Capt. Andy Thomson

and His Three Sailor Sons

Captain Andy Thomson, Now

master of the Cook Islands motor-vessel Charlotte Donald and well-known in former years to travellers in the South Pacific as master of Tagua and the Tiare Taporo. has had three sons sailing iwith him in recent years.

At the end of June Captain Thomson brought the Charlotte back to Rarotonga after being absent to Tahiti during the months when hurricanes may visit the Cook

[lslands.

Writing since then, Andy says: “My eldest son will soon be in New Zealand. He .got his second mate’s ticket the year before last, and he now wants to go to Wellington to study for his first mate’s ticket.

“The other two boys have been with me for three years and want to go to New Zealand and join the Seamen’s Union and get into the big money. It is after all, a good life. They get good food, good quarters and good pay.”

Friends of Captain Andy will be glad that he has three sons follow ing in his distinguished footsteps.

They will have had the best of training in sailing with such a skipper.

Captain Thomson grew uo on Long Island, close to the port of New York, which in his young days was crowded with square-rigged ships as well as big steamers.

He served his apprenticeship to the sea on square-riggers in the Atlanic had a turn as a Quarter master on shins on the Great Lakes, made voyages out of Seattle and San Francisco, including trios to Alaska, before coming to the South Pacific.

Early in 1949, Captain Thomson sailed the Tiare Taporo to Auckland for refitting renewed acouain tance with many New Zealand folk.

It was the Tiare’s first visit to her port of registry, where she was built, for 30 years.

Later, she was sold in Tahiti, as also had been the Tagua. There must be few shins with sails on the New Zealand registry nowadays.

Captain Any can recall the days of “wooden shins and iron men” with whom he sailed in the early years of the century.

Conditions for seafaring men are better now, but a good deal of courage is still needed to work little shins among the reefs of the Cook Islands.—AJS.