Capt. Grey's "Siren" Now
p. 80 · Read in the full issue
in Full Commission
THE auxiliary ketch Siren which was built by Whippy’s shipyards in Suva and launched last year is now in commission.
The ketch belongs to Captain J. R.
Grey of Nabavatu Plantation, Lau Islands, Fiji. During the war he served in Aus tralian waters with the RAN and during this period found time to write “World’s End” which had a considerable sale. It is a story of life in the Lau Islands.
Siren has already proved herself a good sea-going vessel—comfortable and easy to handle. The Greys use her as a means of communication between their isolated plantation in the Lau Islands and civilisation in Suva.
The total crew consists of the owner, his wife, their five year old daughter and a young Fijian girl who is a mixture of nurse-companion to the child, washer-up, bunk-maker and deckhand. She likes sea-life and no longer has any enthusiasm for living in a Suva suburb.
Siren’s owner has had many ocean going yachts, ranging from 10 to 172 tons.
The present yacht, like the others, flies the Blue Ensign of the Royal Naval Reserve.