Yachts

Lan G. Menzies Of

the Royal Papua

Yacht Club reports

from Port Moresby,

Papua New Guinea:

Late June saw the advent of the south-easterly trades which swept into Port Mores by a record number of cruis ing yachts. Here are details of the earlier arrivals:

• Hornet. A 13M Grp Cus

tom-built centre-board cutter, owned and skippered by Dr Dale Huber, who is accompa nied by his wife Jeri and daughter Maureen Harris. The Hubers hail from Everett, Washington State, and left their home port of Seattle in July 1978. Their relaxed cruis ing schedule has allowed them eight months in Hawaii, 11 months in Fiji and 15 months in Bundaberg (Central coast of Queensland, Australia). While in Australia the family bought an old car and drove clear across the centre of Australia from north to south! Hornet departed Bundaberg in early June and made a good passage of nine days to Honiara in Solomon Islands. After explor ing those islands they de parted from Gizo and made their first PNG landfall at Samarai.

From Port Moresby they will head west through the Torres Strait to Darwin and then on to Jakarta and eventually the Red Sea. The circumnaviga tion should take up to eight years as Dale says, he’s retired now so there’s no need to hurry!

While in Port Moresby, the Hubers were hosts to whole groups of cruising yachties for the July 4 celebrations a great evening with a few sore heads the next day! • PESCARUS. A 9m Golden Hind out of Plymouth, United Kingdom. Dr Mike Couch, his wife Lindy and their two-and a-half year-old son Mischa made an uneventful 12-days passage from Noumea, New Caledonia. The Couches left the United Kingdom in 1975 and have stopped over in va rious parts around the world, their most recent sojourn being a year in New Zealand.

From Port Moresby they will also head to Darwin to pick up more charts for the cruise to Sri Lanka and through the Red Sea. • WASA. a 9m sloop rig GRP

fin keel yacht, built in only 11 months by Rolf and Helga Wemmer of Wilhelmshaven of West Germany. They departed their home port in May 1980 and sailed via Spain, Canary Islands, Panama Canal to the Galapagos Islands, where they were able to explore exten sively as a result of their special cruising permit.

Thence to Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. On the New Zealand leg they hit some real ly dirty weather and Rolf suf fered two broken ribs as a result of a heavy blow from his tiller. A good passage of 10 days was made from New Zea land to Noumea, with a further 12 days to Port Moresby.

Rolf and Helga were forced to extend their stay in Port Moresby due to a badly in fected leg sustained by Rolf from brushing against a nasty piece of coral. From Port Moresby they departed for Darwin and will take the Red Sea route to be back in Ger many by August 1983. • TALARI A. An H 55 Marco Polo ex Plymouth, USA, has made very fast passages since it departed from West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 2, 1982! With Richard Bird and Delia Chua at the helm, and assisted by two other crew, they plan to head to Singapore where Richard and Delia have their home.

Talaria is a delightful three masted schooner built of mahogany in the classic H design it’s sleek and fast!

Jane Deridder

reports from

Noumea, New Cale

donia:

• MAUD. There’s life in the old girl yet! Launched in 1899, Maud is a Norwegian cutter type vessel. Her vital statistics are 14.2 m bumkin to bowspirit, 3.6 m beam, 2.3 m draft. Wil liam Fife-designed, Scottish built, she’s carvel-planked splined and glued of pitch pine on oak and rock elm. In June Maud survived a Force 10 gale between New Zealand and New Caledonia, the same weather system that rolled the Los Angeles yacht Seagull near Norfolk Island, breaking the skipper’s neck and ripping off the cabin top. Maud was hove to for three days in that gales during which time Nor folk Island recorded 70 to 80 knot gusts. But as Claud Worth wrote in his classic Yacht Cruising, circa 1909, ‘ Maud is an exceptionally safe sea boat’.

Maud is owned and sailed by two young New Zealanders, both from New Plymouth.

They are Ross O’Donnell, a carpenter, who among other adventures spent six months on Scott Base in the Antarctic; and Brett Allen, a mechanic, who once travelled around the world with his surfboard.

