FISHERMAN WRECKED

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 341, 30 April 1928, Page 14

FISHERMAN WRECKED

FEET CUT BY ROCKS TOOK EIGHT DAYS TO WALK ! 14 MILES (Special to THE SUN) NELSON, Saturday. J With no boots, and with feet ! cut by the rocks, it took Mr. Thomas A. Boult, of Nelson, eight J days to walk from Torrent Bay, \ where his fishing launch was j wrecked, to the nearest house at \ Awaiti, 14 miles away. | Mr. Boult left Nelson about a fort- * night ago on a fishing expedition off ! the coast near Torrent Bay. He en- ! countered very heavy weather, and ' was forced to anchor his boat. She ; lay tossed by seas for 18 hours, until ; the anchor line chafed through. The launch broke up. Mr. Boult managed to struggle clear, but was severely cut I about by being dashed against the < rocks before he gained the beach. His ! ' boots went down with the launch, and he was left with cut feet and no food, j For some days he lived on shellfish | and roots, occasionally finding a little fruit. He made slow progress along the coast, which is very rough in parts. He waited in an empty house for a day or two, hoping some boat would come along, but he was disappointed, and was forced to continue. Rain fell most of the time, and he sheltered as best he could under overhanging rocks. His chief trouble was that he had nothing with which to dress his cuts, which became painful sores. He eventually reached Mr. E. G. Hadfield’s residence at Awaiti, 14 miles from the wreck, on the eighth day after setting out. Mr. Boult was weakened by starvation and exposure. He is still iti, but is now doing well.