It was an early start to things nautical as Dad, Capt. Peter Cumming, was then a ships officer in the Royal Australian Navy.
Can't recall the sea voyage over to Malaya, being only a 1 year old, crawling around a rolling deck perhaps. The first memory of a sea voyage was the return trip in 1963 aboard the ship "Orsova". She sailed from Kualur Lumpur to Melbourne (via Perth) in 1963, It's hard to imagine now but most people traveled overseas by ship then. Before the fast-lane of flying world began for the general public.
Can't recall the sea voyage over to Malaya, being only a 1 year old, crawling around a rolling deck perhaps. The first memory of a sea voyage was the return trip in 1963 aboard the ship "Orsova". She sailed from Kualur Lumpur to Melbourne (via Perth) in 1963, It's hard to imagine now but most people traveled overseas by ship then. Before the fast-lane of flying world began for the general public.
Back in Sydney Dad took us aboard docked war ships, engine rooms, bridges, innards of a gun turret of a destroyer. Couldn't believe the huge aircraft carrier. Dad skippered the "Kimbla" the navy's oceanographic research vessel.
Melbourne
Melbourne
My brother and i were members of 4th Brighton sea scouts, Melbourne. for a few years. I was 10 years old and learnt to row an 8 ft wooden clinker dinghy "Mini Moonah", an inspiring way to start faring forth on Port Phillip Bay. One day 2 up we tried rowing in 20-30 knot winds and waves, just loved it. Later learnt how to row in the larger 18ft wooden carvel gigs "Ajax" and "Moonah" with crews of 7. After proving our rowing skills we were allowed to try sailing. First sailboat was a 11'6" Heron Dinghy.
The Heron is a gunter rigged single chine plywood dinghy from the board of UK designer Jack Holt. It has a kick up swing centerboard for easy beaching. The cockpit looked like the picture below, tho there was also a bouyancy chamber where the aft thwart is in this picture, another bouyancy tank plus ample stowage is under the foredeck. The boat i sailed on had angled breakwaters and a clear varnish finish similar to the one below.
The rig has a gaff, mast and boom. All are short spars which can stow in the hull length. The first sail was in light conditions with Skip McKiggan the sea scout leader. An introduction into to rigging up and handle the jib sheets and swing centerboard that day.
Sunfish saga - the second sail.
Was aboard an older scouts privately owned sailfish. The Sunfish is a lug rigged , plywood long-board. 1960's era. The one picture has a free standing mast but Dave's had 3 stays to hold it up.
We set off from the bay in almost flat calm and ghosted out about 200m from shore. I guess it was a first for Dave the skipper too, but soon a long low very dark horizontal cigar shaped cloud was moving rapidly toward us from the south over Port Phillip Bay. It didn't look good, we headed back but there was still zero wind, and paddling wasn't fast enough.
As it got blacker and blacker, a white line soon became visible on the water - it was spray flung up by the squall behind it. It hit suddenly 0-40 knots in seconds!! We capsized, couldn't right it, then the stay parted and mast fell over. Half in the water, leaning over the 2 foot wide hull with about 6" of free-board, we gathered in the spars and sail as the seas rapidly rose.
Dave and i were drifting onto a car park's rock wall with waves dashing all over it. Dave was a big lad so we managed to swim the sailfish past the breakers on the rock wall, got caught in a whirlpool at the end of a groin then got pummeled by 1 meter surf before washing ashore. It was cold and i was nearly hypothermic (didn't know that then) We were elated we had survived and fortunately it was short ordeal with a valuable lesson of the might of the sea. (also a lesson in stay attachment, we forgot a shackle to thread the stay lanyard through. It was only looped though a chain plate tang - which soon cut through the lanyard allowing mast to fall)
The 11 foot Heron, helmed by hefty Skip McKiggan fared allot better in the squall. Skip and the new chum managed to run for it and stay upright. This allowed the Heron to plane and reach speeds of 20-25 knots, they covered 200 meters in no time, leaping clear over the waves like a speed boat! A spectacular image of bearded 25-stone skip, hiking out over the stern with a huge rooster tail spraying up behind the rudder before finally cartwheeling meters from shore was forever immortalized in my mind, and it certainly gain allot of respect from us.
VJ or Vaucluse junior skiff.