Brent Anderson and Philippa and Mary Gallagher make up the youthful crew. Mary, sometime hang-glider, who owns her own small sailing

boat, was on the schooner Sofia when she was rolled off North Cape in March (PIM June p 59).

This is obviously not Maud's first Pacific cruise, for when one ex-owner, Shaun Ledward, sailed her out from the United Kingdom 10 years ago, the older island people recognised the vessel everywhere it went. • ILLUSION. David Lynch- Watson sailed from the UK to New Zealand 10 years ago on the old-timer Maud. Lynch- Watson, a consulting electrical engineer on a two-years leave of absence, now plans to com pete his circumnavigation and at the same time introduce his wife Joanne to his family in England. The newly-weds have chosen a 10.7 m steel Brek veldt-designed sloop, Illusion, to make their proposed trip via Suez and the mediterranean.

Nigel Pollett of Nelson signed on as crew on Illusion just two months after spending several days in a liferaft off the north ern tip of New Zealand as an aftermath of the capsizing and sinking of the topsail schooner Sofia. • MISTY. Doug Clark built the 11m steel sloop Misty in ‘two and a half thousand hours’ over a four-year period entirely on his own. By the time he’d finished the hull, Doug says he felt he really knew how to weld. He built her in Simonstown, South Africa, the strategically important na val base situated between Cape Point and Cape Hangclip.

Doug says that on that in hospitable stretch of coastline, vessels must ride out a south easterly gale behind Cape Hangclip, just inside False Bay, but for security reasons cannot venture into the False Bay Yacht Club. Doug and Alex Versfeld (‘a superb navi gator’) left South Africa in March of ’Bl, stopping in St.

Helena, Ascension, the Brazi lian island of Fernando de Noronha where a highlight of their trip they swam with the dolphins! After cruising the Caribbean, the boys spent several months on the US east coast. They describe the hospitality there as ‘unreal’.

The first time in almost 30,000 kilometres that they’ve not kept to their itinerary was when they gave up trying to beat us to Brisbane after two days lying ahull in gale force westerlies, and instead cleared customs in Noumea 12 days out of Suva.

Scottish-built Maud is of Norwegian cutter design and was launched more than 80 years ago. Present owners are Ross O’Donnell and Brett Allen from New Plymouth in New Zealand.- Jane DeRidder picture.

There is an explanation as to why stainless steel forceps are used on Misty to hang up clothes to fasten the sun awning, and other such jobs: Doug is a bio-medical en gineer, a growing faculty, says Doug, now that human organ implants are becoming com monplace. • DALMATA. Milan-born Aldo Nicolich (boat-builder, cabinet-maker) has worked in timber all hfs life, so it is not surprising that the building in Brisbane of his Australian spotted-gum 9m yacht Dalma ta a four-and-a-half-year pro ject was competently done.

What is interesting is that Aldo designed the vessel himself, ‘a necessity, not because I’m a designer.’ He built a floating model to scale, one kilo equall ing one tonne. Using a mixture of features gleaned from Slo cum, Girbault, Pigeon and His cock, Aldo came up with a reliable cruising boat design which he says meets his ex pectations reasonably well.

She’s a deep keel cutter with transom-mounted rudder. This is Aide’s third offshore trip in Dalmata in four years, always as a solo sailor. He said in Noumea: ‘l’ve been by myself too long. I don’t want to lose my freedom.’ • PUFF. Puff is a modified 14m ‘Piver’ trimaran with an A frame mast that arrived in Noumea 12 days out from Hon iara, hard on the wind al that way. Here Yvan Join will be joined by his wife Akita and their son Damien.

How does a young French man find himself the skipper of Geomarex? (Geomarex from ‘geo-marine exploration’ is a firm engaged in seeking

minerals by drilling in various lagoons in the Pacific.) Yvan Join and two companions were rescued from the Kermadec Islands in September 1978 af ter Yvan’s own Noumea-built 10m ferro yacht Morskoul was wrecked. The anchor rope had jumped the bow roller and frayed through while the boys were hiking ashore. They were picked up by Akaron, a New Zealand research vessel under contract to Geomarex which just happened to be passing close by. Fortunately Captain Gerry Clark of Kerikeri was scanning the shores with binoculars doing a seabird count. Yvan saved only his sextant, his money, his sails and his skin. Because Yvan is a trained mechanic and can navigate, he was kept on as crew.

