Shipping News

In Brief

• Png Vessel Aground;

The P-NG Administration boat Langu, which ran aground near Cape Hoskins, New Britain, on July 20, was towed off on July 22 by the Government ship, Mangana, which was sent from Rabaul to help.

The Langu was seriously damaged and had to be towed to Rabaul. No one was hurt.

• Inter-Island Trader

RENAMED: The Dobiri, a small Fiji inter-island trader, has been re named Viani Princess. She can carry a pay load of 100 tons. The Viani Princess will be operated by the Princess Shipping Co., of which Mr. A. Evans is managing director.

Other ships which the company operates are the Tai Valevadra and Asha. Another ship, the Fijian Princess, foundered on August 14 (see p. 97).

• Tong An Cutter Sinks:

The Tongan cutter Palakana, owned by Tongatu’a, of Foa Island, Tonga, sank at Tofua early in July. The ship had anchored for the night and Tongatu’a and the four passengers were ashore. During the night the wind changed direction and smashed the Palakana against the rocks. As the anchor held fast there were

hopes that the cutter could be salvaged.

• Wahoo Record: Mr.

“Boots” Langham, a Texas oilman, broke a world record for game fish recently with a 118 lb wahoo off Korolevu, Fiji. He beat the record for the species and class by 6 lb.

Mr. Langham used a 50 lb line.

With him, when he landed the wahoo, was Mr. Graham Wallace, fishing guide of the launch Mistress 11, from which the fish was caught.

• Ship Abandoned: The

Japanese fishing ship Ashipaka Maru No. 18 was abandoned after she went aground off Rossel Island, at the eastern tip of Papua, on August 1.

The crew was taken into another Japanese fisher, Seisho Maru No. 12, on August 3.

• For Medical Work: A

15 ft jet boat has been shipped from Lyttelton, NZ, to Tarawa for use by doctors on leper and other medical work in the GEIC. The boat, which has been named Tarawa Twomey, after the “Leper Man”, the late Mr.

P. J. Twomey, will seat six.

• Indonesians Rescued:

Twelve Indonesians wrecked north of New Guinea early in August were rescued by the China Navigation Steamship Co.’s vessel Sinkiang while she was steaming from Hong Kong to Nauru. They were taken to Madang for transfer to Sukarno pura.

• DEFIANT, 60 ft sloop-rigged cean-going ketch, owned by well tiown Auckland shipbuilder Roy idgard, left Suva for Auckland on .ugust 7 after several weeks in Fiji.

Mr. Lidgard made Suva his head uarters for three trips to Kadavu to ;e old friends at the villages of Bulia nd Dravuni, near the Astrolabe agoon.

On board with him were Mrs. Lid ard, his son Jim, brothers Bob and en Sklenars, Boer War veteran rank Peal, and an Auckland sur ;on, Mr. Lester Aitkin.

The Lidgards have taken an in rest in reviving canoe building at ladavu. In 1961, they organised a ;gatta and Mr. C. V. Young, a Suva usinessman, presented a cup for the inner of the sailing canoe race, here were only three canoes then, fow there are 12.

The Lidgards organised the regatta »ain this year with the help of Mr. bung. The canoe race was won by ioji Kovelali. • ELSIE, yacht, sailed solo by rank Caspar, arrived at Rarotonga n July 15 from Bora Bora. She was ue to leave for Pago Pago and Auck md on August 3,

• Extended Adolescence,

1 ft ketch-rigged trimaran, was >wed into Nawiliwili, Hawaii, on me 3 after a hazardous trip from ahiti.

She had left Tahiti on January 5 a what was supposed to be a 30-day ay age, but in March the Coast uard was out looking for her, and Hind her 165 miles south-west of onolulu ( PIM, April, p. 107).

The three men on board when she ■rived at Nawiliwili, James H. hompson, skipper, of Salinas, Cali irnia, David Meigs, of Atherton, alifornia, and George Balben, of elena, Montana, were all reported i “good shape”.

