MANUKA WRECK

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 849, 18 December 1929, Page 11

MANUKA WRECK

(Continued from page 1.) EVEN SAILORS SEASICK "The sea was very choppy and w« , w ere all seasick, even the sailors. I Waves splashed into the boat, and 'the water rose round our feet. We , tried to bail it out. but did not succeed very well. We could not get the boats under way because of the i currents and sickness, and w c drifted | round aud lost one another. We were i afraid that we would be washed on ' to the rocks aud drowned, so we kept | trying to row out to sea. "The other boats sent up flares occasionally, and we always thought i that a tug had arrived when we saw ! the lights. We tried to light a torch ! but did not succeed. We seemed to ;be years in the boat before daw n j came. We did not know where w e I were then and did not know what to | do. ’’We drifted round for hours trying I to find the other boats, and at lasi j we saw a boat coming with a full crew ! of sailors and a man standing up in the stern. That was the captain. He had got ashore and had come out to look for the missing boats. He took us in totv and we seemed a long time getting ashore. We landed on a flat rock at 7 o’clock. The other boats had landed two hours before. ’ PASSING OF MANUKA The Manuka was lying on her side at an angle of approximately 30 degrees, with her bows almost clear ot the water, and perhaps half of the port side of her hull showing, when last seen. Every wave seemed to force her deeper into the water, and each time the clouds of spray dispersed it seemed that there was less of her above sea-level. The sprav rose high above the foremast. With her funnel gone and her aftermast truck just above the waves, the vessel presented a sorry sight. Her bows, with every ebb of the tide, rose clear above the water, but etei v returning onrush brought fresh destruction to the top-hamper. In the small cove north of Long Point were ample evidences of the destruction wrought by the waves. The shore was littered with wreckage of all descriptions. Including what appeared to be the personal effects of passengers, but largely decking from the vessel, most of which was shat tered. The rocks seem to have an unbreak able grip on the after-part of the ship, and while forward she responded to every vagary of the tide her stern remained firm. LONG, TRYING HOURS JOURNEY TO DUNEDIN IN FOG GIRL HELPS WITH OARS Telephoning to her parents from Dunedin this morning, an Auckland girl told the story of the hardships she and others with her endured in the lifeboat to which they were assigned. The craft was adrift for hours before being picked up by the tug Dunedin. Its passengers were scantily clad, and so many of the men, including the crew, were sick, that several women, including herself, took turns at the oars. Once the boat grounded on the rocks, but was got off safely. “I lost everything,” she said. “Even my overcoat was pitched overboard and lost.” On board the Dunedin the little party faced a trip of seven hours through thick fog before Port Chalmers was reached. There was little accommodation, and many were obliged to sit on the open deck. TUG DUNEDIN RETURNS LONG TRIP THROUGH FOG THRILLS ON CLAY ROADS Press Association DUNEDIN, Today. The tug Dunedin arrived from the wreck at 9.45 o’clock this morning, having taken 15 hours on the run owing to the constant fog. She brought a hundred refugees, including the Manuka’s crew, Captain Ross Clark and elderly people unable to make the land journey. The tug took ample food supplies so that all had an abundance. The crew will be paid off todav and the company will transport them to their homes. The largest number p-r-Dunedin residents and most of the balance are from Wellington. Those who came by road state that it was nothing short of marvelous how the cars and lorries reached the refugees on the sloping clay roads. All sorts of risks were taken. Two vehicles came to grief and it was a hair-raising spectacle to see the cars sliding down the hills, broadsiding every chain or so.