CREW OF BARQUE HAD BAD TRIP.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18643, 21 December 1928, Page 9

CREW OF BARQUE HAD BAD TRIP.

SICKNESS AND ROUGH WEATHER WERE CAUSE OF HARDSHIPS. (Special to the “Star.") AUCKLAND, December 21. Memories of hardships associated with what is now almost a closed page in the history of the sea were revived when the four-masted Finnish barque Olive Band, of 2118 tons, arrived in Auckland last evening. She was assisted into port by two tugs, after a tragic voyage of 109 days from Saint Pierre, off the coast of South Africa. Disagreeable food, which led to the oubtreak of beri-beri fever among the crew and the death of a seaman, as well as terrific weather conditions, combined to make the voyage one long to be remembered among the ship’s company. At one stage of the voyage across the Indian Ocean, while the ship was encountering a severe storm the crew was too weak through sickness to attend to the sails. The cargo of guano commenced to shift, and the seamen worked for thirty-six hours in the holds without food or rest in an endeavour to stabilise the loose material. Conditions finally became so bad that the master, Captain K. O. Troberg, put into Melbourne for vegetables and fresh water so badly needed by the crew of twenty-seven.

On the night Melbourne was reached a seaman died of beri-beri. Several others were removed to hospital, and it was not until November 27, over a fortnight later, that the journey could be continued with the rest of the crew. The boatswain deserted in Melbourne, and two others were left behind ill. The journey across the Tasman Sea occupied twenty-three days, owing to unfavourable winds, and the crew expressed wholehearted relief on arriving at Auckland last evening. With a spread of canvas greater than that of the famous Cutty Sark, the Olive Bank is one of the largest sailing vessels afloat. She was built on thp Clyde in 1892, and has roamed the world for many years. The owner is Captain Gustave Erikson, of Mariehann, Finland, but she has not been in Finnish waters for over four years. Two years ago she visited Auckland, then returning to Europe with wheat. The present crew of Scandinavians was signed on in Cardiff, England, and since then they have undergone many trying experiences.

Owing to bad weather and an insecure anchorage it took nearly two months to load the Olive Bank at St Pierre Island to her capacity of 4100 tons.