Treasure Island

There's nothing quite like a blat across Cook Strait. It's always different and there's always a challenge of some kind or another. Lots of people take their boats across from Wellington to spend a holiday. Sitting around and idly fishing or having parties is not really my thing though - not for days on end anyway. I've always preferred the sailing bit.

If you're similarly inclined, and find yourself pottering about over there with not much to do, you might want to check the veracity of the story below. It is taken word for word from the Yachtsman magazine - a very good publication put out by the Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Boat Club for several years during the mid 1930s. If nothing else, it provides a nice little fireside read.

I've added some illustrations.



TREASURE TROVE

(Told by "Perry" at whose request all personal names have been changed.)

There is a Treasure Island in Marlborough Sounds with buried gold to the estimated value of 400 pounds. The Island is shown on the charts as Cooper Island and it is situated between Cabbage Bay and Long Island in the Northern entrance. The charts show the island as being without any anchorage or cove, but in this respect they are wrong as I shall show. There seems little doubt but that the treasure still lies where Laurence Crosbee buried it years ago.

Chance led me to the discovery which, aided by coincidence led to our search for the gold and to the tragic death of one of the searchers.

The Twins as shown on Google maps

Christmas (1929) we were anchored off the Twins in the Northern entrance fishing. Nearby, lay a small island, so I rowed across to it. On coming close I discovered a cleft or channel in the cliff face with deep water. This led me into a tiny landlocked bay. The entrance was only fifteen feet wide, and being on the angle could only be distinguished on near approach. The island looked as though it might once have been the crater of a volcano. Now, however, it was overgrown with stunted bush. In one corner of the tiny bay was a sandy beach and a few square yards of level land. At the back of this the land rose in sheer cliff to some fifty or sixty feet in height.



Gold miners at Endeavour Inlet. Source National Library of NZ

It was Peter who first mentioned the Treasure, having read about it in "Petersen's Adventures in Marlborough". In 1868, according to this old book (printed in 1875) gold was being mined near the head of Endeavour Inlet. Every few weeks the gold was brought into the tiny hamlet of Endeavour to be taken to Picton. One night a considerable sum lay in the small store and Post Office. It was stolen. There was a great hue and cry and eventually suspicion fell on one  "Sailor" Crosby, a ne-er-do-well hanger on who was a boatman during the whaling season. Crosby had a sailboat and was absent for a long time on the night of the robbery. Crosby hotly denied the charge, but was sent to Picton (then capital of Marlborough). He was tried before Mr Justice Grove. Seeing the case go against him, Crosby tried to obtain a release by promising the Court to return the gold which he said he had buried on an island. The scandalised judge instantly sentenced him to 15 years. Attempts were made for a while to locate the gold but , as far as it is known, without success.

Mt Cook Prison in 1896. Demolished 1931. Source Te Ara

As to its correct whereabouts, it was Donald who supplied the final clues. He had been working on the Mount Cook Prison (Wellington) demolition job. During the demolition many strange things were found in those six foot walls. There was scarcely a cell that didn't have its loose bricks with space for hoarding trinkets, letters and diaries. (See Evening Post file for article on these discoveries.) An aquiantance of Donald's, one Richards, working nearby, fished out an old envelope with a letter inside. After glancing at it he tossed it over to Donald remarking that it looked as though a yachtsman had been in the jail. Richards was also a yachting man. Donald looked at the paper which consisted of a letter with a plan on the back. On reading it through later he found that the actual letter had no reference to the chart on the back, which was just the map of an island. Knowing Peter was keen on anything unusual Donald gave him the letter. The letter was addressed to Laurence Crosbee.

It is unnecessary to tell at length how we eventually stumbled on to the fact that Laurence Crosbee, the prisoner in Mt. Cook, was the "Sailor" Crosby who buried 400 pounds in gold, and how it dawned on me that the map on the back of the letter was really a chart of Cooper Island. Sufficient to say we came to the conclusion that the gold was on Cooper Island buried five feet on the beachside of a large cabbage tree. Unfortunately others became aware of our discovery.

Poor Crosbee must have drawn the sketch to aid his failing memory and then died in jail.



Motungarara (Cooper Island) on Google maps

We were able to get away on an evening in February 1931, for the Sounds, Donald, Peter, and myself, in the yawl belonging to Peter. We had a splendid run in the S. E. breeze across the Straits, and reached the Nortern entrance about 6a.m. We took about two hours in the falling breeze to back up to Cooper Island against the tide. When we reached the island the wind had fallen away altogether and we had to tow the yacht into the entrance. The bay was just as I had seen it several years before. the high bush-clad cliffs, the tiny beach - and there, just back from the beach on a small plot of level land was Laurence Crosbee's cabbage tree. As quickly as we could we moored the yacht, furled sails, and without waiting for breakfast we tumbled ashore armed with a pick and a spade. We estimated five feet from the palm and dug. It was hard work, for the sun was hot.

