Cruising Yachts

Pacific Shipping And

Australian Yacht

"Dumps" Two Men

In The Isolated

Marquesas

Two yachtsmen, Arthur

illicit, an Australian, and

Vnthony Ledwidge, a New Zea inder, were abandoned at Nu :uhiva, in the isolated Marquesas

slands, in August by the captain

•f the Australian yacht Tropic

eas.

ELLIOTT, who claims to be a part owner of the yacht, was left nthout his passport and monev and nth only two suits of clothes.

Tropic Seas is a 36 ft Tahitian etch which once belonged to Texan □thor John Caldwell, who described is and his family’s voyagings in er in Family at Sea.

According to Elliott, who wrote to IM from Tahiti early in October, iving the first details of his mis dventures, the ketch was bought nme time ago by five Sydney men— imself, John and Brian Landrigan brothers), Joe Birt and Lew Carter.

The five men left Sydney in the etch on May 20, 1964, and worked

through the Islands westwards until reaching Tahiti early in June this year.

In Tahiti, Carter and Birt left the yacht, and Ledwidge was signed on for a voyage to Honolulu. Tropic Seas left Tahiti on June 29, touched at Rangiroa in the Tuamotus and arrived at Taiohae Bay, Nukuhiva, on July 16.

On the night of July 25 the ketch’s crew went ashore for a farewell party.

The Landrigan brothers left the party at about 9 p.m., saying they were going back on board to sleep, in preparation for an early departure next morning.

When Elliott and Ledwidge went down to the bay at midnight, they found that the ketch had gone ani that a canoe had been left with Ledwidge’s personal effects and pass port in it, and Elliott’s two suits of clothes.

On reporting what had happened to the French police at Taiohae, Elliott was given a certificate stating that he had been abandoned by the captain of the Tropic Seas, John Landrigan, and that he now had no passport.

The police advised the two men to return to Tahiti, which they were able to do five weeks later when the bar quentine Verona (see p. 113) arrived at Taiohae for a stop of five days.

In the interval, the people of Taiohae had provided Elliott and Ledwidge with food and a place to sleep, but each lost more than a stone in weight before leaving for Tahiti.

During Elliott’s first fortnight in Tahiti he wrote letters to every place he thought the yacht might go, and eventually learned that she had reached Honolulu.

He then wrote to the British consul in Honolulu asking if he could re trieve his passport from the Land rigans. The consul replied that one of them had told him that the passport had been sent to Australia.

Early in October, when Elliott wrote to P/M from Tahiti, he was still without a passport and without money to get out of the place.

He said he had no proof that he was part-owner of the Tropic Seas as his ownership papers were aboard the yacht.

Tender Accepted For

Kieta Wharf

The P-NG Administration has accepted a tender for £123,671 from the Territory company Delta Con structions Ltd. for the construction of a 200 ft long and 40 ft wide wharf at Kieta, Bougainville. (Over)

Tornibrook Construction Ltd. has ;ady supplied £56,000 worth of ;1 sheet piling and bearing piles ich Delta Constructions will use build a 500 ft retaining wall for a laimed site for the proposed wharf, kbout 10,000 cubic yards of earth , been excavated for the site by Public Works Department. Delta astructions will excavate a further 000 cubic yards.

Continue Pacific Survey

IMS Dampier, which is to con le HMS Cook's work of surveying South Pacific was due in Honiara, P, about October 21.

IMS Cook left Fiji in December, .3.

Lifornians To Attempt

Ft Drift To Australia

lix Californians, using a 35 ft 1 raft, were due to leave Capitola, ifornia, on October 16 to drift 30 miles to Australia. fishing boat was to tow the , called Triton, 80 miles out to to begin the voyage.

Tie crewmen are Doug Otis, 26, ry White. 25, Fred Hametner, Mel Higley, 22, Dan McGee, 18, A 1 Parvin, 26.

'hey plan to sail to the Society nds. a seven-month voyage, and ill goes well, continue on to Aus ia.

Tie raft consists of five steel rels welded together. It weighs ;n tons and is equipped with a >’s compass and a radio trans fer.

.Debaran" Sails

Ain

'he 300-ton French cargo ship, ebaran, sailed from Suva on Sep ber 29 for Wallis Island and una, after having been out of dee for 91 months.

'he ship ran aground on Nanuku i Reef, 160 miles north-east of a, on November 16, 1964, en te from Noumea to Futuna. )n being refloated, she was towed Suva for repairs, which, several aths ago, were estimated to cost ,000.

Tie Aldebaran was built in 1925 is on the Port Vila register.

Jise Yacht To

Ome Ferry

Tie Fiji pleasure cruise yacht Blue oon has been sold by Mr. Trevor hers to Mr. Reg Patterson, of uka, Fiji. ir. Withers used the Blue Lagoon pioneer tourist cruises to the

Yasawa Islands, north-west of the main island of Viti Levu.

