Cruising

Yachts

© SIGA, 30 ft sloop registered at Kiel, West Germany, arrived at Raro tonga from Bora Bora on November 8 with Dieter Markworth and his wife, Sigi. Their voyage started from Kiel in August, 1972, and took them to the West Indies, where they stayed one year. From Panama they reached the Galapagos and Marquesas Islands, and those of French Oceania. Plans are to sail directly to NZ, spend the hurricane season there, then continue their Pacific cruise to Tonga and Fiji next year.

O ZUGVOGEL, 36 ft ferro-cement ketch, arrived at Rarotonga on Novem ber 9 from Bora Bora. On board were Rudy Halbrichter and his wife, Irmgarde.

Rudy built his yacht in Toronto, Canada, and the voyage started from there in October, 1972. They visited the Carib bean and called at ports in Venezuela and Colombia before leaving Panama and spending three months in the Gala pagos. After two months in the Mar quesas they visited the Society Islands.

Plans are to sail direct to Whangarei, NZ, with a possible call at the Kerma decs. After spending the hurricane sea son in New Zealand they hope to visit the New Hebrides, Fiji and Tonga in 1975. ® MYSTICO, 39 ft cutter, arrived at Rarotonga from Raiatea on November 9 with owner-captain Tony Brown, his wife, Mary, and son Tony. Their voyage took them from Maryport, Cumberland, to the Isle of Man and Ireland, Cadiz, G/jraltar, Valencia, Tangier, the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires before passing through the Magellan Straits. Ports of call on the South American west coast included Valparaiso and Callao. Pacific calls have included the Marquesas and Society Islands. Plans are to proceed to Auck land, with a possible call at Tonga. • VICKI ANNE, 38 ft ketch, regis tered at Portsmouth, England, arrived at Rarotonga on November 10 from Pa peete with owner-captain Warwick John Hoare, his wife Marjorie, daughter Vicki Anne, and son Stuart John. The family are New Zealanders who lived 10 years in England and are returning home. In Rarotonga, Mr Hoare's brother joined the yacht and Mrs Hoare left to fly home.

Vicki Anne sailed direct for NZ on No vember 13. • VUMA, was scheduled to leave Noumea in November to Brisbane to ride out the hurricane season. She is carrying Bram and Nan Pieterse. • RED BOOMER 11, 60 ft ketch, men tioned last month as having left Port Moresby for this year's Sydney-Hobart

race, will la'er go on an extended cruise to Perth and Seychelles. On board were owner Bill McNeil, his children Yvette, 13, and Andrew, 10, and crew members Dick Hogan, Gale and Charlie Williams, Joe Feeney, Don Leonard, Alan Davies and John Clarke. Red Boomer II was designed by L. A. Randell and was built by Bill McNeil. • A number of yachts which arrived in Samarai, Papua, recently from Aust ralian ports, included KINTAN, ALTU

Ringa, Walu, Equinox (10 Metre

steel sloop, skippered by Jorg Zimmer mann), KRANICH, 35 ft trimaran, built in Durban, and carrying Echart Lutke, wife Viara, and children Nkakus, Tama ra and Tobias, TOUCAN, carrying Rod and Sandra Jeffery, and CRUSADER, a Canadian yacht. Returning to Australia from Samarai was SIRIUS I, which has been in PNG waters for four years. ® STOERTEBEKER, 41 ft sloop, was in Port Moresby in November on a "very fast" world circumnavigation. The sloop was launched in Bremerhavan in 1973 and is owned by Heiko Koeter. After leaving Bremerhaven the sloop called at Panama, Papeete and Pago Pago. The next port is Cape Town. The crew mem bers are Eckhard Bruenjes and Roslyn Boote. • KARIE, with skipper Wayne Smith and Dave Thorne, left Noumea for Syd ney recently after an extensive Pacific cruise. (over) Vela, a 42 ft cutter, which was salvaged from a reef near Makaluva Island, Fiji, in November. She went aground about 75 ft from deep water in September, and a storm later pushed her 300 feet from the edge of the reef. The hull was damaged with constant pounding of the seas. Marine Pacific Ltd salvage workers patched the hull and dragged the Vela from the reef. She was then towed to Suva, where she will be re paired for the owner, Charles Wilcox.

The Vela sailed from California for the South Pacific in 1973.

Seen in Samarai (Papua New Guinea) lately, Canadian yacht Crusader (top) and Sirius 1, which is on her way back to Australia after be ing in PNG waters for four years.