My brother Max, who was then and still is allot more out-going than i, bought a VJ as his first boat, for $175. The VJ is a training skiff for Sydneys legendary skiff sailors (extreme racing dinghy's with huge sail areas)
VJ had 2 hiking planks (instead of trapezes) to get out over the side and lever the boat upright. It had a flush deck with only a small concave foot and main sheet well for the skipper. An asymetic wire luff spinaker allowed for high speed reaching and broad reaching. Jib and sheets made it a busy perch for the crew. They are nimble high-performance dinghys.
The VJ could be car-topped on Mum and Dad's 1963 EH Holden station wagon. We sailed in light winds a few times, once on an inter scout group race.
Then it was the windy day event. We set off in light winds but they soon picked up, we were planning at about 20 knots the fastest speed ever. But i didn't know how to tack, slow down or even stop the boat in those conditions! As we screamed for the beach, a hidden submerged rock suddenly struck the steel dagger board, the boat pitch-poled as the wooden center case shattered and we were catapulted off the hiking planks.It was Devastating. Luckily epoxy was invented by then in order to repair the case later.
Cherub Dinghy
Max and i then went shares in a $300 12ft Cherub which was more manageable. Designed by John Spencer of NZ as a fast plywood planning dinghy with single trapeze and swing centerboard. So It wold be far far safer if you hit anything below.
The old style spinaker pole and rig.
1970s hull similar to our one (our boat was light blue with beige decks ) A spinaker chute was fitted in the foredeck, kite launching and retreival was like magic (no arm wrestling required) We fitted rectangular scuppers aft to drain the cockpit quickly once the boat was planning.
We had many nice sails in the cherub, Dad would tow us to the beach and retrieve us later with the EH holden station wagon.
I sometime crewed on a 420, owned by a school friend. The 420 is a European designed fibre-glass racing dinghy. Trapeze and spinaker work required and it planned along nicely with Pete at the helm.
Crewed on a 17 foot long "Venturer", sailed by the older sea scouts (Venturers and Rovers) an open swing centerboard cruising dinghy. The round hull was built of triple diagonal wood. It had beach roller airbags under the seats and thwarts for flotation and beaching. The minimum crew was 3 but it could take a few more than that. It was ideal for multi-day beach camping trips. (they also had an impressive 20 foot cat for that to)
I became club Bosun for awhile with the duty of maintaining the small boat fleet. One winter our backyard turned boat yard with Heron hulls and parts of above boats being re-sanded, varnished and painted.
Pearling era begins
While our small craft sailing in Melbourne was going on Capt Peter had retired from the RAN around 1966. He joined Pearls Pty Ltd in a senior role. The farms were up near Broome WA and the Torres Straight Islands. On one trip he skippered an old wooden pearling lugger the "John Louis" around the top end of Australia. On board were the best Australian divers he could find and they introduced the modern Hookah gear to the Australian Pearling Industry (a competed with the traditional brass hard hat divers of that time, mostly of Japanese and Torres straight island descent) The diving experiment went well with a great catch, then the whole industry followed this example. After every trip we were treated to slide nights and stories of Dad's adventures. The "John Louis" is now preserved at the Sydney Maritime Museum. It's probably part of the reason i developed a nostalgic interest and love in gaff rigged boats in later life.
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| The John Louis in 1960's, Capt Peter Cumming at helm - credit: Australian Maritime Museum |
New Zealand
We crossed the Tasman aboard an old ocean liner. It took a few days at sea. Remember a big wave broke over the bow and washed right up the side and onto deck as we entered Cook Straight to windy Wellington. Salt was everywhere.
Once settled into Russell town, Bay of Islands. Max and i bought a beautiful old Frostbite dinghy for $100 from the local school's headmaster, Mr Roberson. The Frostbite has a classic wooden clinker hull with wooden spars, daggerboard and rudder. A single cat mainsail drove the 11 foot 6 inch long hull nicely. (Not to be confused with Hereshoffs frostbite dinghy) The NZ frostbite was designed by eminent New Zealander engineer John Brook who also designed 250 other boats including the well known 8 foot Sabot and the Sunburst dinghy.
We had to let the planks "take up" for a few days after relaunch and also caulked with silicon. Took the frostbite in a few seascout races in the inner Bay of Islands between Russell, Pihia and Opua. This area is a world cruising yachtie's paradise and cyclone season haul-out. Allot of heavy duty cruising yachts to see, a very nautical part of the world.
