SWEEP OF SPRING TIDES

Taranaki Daily News, 24 March 1932, Page 4

SWEEP OF SPRING TIDES

heavy seas along coast launch accident at waitara. HIGH WATER AT NEW PLYMOUTH torrential rain last night* Heavy seas were running along the coast of North Taranaki morning and last night, an , . , sprino' tides the sea, rose to its est level since last Easter. High tide / in the .morning was at 9,42 and last night at 10 o’clock. Fishermen at Waitara had adventur ous times on the water. Considerable damage was done to the construction work for the wtfall at the foot of Eliot Street, New Plymouth. Tne level Of the water was much higher than usual \at the port, and at JNgamotu the sea reached the pavilion. Entering the Waitara River yesterday morning the fishing launch Heather, z carrying Messrs. L- Fitzpatrick and WGrowcott, was caught by a big wave which twisted the rudder so that the cruft turned broadside on* and bee lea over, precipitating the two into, the sea. Mr. Growcott grasped the main mast, which was touching the water, and clambered aboard again as the vessel righted itself. Mr. Fitzpatrick, who was at the afterpart of the boat, wept through the rigging, which broke and struck his head on some part of the fittings. He was not rendered unconscious and was able to divest himself of his coat and sea boots and swim to a 10-gallon benzine drum which supported him. 1 The boat’s righting itself was due, it is considered, to 2J tons of ballast which is always carried. The engine was found to be running on one cylinder only, and Mr. Growcott expected the vessel to go ashore on ths. north beach, but by careful manoeuvring he managed to enter the river and on landing wave the alarm for a launch, to go to t?e assistance of his companion. MAORI ATTEMPTS RESCUE.

In the- meantime, however, Mr. J. PHughson from the Seaside Society’s reserve had eeen the whole accident and lost no time in communicating with the town and getting the life-saving reel ready. In answer to the call Messrs. A. Chadwick, G. Fowler and C. D, Tate motored posit haste to the beach and found that a Maori, Piri Kohu, had made a gallant attempt to swim- out to the rescue, which was unsuccessful. Mr. Fowler quickly donned the belt, with Mr. C. Tate in support, and eoon reached Mr. Fitzpatrick. All were pulled ashore by willing hands, Mr. Fitzpatrick appearing rather exhausted, while Messrs. Fowler and the effects of the battling received, from the heavy seas. Another fisherman who has his base at Waitara, Mr. Alt Allen, spent Tuesday night at sea and in New Plymouth after a battering yesterday morning. Mr, Allen was fishing ten miles out from Waitara in his launch, The Swan,. when the sea rose, and, he decided to spend the rough night at anchor. 1 At daylight he managed to haul up the anchor and set sail for New Plymouth. As he was standing managing the sail a big sea came over the stern of the little craft with great force. Mr. Allen was knocked down, but hung on until the wave had passed, after which he had the added, difficulty of having to bail for some time to throw put the water that had been shipped. From then on he made good time to New PlymouA with the aid of the wind, arriving at about 9.30 yesterday morning. At the port of New Plymouth the small launch Ocean Girl, moored east of the Newton King wharf, broke adrift and was smashed on the rocks. Pieces of the wreckage were floating about on the water yesterday morning. The Ocean Girl was formerly the lifeboat of the dredge Paritutu, but had been decked over and had recently had ° new engine installed. '

DAMAGE TO SEWER,

At the construction work on the entfall for the borough sewerage scheme at Eliot Street, quantities of timber and boxing stacked at the foot of the cliff were °washed away. While trying to secure a heavy 12in. by sin. pile one of the contractors, Mr. S. Stacpoole, had a bone in his ankle broken when the beam was washed against him. The work has been proceeding with the aid of a series of coffer dams and the one at the end of the gantry was smashed in. The end of the -.truck line was buried under piles of boulders, sacks of cement and debris that had been deposited there by the sea. The water came well over the -top of the mouth of the inspection tunnel and washed away part of the solid concrete block from which the truck line along the gantry begins.- The compressed air pipe line to the pumps in the coffer dam was broken and pieces of pipe washed away, At th? port heavy seas crashed over the breakwater and the level of water was higher than usual. At Ngamotu the sea covered the whole beach and reached, the pavilion. 1 At Kawaroa the seas continually washed . over. ■ the point on which the municipal baths are situated. The caretaker had to board up his house to prevent the water coming in. The waves also broke over the rocks along the foreshore- in front of the station and . came up to the wall and pavilion at . East End beach. A great deal of water was thrown, up on to the flat ground. The weather in New Plymouth peculiar throughout the day. Heavy rain early in the morning was followed by overcast and threatening weather after daybreak which prevailed throughout the morning. At noon the sky suddenly cleared, and the sun shone for a large part of the afternoon. Late in the afternoon rain fell in torrents again, and continued at intervals throughout the night. I