Cruising Yachts

Pacific Shipping And Cruising Yachts

Three Skippers "In The Gun"

Over Fiji Standings

Marine courts of inquiry in Fiji had a couple of busy days early in December when they suspended one master’s certificate of competency for 12 months, censured another master, and admonished a third.

3HEY did this after inquiries into - the stranding of the Tui Levuka i Nanuku Reef early on August 8, >62, the Tui Cakau on Yadua Reef i December 22, 1962, and the Tui alavala on Mabulica Reef, Gau, amaiviti, on May 12, 1963.

In delivering their findings on the ui Valavala (registered tonnage r . 59) stranding, the court, although Imonishing the master, Mesake Kol isava, congratulated him on getting s passengers safely ashore on Gau land.

In this inquiry the court was criti il of the long hours Mesake worked ports and at sea. It was revealed at just before the stranding, Mesake id only about seven hours sleep in )out 70 hours.

He had sailed the Tui Valavala trough reef-strewn seas in heavy eather on May 9 and he did not get i bed till about midnight on May

10. He had about four hours’ sleep before resuming duty on May 11, and another three just before the strand

ing.

The court was also critical of the owner of the Tui Valavala, Abubakar Siddiq, for having failed to attract an adequate crew for the ship. The evi dence revealed that Mesake had a crew of five, and that most of them were mere youths with very limited sailing experience.

For example, Mesake, when he went to bed about 11 p.m. on May 11, left instructions that he was to be called at 2 a.m.

Although his order was passed on to the boy who took over the wheel, the boy did not call him because an unreliable alarm clock in the wheelhouse stopped at 1.50 a.m., about an hour before the Tui Vala vala stranded.

The Tui Valavala became a total loss a few days after the stranding.

The court found that Mesake was guilty of a wrongful omission in not ascertaining his position before alter ing course for Gau, and allowing the ship to go to sea with what he must have known was an incompetent crew. But the serious damage to the Tui Valavala was not the direct re sult of the wrongful omission, it said.

A contributing cause was the employ ment of a deck crew with no know ledge or experience and Mesake had no reliable person he could put in charge while he took necessary periods of rest.

"Tui Levuka" Case The court in giving its findings about the Tui Levuka (registered ton nage 25.97) recommended that the Coasting Ordinance be amended to provide for the production of a crew list as one of the facilities required for the clearance of a ship.

The court found it was probable the Tui Levuka stranded because of: • Poor visibility; a possible set to the west by the tide; bad steering; sailing with the jib only; underesti mation of the speed by the master, Taniela Kepa; and insufficient crew.

The court found that Taniela was guilty of two wrongful acts: • In the poor visibility he should have reversed his course earlier; (Over)

FOUR OF A KIND: The crew and officers of these four ships of Morris Hedstrom Ltd., Fiji, had a celebration on November 28 when all were in Suva together.

To mark the occasion, the ships were decorated with flags. They are (from left) the "Tuvalu", "Altair", "Adi Keva" and "Tui Cakau". Photo: Stan Whippy.

• He should not have put to sea th insufficient crew.

A contributing cause was that miela apparently had no young lined deckhand to send up as a 3kout.

The court did not think Taniela’s rtificate should be cancelled or sus nded, but that he should be cen red.

"Tui Cakau" Case Isikeli Rakuni, who was relieving aster of Morris Hedstrom’s inter and trader, Tui Cakau (registered image 59.70) lost his certificate for : months.

The court found that the Tui ikau had stranded because of an ror in navigation and that Isikeli as incompetent generally in his indling of the ship.

Isikeli had failed to mark his posi m on the chart when he anchored the afternoon on December 21, he ft his anchorage in the dark when : had not ascertained his position, id he had failed correctly to ascer in how much room he had in which turn.

The total cost of repairs to the ui Cakau was £stg. 1,939, which in aded salvage costs and repairs to e engine and winch. The winch was rained during the salvage.