John met his Gilbertese wife Akita on Christmas Island.

There he bought a Vancouver 11m steel sloop, Goldberry, for $2600. Engineless, Goldberry was 86 days en route from Vancouver, the owners were fed up, and Yvan was the only customer! Join plans to return to Christmas Island to get Goldberry back into cruising trim. • SANYATI. ‘I never sailed a day in my life till I put her in the water,’ said Harry Gil foyle, solo sailor from Bris bane of his 9m sloop Sanyati.

Harry rode a pushbike around Europe for six months, de cided he couldn’t do that for the rest of his life, decided on blue water cruising as a lifes tyle, and built his Roberts designed 9m glass and airex sandwich sloop. Sanyati's sing le cylinder lOhp Yanmar diesel engine running the bet-

ter part of an hour each day keeps the battery charged suf ficiently to run Harry’s ham transceiver, a Yaesu FT7O7 solid state rig. Getting his amateur radio licence was no great problem for Harry, for he is an electrician by trade, with electronics his great in terest. Sanyati’s Brisbane- Noumea crossing was a slow, windless one. En route Harry had a foot pump-operated shower every day, and still used only a quarter of his 60-gallon supply of fresh water. • ROCKHOPPER. It is always interesting to see what vessel is selected by experienced sailors to make a major offshore cruise. Michael and Jeannette York of Sydney de cided on a Laurent Giles ‘Salar 40’ ketch after many years of ocean racing and cruising.

Mick was on Kialoa when that maxi-racer set her record in the Sydney-Hobart race. He raced on Gretel in the Amer ica’s Cup, and on Caprice of Huon in the Admiral’s Cup. returning short-handed from a Sydney-Noumea Race in his previous yacht Tui Manu, and plagued with headwinds and

calms, York reckoned: ‘There’s got to be a better way.

I want a wheelhouse and at least 1000-mile range under power.’ He says that although Rockhopper looks a motor sail er, she can hold some of the modern racing boats when not close-hauled for she soon uses her full water-line length and very quickly gets to good speed. Tasmanian-built, she’s the only steel hulled ‘Salar 40.’

Mick is on three months long service leave from Borg War ner where he is a divisional manager. Jeannette is a talented painter, able to con tinue her work as she cruises.

The Yorks stopped in Lord Howe Island on their way to Noumea. CBers on Lord Howe were startled to hear ‘Rock hopper calling Pebble Jum per.' The latter is the Yorks’ shore boat. • SOLO LIGHTS. John and Giselle Dean are widely known in the Pacific. Auckland was John’s home town. Here he started his many-faceted life as commercial diver, soldier, shipwright and businessman among other occupations. Gigi was born in Ouvea in the Loyalty Islands as far as she

Aldo Nicolich on board Dalmata, the deep-keel cutter which he designed and built. “If I can catch a couple of fish to fill my pot I’m happy,” he says. - Jane DeRidder picture.

Rockhopper, a Sydney-based ketch, off Lord Howe Island.

Experienced sailors Michael and Jeannette York were on the first leg of a three-month cruise to New Caledonia.

knows, the only European baby to be born there. Early on, the Deans spent several years in New Guinea where John was master of a tanker.

They’ve also lived and worked in Europe, Malaysia and the Philippines. They’ve been based in Madang, Port Mores by, Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast; in Hong Kong where John was a property investment consultant for five years; and in Taiwan over seeing the construction of their previous boat.

In all these places and over all these years they’ve always had a yacht, and more often than not they’ve lived aboard. ‘The only magazine we’ve bought consistently over the years is PIM - for the “yachts” section.’ John and Gigi bought their 17 m ‘Greenhithe’ New Zealand-built yacht Solo Lights in Brisbane in February ’B2 with the intention of ‘getting back to cruising and a simple lifestyle’. She’s their 12th yacht in 20 years. John’s com ment on Kiwi shipbuilding: ‘lf I were to build another boat I’d have it built in New Zealand.

