WRECK AT WANGANUI INLET

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1130, 12 March 1872, Page 2

WRECK AT WANGANUI INLET

On Tuesday, 20th February, the ketch Heathcote, Captain James Moore, wai wrecked at West Wanganui Inlet, on the South Headj inside the harbor. The fol-lowing-particulars of the wreck, and of the experiences of the crew, are given in the.Nelsbn Colonist :— -

The Heathcote left Nelson at 5 p.m. on the previous Sunday with eleven tons of general cargo, worth about LSOO. ' JU At nine o'clock on Monday morning she was a mile to windward and inside of the South Head ; the anchor was let go, as it was a good anchorage, and. she lay .there all Monday waiting for a fair wind. At daylight on Tuesday it came on to blow very heavily from the S.E., that- is, out of the harbor, and all hands were turned out, as she was dragging her anchor. Another anchor was got out of the. peak and let go, but she continued to drag- for. -ajjong time after this was done. She -was too close inshore to. get .clear out. The only other means which remained was to cut away her masts, but it was hoped that a lull in the tremendous .gale would occur, and the anchor would hold before this need be done. At length she dragged so far that she struck aft upon a rock awash on the South Head, about 11 o'clock in the forenoon, and heeled over on the starboard side. In five minutes the was full of water, and the cargo washing out of her.. They trjed to get, the dingy out, but it was blowing too hard to effect this, so the crew stopped by the wreck until the water had ebbed two feet, and then managed to launch the boat aft and made for the beach, which was now strewed with flour, bacon, casks of beer, candles and general cargo. They stopped near the wreck the remainder of the day, and all Tuesday night; Next morning they tried to launch the dingy again, but 'the sarf was breaking too heavily to effect this, so they abandoned' their attempt , and proceeded by way of the. rocks, and crawling through the , dense bush about three miles towards the Maori Ferry at Wanganui Flat. At one place on the way, at a great elevation. Captain Moore slipped over the precipice and rolled down a considerable distance, striking against' scrub and rocks in his course, receiving severe bruises and tearing his clothes to pieces. They could not get over 'the hills that day through the strength of the head wind, so they (Women andaboy) returned to the beach, and met the captain who, by this time, had managed to return to the boat. That night the captain lay, halfburied in the sand, with an old sail for a coveriug, which was shared by the others, as it blew and rained heavily all the night. Next day they made a large fire, and having saved a small bag of biscuits, with beer and whiskey around them, they were not starved. They recovered one cask of beer and three cases of geneva, and two days afterwards, twenty miles south of the Head, two casks of beer were picked up. At low water they left the boat and everything of weight, and made their way « over the rocks for the Ferry^ which they reached on Thursday night, and were hospitably received by the Maoris and sheltered, the rain haying begun to pour again. About 8 a.m., the weather cleared, and the wind shifted to N.E. Captain Moore then proceeded three miles further, to the storekeeper for whom about Ll3O worth of the .cargo of the Heathcote was intended, and he, . in bis own boat, assisted by half-a-dozen diggers, picked up about L3O worth. The

dingy, which had been stove in places, was repaired as well as the party could manage, and carried over the rocks and launched inside the river. The crew proceeded to the coal depot, where they stopped two days. On the following Sunday, Mr Isaacs, of the depot, went down to the scene of the wreck, and, assisted by three men, tried to pick up more goods, but there was too much sea on to effect much. Two compasses, a sextant, a coil of rope, and some other small matters were recovered. On the Saturday before, the captain had started to walk to Oollingwood, 23 miles distant, and Charles Wooller (our informant) and a boy, with a man from the mine to guide them, left the depot on the following Monday for the same destination, arriving in Nelson on Friday afternoon last. The Heathcote was a ketch of about 40 ions burthen, and belonged to Captain Moore, who bought her, three years ago, forL22s. Neither ship nor cargo were insured.