We had dug about a foot when we heard the beat of a motorboat engine and suddenly through the entrance nosed a large boat. We recognised the launch. It belonged to Joe Foster and Spud Laws (not their real names of course). We paused from our work as she came in. Standing for'ard to drop the anchor we saw Richards, the fellow who gave Donald the chart. Soon they were ashore looking at the hole we had started to dig.
"Just in time," said Laws with a laugh. Peter asked him what he meant, whereupon Foster said that they had come for their share of the gold as it was just as much theirs as ours. Furthermore they had waited for us in a nearby cove giving us time to start digging in order to see exactly where the gold lay. They wanted to be fair and were willing to split fifty fifty.

Peter said he'd see them in hell first and with that the fight was started. The fight was long and tough and in the end Foster and his two pals drew off to nurse their bruises. We were not unhurt ourselves and sat down alongside our hole to glower at our rivals. After resting Laws came up and said that they weren't going to budge until they had got a share. We told him to go to blazes and started digging. The time was now about eleven thirty. Suddenly we heard a crashing sound and a loarge boulder flew past Donald who was loosening the soil with the pick. We looked up the clif and saw Peter on top.

"Keep clear of that hole or else I'll roll some bigger bricks down," he yelled. With that he rolled a few more down to show us how. We felt wild, especially when we saw the grins (somewhat twisted) of Richards and Laws.
At this moment fate took a hand and the tragedy happened. The bounding boulders must have loosened the cliff for, with a roar that made the ground tremble, the side came down in a cloud of dust. A large stone caught me in the back as I turned to fly and knocked me into the water. Peter and Donald were to one side and were able to dodge away. Laws and Richards at the other end of the beach were safe.

Scene of the action from a near-contemporary chart

But Foster we found half buried in the land-slide - dead. The tragedy sobered us. More earth was falling, so we returned with poor Foster's body to our craft in the launch's dinghy. Our dinghy was under the earth.

We hurried to Picton: the launch with the yacht in tow. On arrival we heard of the terrible earthquake that had happened in Napier at the same time as the landslide. We did not know until then that an earthquake had happened. Among the large toll of death of earthquake victims the inquest on poor Foster passed unremarked especially as we did not refer to the treasure.

So the gold still lies on Cooper Island buried deeper than Laurence Crosbee ever dreamed it would be.

(footnote. From the latest charts and maps Cooper Island is shown as Motungarara Island, and Cabbage Bay as Onehunga Bay.)


...And that's the article in full, including the footnote. Anyone fancy a treasure hunt??

Pet

Pet's lines. Source: NZ Yachtsman 28 October 1916

Pet was built by Charles Bailey in Auckland, and was launched in 1877.

Pet at Thorndon

She was of an unusual shape - in an era of slab-sided vessels and plumb stems, she had quite a pronounced tumble-home and a ram bow. This made her both longer and wider at the waterline than at deck level.

This construction was to cheat a class racing rule of the day which was based on measuring the beam and length of a boat at deck level - a smart little trick to make the boat bigger where it matters and therefore have a faster theoretical (and practical) maximum hull speed. Needless to say, like all other rule cheaters, it didn't take long before a new system was arrived at in the eternal tussle between the designer and class handicappers.

Charles Hill in 1916.

Bailey laid the keel and framed up the boat "on spec", and the structure hung in the rafters of his workshop for some time before being purchased. She was unnamed, and become known in the yachting fraternity as "Bailey's Pet". The nickname stuck when she was purchased by Charles Hill in 1877. Hill was a hatter by trade, and was one of the founding members of the Port Nicholson Yacht Club in 1883.

Hill had Bailey plank her up, and fitted out as an open centreboarder, and after a couple of races in Auckland, brought her to Wellington, where she easily beat her competition.

In 1879 Charles Bailey arrived from Auckland with his recent build Toy, a lightly built open boat of cedar with a clear finish, and sporting the latest in light wire rigging. Toy won the second class race of the annual Wellington regatta. Hill took advantage of Bailey's presence to do some work on Pet - having her half-decked over, and a small counter added. Pet was entered in the first class race but had to withdraw when her rigging failed.

