Brig 'Pakeha' Wrecks Near Lake Ellesmere

The sea was literally mountains high, and the brig Pakeha, an older ship, was laboring heavily. It was Friday, June 10, 1881, and a heavy gale, with blinding sheets of rain, was blowing from the south to southwest. The brig had left Kaipara on June 1st, bound for Dunedin with a full cargo of timber.

They were about twelve miles from Dunedin Heads when the Pakeha sprang a leak and became almost unmanageable. Captain Moore decided to put the vessel before the wind, hoping to find shelter under Banks’ Peninsula. All through Friday night and into Saturday morning, the brig ran before the furious gale. Around half an hour before the wreck, which happened around 6:30 AM, fearful gusts ripped the two lower topmast staysails, foresail, and foretopmast staysail clean out of their sheet-bolts. The vessel was completely unmanageable.

Captain Moore decided to let the craft drift ashore, and the braces were cut, causing one of the masts to go over the side. The sea was making clean breaches over the ship, and all hands were swept into the raging foam. Out of eight men on board, seven were lost.

The Pakeha wrecked on Taumutu Beach, near Lake Ellesmere, at 9 AM on Saturday, June 11, 1881. The lost included Frederick, the Second Mate; Alfred, an AB; Anderson, an AB; Charles Carlson, an AB; Captain Moore, or Brewer; Christie Smith, the Cook; and John Walker, the First Mate.

The only survivor was Christian Petersen, a seaman. He was washed overboard but managed to get hold of a floating spar and clung to it until it drifted ashore. Petersen, who was the only one of the crew who couldn't swim, tried to walk on the beach but was exhausted and bruised from contact with floating timber. He fell three times and lay in a semi-unconscious state until a lake fisherman found him and took him to his hut. Dr. Major came through a storm of wind and rain to help, and Petersen made a good recovery. He was expected in Southbridge the next day.

The Pakeha was a total wreck, smashed into a thousand pieces, and the beach for many miles was strewn with timber and debris. This was the same spot where the schooner Clyde had been beached about two years and four months earlier during a similar gale. The day after the wreck, a Sunday, was fine, and many people from Southbridge and the surrounding area came to see the scene. Mrs. Mitchell of the Royal Hotel sent necessary clothing for Petersen, who had lost everything.