We sold the frostbite for $99 to the bearded young skipper of a wooden Junk rigged cruiser called "Eric the Red" about 40-50ft? LOA from Europe for use as her yacht tender on a world circumnavigation.
Paper Tiger cat
The 14ft Paper Tiger catamarran was designed by Kiwi Ron Given. In 1973 Max and I bought "A Clockwork Apple" for $600. she was built of stitch and glue plywood, glassed over with aluminum beams and spars and Una rig fully battened mainsail. We picked her up at Browns Bay, Auckland (the birthplace of the design. ) and sailed in the Bay of Islands for a couple of years. Apple was a speed machine and was also good for short cruises between Russell, Pihia, Opua and Waikare. Joined the high school sailing club and even sailed it home from school, sailing from Waitangi to Russell instead of catching the usual Fullers Ferry! A few years later "Apple" was shipped to Manihiki Atoll, Cook Islands.. see below
The 14ft Paper Tiger catamarran was designed by Kiwi Ron Given. In 1973 Max and I bought "A Clockwork Apple" for $600. she was built of stitch and glue plywood, glassed over with aluminum beams and spars and Una rig fully battened mainsail. We picked her up at Browns Bay, Auckland (the birthplace of the design. ) and sailed in the Bay of Islands for a couple of years. Apple was a speed machine and was also good for short cruises between Russell, Pihia, Opua and Waikare. Joined the high school sailing club and even sailed it home from school, sailing from Waitangi to Russell instead of catching the usual Fullers Ferry! A few years later "Apple" was shipped to Manihiki Atoll, Cook Islands.. see below
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| Photo of a Paper Tiger in full flight |
Tinny fishing
My uncle had a 12ft tinny with a Merc 10HP, so we went out Longlining for schnapper in days when these fish were more abundant in the Bay.
A school mate, Bill had a 10 foot tinny with seagull outboard. We Dived for scallops or collected rock oysters and kina (sea urchins).
A school mate, Bill had a 10 foot tinny with seagull outboard. We Dived for scallops or collected rock oysters and kina (sea urchins).
Cook Islands
Mid 1970s was the big move to the Cook Islands, which is in the South Seas. A couple of years earlier, Dad started the first cultured black-pearl farm in this small island nation. These tiny specks of land are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean which covers at least a third of the planet. You couldn't get much further from a continental landmass.
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| Manihiki atoll - in the centre of the Earth image, Pacific Ocean. credit: google earth. |
Rarotonga's tropical environment, lifestyle and happy go lucky people were enchanting. We visited the Rarotonga sailing club and met some expats well adapted to a good life in Paradise. Don Silk and Bob Boyd of the shipping company bearing their names were patrons, as was as Jim Keenan, Manager of Island foods orange juice cannery.
Then Mum, Max and I boarded the "Altair", a 110 ft ex-European fishing vessell reborn as an inter-Island trading ship. Owned by 3 adventurous young Swedes she hauled cargo's out to the outer Islands and copra/pearl shell back to Raro. We set off for Manihiki Atoll, a target 3miles across and just above sealevel, 650 nautical miles to the north. We started off as deck passengers under a tarp, it was rough and the roll was heavy, probably about 20 degrees each way. We were sliding back and forth on the hatch on our mattresses and going a bit green. Fortunately the crew showed us mercy and put 2 of us in one of their cabins and found extra space for themselves by hot-bunking, different watches share the same berth. I found a mat in the wheelhouses shelf - chart table. Aitutaki Island was reached first to offload cargo, then it was a calmer trip northwards. but then the ships speed dwindled. Yarn, the engineer, emerged from the engine room covered in grease and sweat, he said the variable pitch propeller controller was broken, and the prop kept slipping into neutral. Some old steadying sails were set forward which helped add a knot of speed, so we took longer than the usual 4 days, about 7-8 days to reach Manihiki,(google map) but got to know the crew better and share a real adventure.
Here is a detail map of Manihiki showing the numerous small motu or islets.
Manihiki atoll was a bit like waterworld, but this was well before the movie with Kevin Costner came out. The land was 2m high and waves sometimes far higher than that fortunately smashed themselves to bits on the surrounding reef, the noise of the surf was inescapable. We lived on a strip of land about 150m wide and 1km long for a few years with 300 Cook Islanders in Tahunu Village. In 1976 there were no cars or airstrip. Allot of boats and some motorbikes/ pushbikes plus 2 tractors with trailers for heavy land hauling. Getting about was by walking or boat.
