Mechanic Doused Jet Boat Fire On New Guinea River

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31087, 16 June 1966, Page 9

Mechanic Doused Jet Boat Fire On New Guinea River

A Christchurch mechanic, although he has only one arm, saved a jet boat on a Sepik river (New Guinea) expedition from being destroyed by fire, said the assistant general manager of C. W. F. Hamilton and Company, Ltd. (Mr S. H. Georgeson) yesterday.

Mr Georgeson said that he had received some details of the exploit, in the remote New Guinea wilds, from the company’s technical director (Mr J. O. F. Hamilton) from Yuat Base Camp. The expedition mechanic (Mr H. Taylor), Hamilton’s chief dispatcher, he said, had taken a jet boat out to do some fishing. “There was a violent explosion,” said Mr Georgeson, “and fire burst out from the front of the engine to the transom. “Mr Taylor, with his one arm, stood on the petrol tanks and pumped for his life. Sam, a native with him, did 100 yards across the water in five seconds. “Mr Taylor put the fire out

in three minutes. The jet boat’s plastic fuel lines were burnt back to the fuel tanks. “The teleflex reverse cable melted, some wiring melted and everything was blackened.” Mr Georgeson said that Mr Hamilton had said in his note that the boat was going again now for the expedition up the Sepik, but the reverse would not work. Mr Georgeson quoted some of Mr Hamilton’s letter, to give some idea of a sea-trip by jet boat from Medang to the mouth of the Sepik river. “The seas were calm and we had off-shore volcanoes on the right and wild-looking bush country on the left, with here and there a native village and a few coral reefs,” said the letter. “Huge tropical thunderclouds gathered, as the day warmed up. “The jets were driven round because of excessive coastal freight charges. “After Bogia, 105 miles from Medang, we headed for the Sepik mouth 45 miles away, crossing the dirty water of the Ramu.

“The Sepik mouth is a pretty bleak looking place and we were sorry to leave the tuna, skipping fish, starlets, water snakes and other interesting creatures which live in the clear blue sea and to join the catfish which you can’t even see in the dirty brown Sepik.” A 20ft jet river work-boat was made by C. W. F. Hamilton and Company, Ltd., for the expedition up tributaries of the Sepik into an area believed never to have been visited by white men. The area was once notorious for head-hunters. The expedition is organised by the Australian Department of National Development’s Bureau of Mineral Resources. Primarily, the purpose of the expedition is for geological survey in the upper Sepik reaches and various tributaries. From the Hamilton point of view, it is seen as a challenge and a test under rigorous conditions to allow the company to perfect a river work-boat for general use overseas and for commercial and military use through-South-east Asia.