CRUISING IN THE TROPICS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 237, 27 December 1927, Page 16

CRUISING IN THE TROPICS

NOT* ALL IT MAY SEEM 1 “Where the sea-egg flames on the coral, and the long-hacked hrecPkers croon Their endless ocean legend to the lazy locked lagoon .” r PO most Aucklanders, used to the sheltered and usually placid waters of the Haurakt Gulf, mention of tropic seas conjures up a picture of such a place as that described above. The following account of the experiences of a nephew of Mr. J. O’Neill, of Bayswater, during a month’s cruise in the Santa Cruz Islands—about 200 miles east of the savage Solomons —in a recruiting cutter about as big as a fairsized keel yacht, dispels the pleasant and poetic vision. Writing from Vanikoro, an island of the group mainly noted for the fact that the famous eighteenth century French explorer La Perouse was wrecked there, he says:— “\Me had a pretty rough spin this trip, what with the heavy, squally weather and the engine breaking down just as we were leaving Carlisle Bay. “We beat out of the passage—an opening in the reef less than 100 yards wide—and nearly touched twice. We were 44 hours making Mohawk Harbour, 30 miles away, and dropped anchor at three o’clock in the morning after five hours on the sweeps. “What made things rather trying was the fact that we would be drifting in a flat calm with a lumpy swell for three or four hours, then down would come a black squall with heavy rain.” He mentions elsewhere in his letter that eight inches fell in four hours on one occasion, just to give some idea of how it can rain in the tropics. He describes this as a “good shower.” “We’d be tearing along,' lee rail under,” he continues, “and would stand by main sheet and peak halliards for half an hour—then calm again. If we were not wet through we were roasting. I managed to repair the engine while we were at Mohawk Harbour. “Last Sunday we were on the Northwest end of Santa Cruz Island (which gives its name to the group) running round to a place called Near on the south-west side. We had just cleared the passage between Santa Cruz and Trevenion Island, with the wind northeast and raining hard, when a thunderstorm came on, and the wind went round to the north-west in about a minute. It rained so hard that we could not see a hundred yards away, so Tye had to stand out to clear the cape. “We carried on for three hours when we met a very big swell from the south-east, and so I knew that we had cleared the cape. We had just altered course when the wind dropped. It cleared up, and we were just off the bay we wanted. “We left Near at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and made a good run under sail and engine to Utupua, about 45 miles; and anchored about 7 p.m. Next day was a flat calm and we left Utupua at 10 a.m., reaching Vanikoro, about 50 miles, at 8 p.m., and glad to get back.”