Red Jacket in Christchurch

1880 was a big year for Pet, and secured her fame as the classiest racer in town. She was entered in the Anniversary Regatta for second class vessels, which was greatly anticipated for the clash with Red Jacket, built in Sumner about 1865. The race was postponed due to rough weather. A week later, Pet led the fleet, Red Jacket 50 yards behind, when the wind died away and the race postponed once more. The next attempt was got away in rough weather, and one of the mark buoys came adrift. It was once again a "no race". However, the Regatta Committee in a surprise move, decided to award the prize to Pet, as it felt she was the better performer. Furthermore, the Committee decided to run another race to decide second place!

The owners and crew of the Red Jacket of course would not abide this, and laid down a one-on-one challenge in the newspapers. The Regatta race for second place took place, with Pet, although banned from entering, also going around the course. Red Jacket crossed well ahead of the fleet, including Pet. Hill may have been up to some clever gamesmanship here, but there was no denying now that nothing would be settled until a one-on-one private race was sailed.

Terms were agreed, and the race was to be around a moored mark boat at the head of Barret's Reef at Wellington Heads, around Somes Island and back to Queen's Wharf. The event was much discussed in the local newspapers, and a great deal of money was laid out in the pubs - mostly at even money. Pet won, and won easily. She was five minutes ahead at the mark boat, and won by 30 minutes, Red Jacket having to bail hard after starting her garboard planks on the beat up the channel in rough seas.

Later that year, Pet was shipped across to Nelson for a challenge race against the brand new yacht Isca. She also won that easily; The proud new owner of the expensive Isca so disgusted he never bothered racing again, and sold his boat. (Read Isca's story here).

Pet at her moorings ca. 1890

Pet remained the cream of the fleet until the arrival to Wellington of Robert Logan's Jessie Logan in about 1890. Luckily for Pet's racing career in Wellington, Jessie Logan was purchased and spent the next 15 years in Nelson, before suffering the indignity so common in those days of being converted to a launch.

Pet had a well-known, though somewhat secret internal ballast system when she was a centreboarder (see the ballast systems of Pet and Red Jacket below). To stiffen her up and make her better fit for regular club racing, deadwood was added to her keel and external lead ballast attached some time around 1888.

Around 1900 Pet was retired as a racer, and converted for use as a fishing smack at Warehou Bay north of Wellington, She was then converted to a motor launch and used for fishing a little further North at Paremata. She was wrecked while pursuing this work during the 1930s.

Pet's moveable ballast system

Red Jacket profile and ballast system

Pet readied for external ballast ca. 1888

Pet as a launch at Paremata in 1916

Isca - A little ship that could

Isca's lines. Probably taken off the hull.
Found in Jack Maddever's shed at Clyde Quay,
 and now in the posession of Bruce Askew.

The Isca was built at Clyde Quay, Wellington in 1880 to a Dixon Kemp design by T. R. H. Taylor, for A. S. Collins of Nelson. Her build was a single skin of 1" kauri on Australian Blackwood. She was not a success in Nelson, being down at the head. The smaller second class centreboard racer, Pet, was shipped across from Wellington for a challenge race, and beat the Isca easily. Collins lost interest and the Isca lay idle until Professor R. J. Scott purchased her for racing with the newly-formed Port Nicholson Yacht Club.

Scott tweaked her up, importing a new douglas fir mast from Australia, adding a lead shoe to the counter to bring her nose up a bit, and added 3 1/2 tons of external ballast. Her performance improved somewhat, and she won a few races in Wellington, though against inferior boats - mostly converted boats never built for speed in the fist place, or racing boats imported and too light to excel in Wellington conditions. He took her to Lyttelton in 1884 to compete the anniversary regatta there, but was defeated. The Isca was taken over by E. C. Batkin, who again took her south to compete the 1886 regatta where she emerged victorious in a strong Easterly. If nothing else, she covered a lot of sea miles in her time.

Source: NZ Yachtsman 27 November 1915

The Isca was 38 feet LOA, 32 LWL, with only six feet beam, and carried a 14 ft bowsprit. With her large club topsail set (see left), her rig stood 55 feet.

She was a yacht of the old gentlemanly school, immaculately kept during her time in Wellington, and campaigned hard. She was a well-known and popular vessel, as were her owners and skippers, but she was never the racer many claimed her to be. However, she had the reputation of being quick in stays, and her skippers used this to advantage when working the tricky shifts on the Hutt coast off Ngauranga and Kiawharawhara. Her victories against other first division boats were generally on time allowance, and she even had trouble beating the better quality second class yachts across the line.




Isca did however, have one moment of undeniable racing glory, which unfortunately also ended in her destruction.

