LINK WITH THE PAST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 77, 30 May 1944, Page 4

LINK WITH THE PAST

TWENTY-EIGHT YEAR OLD WRECK TIMBERS EXPOSED AT HEADS Protruding several feet above the water at low tide at the Heads, is the keel of an olid scow .—one of the last remaining' monuments of the days when the Whakatane Harbour was under reconstruction in order 'to allow boats to berth at the wharf at all times. Thirty yearsj/ ago, scows were unable to cross the bar in summer, there being insufficient water, even -at high tid'e, so extensive works were undertaken on the river and river mouth in order to make the enltrance navigable all the year round. Built of kauri with liardwood fittings, the hull of the "Welcome" has withstood wind and weather for nearly twenty-eight years, and will probably remain in its present state for generations to come. Previously trading out of Auckland and the coastal ports, the 14 year old schooner rigged auxiliary scow "Welcome," of 25 tons register was purchased by the Whakatane Harbour Board in November, 1916, for the purpose of trans-shipping stone from Whale Island to build groins on the river where signs of erosion were showing. Sailing from Auckland, . she arrived in Whakatane complete with a cargo of gear and machinery to equip the quarry on the island. The vessel was in the command of Captain George Page and carried a crew of four. The "Welcome" Capsizes On the morning of December 4, 1916, having loaded additional cargo in'Whakatane the Captain, who was new to the port and unused to the tricky habits of the bar thinking there was sufficient water for him to proceed to sea decided to sail in order to make Whale Island as soon as possible, although the tide was not at. its highest.

Approaching the bar, the. vessel, clue to the swifter current antl the great weight of "cargo which inclined her to be top heavy became increasingly difficult to handle. Suddenly she was. caught by the rip and thrown out of her course, her bilige struck tli3 rocks, and she. capsized. Fortunately there was no loss of life, the crew managing to reach the shore safely, but the stranded "Welcome" became a total wreck before she had even started on her appointed task. Compensation for the crew was drawn from the funds of the ShipAvreck Relief Society, Dunedin, at the request of that bod v.

Now came the difficulty. The machinery which the boat had been carrying was as valuable, if not more so than the boat itself but it was securely trapped beneath the inverted hull. The, proposal was made to send a diver down to endeavour to locate and recover as much as possible of the lost gear, but this was never done. Instead, Mr E. A. Williams of Tauranga located and buoyed the cargo of machinery, and a novel method of retrieving it was entered upon. A hole large enough to get the cargo through Avas cut in the side of the hull near the keel, then salvage work which resulted finally in the more valuable part of the cargo commenced. The "Vesper" At the next meeting of the Whakatane Harbour Board, arrangements were made for another scow, this time the "Vesper" of 36 tons register to be purchased in place of the "Welcome." The "Vesper" also had a somewhat romantic history. Built in Auckland in 1902, she was trading in those parts for some, time till in September, 1916, just prior to the taking over of her by the I Whakatane Harbour Board, she was found floating bottom up off Wliangapapa, Great Barrier Island. She was towed to Auckland,_ refitted and put into commissio nagain. She also figured prominently in a rumour which circulated at the time of the escape of Von Luckner, the German Raider Commander, from Auckland. Howbeit, the "Vesper" finished the job of building the groins without further mishap enabling ships to dock at the wharf and doing away with the necessity l'or lighters.