HONEYMOON ORDEAL

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1933, Page 8

HONEYMOON ORDEAL

ADRIFT IN AN OPEN BOAT HEAT, HUNGER AND THIRST Adrift at sea for a night and a day in an open rowing boat; tortured by hunger, thirst and a merciless sun; searching airplanes and ships that missed them—this was the terrible ordeal of a young honeymoon couple who were lescued and brought to Bournemouth, - on the south coast or England, on May 25. The couple wore Mr and Mrs Frank Borrows, of Credition, Devonshire who were picked up after 27 hours in the Channel, off St. Catherine’s Point by a coasting steamer, the Barrington Combe, and landed at Portland. They travelled by train to Bournemouth. The. couple 'hired a rowing-boat on Bournemouth beach on the night of May 23 and disappeared out to sea. Mr and Mrs Boriows related the story of their ordeal, Their, faces were scorched raw, and Mr Borrows had huge blisters on his hands. His trousers were worn threadbare by is continuedrowing. “When we took the boat out from Bournemouth we intended to row for an hour,” Mr Borrows said. “Half-an-ho.hr later, when we were about a mile from the pier I stood up to get my camera and one of the oars fell' overboard. The sea carried it out of my reach. With the remaining oar I fried to row near it, but the tide carried it furthtr away. Mr Borrows stated that in the dark" ness they saw the lights of a distant ship going down the Channel. He and his wife struck matches and burned their .'handkerchiefs and articles of attire as distress signals, but none of the ships saw them. : “I became desperate,” Mr Borrows proceeded. “We found ourselves alone on the sea in our small boat with no ships in sight. We were cold, hungry arid thirsty. We spent the night talking and smoking our remaining cigarettes. We covered ourselves over with our coats to keep warm and hoped that someone would find us. “At dawn we were' till within sight of the Isle of Wight, though we seemed to have drifted mijiny miles. We saw ; a seaplane overhead. Wc waved frantically, hut evidently it did not see us. We were so thirsty that we forgot our hunger. ' “All day we drifted in the hot sunshine, Wscould see steamers passing hi the distance and wo waved our coats, but they win t on without noticing ’ o«. ' ' “When darkness began to fall again I began td i feel hopeless and I co.uld . .hot row, any more. Then, in the dusk, the lights -of a steamer showed fairly near. We waved and shouted. The ship came towards us and stopped., We were taken aboard. Wo had tea and whisky and then a good .meal,

Mr and 1 Mrs Borrows had a good sleep and went ashore when tho Burrington Chmbc put into Portland early next morning. . .

“We shall never forget our honeymoon',” said Mr Borrows. “No more rowing boats for us!” He added: “My wife behaved heroically. She was calm all tho time and splendid. She never once lost her nerve.”

.-Mrs Burrows, who was. severly sunburned owing to her exposure, was full, of praise for the kindness of the' master, who gave up his bunk so that they might rest through the night. “I feel I never wanC,tq see a small boat again.” she added.