Source: NZ Yachtsman 02 Sept. 1916

Isca had been entered in the Wellington regattas, but the best she had ever got was second. in 1892 she was beaten out by Mapu, and early February 1893 she was beaten by the Maritana on the run down from Korokoro. The Isca losing and resetting her topsail three times! The Rona, the latest thing in yacht racing had just been built that year to Alexander Turnbull's order by Robert Logan. She was en route to Wellington when the 1893 regatta took place, and had proved herself a speedy vessel in Auckland.


The Rona was a 5-rater, desgned by G. L. Watson. The design had already proved herself in the shape of Valentine. Rona was part of the new breed of yacht - firmer bilges, more beam, less forefoot, long shallow keel - which lead to less wetted surface area and more boyancy. Rona by today's standards may have slack bilges and a large wetted surface area, but boats like her were light in comparison with the "Cheesecutter" section of Isca's type. With a beam of 7',4", and overall length of 44 feet, she had a far longer effective waterline

Rona won her first race in Wellington in late February 1893, Maritana second and Isca third. This was the second race of the PNYC first class season. Rona came second behind the Maritana in the first class race at the Wellington regatta in 1894 on corrected time after a close finish which included the Isca.

Atalanta - Stole Rona's thunder when she arrived in 1895.
Source: Alexander Turnbull Library

Robert Logan made the trip to Wellington to tune up the Rona for the 1895 Regatta, and she beat all of these boats. All were surpised however, by the Atalanta. who crossed the line first, but was later disqualified for carrying a larger mainsail than rated for in the regatta. Isca was nowhere.

Source: NZ Yachtsman, 27 November 1915

The 1896 Regatta saw both the Rona and Isca racing in the second class. A blustery Northerly blew, and the other three vessels in the race, Waiwetu, Mahina, and Mapu had to withdraw. Isca and Rona fought on, each sniffing their chance. They each passed the final mark at Korokoro in company, from where it is a straight drag on a reach to the finish off Queens' wharf (there was not so much reclaimed land in those days). It was felt that the Rona was making the better of it - Isca, in full sail, had started her planks under the press, and there appeared to be more water in the boat than out. Rona looked set to pull away and was felt by spectators to be sailing a better course when a gust caught her - splitting her mainsail and her foresail. The gooseneck on her boom also carried away. Both yachts crossed the line to great applause and cheering from the crowd crowding the waterfront - Isca having won by 27 seconds.

Rona went back to her moorings, while Isca, on the verge of sinking, turned straight around and went on the hard at Evans Bay. She never went back into the water.

Source: NZ Yachtsman, 02 May 1914

Isca sat and was finally broken up in 1897/8. Her lead was purchased by a plumber at Thorndon, who made nails of it. Her mast went into the Kotiri, recently built, as did most of her deck fittings and her canvas. Kotiri's mast had been found dangerously tender on her first foray into sailing during the 1898 regatta. That mast proved worthy of the import back in 1883, as it was still in good service at least into the 1940s. It had been put under plenty of pressure during its time!

Source: NZ Yachtsman 04 December 1915

Isca in 1892. Source: Alexander Turnbull Library

Robert Julian Scott Part 2

Source: Gavin Pascoe

Just linking back to the previous post on Scott, I thought it would be nice to publish this image, which he drew on the reverse of a letter to a friend in 1899, thanking him for putting his name forward for membership of the Wellesley Club, Wellington. It shows Zephyr going through a gybe in some heavy weather off Akaroa in 1893. No doubt a shared experience.

By the way, as an aside, Scott was first cousin to Falcon Scott of the Antarctic fame.











Boojum
The drawing below is another ink sketch of a design for knocking about. Not very much is known about her other than the name "Boojum" and that she was actually built. The name comes from Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark, a boojum is a being which makes people disappear. Quite a playful and slightly sinister name for a small boat designed for ease of single-handed sailing.



Source: Gavin Pascoe

Kia Ora
Kia Ora was a 5-rater and a very sucessful racer in her day. She shouldn't be confused with the Bailey and Lowe-built vessel which famously was attempted to cross the Pacific (against both the law of the day and good sense) in 1903.

She was built for J. B. Collins to be based at Lyttelton; and raced her first major regatta at Akaroa in 1898, where she came second to Pastime. It was felt at the time she had not been sailed to her potential. Collins continued to race her in the hotly-contested provincial annual regattas at Akaroa and Dunedin until 1913.

The Kia Ora had a long racing career, competing well into the 1930s, and now sadly sits in an irretrievable condition at Lyttelton.



