KAY BASON reports

from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea:

• TUMBLEHOME. When Hans Ebell sailed his 9 m fibreglass sloop out of Perth he planned to call into Darwin. However, the weather was so fair, he carried on to Bali. Not having cleared customs in Australia created some problems in Indonesia, but the authorities finally allowed him a two month permit. The Indone sian authorities are quite strict about yacht cruising areas, and Hans re commends that visitors prepare an itinerary to present to officials.

Returning to Darwin, Tumblehome met with irate Australian Customs officials. Hans was suspected of vari ous misdeals, but luckily his log and charts provided evidence of an honest cruise. He said he had certainly learnt a great deal and in future will keep a log of radio conversations as well as normal logbook entries.

Hans has previously worked in Papua New Guinea and is looking forward to exploring the Louisiade Archipelago.

• KANALOA. Kanaloa is the “God of Navigators,” according to the

Polynesians. Hank Koebmgge spent

three and a half years building his 12 m Halverson Freya design steel yacht, mostly part-time. He said the hull was completed in nine months but the fitting-out took much longer than anticipated. Kanaloa has an open plan interior which makes her look very spacious. Hank is a marine engineer by trade and has used his skills to great effect in the building of his boat.

Han and Eva Caintroll, his crew, left Cairns and sailed to Samarai, then explored Milne Bay. After a taste of island cruising, they realise that the boat needs a few modifica tions. They plan to return to Cairns with a new job list. • CROSSBOW. It is good to see another family take to the cruising lifestyle. Doug and Sheena Baker, with their two sons Ran an, 16, and Chris, 14, are from Townsville where they built their beautiful trima ran. Doug and Sheena extended their Crowther Buccaneer design tri to 12 m, and with an 8.5 m beam she’s a lot of boat. The first year Doug worked part-time boatbuilding, but found progress so slow that he sold his business and continued for another two years on the boat. He promised himself that the day she hit the water he would go for a sail and he did.

The family left their home port in April 1983, and entered the Towns ville-Dunk Island Race. They were pleased with Crossbow’s perform ance, third over the line in the cruis ing section. After the race they ex plored the far north Queensland coast, and spent six months in Gove.

Sheena said the boys found it hard to adjust to correspondence lessons

Hank Koebmgge

The Baker family, Crossbow

Tumblehome

Kanaloa, Port Moresby

Hans Ebell

initially, but after six months most problems have been sorted out. They find the system very good.

From Port Moresby this cheerful family intend to cruise around PNG, and then head for Solomon Islands.

• Southerly Buster H. John

and Jacqueline Page built this mod ified Spray 11 -m steel yacht in Balli na. New South Wales, and had her sailing within eight months. They finished fitting out the interior in Sydney.

Their previous Southerly Buster was a fibreglass Alberg 30 yacht and they cruised the Great Lakes, the eastern U.S. coast, and the Bahamas before selling her. They both enjoy the cruising lifestyle and are sea soned travellers, having worked in many countries.

Daughters Tracy and Kathy joined the yacht in Port Moresby to cruise Milne Bay with their parents. John and Jacqueline plan to cruise to Canada via South Africa later this year. • ALEGRIAS. This 19-m, three masted staysail schooner was previ ously owned by Alan Lucas, and has cruised extensively in PNG. Mark Robinson and his family have been her proud owners since 1980 and use her for charter work in Australia’s Northern Territory. Mark finds the wet season in Darwin depressing and he and his guests intend to chase the sun and dive on the endless reef in PNG. He hopes that his PNG charters will become a regular event as the cruising grounds are so wonderful.

A word about

malaria

I have been doing a survey with all the visiting yachts regarding malaria suppression drugs. Quite honestly I’m alarmed that doctors in Australia are prescribing Fansidar as a suppres sant to many people.

Suppression is used for protection in areas where malaria is common.

Unfortunately in many parts of the world malaria parasites have become resistant to some of the better known, less dangerous medicines. There is for example a chloroquine-resistant strain of malaria. It worries me that eventually there may be a Fansidar resistant strain. Normally Fansidar is used when all else has failed.

Malaria is not pleasant, and any one who suffers from unexplained fevers should immediately have a blood test for malaria. It is very important to know which drugs are being prescribed, and how they may affect you. Nasty side-effects could spoil your cruising, so check with a doctor before popping any pills.

John and Jacqueline Page, Southerly Buster II