Cruising

Yachts

• DEMARIS TAO, a 37 ft gaff-rigged ketch arrived at the Bay of Islands near Suva, Fiji, in December accompanied by the strong winds of the rapidly advanc ing hurricane Lottie. None of the boats at the Bay of Islands was damaged as Lottie passed to the south but brought gusts of 50 to 60 knots in the Suva anchorage. Demaris Tao, with owner builder James Johnson, has been cruising the South Pacific for almost three years.

Most recently, the ketch spent three months at the French islands of Wallis and Futuna, and is expected to stay in Fiji until the end of the hurricane season. • ENSENADA, a 27 ft Aitkens cutter from Townsville with Dave and Flo Croucher and son Daniel on board sailed from the Solomon Islands through Milne Bay and on to Port Moresby to arrive on Christmas Day. • SIXTEEN yachts taking part in the Whitbread round-the-world yacht race, left Sydney on December 29 on the third "leg", which was to take them across the south of the Pacific, round Cape Horn to Rio de Janiero. A French yawl, Export, 33 ft, did not take part in this start as it had not then reached Sydney to complete the second leg. One of the favourites to win, the French ketch, Pen Duick VI, broke her 81 ft mainmast in a 25-knot wind at night on December 30, and re turned to Sydney. The skipper, Eric Tabarly, said he was confident he would find a new mast and would be able to rejoin the race. At the time of the mis hap Pen Duick VI had drawn clear of the other yachts. The Pen Duick VI also broke a mast in the Atlantic on the first leg. Another mast was flown to Rio de Janiero and fitted there. The yacht then made record time from Rio de Janiero to Cape Town. It took line honours for the Cape Town-Sydney leg. The final leg of the race is from Rio de Janiero to Ply mouth. • Fewer than a dozen overseas cruise yachts are sheltering at Suva during the hurricane season, the majority of those calling there towards the opening of the season choosing to hightail it to Aus tralian and New Zealand ports. There was a general exodus of about 20 craft from the Tradewinds Hotel marina in Suva's Bay of Islands. Only three are tied up there at present, the Susan, from the United States, and Ariel from the United States, and Moonspinner, from Hawaii, and they are expected to wait out the season. Camelot, from Los Angeles, and Sea Fever, have been

berthed at the Royal Suva Yacht Club for several months, and look like staying several more months. The only recent arrivals at the club were the yachts Burdoon and Valhalla, which passed through regardless of any hurricane threat. • James L. Johnson, owner-skipper of the ketch Demaris Tao, now at Suva, writes to RIM of a discovery he has made, which, passed on, is sure to benefit others of the yachting fraternity.

"I have discovered that many cruising people are not aware that they can keep abreast of the weather in the South Paci fic by simply tuning in WWV at nine minutes before the hour, at which time the weather picture for the South Pacific is presented, giving the exact location of lows, cyclonic disturbances and conver gence zones. This report is given every hour and is regularly revised by the weather people in Hawaii using all avail able weather reports and satellite pic tures. I followed the cyclonic disturbance that turned into Lottie for days before she gained energy and turned into an actual cyclone just west of here. Since WWV can be picked up by any good shortwave radio, not only cruising people but all people in the South Pacific who understand English and have a chart of the Pacific can take advantage of these weather warnings."

Boat building the

easy way

The old cry that every man should build at least one boat in his lifetime is all very well, were it not such a time-consuming undertaking. Most would-be boat builders would be quite content with a little less than the completely home-built article, thus being able to take advantage of the more modern fibreglass hull with its lower maintenance and the econo mics of mass production.

Fibreglass Kit Boats, by Jack Wiley, takes advantage of the fact that most fibreglass boat manufac turers are willing to sell their pro ducts in something less than comple ted form, from the bare hull to var ious stages of completion.

The book lists quite a number of manufacturers (in the US) who mar ket sailing or power boats in kit form only. While this is certainly a cheaper way to own a boat and some what more satisfying than “buying off the shelf” it can hardly be compared

with building a big plastic model.

Consequently, the prospective build

er needs to know a little of his sub ject before he starts.

This is where Mr Wiley’s book

comes into its own.

J. Collins

(Fibreglass Kit Boats, By Jack

Wiley, $9.95, International Marine Pub lishing, Camden, Maine, USA.)