Yacht’s Eventful Trip

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 13, 16 January 1948, Page 5

Yacht’s Eventful Trip

Holiday Voyage From Auckland To Whakatane Leaving Auckland on December 31, Mr and Mrs R. Adcock of Whakatane, with a crew of three Aucklanders, sailed the auxiliary yacht, “Pirate” into the Whakatane harbour on Sunday after a very eventful journey.

There is still a fascination about tall spars and “white wings. So the graceful little cutter lying at her moorings on Monday morning caught the eye of a Beacon reporter, who hot-footed on the trail of her skipper, rightly conjecturing that he might have an interesting story to tell. Just the sporting type one might have expected to find, Mr Adcock lounged at ease in his Ohope bach and ( told his stoi’y in a mat-ter-of-fact, man-of-action manner, his wife slipping into the conversation now and then with animated enthusiasm, as though the tang of adventure still clung about her. Here is the yarn as Mr Adcock spun it: We left Devonport wharf at 5.15 p.m. on December 31 and made out to Motuhi on a strong flood tide with a slight south-west breeze, arriving at Matiatia Bay and anchoring for the night, leaving again at 7 a.m. New Year’s Day —put the engine because the wind had dropped. A slight breeze came up in the afternoon and we sailed on all night passing Little Barrier.

On Friday, January 2, under a fresh easterly, we headed out * for Great Barrier at a fair clip. We made an attempt to get to Trypheena Bay, but dropped anchor in Shoal Bay instead. To get up to this anchorage we had to use the engine on account of the treacherous ‘williwaws’ that blow down the valleys or over the hills. “These williwaws,” he explained, “are caused by the wind being funnelled in a valley or blown over the crest of a hill and their currents blowing in no predictable direction. They have caused the destruction of many fine sailing ships.” People of Great Bander showed the voyagers ‘ every consideration lending them a bach to bake scones and cakes in and even a bath. On January 6 they hove up in a fresh easterly and, with .a heavy swell running, made for Mercury Island, but at 10.30 a.m. we went about, and ran for Shoal Bay again, staying'there till January 8 so that altogether they spent six days at Great Barrier.

“In a freshening N.N.E. breeze and a gentle swell we set out for Mayor Island, arriving at 10.30 p.m: on January 8,” Mr Adcock went on, “but due to the evil-looking weather and an insufficiently powerful motor, we sat about a quarter of a mile out with two anchors down. “Arrived at the Mount on Janwe found the entrance Very choppy and ran aground on a sand bank. It took a long time to work her off. Then we all took a little time off and went ashore for tea. Back at the boat, we found that a strong ebb tide was turning her on her moorings and threatening to lift the anchor, so we spent half that night running out new anchors. “With only a very light southerly blowing we had to use the motor to help stem the strong flood tide as we set out on the last leg of the journey,” he related. “We cleared the north light about 8 a.m. and beat down to Whakatane, arriving outside the bar at about 5 p.m. on January 11 and then the wind dropped completely, so we drifted over the bar and got a tow up to the wharf.”

The “Pirate” is 32 feet overall by 10 feet beam and 4 foot 6 inches draught. She is clinker built, and cutter rigged.