Mr Goldsmith and Mr Spring, now a barrister in Takapuna, were travelling together on the ferry when it got caught in the middle of two ferocious storms and capsized, with the loss of 51 lives.
Mr Spring said that early in the morning of April 10, 1968, the pair had gone up to one of the upper decks to watch the boat coming into Wellington Harbour.
The trip had been rough but they had no idea of what was ahead. A loud bang came as the ship was dashed against Barrett's Reef, and hours of confusion followed as the ship listed and attempts to tow it into port failed.
When the order to abandon ship came, Mr Spring was making his way along the deck to the stern and knew the ship was about to capsize.
"I really just wanted to get out of there before it happened because I could see myself getting sucked under," he said.
Mr Spring was one of many who jumped overboard, 12 metres from the stern to the churning water below, with his ticket safely tucked into his jacket pocket.
For two and a half hours he was in the water, pounded by huge waves but avoiding the sharp rocks at Eastbourne on which many of the victims died.
He was eventually rescued by the tug boat Tapuhi, which carried dozens of survivors, but also the bodies of people who had drowned.
He said there were "so many heroes" that day, and 40 years on people are still fascinated by the subject.
"There are plenty of New Zealanders who weren't born when it happened. At the time we were told not to talk about it but these days everyone wants to know what happened," he said.
Mr Spring said one day he would donate his ticket to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which has no such mementoes of the tragedy.
Neill Atkinson, senior historian at the Ministry for Art, Culture and Heritage, said original Wahine tickets were rare. The Museum of Wellington only has replicas of tickets, while Christchurch collector Steven McLachlan said they were worth about $500 to collectors in New Zealand.
Watch TVNZ archival footage of the Wahine disaster below:
