Port Moresby

“sing-sing”, a dance and feast rarely seen by outsiders. (Note: the Mortlock Islands are restricted in access heavy penalties will result if cruising yachties venture there without special permission from the PNG Government.) Continuing southward Nirva na 111 cruised through the Solo mons, then through the island chains of Santa Cruz, Vanuatu and on to New Caledonia. It was on their leg from Noumea to New Zealand however, that the couple had an “encounter” that they will never forget.

It was lunchtime. Nirvana 111 was doing almost 7 knots under a full head of sail. Her position was 200 miles north east of Norfolk Island. You couldn’t want better cruising conditions.

Suddenly, she came to an almost complete stop and slewed around 190 degrees.

Flight alongside, lying on the surface with blood welling up, was a whale. It was so close that they could have touched it Fred started up the motor and, in his own words, they “took off at full speed”. They quickly left the whale behind them. The last they saw, it was just lying there, making abso lutely no movement.

Worried about possible underwater damage, they made a hasty but thorough internal examination. There was no evidence of holing, neither were they taking any water. It was not until the vessel was slipped in New Zealand, that they discovered some ex ternal hull fractures. These were quickly and easily repaired.

After catching their breath cruising New Zealand waters for six months, Nirvana 111 once again headed northward. The couple cruised through the Whitsundays and then rounded Cape York for Darwin.

Re-provisioning complete, Fred and Jill Bettwieser headed for Christmas Island, with Galle in southern Sri Lanka as their next major stopover. Then it was to be the Mediterranean via the Red Sea.

Danielle Pater

SON reports from

Port Moresby

• Pierre-Moine From

Noumea, their last port of call,

Heire Brunet-Moret and crew Solonge Dumas arrived in Port Moresby in their Knocker de signed, round bilge steel ketch.

The boat, built in France, is 11m overall with a beam of 3.4 m and is powered by a 25 h.p.

Yanmar diesel. Communication on board consists of both a Icom VHF set and a Yaesu ham radio.

In the galley department Pierre-Moine is set up with a gas stove and refrigeration.

Heire and Solonge stayed in Port Moresbvy for 10 days before setting out through the Torres Straits, for clearance into Australia. From Australia Heire intends to sail to Mauritius which is their immediate goal for this part of their voyage. • FYXE. Hailing from Eng land, Harry Harrison is on his circumnavigation with Austra lia, Mauritius and South Africa as final stepping stones before landing back in England.

Harry’s last port of call, prior to his arrival in Port Moresby, was Whangerei, New Zealand.

His 8.24-m fibreglass cutter Fyxe was designed by Robert Harris and built in England.

Fyxe has a 2.6 m beam and a draft of 1.4 m.

Powered by a 20-h.p. Bukh diesel, Fyxe is quite at home under power or sail. She is equipped with a Sailor VHF radio for communication, and a

kerosene stove looks after all Harry’s culinary needs. • I AND I The 8 m Westerly was sailed from Florida in 1983 with Americans Brower Walle, Michelle Walle and eight month-old Brise Walle on board. They arrived in Port Moresby from Samarai.

I and I was designed by Laurent Giles and built in Eng land. She has a beam of 2.6 m and a bilge keel draft of 1.1. m.

She is constructed of fibreglass and is powered by a 10 h.p.

Volvo diesel. Carrying no re frigeration or radio on board, Brower keeps his boat simple.

Having been cmising around PNG waters for some five months the Walles are no

strangers to the PNG lifestyle and have settled into the club atmosphere at the RPYC well.

The Walles sailed from Flor ida, down to New Zealand then up to the Solomons and PNG.

They are impressed with the RPYC’s marina and facilities stating that it’s the first marina they have encountered since leaving Florida. • FRANCESCA “To even tually finish our circumnaviga tion at Miami, Florida,” was the reply of James Denton (Fred to his friends) and crew Francesca Stassi-Denton when asked their intentions.

Fred and Francesca had just arrived in Port Moresby as part of the fleet in the Caims-Port Moresby yacht race. Francesca, a S & S 11.28 m built in the US, was caught by the excitement of the race while in Caims contemplating their next move.

Hailing from San Francisco both Fred and Francesca have the same interests, that of chat ting up sailors at yacht bars, reading lots of books and sim ply working around the boat.

After a possible two month stay in PNG waters they intend to sail for Darwin as their next Australian port of call.

Francesca has a beam of 3.5 m and a draft of 2m. She is powered by a Perkins 40hp diesel, not that she is any kind of a slouch as she won the cruising section of the Caims/ Moresby race and accounted well for herself in a local event prior to retiring with spinnaker hassles.

The circumnavigation de partment on board consists of an Icom M2SD VHF set.

Fred and Jill Bettwieser, with their fourteen year old poodle Casper, In the dinette of their ferro-cement cutter “Nirvana III.

Photo: Ian Menzies.

Looking aft, past the superb galley, to the doghouse and centre cockpit of "Nirvana III.” Photo: Ian Menzies.