Cruising Yachts

• V ALROSA, magnificent 35metre yacht, sailed from Papeete on July 2 with all sails set after spending two months in Tahiti. The yacht is skippered by Marc Darnois, whom Le Journal de Tahiti has described as “one of the last adventurers of the sea, in the noble sense of the word”.

Valrosa is heading for Hong Kong and will call at the two Samoas, Fiji, Wallis Island, New Caledonia, Timor and Bangkok. She will return to Tahiti in about a year’s time.

Valrosa was built in a British ship yard in 1903. She has a crew of seven, and is carrying seven pas sengers Christian Jonville, Carlos Paez Villaro, Biki Marque, Hugh O’Brien, Bob Putigny and Jean Jacques. Rosita, a dog, is the ship’s mascot. • WAIMIHI, 30 ft steel yacht, arrived at Apia on June 10, from Suva, with a youthful crew of three two New Zealanders and an American. The skipper is Philip Wells, 19, of Whitianga, NZ. The others are Paul Goodwin, 19, of Panmure, NZ, and Frank Engli, 22, of New York.

The young men caused a stir in mid-June when they did not report their whereabouts. A search was about to start for them when word reached Fiji that they were at Apia.

Their original plan on leaving Fiji

for Vancouver was to stop off for a day or two at one of the Lau islands, and then sail for Pago Pago and Honolulu.

In Suva they said they would inform the proprietress of a Suva guest house of their arrival in Pago Pago, which was to be the first port of call.

They were due at Pago Pago on June 10, and when nothing was heard from them, the guest house proprie tress, Miss Cynthia Sutherland, advised the search and rescue organisation. A telegram to Pago Pago revealed that they were not there.

The search-rescue authorities were considering making a search for the Waimihi when word was received at the Nadi search-rescue centre that the yacht and her crew were at Apia. • JINNI, an American yacht skip pered by Captain Reems Mitchell, arrived in Apia on July 8 from Hawaii via the Tokelaus. Captain Mitchell, a former marine, was in Apia during the war.

Jinni is on a pleasure cruise. A day or two after her arrival in Apia, Captain Mitchell had not decided how long he would stay in Western Samoa and where he would go next. • KATHLEEN, 32 ft yacht, skip pered by Bryan Galpin and Roy Andrews, two young New Zealanders, left Nukualofa for Suva on July 4.

Next stop will be New Caledonia; and after that, home to Whangarei. • NEOPHYTE, 45 ft ketch, owned and skippered by Lee Quinn, an American with a penchant for all

rl crews, was due to leave Auckland out July 18, for Tonga, Fiji, New dedonia and Brisbane.

About 40 girls applied to Quinn to in Neophyte's crew during the tch’s stay in Auckland.

He engaged two Australian girls io were working as waitresses at a ew Zealand resort hotel. They are it Seedsman, 21, law clerk, of Kew, elbourne, and Glenda Siede, 20, of ingley, Melbourne, who worked in e same office.

The other three girls in the yacht’s mplement give the crew an inter tional flavour for two are New :alanders and one is an American, le New Zealanders are Gillian Hig ns, 21, a broadcasting programme ficer from Nelson, and Marlene ewbold, 18, an Auckland warehouse sistant. The American, Barbara idt, 28, comes from Chicago and is newspaper advertising copywriter.

Quinn said in Auckland he would it be returning to New Zealand, so e girls he engaged there would have pay for their return trip. The girls Duld also have to pay for food while i board the Neophyte. • PAISANO . 61 ft ketch, from inceton. New Jersey, and skippered r John Hazelhurst, was in Apia in id-June. • TE MATANGI, 35 ft Block land ketch, with her builder-owner, ck Ferguson and his wife Daisy rived in Brisbane from Auckland, a Lord Howe Island, in May. They an to spend the winter in Brisbane id then sail south to Sydney.

Te Motangi, which is registered in

San Diego, California, has been cruising the Pacific since 1955.

Mr. Ferguson built her in Nevada in the 1950’s and hauled her 200 miles to launch her at Sacramento.

The current cruise is planned to end in America in 1966. By that time Mr. Ferguson will have spent 18 of the last 30 years as a cruising yachtsman. He spent seven years in the Pacific in the ’thirties and ’forties. • TROPIC SEAS, yacht, arrived at Lord Howe Island on June 23 from Port Macquarie en route to America.

The yacht is jointly owned by five young adventurers, none of whom has had previous sailing experience.

• ULULANI, 63 ft ketch, owned and skippered by Ben Moore, of Los Angeles, arrived at Brisbane, via Lord Howe Island and the Great Barrier Reef, at the end of June. The ketch. which draws 9 ft, was one of the deepest draught yachts ever to anchor in the Lord Howe lagoon, a Lord Howe resident, Richard Gwalter, was a member of the crew.

