Cruising

Yachts

• Yachts which recently visited Samarai in Papua New Guinea included: ADELA MONDA, 18.3 m, carrying Gary Stevens, sailing single handed to Taiwan; ABRAX AS, returning to Port Moresby after a tour embracing Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the New Hebrides and the Solomons: DUNGA-TU, 11.6 m sloop built in NZ, carrying John and Ann Harding, on the way to the Solomons; KAHO RU, carrying Alex and Debbie Bodiam, and Restless, the cat; TELSTAR, 9.9 m racing yacht, from NZ, on the way to Australia and England, via Suez Canal, carrying Norman Clark and Chris and Jenny Smith; FREEDOM, from Hobart, was towed in by the MISIMA after running aground on a reef, with Charles Martin, Bob Martin, Mark Dion and Terry Martin.

Freedom went on to Belasana slipway for repairs. • John Mansell, who has oeen supplying “yachties' ’’ movements in and out of Samarai, after sending on the above items, advises it is his ast issue of yacht news from :here He thanks PIM and A/ishes all yachties happy sailing.

• White Squall 11, With

Ross and Minine Norgrove are in New Zealand and the Morgroves are ashore at Herald Island (Auckland) from where Ross writes to PIM.

Besides White Squall II and TYREE,” he writes, “two other Caribbean Charter Boats seem to have been bitten by he South Pacific bug and ook like remaining down aere. They are the 12.2 m win-keel sloop MAGIC DRAGON owned by Shelley and Jane Deßidder, who are low back in the Bay of Islands after cruising the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, and the 12.5 m DRAGON, awned by Louis and Claude All are old charter ng friends from the West In dies and the Dragon is cur ently anchored off our place aere on Herald Island. Carl and Jeanne Moesly of the 11.6 m ketch RIGGADOON, rom Florida (often mentioned

in PIM) sold her in Auckland last year and launched their new boat, also RIGGADOON. two weeks ago. She is a very beautiful boat— 15.3 m long, ketch-rigged, custom-built fibre-glass with a 53 series GM diesel auxiliary. Carl de signed her himself and Salthouse brothers (a few hundred yards across the estuary frorrj Herald Island) built her. They plan to head up the Pacific in a couple of months. Also from Florida and anchored up our creek are Carl’s brother Don and his wife Sue in their 11.6 m ketch SVEA. They also intend to leave for the South Pacific before winter sets in down here. • WATERLOO, 9 1 m Eric son designed fibreglass sloop, is in Rabaul for some time, probably till the end of the hurricane season, before sailing to Port Moresby, Bali, Durban and Trinidad. The owners, Dean and Beverly Chase, after cruising in the Caribbean, entered the Pacific at Panama in 1975, sailing for French Polynesia where they spent a year. They then sailed for Rabaul, stop ping a time in American Samoa and then island-hop ping the rest of the way. Their intention is to arrive at Tri nidad in time for the February, 1 979, carnival, for a big yachtie reunion.

• Manawaroa, 15 55 M

cutter registered in Auckland, arrived at Rarotonga on March 7 from Panama, Marquesas Islands, the Tuamotus, Tahiti and Moorea. On board were owner-skipper Warren Mc- Carthy, Bill Charlend, Don Killander, Garry Gallegher, Monita Gauvin and her eight months old child, Chandra.

Captain McCarthy left New Zealand 3'h years ago on a circumnavigation which took him to the Middle East via the Suez Canal and during which his wife and family accom panied him for most of the time. Manawaroa left Rarotonga on March 14 on the last leg of the voyage to Russell in NZ’s Bay of Islands.

• Resolute, 9 15 M

sloop registered at Auckland, arrived at Rarotonga on March 9 with owner-skipper R. Bott cher. Last port of call was Tahiti and he was bound for Sydney.

• Aga Khan, 20 1 M

ketch-rigged motor sailer registered in Auckland, arriv ed at Rarotonga on March 13,

bound for Tahiti. The captain was 0. J. Short. • PHANTOM, 20.1 m sloop registered at Wilmington, Del., US, arrived at Rarotonga on March 6 from Auckland with owner-skipper Nason Clap citt, five other male crew members and Tasmanian cook, Jane Richardson.

Phantom left two days later for Tahiti and the US.

Hey yachties,

Father George

has moved!

Ask any cruising yachtsman who has been to Rarotonga since around 1965 about the people who have made them welcome there and almost in evitably the name of Father George Kester will be men tioned. Father George has been the honorary port chaplain at Avatiu for a num ber of years and a whole host of visiting yachtsmen have written and illustrated entries into the record books that he has kept since 1965 of visiting yachts.

Father George has the same degree of personal at traction as that of Tom Neale, the late hermit of Suwarrow, and many yachties have come to Rarotonga having been told about Father George’s hospitality and good humour by other members of the yachting fraternity.

Last November, the Bishop of the Cook Islands appointed Father George to the parish of Aitutaki and so a long-lasting link has been broken However, in recent years an increasing number of yachts have sailed on to Aitutaki after entering the Cook Islands through Rarotonga, and quite obviously the good father will be waiting to welcome yach ties to his new island home, • Pacific Publications will be publishing in the near future a book on the history of cruising yachts that have passed through the Cook Is lands and the book will in clude facsimile reproductions of many of the entries that have been penned in ‘‘Father George’s Bible of the South Seas”.