• New Facilities For Nor

DLK ISLAND: Work is expected to ;gin within six months on the idening and lengthening of the pier Cascade Bay, Norfolk Island, and

on building a concrete cargo hand ling area adjacent to the pier. The Minister for Territories, Mr. Paul Hasluck, has approved the spending of £10,500 on this project. The work will be under the control of the Commonwealth Department of Works.

Cascade Bay, on the north-east side of Norfolk Island, is one of only two anchorages at the island at which cargo from ships can be discharged.

The other anchorage is Sydney Bay (Kingston) on the island’s southern side.

Sydney Bay has several smaller bays within it, one of which, Slaughter Bay, may be developed as a small boats harbour.

About two years ago, the Com monwealth Government allocated

£2,500 for an investigation into the possibility of building a small boats harbour at Norfolk. This investiga tion was carried out by the hydro graphic department of the University of Queensland, which is expected to submit a report to the Government in March.

It is understood that the report will recommend Slaughter Bay as the most suitable spot for a small boats harbour, and that it will outline a £150,000 scheme for building such a harbour. The scheme could only be carried out if the Commonwealth Government provided a grant. • NEW CLUB: The recently es tablished aquatic club of the New Britain Club, Rabaul, became a go ing concern in November when the club members held their first official

IN NEW ROLE: "Tiare", which was formerly a French naval patrol vessel used in New Caledonian and New Hebrides waters, is now on charter to the big New Hebrides company, CFNH, to carry copra. She is seen here in Vila Harbour.

Photo: Reece Discombe.

icht race. There were five yachts king part on Simpson Harbour, abaul. Rabaul saw yacht racing be ire the war, but there has been none nee the war, although for many jars there has been yachting in Port [oresby.

• Captain Tippett Dies;

he death has occurred in Nukualofa : Captain A. J. Tippett, Tongan arbourmaster from 1918 until 1950. ;e Deaths, p. 129. • LAE EXTENSION: After much ptation extending back for years, e wharf at Lae, NG, is to be ex nded to 400 ft. The wharf will also ;t another three approaches, making re. altogether, and thus avoid bottle :cks in cargo handling. The tender r the extensions, worth £190,000, is been let to Delta Constructions, Port Moresby, and date of com etion is June, 1965.

• New Bougainville Ves

EL: The Nordkil, brought from orway by the Bougainville Com my to replace the Polurrian, which nk with the loss of many lives last arch, began its Bougainville service early December. See picture for rther details.

• New Bp Vessel: The Con

act was signed in Melbourne in ovember for Burns Philp’s new lands vessel to replace the Malaita. le is being built at the NSW State ockyards, Newcastle, and will be 600 tons and 300 ft long. Con act price is £1,400,000. She is the st BP inter-island vessel to be built Australia, and her name has not been decided on, although \a appears to be in top running. • RUSSIAN TESTS: Russia was i hold new rocket tests in the Pacific dween December and late January.

Tass news agency said the tests ould be of “new improved versions : booster rockets for space vehicles.”

Tass news agency said the tests ea was about 500 miles due south : Johnson Island and 800 miles >uthwest of Honolulu.

This is in the same general area here Russia previously tested space >ckets.

A second test area was listed as 50ut 1,500 miles northwest of the -st area and about 2,500 miles due ist of Tokyo.

Russia also has previously tested >ckets in this area.

Tass did not disclose where the )ckets would be fired from.

But in previous tests they were reported to have been fired from central Asia, about 7,000 miles from the target areas.

The Russians held two Pacific test series in 1961. The announcement of the latest series warned ships and aircraft to stay out of the test area between the prescribed dates.

