SHIPPING BUFFETED.

Wairarapa Age, 4 May 1936, Page 4

SHIPPING BUFFETED.

DIFFICULTY IN BERTHING WAHINE. DELAY OF OVER TWO HOURS AT LYTTELTON. PORT WAIKATO DAMAGED BY HEAVY SEAS. CHRISTCHURCH, May 3. Seas on the coast were very rough during the period of the gale. The coastal motor ship, Port Waikato, which left Lyttelton for Dunedin on Friday afternoon met with heavy seas south of Akaroa on Saturday and had to return to Lyttelton. A delay of two and a quarter hours occurred in berthing the Wahine on Saturday with 400 passengers aboard, including many members of Parliament as well as members of the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company.

The Wahine arrived outside the moles at 7.15 a.m., the vessel having made good time. She had to slow down nearing the Heads on account of poor visibility. Owing to the strength of the gale Captain B. Irwin had the greatest difficulty in bringing the Wahine through the moles. Even inside the harbour the surface was “smoking” and a heavy sea was running. Captain Irwin was baffled not so much by the force of the gale as by the frequent sudden changes in direction from south-east to south-west and vice versa. The Wahine, with an anchor dragging to steady her bow would eome in with a south-easter but time after time she reached the moles the wind would change and the vessel would be swung broadside on. Her strong engines enabled her to get clear safely each time, although more than once she was uncomfortably close to the breakwaters. At 8 a.m. the tug Lyttelton went to assist the Wahine but could do little. A tow tine Which the tug took snapped. Another time, the tug, moving up on the lee side of the steamer was trapped as the vessel rolled and about 20 feet of the tug’s railing was smashed. Shortly after 9 o’clock there was a slight easing in the force of the wind and Captain Irwin quickly seized the opportunity and brought her in. Just after the vessel was inside the moles a terrific squall struck her but a timely push by the tug kept her up to the wind and she slid into her berth. All mariners who saw the operation agreed that the Wahine was superbly handled. The Maori arrived to-day at 12.45 p.m., having left Wellington at 11 p.m. on Saturday. The vessel met the full gale and tremendous head seas and was heavily buffeted until off Kaikoura, after whfch the wind and sea moderated and she made good time for the rest of the trip. The Port Waikato was not so fortunate as the Wahine and Maori, in that she did not escape damage. Captain Holmes decided, when 35 miles south of Akaroa, to return to Lyttelton on account of the violence of the storm. The sea was too big to permit the vessel to enter Akaroa Harbour for shelter. About three hours after the ship had been turned a big sea came over the stern, smashing in the door of the mess room and flooding the galley and officers’ cabins. It also shifted the ship’s boats slightly. The flagstaff at the stern and gratings were carried overboard. At this time, alarm was caused by the cargo shifting, causing the vessel to list to starboard. However, the little vessel reached Lyttelton Heads and anchored there till 4 p.m. on Saturday. The crew restowed the cargo and trimmed the vessel. Captain Holmes brought the vessel into the Herbonr and berthed. To-day the vessel left for Dunedin.—(P.A.)