Frequently on the old "wind jammers" there was trouble with the crews, but probably the worst case that ever finished up in Auckland was that of the Flying Foam, which arrived in 1864 with an amateur crew at the ropes.

According to a statement written during the voyage by Captain Ryder, Paymaster of the 40th Regiment, then on his way out to join up, the ship must have resembled a police station for the greater part of the passage. This statement, written on the blue foolscap which for years was the certain sign of an official document, has been preserved, and is now in the possession of his son, Colonel Ryder, who lives at Devonport, Auckland. Although the ink is 60 years old it is a great deal blacker and more easily read than much of the modern article. It seems from this carefully prepared and carefully preserved document that the trouble began on April 27, 1864, when an able seaman assaulted a second-class passenger by kicking him in the back. When the third mate went to bring the culprit aft he was struck in the face, and a couple of other seamen took a hand and started to rescue their friend. The captain of the ship, when things took this unexpected turn, "submitted as a temporary measure to the withdrawal" of the sailor whom it was sought to arrest, and hoped "that on consideration the men would submit to proper authority." The cabin passengers then armed themselves at the request of the captain of the ship, and the deck having been cleared of women and children, and all other passengers but those "who were willing to assist in the preservation of order," the captain of the ship went forward and again formally demanded the recalcitrant seaman as a prisoner.

It ended in the chief, second, and third mates, together with the surgeon, carrying the seaman aft, the said seaman fighting hard all the time. A drawn knife was brandished by one of the other seamen who wanted to effect a rescue, but eventually the prisoner was placed in irons, before which, however, he had managed to kick and punch his arrestors, and he gave vent to "volleys of oaths and much obscene and blasphemous language." Three of the worst of the rest of the crew would have been arrested there and then, but there was no place where they could be confined.