Suva Sees Many Yachts

From Our Own Correspondent SUVA, October 2.

IT seems to have been an open season for yachts.

The list is headed by the imposing Motor Yacht Alva, commanded by “Willie K,” otherwise Commodore W.

K. Vanderbilt, U.S.N.R. She is reputed to be the largest yacht afloat and has a normal cruising speed of 15 knots, equal to that of the “Aorangi.”

Her owner is also her Master, no sinecure, though he carries a crew of somewhere over 50, as witnessed by the fact that when she was brought alongside the wharf at Suva to take in water, he did the actual bringing alongside himself. Aboard the yacht everything was of the best, but there was an entire absence of ostentation, and the Commodore himself was very pleasant and unaffected.

The little 30-tonner, “Southern Cross,” arrived from Tahiti with three young men from the Old Country, who are making their leisurely way round the world.

Another arrival was the “Viheele,” a yawl with a total complement of 7, also on her way round the world, and the “Arethusa,” a tiny craft, which a man in the Civil Service sailed down from Auckland. ===