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White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900

Out Of Control

Out Of Control.

The wind was veering "all round the compass" and finally it dropped to a calm. That awful boiling sea none of us can ever forget. No wind, yet enormous seas rolling up from all quarters, and just sweeping clean over us. We were absolutely out of control. Somehow we kept afloat, and after what seemed to us some hours, during which time we were mostly in the mizzen shrouds, and the seas breaking up our "upper works," we spotted a sort of break in the sky. Luckily we had only a few "rags" aloft, and nothing on the mizzen, and when the wind came down with a roar it happened to get us on the right side of our sails. As she laid down to it, she once more gathered way and came under control and paid off before it. It is just marvellous what a good ship will stand if properly handled. It was blowing a full hurricane in a few minutes, and we were running away N. and E. into a terrible confused sea, which just swept over us from all quarters. We had come through a cyclone and pretty near the centre, or vortex, of it too. We lost the rest of our boats, two on davits aft, and twopage 33on skids for'ard. Most of the house (except framework) was gone, pig pens, upper bulwarks, some ports and stanchions, etc., also strained our lower bulwarks. And one thing which one could hardly credit, the iron stanchions and railing round the poop, a solid structure, but with nothing you would think the water could get a grip of, was torn from the deck, and mostly went overboard. But how the "old girl" did sail. It was a common occurrence for our log marked to 14 knots to run out well before the sand. However you can't stay in the same place all the time in that weather, and we found ourselves eventually off the Three Kings.

Captain James.

Captain James.

The wind dropped and the sun came out. It was early September. We got all our sodden belongings out and dried them. And what a night we had—dry (to our sodden minds) bunks and dry clothes. What a glorious life the sea was in those days. Our troubles over, and real land close handy, a thing we had not had much hopes of seeing for some time past. Light and variable winds drifted us down the coast and eventually the old Awhina was plucking us round the North Head after a trip of ninety-one days. We lay alongside the new Firth's wharf (and were I believe the first big ship alongside that wharf), and discharged part of our salt.

Later we sailed for Dunedin, and after discharging the balance of our salt we sailed for Lyttelton, where we loaded for London. During this time we got very friendly with the crew of the Marlborough, lying just astern of us, and the 1300-ton barque Kylemore, lying just astern of her. As we were all to sail about the same time, and also the Dunedin from Port Chalmers, the four sporting skippers had, we understood, a £50 sweep on the race to London, and we boys also had our little sweep too. There was great excitement when we towed out, and were dropped by the tug well clear of the land in a light air and fog. That same day, a few hours later, we heard the cheering as the tug dropped the Kylemore quite near us apparently, although in the fog we could not see her. (the Marlborough and Dunedin sailed shortly after, and were never heard of again; it was thought they had met ice, but although we met three large bergs on the outward passage we never saw any signs of ice homeward bound or heard of other ships reporting ice on the homeward run).