Yvonne

Source: Seaspray, 01 Sept. 1946

Yvonne is a 5-rater designed by William Fife and built by Robert Logan Sr. in Auckland in 1893. Scott purchased her for his own use in 1908 and campaigned her hard in the South Island Regattas. She has been around a bit, including a long stint in Wellington, where at one time she was sheathed in fibreglass. This was painstakingly removed during the early 1980s by Mike Joy and others. She is now back at Lyttelton, and after some years of neglect now is seeing some much-needed attention.

Her most famous feat is the 'Jumping the mole' incident in 1909, which can be read about in Scott's own words here, published in 1946.  An account of her early history can be read here, published in 1937.

Some other designs

Below is lines of a canoe-stern launch published in Progress April 1911 issue. The article associated states she was built in Nelson, though a name is not given. She is reported as being very well-behaved in a seaway.

Source: Progress, April 1911

The lines and sail plan below, also published in Progress, are for a large fishing vessel. It is not known whether this vessel was built.

Source: Progress, April 1911

Drawings from the University of Canterbury collection

The images below are scans from the collection of the University. They show a contemporary rigging system, an exercise in sail areas, and an experimental propelling system.

Robert Julian Scott: Part One

Source:
NZ Dictionary of Biography

The man at left with the magnificent head is Robert Julian Scott: a British-born engineer who spent most of his life and career in Christchurch. He had an outstanding engineering mind, which can be read about on Te Ara and wikipedia.

He also happened to be a founding member of the Port Nicholson Yacht Club of Wellington. He had designs built in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. He began by radically changing existing boats, to designing yachts and rigs. He met with varying levels of success, but they were always somewhat experimetnal if not radical in concept. This piece discusses some of them.

Zephyr
The image below shows two versions of the same 36 foot (on deck) yacht, Zephyr. She was built by Green* in the 1870s and raced locally at Lyttelton and Akaroa. She was taken to Melbourne and then Hobart to race, with mixed results. The version left shows a somewhat unusual rig for the era, basically a bermudan rig on a sliding gunther, mast well raked. She was converted to gaff and external ballast added by the owner previous to Scott, which completely overpowered her.

When Scott purchased her some time around 1890 he completely changed her underwater profile by cutting away deadwood forward, and adding a 2 ton lead fin keel. The rudder as depicted here must have suffered tremendous strain. He returned the bermudan rig, but used a single pole mast fitted with a metal sail track for easy management. He used wire halyards to decrease windage and enable tighter luffs to his sails. This didn't become common until the 1950s. He called the racing mainsail a "batwing", referring to its extreme roach. His cruising mainsail was more conventional. In 1896 she beat the crack Logan-built Waitangi in the New Zealand championships at Lyttelton. By 1911 she had been converted to a motor launch.

Source: Progress. April 1911

Wellington Boats

Vixen



Vixen.
Source: NZ Yachtsman 20 May 1916

To encourage interest in the fledgeling Arawa Sailing Club in Wellington, in 1894 Scott drew lines for a 1/2 rater to be built by Rober Logan of Auckland. The boat was named Vixen (later renamed Waterbeetle). She arrived late in the 1894/5 season and was not a success. She was significantly altered by Bringans and Hogg at Clyde Quay. She competed well, but was never really consistently in the money, dominated by Jack Chalmer's Dauntless, and the two Logan-built William Fife designs Miru and Ruru.






Wylo

Source: Progress. April 1911

 Scott drew Wylo in 1904. She was designed to be a strong, easily-handled fishing boat which could stand up to most weather, but also be useable as a cruiser and racer. She was eventually built in 1911 by Ted Bailey at Clyde Quay, Wellington. She was among the first designs of the flat transom, stern-hung rudder keel yacht which became popular from the 1920s through to the 1960s. She was among the first sailing vessels designed to include an auxilliary.





When launched, Wylo sat a little higher than anticipated, but internal ballast being added, she became a very stiff and successful boat which made hundreds of Cook Strait crossings and still in good service into the 1950s. If anyone knows where she is now, please let us know!



Wylo prior to lauch outside Bailey's shed at Clyde Quay. Source: NZ Yachtsman 30 November 1911.

I'll write more on Robert Scott's work soon.

* Many yachts have been clamed to be NZ first bermudan rigs, but Green appears to have made a habit of it in the 1870s; 40-50 years prior to all of those claims in the 1920s!