On the voyage she lost her mast id had to sail under jury-rig. She iso took water in the after-cabin, ith water filling part of the outboard lotor well. • FJORD 111, 49 ft cutter, has jen sold to Messrs. George and ihn Knowlton, of the United States.

Her previous owner was Dr. George Lapin, who was drowned in Ousey’s Gully on the reef at Korotogo, Fiji, on January 27. Dr. Lapin’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. M Lapin, arrived in Fiji in August to dispose of the yacht.

A Chilean, Georges de Giorgio. will sail Flord 111 to the United States on behalf of the new owners.

The yacht left the slip at Suva on August 5, and the skipper then considered her in excellent order for her voyage. He planned to sail via Tonga, Rarotonga, Tahiti and either the Galapagos or Honolulu.

• GANNET, yacht, arrived at Rarotonga on July 15 from Bora Bora with a crew of two, Ronald Russell and Richard Pane. HAMUTANA, 89 ft all-steel k e tch, escort vessel for the Whan garei-Noumea yacht race in April, sa ii e( j 4,000 miles before returning to home port of Tauranga early in j, After the race, Hamutana cruised j n j s j ew Caledonian and New Heb ■, watpr „ ndes waters - r • HUNAKAI, 36 ft Block Island

fetch, arrived in Honolulu on May 50 from Tahiti, skippered by Chris Christopher, On board were his two sons, Corey, 14, and Dane, 12.

Seven hundred miles out of Tahiti, Hunakai lost the top of the mast hrough a broken shroud, and the Christophers sailed to Kona coast, Tawaii, jury-rigged. • KOCHAB, 40 ft yacht, skip lered by John Evans, arrived at sfukualofa on July 31 from Raro onga. Also on board were Rudd s aul, of Takapuna, NZ, and Makau Masters, who joined her at Raro onga. • LUNKENTUSS, 26 ft cutter, vith two young Swedes, Gunnar Dahlgren and Dag Ekholm, arrived it Port Moresby from the New Heb ides in mid-July.

They left Sweden early in 1962 >n a world cruise, and do not expect o return home for another year.

Since entering the Pacific, they lave called at the Galapagos and Marquesas, Tahiti. Tuamotus, Cook slands, Samoa, Fiji and the New Jebrides. They spent 4i months in fahiti. • MARIS, 36 ft yawl, arrived it San Francisco recently after a 17lay voyage from Mahaina, Maui.

Jawaii. On board were Jack Earl skipper), his son Mick, and Hono ulu postman Bill Horton. Maris irrived in Honolulu on August 18, 1963, from Tahiti (PIM October, 963, p. 111). Earl, a well-known iydney marine artist, executed many ine oils in Hawaii. • EASTERLING, an American arrived in Tahiti from the Vlarquesas early in August with kipper Bruce Katter, Alan Forsythe md Richard Anderson.

The yacht had patches over a :ouple of holes in the hull caused )y a 50 ft whale, which, according o Le Journal de Tahiti, had “ex lerienced the need to scratch its lack” on their vessel. Le Journal ;ays it was thanks to the coolness md skill of the yachtsmen that they vere able to save their vessel afid each the Marquesas to make repairs. • TROPIC SEAS, a yacht, from s ort Macquarie, NSW, left Lord Towe Island on July 27 for New Zealand. The yacht was to have left :arlier, but waited for a navigator to irrive by air from Sydney. The mvigator did not turn up so one of he crew took instruction from vlr. E. Rhoades, of Lord Howe. r ropic Seas is owned by five young idventurers.

• NOV IA DEL MAR. 90 ft ketch, arrived in Nukualofa on August 8 from Tahiti Bora Bora and Rarotonga, and sailed for Vavau and Samoa on the 10th. Novia del Mar was second in the recent yacht race from San Francisco to Tahiti. ( PIM, Aug., p. 141). On board are owner John Paul Scripps, of San Diego, sailing master Fred J. Allen, and 14 others, including a woman doctor. • WHITE CLOUD, 48 ft cutter, reached Yokohama, Japan, on August 14 after an eight-month voyage from Thursday Island via Port Moresby, Rabaul and Guam, during which many typhoon-lashed seas were encountered.