Manihiki Pearls Ltd, had 2 good dive boats, a 13 foot Boston Whaler ("Ample") and a Dehavilland Hercules (sounds like an army plane! but its a 18foot "tinnie" called "Crumple"). Both were in simple configuration with tiller steered outboards, (no steering wheels) this allowed for maximum cargo space on deck.
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| Dehaviland Hercules 18 - rolling ashore at Manihiki lagoon 1976. Captain Peter Cumming RAN ret. (left) |
The "Herc" was an 18ft aluminium open workboat with a sealed self draining deck with foam buoyancy below. It was built by DeHavilland Marine in Sydney, an offshoot of the DeHavilland Aircraft company. Below the self draining deck its structure was based on an aircraft wing , the joins were sealed and riveted, so it was a very strong and light boat, ideal for pearl farm operations and a favorite with the NW Western Australian pearl shell divers of the time. It could also double as a cargo lighter to run the reefs passage and bring in cargo from Trading ships. To increase work space the foredeck was very small with just an anchoring cleat. With a 35HP Evinrude, it could plane at about 20-22knots empty this was slightly underpowered but simple with tiller steering (Designed for far larger outboards, 100hp) Freeboard was fairly high. A nice feature was rubrail/grab rails about 6" below the gunwale, this allowed divers to hang on to when bringing pearl shell baskets to the boat. Only the plywood deck was painted, the aluminium left bare so low maintenance. It had a nice V hull shape forward so the ride was smoothed out .
One role the Herc played was for pearl shell collection in the lagoon. Diving gear included a Compac Hookah with 2 hoses (2 divers to 60 feet, 1 diver to 90 feet) and scuba tanks as backup, worn by divers and also hung on the decompression line below the boat. We had to be very careful not to catch "the bends" as there was no decompression chamber out there. So we used deco tables, a deco meter and rotated divers so no-one went over the deco limits. There was room for pearl shell and about 6 divers and crew.
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| Head pearl technician - Takao Iwaki, operating at the pearl farm shed near Tukao village. 13 foot Boston whaler "Ample" at floating pontoon dock. |
The Boston whaler was a tri-hulled fiberglass fishing boat designed for lakes (and ok for the lagoon). It was stable and easy to get on the plane at low speeds but it could pound heavily in a 25knot tradewind chop! On flat water it was the fastest craft on Manihiki in 1977, 28 knots in calm water, when it got rougher it was down to about 12knots and the crew would stand up the bow holding onto a rope yehaaing like cowboys. The twin tunnels of the lower hull trapped an aircushion under the boat so it needed less power to drive it. It could easily go airborne, so careful throttle control and leg tilt angle settings had to be right.
"Ample" had a self-draining open deck plan (no console) so more space for handling pearl shell nets or diving gear. Foam flotation sealed filled the space between deck and hull, so was unsinkable. It made a good scuba diving craft, similar in stability to a modern inflatable or RIB.
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| Boston whaler 13. credit BW catalog |
This old photo reminds me of my brother and i out for a run in the Boston whaler during our early teen years . The whaler could seat many people on one gunwale and never tip over. For some more information on 13 foot Boston Whalers.
Completed high school with NZ correspondence school, but had to post phone year five as the ship arrived 3 months late with the school work so went pearl farm diving and re-started school the next year. Probably thanks to Mum and Dads discipline i passed 6th Form and the NZ University entrance exam in 1978. I stayed at Tukao village (population 100) for some months with 2 Japanese pearl operators, in a house on of top a lagoonside wharf. The Boston Whaler was "parked" outside like a car in a garage, only the garage was a small coral stone breakwater and a lifting device to get the boat clear. Tidal range only about a foot.!!
In 1978 Max, a family friend Bill Wallace and I got our scuba certification in Whangarei, NZ (involved a dive at the Poor Knight Islands, amazing world class dive site). Max and i returned to Manihiki and i worked as supervising compressed air diver (at 18 and 19 years old, we were the only qualified guys there!) The island had no airstrip, internet, phones, no electrical grid power, no piped running water systems. Only fast communications was with a morse-code telegram office operated by Onio, it was located in the local government building Tahunu village, which also housed the government diesel generator. MPL facilities were powered by kerosene. Kero pressure lamps for light, food was cooled by kerosene wick fridges, and food was cooked on kerosene wick stoves. MPL HQ had a 5 kva Honda petrol generator. Petrol also powered the outboards, Hookah hose diving unit and Bauer scuba tank refilling compressor. Our house had a 5000 gallon tank with one tap, so all water was carted around by hand in containers from there. Showers were 5 gallon plastic cream packs, left in the sun for solar warm water each day. Our bucket flush outhouse was a luxury.
