YACHTS AND BATHERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 870, 14 January 1930, Page 8

YACHTS AND BATHERS

Sir. — A protest should be made against the dangerous practice of allowing yachts to cruise along the North Shore beaches close in where bathers are congregated in their thousands. An example of this was provided at Cheltenham on Sunday, when no fewer than three heavy yachts of the mullet type moved along among Uae crowds of women and children. they have the whole of the harbour And the stretches of the Gulf at their disposal, yachtsmen—"yaehtsboys” most of them might be termed—evidently prefer to “show off” before the admiring gaze of beach flappers. Their conceit interests me not at all, but their methods of gratifying it does. Twice cn Sunday I saw children narrowly escape from being run down, and ~ what chance would a child or any person have of escaping injury, at least, after being forced under and keelhauled by these squat craft? Motorcars are not allowed to career among pedestrians. Why should we not stop yachtsmen from invading the meagre domains claimed by bathers; that is, of course,

unless they have a valid reason for coming ashore? In that case they could land and put straight off without harm to anyone. It is the browsing up and down with studied casualness, and an irritating contempt for the poor fools who cannot cock a jaunty cap or twiddle a rudder, that is leading to real danger. DEEP WATERS.