to dispel the fast-gathering gloom by "reminiscing" about previous trip 3 when everybody was sick but themselves, and the boat took five hours to do the trip, and then could not make Akaroa Heads, and so on, and so on. Now that the ghastly experience is over, the most satisfactory thing about it is that the Jeremiahs were perhaps worse than anyone else. The boat was uncomfortably crowded, for in addition to the rowers there were several proprietors of "doodlum-buck". stands, "hoop-las," and such-like en-' terprising citizens who are always to be found where sporting crowds do gather. All the best spots on the deck were taken up by the boats, so that there was nowhere for'a weary voyager to stretch his limbs, except on the top of a heap of cargo, and this modest area was promptly occupied by a few farsighted youths who know that the best way of avoiding sea-sickness is to go to sleep and stay asleep. These were about the only persons on the boat who did not arrive at their destination without ballast. Altogether it was a grim experience. A tremendous beam sea was running, and the Cygnet, rolled like a barrel,\ with direful results. When she pulleil up at the Akaroa Wharf at 10.30 the band of sportsmen that stepped ashore was the sorriest-looking collection that could be imagined. One would never have thought that theywere out for amusement. As one old identity put it, every oarsman who would make such a journey for the honour of his club deserved the Victoria Cross. . ,

Regatta Day itself was another fearful trial. It was quite obvious in the morning that there could not possibly be any rowing until late in the day, and the oarsmen settled themselves patiently to await a change in the elements. But it never came, and after numerous temporary postponements, the regatta had to be definitely put off until Boxing Day; This was a bitter blow to some of the younger and more lively oarsmen, who look forward with dread to the proposition of having to train over Christmas. Still, they faced .the situation resignedly, and although the postponement will interfere with the holiday arrangements of many of them, they will all be there on the 26th—-but some of them will find some other means of getting there than by travelling in the Cygnet. » The return voyage on Wednesday evening was not so bad as that of the previotts night, but the ocean again claimed a fair measure of victims. Port was reached at 9.40, just in time for a few of the most nimble to catch the 9.45 train for Christchurch. The majority did not get to town until after midnight. They spent a most enjoyable evening. OUTRIGGER.