Idle Alongs - a misnomer

Mystery racing in 2012 The image at left shows Mystery racing in the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club Commodore trophy race in 2012. Mystery is of the Idle Along class native to Wellington. She was built by the most successful builder of IAs, Joffre Kroening, about 1950 in Nelson. Representing Nelson, she came second in the Moffatt Cup in 1956, finishing behind Hugh Poole of Wellington who was also sailing one of Kroening's boats. She was restored by the Wellington Classic Yacht Trust in 2011/2012, and raced in the 2012 North Island and National championships in Auckland where she finished 2nd and 6th respectively, against much newer  and lighter boats. She has a kaikawaka hull, cedar deck, and douglas fir spars. Below is a brief story of the class. The Idle Along is the only Wellington design to become a National Class for New Zealand. It was designed by Alf “Unc” Harvey in 1927, the first one completed at his home at 20 Aurora Tce Petone in 1930. His inspiration and ideas were rather unorthodox, though the end result answered some practical problems for Wellington class racing. Idle Alongs at Worser Bay during the 1930s Wellington had had several centreboard fleets and sailing clubs come and go, though these never really got off the ground - professional boatbuilders like Joe Jukes and Ted Bailey reigned supreme during the early part of the 20th century, and their boats almost invariably won. A cheap one-design class, easily built by amateurs was needed, and Alf Harvey provided the answer.  Mystery during the 1950s Harvey sought stability and speed, and found it in nature - a 12 foot, 8 inch porpoise in fact, which he captured, measured, and released in Worser Bay. The curve of the porpoise’s back inspired the keel profile, the back fin the centre plate, and the tail the rudder. These lines can clearly be seen in the boats' profile. In section however, it is a different story! The design had a very large beam for the time - at 6 feet, almost half the length, it gave the boat stability. Airtight sections fore and aft lent extra buoyancy. The chined hull made it reasonably simple for amateurs to build and race their own vessels. In the early days the Idle Along was scorned by most in the sailing fraternity; nicknamed butterboxes (in Wellington they were built from Kahikitea, and they had rather square sections) or at times aircraft carriers. This was until a famous day of racing in a typically blustery Wellington Northerly during the 1933/34 season. All racing was cancelled, but that didn’t stop the small Idle Along fleet racing. People paid attention, and respect. The first inter-province championship for the class (for the Moffat cup) took place in Wellington in 1936, which was won by Tauranga. The last one was raced in 1969 in New Plymouth and won by Taranaki. John Spencer designed a plywood version for the Association in 1960, but by then the class was already suffering a decline due to interest in the Olympic classes, and the successes that NZ Olympians were having - thanks in a large part to the techniques and skills they learned sailing Idle Alongs as youngsters. The class has recently revived, and the national trophy competed for in2010. The 2011 competition was held at the Bay of Islands, and Auckland in 2012. More information on the Class Association can be found here. Mystery during the 1950s The plans were amended at various times, most notably by John Spencer who created a plywood version in 1960, which can be viewed here. In 1951 an official plan, set of offsets, etc were drawn by A. M. Fitton for the Wellington Provincial Yacht and Motor Boat Association. A pdf of them can be viewed here. The Wellington Classic Yacht Trust has a copy of an revised set of plans drawn by Harvey in 1940, but we haven't scanned them yet. The original plan can be viewed hanging on the wall of the Heretaunga Boating Club.

Trans Tasman voyage of the Psyche

Psyche in Wellington

Psyche was built by Ernie Lane - a somewhat unsung boatbuilder - in Picton. I haven't got a date for her launch.

In 1926 she sailed to from Wellington to Sydney. It became something of a legendary journey, as it was reasonably rare in those days for such small private vessels to make the trip. There was definitely a lot of action, as the surviving account tells.

I don't know anything about the crew members, except Archie Scott. Archie was a plumber who worked at the Evans Bay patent slip. He owned various boats, over the years, including the Le Huquet Ailsa. He converted Ailsa briefly to a bermuda rig in the early 1920s but it didn't work very well, and after a season or two returned her to a gaff configuration.

He went on to design many vessels from the 1930s to the 1960s. Many of which, including Ocean Maid and Maranui, were very successful, and still sailing today. He also did a lot of work in designing new sail plans. A good collection of his work can be found at the Wellington Museum of City and Sea.

I'll write a post about him in the new year.

The account below was published in "The Yachtsman", a magazine put out by the Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Boat Club during the late 1930s. The story was serialised over three issues (reprinted from and Australian boating magazine). Part one is below, from Volume 2, iss. 2. October 1936.

I'll load up the other two this week if I have time.


Some of the crew in Sydney. Left to Right: Archie Scott,
 Les Thompson Redvere Quinlan.

