SEA MYSTERIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 173, 12 October 1927, Page 20

SEA MYSTERIES

MISSING SPEEDWELL A MISHAP IN THE GULF The sea is full of mysteries. But if the launch Speedwell never showed up again it would scarcely, add another to the long list headed by the mysterious Marie Celeste, found years ago, sails set and all sound though derelict and crewless in the middle of the ocean. The disappearance of the Speedwell on the way from Auckland to Russell, in the opinion of. waterfront sages, only goes to show how venturesome men and how frail craft sometimes go down to the sea together. A V-bottom launch, inches in the water and feet out of it, would be blown away like a piece of paper in the breeze once the engine stopped. Shipping men generally incline to the opinion -hat engine failure would be the most likely cause of the Speedwell’s trouble. There is always the possibility of accidents happening to an individual of the crew, and when the crew consists of one man, any serious injury may mean disaster. Auckland has memories of one or two cases wherein boats run by a crew of one have met mishaps in that the “crew” went overboard. In one case a fisherman working with boom fast, and busy cleaning fish, found that his boat had run on a. reef behind Rakino. He clambered out and eventually, with the help of a slight swell, freed the boat—but with the sail set the boat glided away, leaving him waist-deep in water and miles out m the Gulf! Fortunately another fishing boat happened that way later and forestalled another mystery of the sea. In another case a well-known yachtsman almost provided copy for a sensation. Having got his boat under way he went forward to make the anchor secure and slipped over the side. When he came to the surface he was just able to grasp the counter of his yacht as she slid past him.