The roll-on-roll-off Lyttleton-Wellington ferry
entered Port Nicholson at 6am, sailing to the Underworld.
The crew felt the blast of a tropical cyclone which hit
the 'Wahine' almost a knockout blow as she swirled,
Striking the hard cold rocks of Barrett's Reef low.
The passengers were calm at first, kept in the dark
as the captain knew panic would spread like an epidemic,
if the news of flooding in the vehicle deck were known.
Captain Robertson decided late to lift anchors from the reef.
The 'Wahine' drifted past Point Dorset, the point of no return,
as the ferry started to list to starboard quite steeply.
After mid-day the captain gave the order to abandon ship, starboard side.
The lifeboats and life rafts were frantically filled
when most passengers scrambled overboard on those lifesavers,
or clung to life-rafts, sailing to Seatoun or Eastbourne.
Most of them made it but fifty-one unlucky ones did not.
The victims drowned at sea or perished from the cold on shore.
Selfless volunteers dragged the desperate from the churning surf
to the sands of safety, where some of them would survive the ordeal
thanks to first aid resuscitation and late medical treatment.
-Revised 7 June,2017.
-10/11 April,2017.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
The year of the 'Wahine' disaster was April 1968. It seemed so much was battling against them, the errors and the elements which contributed to this terrible tragedy. A well written poem of this sad occasion.
Thanks for your comment Simone. I actually changed the wording again today and this will be the final version.