138 Boating New Zealand
was for sale, “delivery at Nuku’alofa, contact Robert Miller & Co.
King’s Chambers, Commerce St, Auckland.”
his was quickly followed by a news item in the Auckland
Star on September 9 that W.P. (Bill) Endean had bought her and
that “Endean, Charles Bailey and Capt. Stevenson are leaving
tomorrow for Tonga.”
he Herald of September 13 conirmed that Endean had
bought Onelua, that it had caused a stir in yachting circles, and
that a party of yachtsmen had left on the Talune to sail her back
to Auckland. he Star of September 16 conirmed that Onelua
was “coming back.”
he Weekly News of September 18 reported the sale of Onelua
from the estate of the late King George II of Tonga to W.P.
Endean and that she was to be “sailed back to Auckland by Capt.
Stevenson, Charles Bailey, H. Littler and G. Wynn.” At the same
time Endean notiied the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
that he was the owner of Onelua. hen silence.
he irst hint of trouble was in the Herald of November 1,
1919; “some diiculty has arisen over the purchase of the yacht.”
Finally, on November 25, the Star solemnly, if tantalisingly,
reported that there was little chance of Onelua coming to
Auckland “owing to her native owners removing her from Tonga.”
Endean’s crew found that Onelua was no longer in
Nuku’alofa, and had probably been sailed to the northern group.
he detail of the situation is lost but it is certain that, not only
was Tonga still reeling from recent events, but also there were
multiple intertwined layers of mana and tabu which European
purchasers could never have decoded.Bill Endean’s failure to take possession of the yacht
undoubtedly lay in a cultural impasse over the disposing of this
precious royal thing in the background of the temporary lack of
social, political and economic stability in the island kingdom.
In 1921 Onelua was reported wrecked. But in April 1924
James Reid, that excellent boatbuilder from Sulphur Beach,
Northcote, cleared Auckland for Nuku’alofa in his husky 45ft
schooner Vision. On board were James and his wife Queenie,
daughters Phyllis (18) and Madge (12) and son Jim (16). he
Tongans received the Reids enthusiastically, and they had to turn
down a tempting ofer for the purchase of Vision by a local noble.
On June 17 the Reid family left Nuku’alofa sailing north
to the small island of Nomuka. During their stay Phyllis Reid
reported in her log that Onelua was rechristened and relaunched
after extensive repairs.
Next the Auckland Star of October 11 reported, “An Auckland
yachtsman who has just returned from the islands informs us
that he saw Mr. Jas Reid and family on board their yacht Vision
at Vava’u last week. She was lying alongside the Auckland-built
yacht, Onelua, which, our informant states, is in excellent
order.” his report extends Onelua’s known life to 1924. We
wonder when, where and how she really died?
I was cheeky enough to write to Salote’s son, King
Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, about the enigma of Onelua before his
death in 2006. Sadly, I received no reply. As Prince Tugi, he
had frequently sailed in Auckland keelers as a young man.
He once sailed with Bressin hompson, owner of Prize, and
exhibited a very real knowledge of the relationship betweenCLOCKWISE
FROM ABOVE
The Royal Palace
at Nuku’alofa.
Onelua just after
Charles Bailey Jr
launched her on
the Waitemata in
April 1913.
A 1914 newspaper
sketch of Charles
Bailey Jr.