MAIL LAUNCH WRECKED

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27410, 24 July 1954, Page 2

MAIL LAUNCH WRECKED

STORM THROWS BOAT AGAINST ROCKS

(New Zealand Press Association) GISBORNE, Jul j 23. The 38f-t launch Starlight, which has carried mail to »Portland Island from Waikokopu, near Wairoa, for the last two years, was torn from its moorings at the Waikokopu jetty yesterday morning, pounded against the rock foreshore, and smashed to matchwood along the western beaches of Opoutama.

Boifght in Napier two years ago, the launch had been engaged recently in carrying materials and electrical equipment to Portland Island for the construction of a new powerhouse. a powerful radio beacon, and a new lighthouse. No other boat in the immediate vicinity is available to continue this work.

The Starlight’s skipper, Mr J. Raureti, who brought Mr R. C. Morrissey, the principal keeper, his wife, and four children to Waikokopu in a stormtossed sea on Wednesday night, stayed at his launch all night, while mountainous seas crashed over the retaining wall, often submerging the wharf shed. A sudden gust flung Mr Raureti into the boiling surf. He. was thrown back on to the rocks by a wave sweeping up the estuary. He suffered back injuries and heavy bruising, but, helped by Mrs E. Spark and a youth, attached further moorings to the Starlight. but the rising seas forced them back.

The Starlight was wrenched away from her moorings as a particularly heavy sea swept over the jetty, tossing the boat along the rocky railway embankment.