News Of Cruising Yachts

ODESTAR, a Piver-designed i, arrived in Honolulu re -7 days out of Nukuhiva with ohn Doignault and a crew of ir last news of Lodestar was r airoa, New Zealand, in early er when she left there for nd Tahiti. She had been in aland for several months fol a voyage from San Francisco lolulu and the Cook Islands egan in May, 1962. lault joined the craft in u when two original crew s quit. His companions on New Zealand were Charles and Wayne Dumbleton. tar has 400 square feet of a six hp outboard motor. Her appearance attracted a lot of i in New Zealand. iSTOR, 73 ft Australian r, arrived in Honolulu from on May 9 en route to Cali to take part in the transrace from Los Angeles olulu. A star’s owner-skipper Peter Warner, 32, of Cam- New South Wales. PlM’s u correspondent said on June skipper and crew are full of sm and seem to be having a ne. Considering Astor’s size jd, she should be among the shers off Diamond Head on \NEVE, 25 ft Marconi rigged ingle-handed by 27-year-old Vlermod, of Geneva, Switzer *ived in Noumea in mid-May uva. Geneve had been in

Suva since last December waiting out the hurricane season.

Mermod built the sloop in Callao, Peru, and sailed her to Suva last year via the Galapagos, Marquesas, Tua motu, Society and Cook Islands fur thering his studies in sociology. His final destination is Marseilles, France.

Mermod intended to stay in New Caledonia for several weeks before continuing his wanderings. • AEGEAN , a yacht from Van couver, Canada, was in Nukualofa, Tonga, in May en route to Fiji. • CYTHERA ; Two men who stole the 50 ft steel-hulled Sydney yacht Cythera at Lord Howe Island on April 10 were each sentenced to four years’ gaol at the Darlinghurst (Sydney) Quarter Sessions on May 31.

The two men, Daniel James Barrie, 25, a New Zealander, and Derrick Brewin, 31, an Englishman, had pleaded guilty to the charge and had said they intended to sail the yacht to South America (PIM, June, p. 99).

In sentencing Barrie and Brewin, Judge Amsberg said they had “care fully and deliberately” planned the theft months earlier, and had bought charts covering the whole of the

Michel Mermod.

"Lodestar"

Pacific from the Navy Depart ly the fact that they took the from a harborage and not the ;eas saves them from a charge iracy and a possible death y,” he said, ?e Amsberg said he did not be- Jarrie’s story that Mr. Fenton’s icy jeopardised the lives of his nd daughter and everyone else ard. also does not matter two straws ir Mr. Fenton was a second n Bligh, although the balance evidence is to the very oppo sed,” he said. lat matters is that he (Fenton) nning his hopes for the future yacht, and these men took it him cruelly, heartlessly and lalice. jy left him stranded at Lord Island, and were responsible ire than £l,OOO damage to the valued with the property at £17,000. s is the worst case of its kind experience.” fact that did not emerge in se was that Brewin is one of en who put to sea from Nor

folk Island in Walter Martindale’s 32 ft Sydney cutter Isis in June last year.

Brewin and the other man were crew members of the Isis.

After no news had been heard from them for a week, they brought the cutter back to Norfolk Island, reporting that bad weather had forced them to put out to sea, and that gales had blown them about 200 miles north-west of the island.

Reporting this incident in August last year, PIM said: “They had found it impossible to lift the dinghy in board so they had cut it adrift. (This had led to speculation that the Isis had foundered when the wrecked dinghy was washed ashore.)”

In October, the Isis was dashed to pieces by high seas at the base of cliffs near Kingston pier. • DID A, a ketch en route from the Solomon Islands to New Zealand, was at anchor at Port Sandwich.

Malekula, New Hebrides, on May 19 when the Messageries Maritimes liner

Polynesie called there, causing much

excitement among the natives.

• GOLDEN HIND, 36 ft ketch, arrived in Honolulu from Pago Pago recently after a rough voyage of 23 days. Golden Hind, with Mr. and

"Truly Fair" (see page 112).

Lyle Graham and their two :e sons, has been cruising the i Pacific for several months, port is Los Angeles.

JOHN HANNA, 30 ft yacht, Wing, of California, and J. erman, of Michigan, reached a May after putting into Anch or repairs to a broken rudder, sustained on a voyage from The John Hanna left San California, in May, 1962, for i Polynesia. She was in Fiji the recent hurricane season.