On board were owner-skipper Yorke Davis, his wife, their five month-old daughter Carolyn, who was born while the cutter was in Port Moresby, John Drew, 22, of Perth, and Geoff Wight, 18, of Melbourne. • EUROPE, 75 ft yacht, with a crew of three, arrived in Vila on August 10 from Apia. She will spend several weeks in the New Hebrides.

The yacht is on a cruise round the world. The skipper is Rene Corpel. • YANKEE, 96 ft brigantine, was wrecked on the reef at Avarua, Rarotonga, on July 24 (see p. 63).

At the beginning of August, her skipper, Captain Derek Lumbers, was

“still determined to refloat the vessel,” according to the Cook Islands News. • NEOPHYTE, 45 ft ketch, arrived at Nukualofa late in July from Auckland with owner-skipper Lee Quinn and his all-girl crew of three New Zealanders and two Aus tralians. Quinn’s wife and her three children joined him at Nukualofa.

Pat Seedman, one of the Australian girls, had a narrow escape from death

when the Neophyte was nine days out of New Zealand.

She was swept overboard by a big wave.

Everyone else was below when they heard her call out to Quinn, who went on deck to find her grasping one of the poles at the stern. The rest of the crew quickly pulled her back on board. • SUNBOW, 65 ft steel motor yacht, which is one of the swankiest pleasure craft afloat, called at Suva in July on her maiden voyage from Singapore to her port of registry, Honolulu.

Her owner is Mr. James V.

Guthrie, who is accompanied by his wife Virginia (“Call me Ginger”).

Mr. Guthrie is a former rancher of California who “hankered after a life at sea”, sold his ranch and achieved his ambition by building Sunbow.

The Guthries plan to live in the Sunbow for five years.

The yacht is full of gadgets, in cluding an electric can opener, and the latest in navigation equipment.

Mr. Guthrie is lean and rangy, like the novelists’ idea of a cattle man. During the years he ran his ranch at Colton, Southern California, he spent most of his spare time in boats.

The Guthries spent nine months in Singapore while the Sunbow was be ing built. The launching took place on May 1 and 12 days later they left for Timor.

From Timor they sailed to Thurs day Island, Cairns (Queensland), and Vila (New Hebrides) and then Suva.

From Suva they were to go on to Apia, Pago Pago and Papeete. They will spend several months in Tahiti and hope to get to Honolulu by Christmas.

A 21-year-old Suva man, Parnell

Morgan, joined the yacht in Suva fc the voyage to Papeete. • TRAVELLER, 30 ft sloop, h £ been in Hawaii recently following single-handed voyage with Le Woyshner from Whangarei, NZ.

Woyshner left Whangarei on Marc 18, and 24 days later arrived at Rare tonga. From there he reached Tahi in 12 days; and he then sailed t Hilo, Hawaii, in 22 days, arriving o June 27. Traveller was built in 195 S • TREKKA, 20 ft yawl, whici was single-handed round the world i 1954-58 by John Guzzwell, was ex pected to leave Honolulu in mid August for Samoa, Fiji and Ne\ Zealand.

Trekka arrived in Honolulu oi August 1 with her new owners, Clif ford and Marian Cain, after a 25-da 1 voyage from Monterey, California, t< Hilo.

Twenty-one days of the crossinj were made self-steering by the us< of twin staysails. • WINDSONG, 48 ft ketch arrived in Honolulu at the end oi July after a 15-day passage from the Marquesas.

Windsong left Melbourne or January 12 and called at Aucklanc and Rarotonga before reaching Tahiti, where she stayed for five weeks. She then cruised among the leeward islands of the Society Group before heading for the Marquesas.

On board were the builder. Jack Walker (skipper), owner Phillip Weate, and Clive O’Connor, all of Melbourne; and Kerry Walshe, of New Zealand.

Walker planned to leave the ketch at Honolulu and fly back to Aus tralia, and the others planned to sail about mid-August for San Francisco.

The Guthries (left), in Suva, and the motor yacht "Sunbow". — Photo lef Stan Whippy.