White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900
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The Margaret Galbraith.
On her last voyage to Auckland in 1882 the Margaret Galbraith brought out the plant of the Devonport Water Works. After discharging, the ship sailed from Auckland for Timaru. When about ten miles off Lyttelton she was caught in a very severe S.E. gale. She had on board 100 tons of pig iron, which shifted during the gale, and the vessel was thrown on her beam ends and had a narrow escape of foundering. Mr. Claude Fenwick, of Auckland, was a passenger by the ship on this occasion. the Margaret Galbraith was towed into Lyttelton by a passing steamer. In the Old Colonists' Museum, Auckland, may be seen a photo. of the Margaret Galbraith inside of the Calliope Dock unloading the pipes for Devonport.
the Margaret Galbraith, on the passage to Napier in 1895, met with a succession of gales and light winds prior to crossing the Equator, 44 days out from London. When in latitude 44 south and longitude 25 east the ship was surrounded by icebergs for six days.
Captain Renaut, who brought the ship out in 1899, reported a most trying passage. He said: "The vessel rolled out, rather than sailed out," occupying 114 days from London to Port Chalmers. All the ships arriving during the latter part of 1899 made long passages, owing to terrific gales met with in the Southern Ocean, and all were more or less seriously damaged, including such clippers as the Canterbury, Oamaru, Waitangi, Turakina, and others—the Turakina making the best run of the season—93 days.
page 55From the coast of New Zealand to Cape Horn sailing ships were generally given a good start on the long sail home. All day and every day the good breeze blew anywhere from south-west to north-west, and often as not the wind was piping anything from a half-gale up to a full gale; but what matter, it was blowing the old hooker home! Remarkable runs were often made on this stretch across the South Pacific, but it was always an anxious time for captain and crew, because there was always the possibility of meeting ice. You never knew what you were going to meet in that long run over the stormy Southern seas.