Pitcairn Island Bounty museum in limbo on high seas

1.00pm - By KATHY MARKS on Pitcairn Island


A museum aimed at attracting tourists to remote Pitcairn Island is in limbo on the high seas after sailing around the world and failing to reach its destination for the second time yesterday.

Construction materials for the museum, designed to house relics from the British warship HMS Bounty, were dispatched from New Zealand last July.

But when the container ship reached the tiny South Pacific island in August, conditions were too rough to unload them and they sailed on to Antwerp, the ship's destination.

After spending several weeks on the quayside in Antwerp, the museum was loaded on to another ship that sailed through the Panama Canal once again and reached Pitcairn yesterday.

The islanders launched one of the longboats in which they ferry all supplies ashore. But a 20ft swell off the British dependent territory prevented them from unloading the materials again.

Pitcairners, who are descended from the Bounty mutineers, watched in frustration as the Condor Bay pitched and rolled offshore in the huge waves.

"It was freaky out there," said Pawl Warren, a local man who went out on the longboat at first light.

The £40,000 ($106,000) museum, designed to be an attraction for the cruise ship passengers who visit the island, is now on its way back to Auckland, via New Caledonia and Tahiti.

Pitcairn, which lies half-way between New Zealand and South America, is dependent on container ships to bring in all supplies. The ships call three or four times a year, and hover offshore, since the island has no harbour.

Also en route back to New Zealand after traversing the Pacific and Atlantic oceans twice are the building materials for the marital home of a young Pitcairn couple, Darralyn and Turi Griffiths.

They saw their home, which is in the same consignment, sail away again yesterday, tossed on the high breakers.

Mrs Griffiths, who grew up on Pitcairn, was stoical.

"It's the second time that it's gone past," she said.

"We were looking forward to building it and moving into our own home. Hopefully it will be third time lucky."

Her husband said: "There's not much you can do. The weather's been bad for a couple of days, so we were half expecting it."

The couple are hoping that their materials, together with the errant museum, will return to Pitcairn on a supply ship at the end of next month.

- INDEPENDENT