Yachts

Tohi Tala Niue Re

ports from Aloft, Niue:

• HAPPY, A 4 m sloop built and owned by 33-year-old How ard Smith, of Toronto, Canada, Happy is planning on making her mark in the Canada Institute of

Expeditions Manual.

Fair and fit-looking, Howard arrived in Niue in October after 17 days crossing from Tahiti. He missed Aitutaki in the Cooks because of “gale” forces, and planned to arrive in Brisbane, Australia, before the end of the month.

Built in Vancouver at a cost of $C23,000 and registered at To ronto, the sloop boasts a 2 m beam which leaves lots of stor age room for water and supplies.

Howard’s next big plan is to buy himself a small single engine plane in which he aims to make a round-the-world flight which could also make an entry in the institute’s manual.

In the meantime he planned to leave for Vavau, Suva, and, if time allowed, to pop into New Caledonia before Brisbane dur ing the hurricane season.

We hope it’s “fiafia” weather all the way for you, Howard!

Peter Mcquarrie

reports from Funafuti,

Tuvalu:

• lONE. A 10 m Sparkman and Stevens-designed Yankee sloop, lone, with Jim and Joanie McCammon of Redondo Beach, California, on board, called at Funafuti in September.

The McCammons have been cruising the Pacific since 1978,

sailing through Eastern Polynesia

to Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji, and then south to Australia and New Zealand.

Totally captivated by the quiet

charms of Western Polynesia, they have visited Tuvalu three times in the past three years, each time visiting the atolls of Funafuti and Nukufetau.

This time lone arrived in Tuvalu from Lautoka, Fiji and departed for Tarawa, Kiribati. • NINA B. A 13 m fibreglass ketch built in Taiwan for Mar shall Boker, who sails with his niece Marsha Boker and crew David Finneman. The Nina B arrived in Funafuti from Tarawa, Kiribati, and left for Pago Pago in American Samoa, then Christ mas Island, and expects to be in Hawaii by Christmas.

Bob White, a retired Union Oil department manager from California, USA, is fulfilling a promise to his daughter Kath leen to cruise with her in the family Cal 36 yacht Patina, most recently reported in New Caledonia waters. This slipway photograph shows the fine lines of the Cal 36 design.

Jane DeRidder.