Although it is ten years ago since the cutter rigged auxiliary yacht “Psyche” slipped quietly away from her Wellington moorings on her great voyage to Sydney, her crossing is still a very interesting topic to New Zealand boatmen as one of the epics in the history of New Zealand yachting. The crew, F. C. Townsend, Redvere Quinlan (engineer), Archie Scott and Les Thompson (A.B.’s), certainly did not expect a ‘picnic’ and probably at the time it was better to think of nothing but ‘getting there’. Mr Jackson, the owner, simply wanted his yacht brought to Sydney, where he had gone to live permanently, and these men took on the job of sailing her to him as an ordinary workaday business. Shortly after sailing, however, they found that the “Psyche” had not been properly prepared for the long voyage. In addition to that she sailed into such tempestuous weather it was wonderful that she arrived at all.

Mr Jackson had many anxious hours as he watched for the “Psyche” near the Sydney heads during the time she was at sea. N consideration of the phenomenal gales that were then raging over the Tasman even liners had remained in port rather than risk the dangers of the open water. One vessel was disabled and had to be escorted to a harbour by destroyers. Nor was the owner any more comforted by the reports from every station telling of the terrifying conditions to be seen from all points along the eastern Australian coast.
What a sublime shock it must have been to him when, on the morning of the 23rd April, he suddenly descried the “Psyche” coming into view of Port Jackson in full racing rig! That such a frail combination of canvas and wood had been directed through a particularly nasty stretch of sea in possibly its deadliest temper was the incredible truth; the crew truly merited all the honour and admiration they were given upon anchoring in Watson’s Bay.

The “Psyche” was 45 ft overall, with 11 ft beam, 10 tons displacement; was powered with a 20/25 horse power Atlantic engine, burning benzene or kerosene for fuel, and with the engine, had a speed of 8 knots. The following is taken from the Australian Motor Boat and Yachting Monthly.

In this little vessel on April 3rd the adventurous voyage started. Here is the crew’s story.
“We slept on board the night previous to sailing and a t 4.30 a.m. next morning had her ready for sea. At 7 a.m. we cast off under power and set staysail and mainsail. Passing Point Ha[l]swell we put the kettle on to boil on an oil stove. We ran down to the Heads and crossed Lyall Bay, doing about 9 knots with the wind a freshening nor’wester. Tony and George Jackson, sons of the owner waved us Godspeed from the headland. And we replied full of confidence.

Getting near Sinclair Head, the kettle started to boil after one and a half hour’s effort. Tea was made, but the stove was not even in a gimbal, and as we ran into a fairly heavy rip, over went the lot. A fair amount of water also came below as the ship was not properly battened down, and the skylight and ports were leaking through not being covered. She had been on the ‘hard’ for twelve months and the decks were opened up with the weather.

Another and heavier rip was struck off Terawhiti, where a case of gas went overboard. Fortunately the crew were all hardened yachtsmen and the weather had no effect on them. The ship was a lively as a cricket, and the old skipper, who is now 71 and not as active as he used to be, was thrown all over the place. A fine old man, hale and hearty, we could not wish for a better to sail under.
Under the lee of Wellington Head we decided to straighten up a bit, and we lashed things down in preparation of the nor’west gale and heavy seas that promised. Just here we passed the Brothers Lighthouse and the Picton steamer Tamahine to windward.

The weather was very bad and a lot of water was coming down below. Our next task was to take the mainsail off, and a hard and wet job it proved. After much cussing and swearing we succeeded, when the engineer informed us that the pumps had become blocked. He took them down seven or eight times to clear them, with the water lapping around his waist, but eventually had to give it up as a bad job. The bilges were also full of coal ashes out of the small Dover stove. For some time after we could only get the engine to run on two cylinders.

We tried to make through the northern entrance, but could not make enough headway. Consequently we had to run back to Tory Channel and just got in as the tide was changing. Here the tide runs in and out of a quarter mile entrance, with the engine giving trouble all the way, arriving at 9.30 p.m.
Here Archie, with unpleasant memories of the oil-stove’s feat in boiling kettles, borrowed a spare primus from Mr Jack McLean, who was anchored nearby in his fine auxiliary ketch RESTLESSNESS. Jack, by the way, wouldn’t believe that we were bound for Sydney! What a relief it was to get a hot drink! Unfortunately half our stores were ruined through kerosene leaking, but they had to be given a passage.

All hands now turned in dog-tired and wet from truck to keelson after a run of about 100 miles.
Next day, Sunday, April 4th, we turned out early for a heavy day of cleaning, plugging up leaks, battening down skylights, hatches etc. Mr Jackson’s household linen, cushion covers, etc., that were stocked in the lockers were found to be soaking, so we bundled it all up in two potato sacks and marked it for shipment back to Wellington. We then went ashore for a good hot feed at the hotel. Everything and everywhere was shut down, even the Post Office, on account of the Easter holidays and we were unable to send telegrams. Our fresh meat had gone bad, the onions were soaked in kerosene. Visions of steak and onions had thus become a memory and we had to be content with sadly burying the departed at sea.