KOAE, a yacht from Seattle, called at Nukualofa in May on ly to Fiji. 1080 DEL MAR , 30 ft Tahiti of Newport Beach, California, i Nukualofa in May bound for lur last news of this ketch was Bora Bora in March where she aiting for mail before going to >nga. The skipper is Terry Dal ho is sailing round the world.

OKEANOS, 39 ft staysail ier with Joe Pachernegg and his lian fiancee Benita Burge (now Pachernegg—see p. 112), d Valparaiso, Chile, in May a 68-day voyage from Tahiti pa and Juan Fernandez. and Benita—sometimes in ny, sometimes alone—have ailing the Pacific since March,

1962, when they left Wewak for Japan. They later visited California and then went on to the Marquesas and Tahiti, which they reached last December.

In an interesting letter to PIM from Valparaiso written on May 28, Joe said that the longest part of their latest voyage—from Rapa to Juan Fernandez—took 56 days.

“From Rapa,” Joe said, “we went south with the intention to steer in that direction until we found the wes terlies. It took three weeks, continu ously on the wind and with the sails sheeted in, before we made the lati tude of 35 degrees south.

“In that first part of the trip, we had a fair bit of unsettled weather and a few light gales. But once we got going on the course towards the east, the weather became gradually better and later we could have used more wind all the time.

“If we should ever repeat this voy age. I would want to go further south —around the forties or so. It might mean a faster passage.

“This part of the ocean is a pretty deserted place. We never saw a ship once. Also, fish and bird life is ex

chernegg (left) and his fiancee Burge (now Mrs. Pachernegg) on the "Okeanos". With them is perman William Gasson, a crew ember on an earlier voyage.

tremely rare. We caught only one fish —a large tuna. One certainly cannot say that on such a voyage one can live by fishing alone.

“Our visit to Rapa was really worth while. It is a most interesting place and the people are helpful and kind. (An article on Rapa by Joe Pachernegg will appear in next month’s PIM.) “All the way across from Rapa to Juan Fernandez, we kept between 35 and 36 degrees south. In a way, we were happy when we finally made Masafuera and Masatierra, the two islands of the Juan Fernandez group.

“These islands are very moun tainous and the weather was really foul when we arrived there. We al most had to give up the idea of land ing. But the weather improved and we were able to make Cumberland Bay.

“We only wanted to stay a day or two. But we met such nice people and exceptional hospitality that it became 10 days. It is a perfect place, and if anyone is looking for a paradise, we can only advise them to go there.

“In a way, it looks the same as Rapa, except that at Juan Fernan dez they have Robinson Crusoe (Alexander Selkirk) instead of the fortresses on the mountains.

“The Juan Fernandez islands are famous for their lobsters, and the population lives mainly from that in dustry.

“Our prolonged stay was mainly due to a continuous round of fiestas.

One almost can say that the hard ships are greater in the harbours than at sea because we are usually pretty weary by the time we reach port.

“After leaving Juan Fernandez, we were expected in Valparaiso for several days before we reached there.

A bomber of the Chilean Air Force circled round us when we arrived under full sail after a few days of rough sailing.

“Since then, we have been about the most popular couple in Chile.

The Yacht Club de Chile took care of us, and all formalities to enter the country did not take more than five minutes. The club has made us its guests, and we have met so many and such nice people that we can easily say that this is a most worthwhile place to come to.

“We are doing lectures and giving TV shows to return some of the friendliness shown us. It is getting cold now. and in a few days we will sail north again.

“We will stop at a small place called Pitchidangue where a yachting friend has a slipway which he has put at our disposal for free. In one or two weeks, we will depart for Anto fagasta (northern Chile) and later Callao (Peru).

“From Peru, we will probably go to the Galapagos, Cocos Island, Panama and the West Indies. Then we may carry on to Europe and later to Australia.” • SEA WIND, Malcolm and Muff Graham’s 38 ft ketch, reached Vila in mid-May after a voyage from Suva. The Grahams were then going to Port Moresby, Bali and Singapore in the course of a leisurely world cruise which began in San Diego,

California, about two years ago far, they have cruised off the Pi coast of Mexico, and have visited Marquesas, Tahiti, Pago Pago, / Niuafo’ou and Suva. • SOLO, a Sydney yacht skipper Vic Meyer and Bob Bi man, of Hobart, was in Nukua Tonga, in mid-June. Solo left Sy< on May 24 for a cruise to Tahiti, was to be in Nukualofa for about weeks. • TRULY FAIR, 30 ft sqi rigged Tahiti ketch, left Honolulu Tahiti recently with Chet Bann: and Larry Briggs on a five-year cumnavigation.