• Mines Cleared: Six Aus-

tralian minesweepers spent a week clearing mines from Tonolei Harbour, at the southern tip of Bougainville, in late November. The minesweepers are HMAS Curlew, HMAS Ibis, HMAS Snipe, HMAS Hawk . HMAS Teal and HMAS Gull, all of 360 tons, Tonolei was a wartime Japanese base and the mines, of the magnetic type, were laid by US aircraft in 1943. They dropped 150 mines, triggered to explode after the passage of various numbers of ships. The six minesweepers made nearly 200 runs up and down the channel. . , , The Minesweeping Squadron also carried out a hydrographic survey of reported shoals in the Solomon Sea, and later called in at Port Moresby, where they were given a warm welcome by local people.

During the Port Moresby stay the

commander of one of the mine sweepers, Lt. F. B. J. Hammill, of the Snipe, decided to have a close look at the wreck of the old BP ves- Macdhui, which still lies in Port Moresby after being bombed and sunk during the war. She is rusted pieces—and not very safe, as Ft. Hammill found when he fell through the funnel and injured him self. He was pulled free by a party from his vessel and admitted to Port Moresby hospital with a deep wound in his thigh. The ship left without him.

• Farewell To Cook: Fiji

took farewell of the Royal Navy survey ship, HMS Cook, on a grey day amid emotional scenes The Cook, badly damaged after hitting a coral head off Ellington a few weeks a B°- ,$ as a result now on her way Devonport, England, to pay off.

Flying a paying off pennant, 187 ft long, she sailed proudly down Suva Harbour escorted by a fleet of motor boats from the Royal Suva Yacht Club and a Sunderland flying-boat from the RNZ AE base at Laucala g ay a crowd of about 500 stood on the wharf at Suva as the Cook, promptly at 4 p m on December 7, with the ratings standing to attention on the

Seen In Rabaul:

Recently in Rabaul on her annual visit was the "Ozama

Twomey" (above),

which is owned by the Methodist Foreign Mission. Her head quarters are at

Munda, BSIP. Below,

also photographed in

Rabaul recently, is

the 143 ft. vessel "Nordkil", which has been bought by the

Bougainville Com

pany to replace the

"Polurrian", owned

by the same com pany, which was lost in March, 1963. The "Nordkil” is fitted with radar and does 9 knots. She was put into service two days after arriving in Rabaul. She is under the command of Captain A. Brown.

:k, drew away into the stream, and ; Sunderland roaring overhead, dip ig its wings in salute.

She gave three blasts on her siren she pulled away, and these were swered by the Union Steam Ship i.’s Matua, berthed at the other end the wharf. The Maroro, which had ived back from Levuka a couple hours earlier with the disabled ird 111 in tow, flew three flags ich read, “Ni Sa Moce” (Good s).

Just off the passages the Cook ised and waited for the Govern nt ship, Degei 11, which had the id of the Fiji Military Forces on ard. The band, which had been iring Lomaiviti Province, was to ve returned to Suva in time to play : Cook away from the wharf, but s held up by bad weather. But the id still made its farewell effort im the Degei 11.

Ihe commander of the Cook, mmander Frank Hunt, exchanged ssages with the Degei 11, and also changed messages with the Acting ivernor, Mr. P. D. Macdonald.

Phe Cook’s last two missions from i waters were not of survey, but mercy. The day before she sailed ; went to the assistance of the >rd 111, stranded on Nairai Reef.

Phe Cook first came to Fiji waters 1957, and in the six years she s associated with Fiji she won a rm place in the hearts of the )ple. Her officers and crew were /ays willing to take part in the : of Fiji. A recent example was ding some of the crew to help i the South Pacific Games.

Just before she left the Govern nt and the people of Fiji presented j Fijian clubs to the Cook. The nivalu, Ratu George Cakobau, ided the clubs, which were part of collection at the Fiji Museum, over a ceremony at Suva. Ratu George erred to the esteem in which the ok was held. Commander Hunt,

after accepting the clubs, handed to Ratu George, a replica of the Cook’s crest, as a symbol of our affection for the way in which you have taken us to your hearts over the past six years”. The crest was symbolic of the work of Captain Cook in opening the Pacific to the Western World.

