WRECK AT HEADS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 98, 24 February 1947, Page 5

WRECK AT HEADS

LAUNCH CAUGHT IN WAVE OCCUPANTS LUCKY ESCAPE The first wreck at the Whakatane Heads for something like 20 years occurred yesterday about 5.30 p.m. when the 25-foot launch ‘Emily’ owned by Mr Jim Lawson, was caught by a large comber and thrown on to one of the treacherous reefs at the harbour entrance. The three occupants, Messrs. Cecil Orchard, W. Hooper and D. McLay, all of Whakatane, escaped by

swimming to nearby rocks from v which they were rescued. The launch was a total wreck.

The whole incident was witnessed by a large crowd of picnickers at the Heads which also included relatives of the men concerned. The launch was returning from a trip to Whale Island and was following the Harbour Board’s launch ‘Port Whakatane’ through the narrow rock channel which precedes the bar. The weather was fine and settled but a heavy ground swell was rolling in causing a series of breakers at the entrance which were emphasised by the incoming tide. The ‘Emily’ appeared to negotiate the first line of rollers and had just entered the second trough when she was overtaken by a breaker which threw her high upon a submerged rock. Her hull was holed at once to the consternation of the onlookers. She was seen to be sinking fast. The three men lost no time in slipping overboard and swimming to some higher rocks a dozen yards away. They were rescued later by dinghy piloted by Mr Ron Adcock of the Heads.

The launch later slipped off into deep water and this morning pieces of her litter the Heads foreshore.