THREE IN A BOAT

Southland Times, Issue 18859, 26 June 1920, Page 10

THREE IN A BOAT

DEVONSHIRE TO THE PACIFIC. Mr Ralph /Stock, a well-known contributcr to Australian, English and American magazines, has returned on a visit to Sydney (says the Morning Herald). Mr Stock, who is accompanied by ips sister, was a passenger by the Makura. 'They came, however, only from Auckland by the steamer. The other portion of the journey from England was made in a 21-ton cutter, by way of the Panama Canal. And a pleasant anil very interesting voyage it was. too — that of two men and a lady in a boat. "When I was invalided from the army, nine months before the end of the war,” said Mr Stock, "my sister and I decided to be fishermen, and, buying the gear and a cutter, went to live on the Devonshire coast. We were fortunate in the boat we got, a craft built by Norwegians lor service us a lifeboat among their fishing fleets. It was 17ft long, had a beam ot lott, and had been put together strongly ,enough to stand anything. By and bye we conceived the idea of a round-the-world cruise, and, after taking lessons in navigation, duly set sail on July 21. accompanied by Mr B. A. Rundle. an army officer, whom we loft behind in Samoa, where he has joined the local Administration.” From the coast of Devonshire the voyagers made Vigo, iu Spain, then Las Palmas, and so across the Atlantic to Barbadoes. The latter stage took HO days, the cutter being at one time becalmed for nearly a week. Nearly a mouth was passed cruising about the West Indies, mitii Colon was reached, and the little craft was presented for passage through the Canal. "There,” said Mr Stock, "we took everything off the cutter we could to reduce measurements before the official measurer came along. He went about his job with the utmost solemnity and finally wound up by saying that he ‘couldn’t make it more than 12 tons —-and that will be 12 dollars.’ So we paid the 12 dollars—the smallest amount, I think, ever paid in canal dues—and were ‘locked up’ with two big steamers.” At the canal the party saw 11.M.5. New Zealand with Admiral Jeilicpe on board, and attended a dance given on the big cruiser. Thence they steered to the Galapagos Islands, and, coming by way of the Marquesas, the Low Archipelago, Tahiti, Palmerston island, and Niue, reached Nukualofa in April. There such an attractive offer for the cutter was made that it was sold and is now the property of the Island Government. “We enjoyed ourselves immensely on the trip,” says Mr Stock. “All the places we visited were enormously interesting, and the weather was so fine that, incredible though it may ap[tear, one could have almost paddied the whole way in an open boat.” Miss Stock was previously in Australia, and was wrecked on Norfolk Island a few years ago, with her brother, while on a yachting cruise. Mr Stock describes his sister as having been "the best of the crew.” All the way out she kept her regular watch and took her turn at the tiller. Their intention is to buy a cutter in the north, and, after a cruise in the Northwest Pacific, to sail back to their fishing on the Devonshire coast, by way of Sue*.