362
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

hereby also make and publish the foregoing Bye-
laws and Regulations.

CHAS. SHARP,
President of the Marine Board.
Wellington, 2nd August, 1866.

The foregoing Bye-Laws and Regulations submitted
to and approved of by the Governor in Council, this
fifteenth day of September, one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.

FORSTER GORING,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

G. GREY,
Governor.

Notice to Mariners.

General Post Office,
Wellington, 17th September, 1866.

THE following remarks respecting the entrance to
Manukau Harbour are published for general
information.

JOHN HALL,
Postmaster-General.

REMARKS ON MANUKAU HARBOUR, by THOMAS WING,
Harbour Master.

Subsequently to Captain Sidney's survey of the
entrance of the Manukau, and to his Report in 1863,
the following changes and improvements, hereby
notified for general information, have been made.

A Signal Mast has been erected on the South Head
at the entrance of the harbour, and is now attended
for the purpose of signalling vessels to and from sea.
The signals are similar to those formerly used on the
North Head (Paratutai), signified in the present
Harbour Regulations for general use. Also three
large iron Buoys have been placed in the Southern
Channel in the positions hereafter mentioned. In
future there will not be any fairway buoys as
formerly, in consequence of their having been so
frequently damaged and sunk by vessels while pass-
ing in and out of the harbour. But in place of
fairway buoys, two large Beacons, cone-shaped at
top, 600 feet apart, are now erected on the South
Head, about 400 feet above the sea-beach painted
white, with a vertical red stripe in the centre; and
by keeping the same in one, bearing about N.E. by
N. (magnetic), from sea, will lead a fairway course
between the shoals to the turning of the channel at
the Tranmeer and Treachery Buoys; and by keeping
northward along the line of beach, the South Head
and Emma Spit Buoys will be plainly seen. Two
Beacons in line are now being erected on the north
side of the harbour to guide vessels through this part
of the channel, particularly as a guide when the buoys
are missing or otherwise out of place.

Buoys in Southern Channel.

South Head Spit Buoy—Red; placed in three and
a half fathoms water low water, near the Spit, with
low beacon at South Head, bearing S.E. 1/2 E., mag-
netic.

Emma Spit Buoy—Black; placed at the extreme
N.E. end of the shoal, in three and a half fathoms low
water.

Tranmeer Shoal Buoy—Black; placed at the
eastern part of the shoal in three and a half fathoms
low water.

Treachery Shoal Buoy—Red; placed at the eastern
part of the shoal, in four fathoms low water.

Note.—As the shoals at the entrance of the harbour
are liable to shift (although not very frequently),
care should be taken to follow the telegraphic signals
given by the signalman at the Signal Station, particu-
larly when there is strength in the tide, which has a
strong tendency to set towards and through the
swatchways in the shoals, which should be avoided
as far as possible.

Tides.

High water at the full and change of the moon at
the entrance of the harbour, 9:30 a.m.; and the rise
and fall of tides may be taken to be as follows: Neaps
about eight feet, and springs twelve feet—at ordinary
tides running (at half tide) from four to six knots
between the South Head and Emma Spits, decreasing
gradually to about three miles per hour as you leave
this part of the channel.

Sailing Directions for Southern Channel—Inwards.

On entering the Manukau Harbour by the Southern
Channel from the south, the soundings should not be
less than six or six or seven fathoms before bringing
the South Head Beacons in one, bearing about N.E.
by N. (magnetic); and should it be strong flood
when in the vicinity of the Tranmeer and Treachery
Shoals, care should be taken not to keep northward,
so as to open the South Head Beacons to the east-
ward, until in four or five fathoms water to the N.E.
of the Tranmeer Shoal Buoy, or the proposed beacons
on the north side of the harbour are brought in one;
and then, by steering northward along the line of
beach, the South Head and Emma Spit Buoys will be
plainly seen, when a vessel may proceed up the
harbour into safe anchorage.

Note.—The flood tide, after reaching the South
Head Shoals, has a tendency to set across the
Treachery and Tranmeer Shoals, passing through a
narrow channel between the Tranmeer Shoal and
Emma Bank, which channel should be avoided except
when the tide is well in, and then should only be
navigated by vessels of light draft of water. The
soundings in the channel have been recently examined
and found to be very uneven, having only six and
seven feet water in places near it at low tide; but
from this locality the flood sets fair into the harbour
along the shore.

Directions for the Southern Channel—Outward bound.

On leaving the Manukau by the Southern Channel
on the ebb tide, care should be taken to keep the
South Head Shore aboard by one-fourth of the distance
across the harbour, so as to keep a midway course
between the South Head and Emma Spit Buoys (or
the north leading beacons in one now being erected).
This precaution, as a rule, will be the means of pre-
venting the vessel from being set past the South
Channel into the influence of the main channel tide,
which may bring her in contact with the Emma Bank,
or otherwise cause loss of time in regaining a proper
position, should the bar be unsafe. Once a vessel has
fairly entered the Southern Channel between the
South Head and Emma Spit Buoys, the ebb tide sets
fair towards the Tranmeer, and there will not be
much difficulty in working to sea with a westerly
wind in moderate weather. After passing the Tran-
meer Buoy on the starboard hand, with a westerly
wind, it will be advisable not to open the South Head
Beacons in a northerly direction more than about
three times their width, when, by tacking to the
north-westward the whole force of the ebb tide will
be brought on the vessel's lee, setting to windward
clear of the Tranmeer Shoal, and by making short
tacks on the line of South Head Beacons will soon
set the vessel to sea clear of the influence of the tide,
which has a tendency to set over the south part of
the Treachery and South Head Shoals.

Note.—The South Head Beacons are placed on
sliding ways for moving, so as to be adjusted to lead
the channel course as circumstances may require in
cases of the shoals shifting, and if required the
beacons can be used as lighthouses.