The quality is better than any where in the world.’ • INOA. Tim McCormick and Mike Stiefel, joint owners of the ‘Westsail 32’ Inoa of Chino, left Hawaii a year and a half ago. They were waiting in Noumea for delivery to Marine Corail of a Walker SAT NAY, as were several other overseas cruising yachts.

Helped by a devaluation of the franc, a satellite navigation instrument now costs less than SUS2OOO in Noumea, a far cry from 10 times that amount not many years back. Inoa is one of a group of yachts all head

ing towards Japan. Others in the cruising ‘flotilla’ are Man ana, Taku and Alrisha, all of which have been reported in previous issues of PIM. In June in the Isle of Pines, Inoa dragged in a westerly, and has a damaged toerail as a remin der of this misadventure. One of the shortcomings of cruis ing is that somebody has to stay on the boat, McCormick and Stiefel say. A way around what they term ‘cruising para noia’ is to put the boat on the hard as they did in New Zea land when Inoa sat high and dry at Orams Marina in Whan garei while the boys and Judy Mcgonigall toured in a van.

Judy joins Inoa as crew in Noumea. • TANGO. ‘After eight years cruising this has got to be the quietest season ever,’ say Noel and June Dabb of their June ’Bl to March ’B2 circuit from

Brisbane to Cairns by way of Noumea, Ouvea, Vanuatu, the Banks, Torres and Santa Cruz islands, the Solomons, Rabaul, New Guinea, New Britain and Samurai. In 8850 kilometres they motored 4000 kilometres, either because of no wind at all or light winds. The Dabbs found the south side of New Britain to be an interesting coast. There they saw no other yacht for months, except for a Japanese one whose occupants spoke no English. A problem on that particular coastline, said Noel, is that hops from shelter to shelter are long.

They sometimes had to leave at 2 a.m. to arrive at the next anchorage by 4 or 5 p.m. Tango is a 13 m ‘Crowther’ catamar an. New Zealanders Noel and June have also built and cruised Ecstasy, a 13 m one-off Keith Atkinson ketch, and a 10 Townsen ‘Twilight’, Ju’el. • LITTLE NEMO. She grew too small for us,’ say Leo and Gigi Coifs of the ‘S&S 34’ in which they started their cruise from Antwerp five years ago.

So during a year’s pause in Florida, they sold it and bought it Antigua the French-built ‘Hood 38’ Little Nemo. The Coifs describe her as ‘a small boat with a lot of room.’ The 12 m vessel is a hefty 14 tonnes, and with centreboard down draws eleven feet (3.3 m). Leo started sailing as a boy, racing in the English Channel and the North Sea. For years he dreamed of going cruising.

Now after five years in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the US, and the South Pacific, ‘We find it the normal way of living’.

• JANE. Though New York fashion illustrator Jane Weller admits she does not like mak ing passages, she says she does enjoy the variety of ex periences that cruising brings.

T feel now that I can go anywhere, do anything!’ Jane and Paul Weller were in Port- Vila when mail caught up with them. As a result they sailed back to New Zealand in order to leave their 12 m ‘Grampion’ yawl, Jane, safely at Grams Marina in Whangarei so they could fly back for their son Michael’s Central Park wed ding. Michael Weller, Oscar nominee playwright/script writer, wrote scripts for the movies Hair and Ragtime. Ab out his wedding festivities, Jane said. ‘lt was just the opposite of the life we lead on the boat, and I loved every minute of it’, though she says she was forced to shed unaccustomed shoes at the reception. Paul, after whooping it up in rented ‘soup and fish’ was anxious to get back to his yacht-home. ‘Even when it’s uncomfortable I’m thrilled with it all. I love to see Jane kick up her heels and go!’

John and Giselle Dean call it “getting back to the simple life” as they board Solo Lights, a 17-metre yacht which they bought in Australia for Pacific cruising. - Jane DeRidder picture.

Tim McCormick reads PIM’s yachting notes as Inoa rides at anchor in Noumea. McCormick and Mike Stiefel have been cruising Inoa out of Hawaii for more than 18 months. - Jane DeRidder picture.

Paul Weller rolls a final coat of paint on the deck after the 12-metre yawl Jane received a new anti-skid deck surface. The yacht, based in New York, is now in New Zealand. - Jane DeRidder picture.