Mr. Patterson plans to change the name of the yacht, and to use her on the passenger service, which links Levuka with Viti Levu at Natovi.

Micronesians Take

Over Three Ships

The operations of three United States Trust Territory intra-district field-trip vessels were assumed by Micronesian commercial agencies in Ponape, Truk, and Yap Districts, on October 1.

Announcing this, the Trust Terri tory Transportation Officer, Mr.

James M. Cook, said “This is another example of the transfer of Trust Territory operational and manage ment functions to qualified Micro nesians”. The three ships are: • The 392 gross-ton, steel cargo

passenger vessel, MV Kaselehlia, which the Trust Territory Govern ment has operated in field-trip ser vices in Ponape District since 1958.

She has been taken over by the Ponape Federation of Co-operatives and will continue her field-trip ser vices in Ponape District. • Two new 100-ft cargo-passenger vessels, MV Yap Islander and MV Truk Islander —each a 270 gross-ton. steel - constructed, double - bottom, diesel-powered ship. Control of these ships will be assumed by the Yap Co-operative Association (formerly Yap Trading Company) and the Truk Transportation Company, respectively.

Captain Tetrick J. Melander of Kusaie has been named master of the

• "Blue Lagoon", the Fiji pleasure cruise yacht which is to become a ferry.

\selehlia, in place of Captain I. N. arrison, of Australia, who has ■ved as skipper for the past 14 >nths.

The Yap Islander is skippered by ptain Willie M. Paznanski, formerly the Ellice Islands.

Captain Rudy Muller, of the Mar ills, has been appointed skipper the Truk Islander.

All three ships have all-Micronesian !WS. .N patrol boats

R P-Ng

Fwo Queensland builders, Evans akin of Brisbane, and Walkers i., of Maryborough, have won con cts to build 14 RAN patrol boats, ; of which will operate in Papua ;w Guinea waters.

The boats will be 100 ft long and [1 be driven by two diesel engines.

Two 40 mm guns will be mounted the deck of each ship.

The five boats for Papua-New linea will be called Aitape, marai, Lae, Madang and Ladava.

Ip Ship's Crew

Cked Up From Rafts

The Solomon Islands vessel Rau rti picked up the crew of the MV ‘lliam Voy from life-rafts after the ssel sank near Mandoliana recently, e survivors were taken to Tulagi.

The William Voy was owned by John Chan Turn, and was built Mr. Johnny Chan Cheong at sape about 1934. She was named er a well-known, pre-war Burns ilp skipper.

Lip Chartered To

Cruit Labourers

The British Phosphate Commission s chartered the China Navigation unpany’s motor vessel Anshun to ce Chinese labourers to prosphate oducing Ocean Island, to repatriate Ibertese labourers and to recruit w ones.

The Anshun was in Suva in early :tober to load 1,200 tons of water id about 290 tons of fuel.

She was also to pick up drugs to landed on each island in the Gil rts, as there has been an outbreak influenza and pneumonia at Ocean and which returning labourers ight spread.

■Creation Hall For

Jna Fishermen

The American Samoan Govern ed has bought the Leloaloa School ar the Van Camp and Starkist Can nes for $4,000 to provide a

recreation hall for Japanese tuna fishermen while in port.

About 85 tuna fishing ships, with about 2,300 crew members, are based on Pago Pago.

About $25,000 will be spent on turning the school into a recreation hall.

Ship's Strange Shape

Has A Purpose

A ship of unusual shape was seen in Moresby Harbour in September.

She was the 50 ft MV Lakatoi owned and skippered by Bert Johnson, of Daru. A superstructure, some 26 ft long by 9 ft high by 6 ft wide and

painted white, has been built behind the wheelhouse so that fish can be cleaned and processed in air conditioned and insect-free conditions.

The ship will be operated in the Gulf and the Fly River mouth area as a fishing trawler to exploit the reported large schools of Barramundi.

At times she will carry freezer meat and goods from Port Moresby and Thursday Island to ports on the Papuan coast west of Port Moresby.

In the fishing season the frozen fish will be transported in the ship’s 16,000 lb capacity freezer to either Daru or Thursday Island where the fish will be sent east to the Moresby

irket (by plane) or south to North ieensland ports (by ship or plane).

The Lakatoi is well known in ►rth Queensland. For six years, she jrated as the Gladstone Lighthouse >ply boat. She was later used for nmercial fishing on the Swain efs for about five years.

The ship was built in Brisbane in M (by Crowley) and is of wooden istruction.

Lakatoi has been in Territory ters for about three years. Another p of the same name is operated ; of Rabaul by Burns Philp.

