Cruising
p. 100 · Read in the full issue
Kind words on Samoa
From DERRY and LYNNE SYME, in Melbourne yacht “Shearwater //"
From Bora Bora we apprehensively set a course for Western Samoa.
Over the past two years we have read, in “PIM”, and we have heard, not very good reports from other yachtsmen regarding this island. I am sure that the attitudes of a lot of people visiting Western Samoa need examining more than the Samoan attitudes.
We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and were cleared that day. Monday morning we walked into the Immigra tion Department and were given visas for the two weeks we asked for.
When our two weeks were nearly up we returned and were given another week. Apart from the pleasant and efficient officials we dealt with, the people have been the friendliest we have met in the Pacific so far.
The main complaint we had heard from other yachtsmen was the theft problem in Samoa. We took normal precautions with oars, and we locked the boat when ashore, but the amount of things left on deck and not touched disproves that theft is a problem, as far as we are con cerned.
These are just the impressions gained from one yacht, but they are very different from what we had heard.
Incidentally we stopped over at Suvorov for a week early September and Tom Neale is still there, fit and well.
Since leaving New Zealand in April this year we have stopped at Raivavae (in the Austral Islands), Tahiti, nearly all of the Society Islands, Suvorov, Western Samoa and are posting this from Wallis Islands.
Next stop Fiji. • Leaving Sydney for South Africa at the end of November to take part in the Capetown to Rio yacht race was 21-year-old English man, Mike Hart, former crew
With Bluebird Of Thorne,
Escapee, Humming Bird Two
and TANGO.
Mike hopes to join one of the 30 to 40 yachts taking part, as crew.
From Rio he plans to crew his way to the West Indies and finally back home. His future plans include buying a boat and going back to sea as a skipper.
Mike left Gibraltar in 1968 with
Cruising Yachts
Bluebird of Thorne, 50 ft ketch skippered by Lord Robin Riverdale, of Sheffield. By early 1969 he was in the South Pacific and after stop ping at the Tuamotus, Tahiti, Moorea, Tonga and Fiji, left the ketch at Auckland. Crewing with the Canadian cutter, Escapee, and Trinidad ketch, Humming Bird Two, he arrived in the New Hebrides. He then flew to New Caledonia where he crewed on 20 ft ketch Tango to Brisbane. His favourite spot? The Tuamotus.
Mike understands that the 73 ft yawl GREYBEARD is one of the boats taking part in the Capetown to Rio race. • TANGO, 20 ft NZ ketch, arrived in Brisbane recently from Fiji and New Caledonia. Skippered by New Zealander, Steve Bonnett, she leaves end of November for Auckland. • MISTRAL, 23 ft fibreglass yacht, arrived in Suva mid-October in the course of a world tour. Crewed by owner Julio Villar, 27, Mistral left Barcelona two and a half years ago. Calls were made in the Pacific at the Galapagos, Marquesas, Tahiti, the Cooks, the New Hebrides and Fiji. Mr. Villar planned to leave Fiji for NZ early in November. • HOUHERE, 39 ft yacht, which arrived at Rarotonga from Suva and Tonga on August 7, was scheduled to leave Rarotonga late in October for Hawaii. • RESTLESS, 39 ft sloop, reached Rarotonga on October 25 from Auckland, via Sydney, New Cale donia, Fiji, Tonga and Niue, carrying skipper, Tim Beattie, Roger Lawton and Mike Harris. Next on the schedule are Tahiti, the Marquesas and Hawaii.
• Kahuna Magic, 45 Ft Us
sloop, arrived in Fiji in early October from Tonga with Jack Fletcher, his wife and children. Was due to leave late October for NZ. • LUALAN, 40 ft gaff-rigged ketch departed from Fiji on October 15 after several months in Fiji waters. On board were Jack and Frances Hardy and their two sons.
The ketch was bound for NZ.
• RESOLUTION, 40 ft gaff rigged Canadian ketch left Lautoka for NZ in late October after several months in Fiji. On board were Sue and Horst Delijen and Bill Ingersoll. • UWHILNA, 47 ft Canadian yawl departed mid-October for NZ after two weeks in Fiji. On board were John and Maxine Hohmann and two sons. • KALEWA, 36 ft Vancouver registered ketch, with Joan and Glenn Read, left Fiji in early October for NZ. • JOSHUA S, left for Vila in early October after several months in Fiji. On board were Gavin and Diane Marks and Gavin Junior, who was born in Fiji, with Bill Kittle as crew. • WEST WIND V, 47 ft motor sailer, left Fiji on October 12 with the Lowe family, bound for NZ. • LAZY L, 52 ft Californian ketch, arrived in Fiji in early September. Ed and June Lindley were planning to leave in late October for Pago Pago and Honolulu. • ODYSSEY, 40 ft yawl, shipped from Hong Kong to Fiji in July, departed Fiji for the New Hebrides on October 16. On board were Oakley Isaacs, Jerry Hughes and Jean Pick. • SEEKER, 40 ft trimaran, which was on Nasilai Reef, about 15 miles from Suva, for a few days in October, is undergoing repairs in Suva. The incident is unlikely to upset the cruising plans of the owner, Mr.
Ralph Martin, of San Francisco, and his wife, as they planned to stay in Fiji for the hurricane season. • EL HARI, NZ yacht, left two crew members in the Cook Islands in November, who ended up in gaol for two days and were then sent back to NZ as illegal immigrants. El Hari arrived in Rarotonga on July 8 and left for Hawaii on August 25 with skipper Graham Hallen and crew members Ditlev Monrad, Barrie Jennions, and Lorraine Gallon. The yacht called at Suvorov and put in at Penrhyn on September 19 for repairs. Monrad and Jennions asked for permission to remain longer in the Cooks, which was refused. But the men returned to Rarotonga on an inter-island vessel. A cabinet meeting decided that they should be treated as prohibited immigrants, but with leniency, and they were allowed to stay three days at the hotel while they raised money for their outward fares and expenses. When they were unable to do this they were gaoled for two days and put aboard the Moana Roa.