Eliza McPhee, schooner; On the night of July 15 1881, the schooner went ashore in Waikawa Harbour, where she was sheltering from bad weather when on a passage from Dunedin to Invercargill. A very heavy sea was running, and when the anchors dragged the master tried to put to sea. Every sail was set, but in the absence of any wind the schooner drifted helplessly on to the rocks and became a total wreck. No lives were lost, the master and crew, at great risk to their lives, saving the life of the German cook, who was washed into the breakers.The Eliza McPhee, No. 61,006, was a schooner of 40 tons register, built at Catlins River, South Otago, in 1871, by William McPhee, and her dimensions were: Length 64.6ft, beam 17.9ft, depth 6.5ft. She was under the command of Captain John Campbell. On June 17 1876, the Eliza McPhee was wrecked on Mayhew Island, inside of Kapiti Island. The schooner, then owned and commanded by Captain Neil Reid, was on a voyage from Oamaru to Wanganui and anchored at Entry Anchorage, Kapiti Island. Here, evidently of starting a plank in her bottom, the vessel developed a serious leek, which, despite pumping, continued to gain. In making an attempt to beach the Eliza McPhee on a sandy point on Mayhew Island, the vessel struck on a ledge of rock, the crew landing safely at low water. The schooner was surveyed, and as there was no appliances handy for refloating her, she was abandoned to the underwriters. She was subsequently sold and refloated.
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