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

The Spray Of The Ocean

page 242

The Spray Of The Ocean.

When the ship Spray of the Ocean, Captain Slaughter, arrived at Auckland on September 1, 1859, she was considered to have made the fastest passage between Great Britain and Auckland up till that date, her time of 86 days being two days better than the previous best made by the Rock City. One can imagine the surprise her arrival occasioned, as at that time very few vessels made the passage in under 120 days. the Spray of the Ocean's record, however, was not allowed to stand for long, and the following year the troopship Robert Lowe made a sensational passage of 82 days from Cork. In fairness to the Spray of the Ocean, it may be stated that the Robert Lowe was under steam for 15 days of the voyage.

In referring to her passage to Auckland, which, by the way, was the only occasion on which she visited the Dominion, Mr. H. C. Heath, of View Road, Mount Eden, who came out as a passenger, says she left London on June 6, 1859, and was towed to sea by a steam tug. The first portion of the voyage was uneventful, but when off St. Paul's Island a heavy storm was encountered, the ship being hove-to for some hours. Mr. Heath states that while running under close-reefed topsails she attained a speed of 17 knots per hour. After passing out of the storm area fine weather was encountered, and the vessel arrived at Auckland after a splendid passage of 86 days from anchorage to anchorage. Another old Auckland resident who came out as a passenger on the Spray of the Ocean is Mr. A. Winstone, of Mount Albert.

The "Spray," which was one of the pioneers of the Shaw, Savill Co.'s chartered ships, was a vessel of 900 tons, heavily masted, with a great spread of canvas. On returning to England she re-engaged in the China tea trade.