KAIAPOI PORT RE-OPENED

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1933, Page 9

KAIAPOI PORT RE-OPENED

EXCITING JOURNEY UP RIVER. ENTHUSIASM OF FARMERS. ■ Christchurch, May 13. - It was a great night for Kaiapoi, and a still greater night for the Waimakariri Harbour Board, when last evening the motor-vessel Foxton, from Foxton, after a triumphal blast of her whistle, berthed at Kaiapoi at 8.5, to load produce. Farmera from all over the district Were present, many to see their own produce loaded, and the brightly-lit scene might have been one of those in, <£ Boat. There was intense enthusiasm in the crowd, the vessel being greeted with cheers. , , ... . , The Foxtpn arrived off the Waimakariri River bar at about 5.40 p.m., and her crossing was not without incident. The course for her to .take was' marked by two beacons, and no little difficulty, was experienced in placing them in position. The pilot boat was the P.D.Q., and the pilot Mr. A. O. Willcocks. She left Kaiapoi shortly after 5 o’clock, and was inside the bar shortly before 6 o’clock. The tide was not as high as it was on. the previous evening, but it was estimated that the depth of the water on the bar was at least 7ft. 6in. The sea was considered too rough fori the pilot to take his boat through the breakers for the purpose of assisting the Foxton into the river. There was much signalling with -morse lamps between the Foxton and the pilot boat, and at 6.45 p.m., a message was picked up from the Foxton and it read: “Am coming over now.” In crossing, the Foxton hit the sana bar, and for a few minutes it did not appear as if she would get off. They, were, anxious moments for both Captain H. Baggett and the pilot. However, with, both engines going full ahead, and with the help of the southerly swell the Foxton moved off the bank and steamed slowly into the river. . The Fqxton touched bottom twice before she berthed, and at a sharp bend in the North Branch, she hit the bank with her bow and smashed several willow trees. The loading of the Foxton was carried out during the night, ana finished at 3 o’clock this morning, witn. something, like 100 tons, of cargo, lading potatoes, onions, and flour, m her hold, she . crossed the bar again at 6 o’clock, and a course was set for Wellington. The scow Ngahau,.with Ca George Carey in command, also crossed. The Foxton is expected back in Kaiapo next week, and will take another cargo out of the river for Wellington.