HIGH SEAS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 40, 17 February 1930, Page 11

HIGH SEAS

ACROSS COOK STRAIT

YACHT'S STRENUOUS TRIP

BATTLE WITH WIND

(By Our Special Reporter.) The sun, breaking through occasional leaden clouds, was slowly sinking toward the high hills that protect Wellington Harbour when four gleaming yachts slipped out to sea, their mainsails filled with the freshening breeze. The occasion was the annual ocean yacht race to Port Underwood and back, sailed under the auspices of the Eoyal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. Of four boats that crossed the starting line, only one, the Windward, completed tho course, thereby being declared the winjicr. The others returned to port three or four hours later, on account of tho unfavourable weather. Tho Viola and the Marangi communicated with each other and decided to turn back, and the Shamrock, finding tho conditions unfavourable, 'decided to abandon the race and go fishing instead. She returned to port late on Sunday afternoon. The Windward, however, received no'communication,-and it was not until 4 o 'clock next morning, when she was hailed by tho scow Echo, bound from Blenheim to Wellington, that she .was made aware of the other boats movements. • By this time the yacht was only about six miles from Port Underwood, BO.it was decided to continue on the course. BECALMED. The crew of tho Windward consisted of four men, Messrs. T. Pollings, P. Boilings, C. Steele, D. Waters, who were accompanied by an " Evening Post representative. To say that tho journey across Cook Strait was exciting is not ■ to' exaggerate in the least, tor, from the time the yacht was clear of the Heads on the outward trip on Saturday evening, until she arrived back in port early on Monday morning, there were more thrills than the average man- experiences in years. For some hours before reaching the heads on the outward iourney, the yacht was becalmed, and a settling fog and misty rain made the conditions "unusual and unpleasant. With 6 o'clock came the turn ot the tide, and the Windward gradually drifted out beyond Pcncarrow lighthouse. -U 8 30 p.m. a northerly breeze sprang up and blew steadily till about mid-, night, and then dropped altogether, leaving the yacht wallowing on an oily swell somewhere in Cook Strait. By this time everything was vuy quiet, and it was difficult to imagine ' that only a few miles away people were sleeping ashore. To a, layman, being becalmed at. sea may seem a little tiresome, but to seago°ng men a voyage of any sort means So monotony. It is lifo itself, significant, exhilarating. AT OCEAN BAY. With the coming of morning a northerly breeze sprang up and tho yaclit got under way again. The remainder of the journey to Port Underwood was without event, and Ocean. Bay was reached at 9.23 a.m. A stay of two hours was made at .tho bay, during which time the Bcv. Mr. Crump,<..facial timekeeper on the other sidevof tho Straits, came aboard to verify the boat's position, and to write a note to the effect„that .the first stage of, the Tace had been' completed". AN EXCITING TIME. The most exciting part of the journey was to come. At 11.30 a.m. tho sails were unfurled, and as the yacht gathered way the quiet air was disturbed by the plungo of her bows and the drawn-out wail of a northerly breeze through, her rigging. For some timo the water was comparatively smooth, and the navigation therefore interesting rather than thrilling. As the yacht drew gradually out into the Straits, the wind became stronger, but for an lour or so it wais not so heavy as to cause anxiety, and all on board thoroughly enjoyed a most glorious and ex : hilarating sail. The conditions, however, slowly became worse, the. sun at times being obscured behind a wickedlooking haze. Farther off, over Wellington it seemed, dark and heavy clouds were appearing. Tho enthusiasm of the yatchsmen, however, was not in the least diminished. Bather they seemed to relish the idea that-they were in for a "bit of a blow." And blow it did. Before another milo was left behind, the seas were almost mountainous, ana the little six-ton yacht, was one second resting, like a gigantic bird on the crest of a" wave, and1 the next plunged deep into a valley of green water. There was no tune for idleness. Every man aboard had to pull his weight. The mainsail had to bo reefed, and the storm sail rigged, while all the timo the yacht was swept from bow to stern with waves which completely enveloped it. At times she was almost submerged, and it was only by expert handling that she rode the tremendous seas. The crew worked at risk of life—and joked about it. The man at the wheel was in black oilskins, and tho spray and wind blew down on him for many an hour before he relinquished the tiller. Throughout ho revived jaded spirits with tho singing of sea shanties. At times when on the crest of a wave, one could catch glimpses of the cliffs of the South Island, the long sweeping lines of hills, gleaming with hues that ever changed; fading imperceptibly, and then glowing like a symphony in colour. IN THE THICK OF XI. As the Windward drew farther out into the Strait, the seas became more formidable. Tho handling of tho boat became more hazardous, and the crew were undecided whether to turn back and seek shelter, or go -on. They went on, and for some hours the yacht was kept to her course, tacking ■ her way across tho Strait. Tho northerly wind was so strong, however, and the sea running so heavily, that tho little craft was blown six or seven miles off her original course, and it was not until nearly 8 o'clock on Sunday evening that Pencarrow lighthouse was sighted. Tacking the boat through the Heads in the howling northerly was no easy rdlk, and from the entrance of tho Heafis to Point. Halswell, the yaclit made less than a mile an hour. If all had gone well, the Windward should have been back .in the Boat Harbour by 7 o'clock.last evening. As it happened the anchor was not'dropped until 2.40 this morning. The trip across the Straits had taken 19 hours, and the return journey 15 hours. Except for a ( gentle- tug now and then on the anchor chain as she surged to some slight movement of the water, the weary little lady of the sea was at rest. Tho men who were standing on her deck had come through a hard experience. Thoir week-end had been full to overflowing. Though they were but amateur seamen who go sailing only at odd week-ends, they had brought their craft to safety. Tae sport of kings? Kings never know such spori; as this!