PACIFIC VOYAGE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 35, 11 February 1939, Page 10

PACIFIC VOYAGE

AMERICAN SCHOONER ONLY FOUR DAYS' BAD WEATHER [ Per Press Association.] AUCKLAND, Feb. 10. Thirty-seven days out from San Pedro (California), the American auxiliary schooner Navigator arrived. She is owned by Mr. G. Harton Singer, jun., a prominent Pittsburg banker. The 48-ton vessel is under the command of Captain Fred Klebingat, well known in New Zealand as master of Zane Grey's schooner Fisherman, which visited Ihe Dominion in 1926. Captain Klebingat married an Auckland girl, Miss Phyllis Reid, who now lives in California. They have a seven-year-old son. The long voyage from San Pedro by way of Danger Island and Pago Pago was marred by only four days’ bad weather, two days off the coast of America and two days off the New Zealand coast. On each occasion the vessel was hove to and rode out the storm well. During a heavy sea in the early part of the voyage the main boom snapped, and a new one Is being senl by the Monterey, due next week, in which the Navigator's owner is also arriving. The intention of the party is to spend two months in New Zealand fishing on various grounds and visiting the southern sounds. In addition to Captain Klebingat the schooner has a crew of four. The cook fell ill on the trip and was put ashore at Pago Pago, but will rejoin the schooner later.