KEY POINTS:
Thirty-eight years to the day after the sinking of the Wahine interisland ferry, the memories are still vivid for those who survived the tragedy.
The Lyttleton to Wellington ferry struck Barrett's Reef off Wellington's coast, just after 5:40am on April 10, 1968. The order was given to abandon ship at 1.15pm.
Frank Hitchens, who was a steward on the vessel, remembers people being very calm as preparations were made to abandon ship. He says he helped some through a doorway, onto a sloping deck and into the lifeboats.
Fifty-one people died in the disaster.
- NEWSTALK ZB