He signed on at Noumea after having taken part in the Auckland-Noumea race as a member of the crew of the Cutty Sark. At Lord Howe, the yacht picked up two female “hitch-hikers’

The women and the crew of five all left the Ululani at Brisbane, In Brisbane, Mr. Moore planned to

take on two American geologists and a crew for a trip to the Great Barrier Reef on a speculative survey for oil and minerals.

The owner, a former teacher and builder, intends to sail round the world, working at ports of call. • ATRIA I, 43 ft steel yacht, has arrived at Brisbane from Auckland with skipper-builder-navigator Mr.

John Smith and his family. Mr.

Smith, a few years ago, sailed another yacht, the Revel, to Brisbane, and on returning to Auckland built the Atria /.

He plans to remain afloat indefini tely. His small daughter, 2, is already a seasoned sailor. She has lived aboard for 12 months. • ANNETTE, 48 ft auxiliary ketch, which left Sydney for Tahiti on April 13 via Lord Howe Island, Norfolk and the Cooks, has been carrying supplies between Rarotonga and the nearer islands of the Cook Group in recent weeks because of the shortage of licensed shipping there.

On board is owner Jim Pike, his

father S. Pike, Terry Dower of Tas mania, and Lloyd Williams of Sydney.

Early in July, Jim Pike was plan ning to remain in the Cooks until the services of his yacht were no longer required, and then go on to Tahiti. Annette has a capacity of 15 tons. • AUAU-KAI, 37 ft yacht, skip pered and owned by Roger and Elizabeth Bath, of Long Beach, Cali fornia, expects to leave Nukualofa at the end of August for Fiji. The yacht has been in Tonga for several months, having left New Zealand on April 7.

The Baths’ two young sons, Roy and Philip, are sailing in the yacht.

They have become expert seaman and take their turn at the wheel.

Mr. Bath is a professional photo grapher covering the whaling season in Tonga for the National Geographic Magazine in conjunction with Sydney author Olaf Ruhen, who is also plan ning a book on the subject.

Olaf and his wife Madeleine have been in Tonga since June 20. During their first three weeks, they stayed in a spacious Tongan fale, specially built by Captain Tefita Fifita.

Captain Fifita was skipper of the ill-fated yacht Tuaikaepau which was wrecked on Minerva Reef in 1962, and Olaf is the author of a book called Minerva Reef, which describes the wreck and its dramatic aftermath.

After three weeks in Nukualofa, the Ruhens, the Baths and Captain Fifita were to move to Ha’apai for the whaling season.

The whale boats will be manned by survivors from the Tuaikaepau under Captain Fifita, who has his own special method of harpooning whales. He brings the whale boat close enough to the whale to hand spear it, instead of throwing the harpoon.

The rope attached to the harpoon is hand held all the time, and just

enough is allowed to run out to k a taut line.

Tonga is one of the few ph in the world where the hand-harpo ing of whales is still practised.

The whales are caught purely their meat, each whale being to\ to the beach and cut up for sale. • DEFIANT, a 57 ft A Q keeler, left Auckland on June with two veteran members in crew—owner-skipper Roy Lidg£ 70, and Frank Peal, 81, a Boer \ veteran. Mr. Lidgard is well kno in Fiji shipping circles. A few ye ago, he bought the old Burns PI (SS) Co. Ltd. auxiliary ket Macuata, and sailed her from Si to Auckland.

Messrs. Lidgard and Peal visi Fiji last year in the Fairmile Sayaa which operates cruises from Au land.

Other members of Defiant’s cr are brothers Len and Bob Sklen; and Lester Aitken, who are all their 50’s, and David Rose, 21. M Lidgard and Mrs. Len Sklenars w< to fly to Fiji to join the Defiant.

Mr. Lidgard is president of t Great Astrolabe Lagoon regat which will be held in Kadavu wh he arrives. Part of the regatta is climbing contest up and down a ft coconut tree.

The current target for the regal is to beat the climbing record of ! seconds set by Ratu Timoci Mataitii • EUROPE, 75 ft yacht, skipper by Rene Corpel, was at Apia the middle of June. The skipper w admitted to Apia Hospital for medic treatment soon after arrival, but w later discharged.

The Europe, carrying a crew < five, is on a world cruise, which h; so far lasted two years. Fiji is tl next group on the yacht’s itinerary

"Auau-Kai", 37 ft.

American yacht, with Roger and Elizabeth Bath and their two teenage sons, has been back in Tongan waters recently after a spell in New Zea land. The Baths are on a world tour.

Photo: G. J. Clear.