Lone Pacific Drifter Towed To Suva

Chronicle (Levin), 16 February 1948, Page 3

Lone Pacific Drifter Towed To Suva

. (N.Z.P.A-

-Reijter

'* CQBUrighi) .

Jbteceived tounday, 7 p.m. SUYA, Feb. 14. The former. American . submarine cliaser 671 which a Papeete massage on October 23, reported to be adrift somewhere between Hawaii and the Gilberts, is now saf ely in Suva harbour whither it was towed on the last stage of the voyage by . the ship Ford Cadotte sailing to Suva from London via Panama, The solitary man aboard is the owner, Mt. Ronald Johnson, formerly of Auckland, who had bought the chaser Honolulu and planned to use it to carry machinery and other goods to seli in the Pacific islands. The S.C. 671 is. engineless and Alr. Johuson arranged to be towed from Hawaii to Tahiti. Bad weather 200 miles out of Honolulu led to Mr. Johuson 's vessel being cast adrift after he had declined to move into the other chaser which was named Taurua and lias since been sold to buyers in Tahiti. hlr. Johnson, who says he was cast | adrift 011 October 8 or 9, drifted for a month aiid then he rigged a sail from a roll of can-vas. He had plenty of water aiul food and caught sharks, |dol])hins and other fish which he sunj dried or cooked on a small open fire on rdeck. He is remarkably fit and looks little tlie worse for his experience. He said he sailed the chaser like a Fijian canoe backwards and forwards and fonnd that the vessel sailed best when going astern. The forward part of the chaser fiooded on one occa.sion and he workeii the pump for 12 hours. Exhausted, he lnid to take four hours' sleep bei'ore finding and sealing the leak. The chronometer was broken but Mr. Johnson was able 'to work out a rougli idea of latitude with a sextant but was ignorant of longitude until he sightec'l a plane which* be judged to be on the Fiji-IIawaii route. He hoped to reach the Fijian island of Lakemba and was not far off course when picked up by the Ford Cadotte, 200 miles east of the Wailangiiala lighthous^ in the northeastern" part ,.6f the Fiji group. Mr. Johnson Sayti he lias fio immediate ]>lans for the- futiire but hopes to fit out the submarine chaser at Suva.