On the fifth we were out bright and early and spent another morning getting the ship into condition for the trip that should have been done at Wellington before we joined up. We tried heeling her at anchor to plug up the lavatory which was leaking badly, but could not get over far enough. We then went alongside the wharf and heeled down on throat halliards. Later we went ashore and had dinner and bought more stores. Then we went over to the T.S.S. Tamahine and shipped back all the wet linen.

We sailed for Ship Cove, 17 miles away, under power at 2 p.m. Here we found the batteries, which were all new before sailing, running down. A ‘shorted’ wire was found down in the bilges, almost eaten away with kerosene and water. How in the name of fortune anyone ever came to wire the ship through the bilges had us beaten.

Next day we turned out at 6.30, and after a breakfast and run ashore for a wash in the creek we took a photo of the engineer (hereafter known as ‘rastun’) and Archie aloft on Captain Cook’s monument – and a handsome pair they were too. The weather was beautifully fine with slight southerly and high glass. The dinghy was lashed to the deck once more, and we hove up anchor and sails, and started away under power at 9a.m.We passed Mr Arthur Holmes’ fine new cruiser on its way to the fishing grounds. Jackson Head was abeam at10.30. There was very little rip and less wind. A nor’-west course was set and Stephen Island was passed at 1.30. As we had no flags or signalling gear, we could not call the station and report.
More trouble came our way, for we found the generator was not charging. It was burnt out somewhere on account of being underwater in the Straits. The switch board, volt and ommeters were taken to pieces, but were found to be out of action through water.

The mainsail was lowered off Blind Bay. There was a moderate S.W. swell coming up rounding Farewell Spit, but no wind. The course was altered to N.W.W. Stephen’s Island Light was dropped at 7p.m. 32 miles behind.

On the 7th the crew started 4-hour watches. ‘Rastun’ had the engine running all night. It had been running 21 hours without stopping, and then only to change the plugs, as kerosene had been used. There was no wind all night. During the day there had been a light sou’west breeze, so we had the mainsail up all day., only to take it down again at nightfall. Sights at noon placed us abeam of Cape Egmont, but seaward about 80 miles. The log for 27 hours showed 117 miles. The barometer was steady, but there were a few light rain squalls.
Next day brought a steady barometer, with no wind again, and a light swell. The engine was still going strong at quarter speed to save fuel. ‘Rastus’ had the generator to pieces for the second time but met with no luck. The batteries were now flat, and we only had one hurricane lamp aboard. There were no oil navigation lights, excepting a small binnacle lamp, that, with luck, would burn for six hours at a time.
Saddest of all was the discovery t this stage that there were no tinned fruits of sauces aboard. All we could find was army ‘hard tack’ and ‘iron rations’ which, of course, had to do for the rest of the trip. The ship was taking a fair drop of water in after having been on the slips for so long. The engine water circulating discharge was also leaking out through the exhaust into the bilges. Midday found us 350 miles from Stephens Island, with the course set nor’-west.

April 8th broke with a light nor’-wester blowing. There was a moderate swell, but no sea. The weather was perfectly fine and we were still under power. Sights and log at midday showed that in 24 hours we had done 125 miles with the engine. We had plenty of odd jobs to do during the day. One can always find employment at sea the main job being to get enough sleep. We were still on watches of 4 hours on and 8 off. Quite long enough too, when you do the midnight to 4 watch at the wheel.

The engine stopped at midnight on April 8th after continuously running for 3 ½ days. At 2 a.m. we had to start it again, as there was no wind and the jobble of the sea was throwing the boom all over the ship. A light northerly sprang up at 4 a.m.  and the engine was stopped once more. The breeze freshened all day and a lump sea was running. The skipper had some job to get the sights as the boat was very lively. The weather wire topping lift carried away, and Archie and Les had an exciting time aloft.

The weather was very threatening and heavy rain squalls were falling. Nasty beam seas were rising, making the ship dance like a cork. A large school of whales was passed at 4p.m. Two reefs were put in and we snugged down for the night. The confounded weather topping lift broke again, and Archie and Les nearly lost their tempers.

The rest of the original articles published in the Australian Motor Boat and Yachting Monthly issues of June, July, August 1927 here: http://anmm.smedia.com.au/olive/am3/anmm1/. The Articles come under the heading "Ocean Rovers".