Hengtu" Leaves Far

St-Pacific Service

fhe China Navigation Co. is re cing the Chengtu with the Ninghai the Far East-South Pacific service, fhe Ninghai, 11,570 tons, was for rly the Elysia, and was owned by Anchor Line. fhe service covers Japanese ports, ng Kong. Wewak, Kavieng, laul, Madang, Lae, Samarai, Port resby, Santo, Vila and Noumea, n return to Japan.

Tie Chengtu will re-enter the Far ;t service of the China Navigation

\D Marine Drifts

I Seven Months

Tie story of a bottle with a mes j inside which drifted from Pago ;o, American Samoa, to Vella r ella. in the Western District of British Solomon Islands, is told the latest issue of Western News, Vestern District newsletter.

The bottle was found last March by Nathaniel Pineke while out fishing in his canoe. It was given to Frank Lobe, of the Methodist Mission Hospital at Munda.

The message in it revealed that the bottle had been afloat for seven months.

An interesting aspect of the dis covery is that Vella Lavella is situated to the west of the large islands of Choiseul and Santa Ysabel, which, with Wagina and a number of smaller islands, block it off from direct access from the east.

"Komaliae" Damaged In

Heavy Storm

The Solomon Islands motor vessel Komaliae was in Tulagi for repairs early in October after suffering severe damage in a storm on September 27 between Malu’u and Sikaiana.

When rain, wind and big seas pre vented the bosun, Jimmy Nelson, from seeing Sikaiana. the Komaliae turned back to Ndai Island where it was found that 17 sheets of copper had been torn from the hull, three ribs in the ship had been broken.

starter motor had died, the bilge ip wouldn’t work, some caulking come out from the planks, and ship was making water, he bosun said it was the worst m he had ever seen.

Ml Cutter

Ks Off Ovalau

alias, a small Fiji inter-island er, sank off Viro, Ovalau, on :>ber 7 after striking a reef, he crew of the Tabusoro rescued crew and passengers and took a to Nabouwalu, Vanua Levu. ailas operated a service between aiata on Vanua Levu and Ovalau. n attempt to salvage the cutter under way in mid-October.

Re-Ni-Wai" To

Urn To Fiji

? re-ni-Wai , 35 ft launch, built in in 1957 as a charter boat, and in 1960 to an Auckland business , is to return to the Colony, er builders, Mr. Alf Lee and his , Dallas and Barry, operated her ugh the Fiji game fishing grounds the benefit of tourists, ow she has been bought by Mr. aam Wallace, who operates ter fishing trips from Korolevu is Mistress 11, which is about a I the size of the Sere-ni-Wai.

L0L0" Wins Weather

[Casting Award

urns Philp’s passenger freighter the 7 0, is the first ship operating on \ustralia-P-NG service to win the lal award from the Australian ;orology Department for weather casting work. le Bulolo makes daily weather rts on her inward and outward ges between Australia and the itory. le NSW Regional Director of

Meteorology, Mr. J. Johnston, at a ceremony in the ship at Darling Harbour, Sydney, in October, pre sented a framed certificate to the master, Captain Brett Hilder, and officers in recognition of their work.

Army Ism At Lord

Howe Island

The 210 ft Austalian Army LSM Vernon Sturdee with 40 officers and men, spent more than 24 hours in Lord Howe Island’s lagoon in late September. She is believed to be the largest vessel ever to enter the lagoon.

The ship, designed for landing troops and vehicles on beaches, was carrying out training routine.

The ship was built in America in

1944, was mothballed after World War 11, subsequently left for Japan, and was bought by the Australian Army in 1960 and brought to Aus tralia.

Voyage To Rotuma

Abandoned

Morris Hedstrom’s Fiji inter-island trader, Tuvalu, had to abandon a voyage to Rotuma early in October when she was damaged in a storm.

She was classed as “missing” for a day or two, but a searching RNZAF Sunderland flying-boat crew found her and reported her position.

The Tuvalu returned to Suva on October 4 with a leaking hull.

SEEN IN SUVA: The 34,600-ton liner "Australis", formerly "America", arrived in Suva on September 20 under her new colours. Formerly owned by United States Lines, she now belongs to Chandris Lines of Athens. The "Australis" is the world's largest one class ship. She will be a regular caller at Suva on the way from Piraeus, Greece, to Southampton, via the Suez and Panama Canals. She can carry 2,450 passengers.

Photo: Stan Whippy.

Rabaul Wharf

Renamed

Recently renamed in honour of a former pre-war Burns Philp manager in Rabaul, is the BP small ships wharf in Rabaul, now known as the Philip Coote Wharf. Mr. Coote was lost in in the sinking of the “Montevideo Maru” during the war, but his widow and sons still live in Rabaul.