® SYLVIA, 55 ft ketch, was a recent arrival in Port Moresby from Auckland carrying Robert Welles, his wife Sylvia and son Scott, as well as a Fijian, Josefa Nasali. She plans to head for Indonesia and Africa. 9 SOUTHERLY, 39 ft sloop, was in Port Moresby recently from Vancouver, and then sailed for Thursday Island, with Dr Tim and Gaye Meakin, and Dr John and Linde Murlburt. 9 HUNRAKEN, 42 ft ketch, built in Auckland in 1972, was in Port Moresby in Novmber, carrying the Leturc family, Hubert and Clotilde, Herbelin, Francois and three-year-old Henry. They were on their way home to France via Indonesia and South Africa. 9 TEREMOANA, 32 ft Canadian yacht, arrived at Rarotonga on November 12 from Papeete and Bora Bora. On board were skipper-owner Robert Buick and Marjorie, Patricia and David Buick. They sailed direct for Auckland on Novem ber 14. 9 MARIS, 36 ft yawl, arrived at Rarotonga on November 15 with owner skipper lan Kiernan, Ben Hawke and Mick Thompson. The cruise started from Sydney and calls were made at Lord Howe Island and Whangarei, NZ. Plans are to call at Tahiti, Hawaii and San Francisco. 9 ALTAIR, from Vancouver, left Noumea recently for south Queensland, and is cruising down the Australian coast to Sydney. She is carrying Noel Mottorshead and wife Beryl. 9 TANEA, trimaran, from Tauranga, NZ, was in Noumea recently, preparing to return home carrying Paul Farge and the male members of his family. 9 FRI, the nuclear protest yacht, was in Vila recently, arriving from Fiji, on ihe way to the GEIC and the Marshall Islands. 9 GOUDEN DRAAK, 46 ft steel keich, arrived in Port Moresby recently from the New Hebrides. After a short stay, the Pleass family, Mick, Nicky, Anne and Susan, planned to sail to Bali. 9 POLACK, ketch, carrying owner Basil Campion, arrived in Port Moresby recently from Auckland, via Honiara, and then sailed for Timor. The crew com prised Len Hiley, Mike Ross and "Papa kura Pete", who was the deck hand. 9 HOHOQ, from Vancouver, won the cruising section of the Noumea-Vila race.

Af er returning to Noumea she sailed tor Mooloolaba, Queensland. On board were Ted and Jan de Villa. 9 GULL, 27 ft cutter, was recently reported sold at Guam. The new owner plans to cruise in the Pacific. The former owner-skipper, Dick Justice, is having a larger sailing yacht, the COPRA QUEEN, built in Taiwan for a retirement home afloat. He plans to start out in April on the maiden voyage across the Philippine Sea to Guam, via Okinawa and Saipan,

with calls at Tinian and Rota. Typhoon season permitting, she will then sail to the South Pacific, calling at Truk and the Mortlocks. 9 TANGERINE, 42 ft sloop, arrived at Rarotonga on November 30 with Canadians Gary McKay and Dirk Heiss.

A former crew member, Dr Geoffrey Cragg, left the yacht at Apia to return home. The partners bought the yacht in New Zealand, and their first islands' call was Tonga. Then they spent three months cruising round seldom-visited islands of the Fiji group, then visited Western and American Samoa. They returned to the Tongan group and were skin-diving and doing a spot of amateur salvage work on the wreck of the CLAN MACWILLIAM when police arrested them. The yachties handed over what they had retrieved from the wreck and were eventually allowed to leave. Plans were to return home to Vancouver by next October, with calls at Tahiti, the Line Islands and Hawaii. 9 SCALDIS, 50 ft Dutch-built steel ketch, arrived in Honolulu in November after a cruise of the South Pacific. On board were Cole Weston (skipper), Ivor Weston, Kim Weston, Lisa Lang and Connie Myers, all of Carmel, California.

Scaldis left Papeete on September 23. 9 LEZARDER, 32 ft Westsail cutter, owned by Clark Anthony, returned to Honolulu recently from the South Pacific.

With Anthony were Henry Tumelo, Mark Gosnell and a Canadian, Mary Ann John ston. Lezarder left Newport in California in December, 1973, and after spending some time in Hawaiian waters, sailed for the South Pacific, visiting the Society Islands and Rarotonga. 9 PARAGON, 38 ft wooden hulled racing sloop, built in New Zealand in 1971, and now owned in Honolulu, returned to Honolulu in November after taking part in the Los Angeles-Tahiti race.

After the race she cruised in the Society Islands, and returned to Honolulu from the Marquesas in 14 days. The crew comprised Karl Myers, Cheryl Maybaum, and a New Zealander, Cris Becket. 9 Drugs and drink may lead to a curb on cruising yachts visiting the outer islands of Fiji. The Ministry of Fijian Affairs is concerned at reports that visiting yachtsmen in Lau have supplied young villagers with liquor, and that in some cases drugs had been given to villagers. The problem was said to be at its worst during the height of the yaching season when as many as seven yachts cruised in Lau. Some cruised through the Lau islands without clear ances from the entry ports —Suva, Lau toka and Levuka. There have also been reports from Kadavu and the Yasawas about crews from cruising yachts becom ing burdens on villagers. The ministry, after a survey of the problem, will con sider appropriate legislation.