As the Cook sailed she left five men on the wharf, but they were not absent without leave. They were part of the “honeymoon crew” of 15 who, in 12 months, had married.

Seven of them had married Fijiborn girls, while eight had New Zealand brides. The married men left on the wharf flew home to England with their wives.

• For Inter-Island

SERVICE: A new ship for interisland operations in American Samoa was due to leave San Diego, California, on December 10. The ship is the Hugh B. Smith. Ten American Samoans flew from Pago Pago to San Diego in November and

December to sail the ship home under Captain George R. Jacobs. cvhmfy ffrrv ini NFW

• Sydney Ferry In New

The ex-Sydney ferry which has been bought by two New Caledonian businessmen has arrived and the island of Nouville. This is a Government subsidised service, and the only communication between Noumea and Nouville, which was formerly the notorious penal settlement, He Nou.

The populaton of Nouville has been steadily increasing in recent years due to the opening of various educational projects, including boat building classes sponsored by the South Pacific Commission.

The Patonga will go into service in New Caledonia under the same name. Besides operating between Noumea and Nouville, she will service tourist ships which have to anchor in the harbour roadstead.

The Patonga cost the two business men the princely sum of U million

Buses For Export:

The second of two buses to be exported from Fiji to Tonga is seen here being loaded into the "Matua" in Suva on November 28 for shipment to Nuku alofa. The first bus left early in Novem ber and was con

signed to Mr. Sunia

Bloomfield, father of one of the Minerva Reef castaways. Both buses were built by P. A. lal Bros., of Suva. Photo: Stan Whippy.

francs (£7,500) landed at Noumea.

Her purchase would seem to have put an end to the idea of building a causeway between Noumea and Nouville. For some years this idea has been discussed among local political parties at election times.

• For French Residency:

The Messageries Maritimes cargo vessel Valais recently delivered a 62 ft touring vessel to the New Hebrides, for the French Residency

at Vila. The new ship, the Aquitaine, was built near Bordeaux.

She is a twin-screw vessel with a cruising speed of 10i knots, a range of 700 miles, accommodation for six passengers, and a crew of six.

® Grounded In Hurri

CANE: The 100-ton steel trading vessel Deutgan, owned by Mr.

Marcel Marinacce, of Santo, New Hebrides, struck a reef in the Maskelyne Islands, off the south-east

coast of Malekula, in a hurricane c November 15. No one was hui and all merchandise on board wi expected to be saved, but the shi was so badly holed that she expected to be a total write-off. • AGE UNLIMITED, Williai Willis’ metal raft in which I travelled from Peru to Apia, arri l ing in November, is something of point of interest for tourists 1 Samoa. Willis himself has flow home to the US for some medics attention for injuries he receive during the 7,450 mile journey (on roundabout route). At the momei he plans to return to Samoa at th end of the hurricane season and con plete his voyage to Australia.

During his voyage Willis mad

opious notes for a new book he is lanning, to follow Seven Little isters.

To illustrate the book he has lenty of photographs of himself on le high seas, taken with the aid of self-timer on his camera. He also 30k a lot of 16 mm movie film.

His films and cameras were stored i airtight bags in the shelter on eck. Willis and his two cats pre jrred to sleep on deck, although ecause of the long periods of bad weather during his 130 day drift fe wasn’t so comfortable there, art of his daily routine was to drink third of a cup of seawater.

• Migrants For Bsip: The

rst commercial voyage of the Tonga opra Board’s new ship Niuvakai as to pick up about 450 Ellice danders in the Phoenix Group for at Wagina Island in the ritish Solomon Islands. The liuvakai arrived at Suva on Novem er 16 on her way to the Phoenix Jroup, and reached Wagina in )ecember. © FISH GALORE: More than 0,000 salada fish, in two shoals of bout equal numbers, were stranded t Nukulaelae in the Gilbert and llice Group in November.