The village had a few 20000 gallon tanks under large roofs, everyone carried their water home in containers, many walked and some had 50cc Honda stepthrough motorbikes.
To leave Manihiki for annual holidays etc we sailed aboard Silk and Boyd's MV "Manuvai" a 300 tonne passenger and cargo ship. This was relative luxury and always a good trip to and from Raro, where an Air NZ jet flew to Auckland. There were few guest cabins, most people camped on deck hatches on the aft decks.
The cargo ship could not anchor as the atoll dropped off into huge depths (10,000 foot deep, 3km offshore). So visiting ships just drifted and motored about, while small dory like cargo boats about 30 foot long with 25hp outboards, ran into a small cutting blasted from the reef (by NZ army engineers long ago) at Tahunu village.
The harbor was on the island Leeward side but could get quite rough at times, the boats having to wait until wave sets passed then rush in or out. Similar timing required on exiting but it was safer, a strong exiting rip-current assisted the boats when leaving. Max and I went out on the cargo lighters at times and helped with cargo loading. The ship used old-style cargo nets, which lowered everything into the boats. 44 gallon fuel drums, boxes of food, medicines, motorbikes, tool and building materials like corrugated iron, sawn timber and nails. It was all manhandled up onto the small concrete pier. Once unloaded the ship would take on the export cargo - Copra (dried coconut) and pearl shell, both in large hessian sacks that only a very strong Islander could lift and handle.
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| "MV Manuvai" unloading cargo at Tahunu harbour, Manikiki, circa 1977. |
Unfortunately Manuvai was eventually wrecked on Nassau island in the southern cooks a decade later in 1988.
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| Manuvai on Nassau Island (c/- http://www.cookislands.org.uk/) |
Our Paper Tiger Cat " Clockwork Apple" was dismantled, boxed up and shipped as deck cargo from NZ to Rarotoga then on to Manihiki. In 1978 no sail had been seen on the lagoon for decades, was probably the first modern sail craft to appear here.
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| Paper tiger at Tahunu 1978. L to R Andrew and Max Cummig |
The Paper Tiger was a fast boat for lagoon sailing across trade winds between the two villages (which had likely been located and set up by no accident during the old days of outrigger canoe and dive-boat sailing, it was often a single tack across the easterly trade winds either way)
The copra islands and shell diving grounds were usually upwind of the villages for an easy return home. However, the Paper tiger sailed upwind well for snorkeling and spearfishing trips. Most times it was a downwind run home with boards up. One day we got becalmed and night fell, the wind turned light westerly so had to tack for the village, suddenly we broke a dagger board off on an invisible coral head. A new one was built and no further damage happened. (In retrospect a surf cat like a with asymetric hulls and no center boards would be a good cat type in the pacific islands. Cats like Hobie 16. I think a Caper cat 14 with a 2hp outboard auxillary would be a good all rounder) Pivoting centerboards could be the best for windward performance in coral. A local friend Teina William sailed with us and helped revive the lost art of sailing on Manihiki.
Fireball - The two Japanese pearl operation technicians who we worked with Takao Iwaki and Takashi wanted a sailboat too! As they spent 6 months straight per year on the Island. So we found an old fireball dinghy at the Rarotonga sailing club (600 nm south), and she was shipped deck cargo by copra boat to become the second sailing renaissance boat for Manihiki.
Fireballs are 16ft with sloop rig, a spinnaker and trapeze, they plane fast but are a bit skittish too if not careful. Takashi the younger technician sure did love sailing the fireball off Tukao village. The beam is narrow at 4'6" so the crew has to be on their toes to balance the boat at all times in a strong wind. Capsize was all part of it. The good thing was Manihiki lagoon has no poisonous jellyfish "stingers" like Australias great barrier reef. Also no large sea sharks would enter the lagoon and small reef sharks would and these were generally harmless. Lack of big sharks may have been caused by the shallow reef flats or different temperature or salinity inside.
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| Rigged the Fireball at Tahunu house. |
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| Fireball at Tukao Village |
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| Fireball Dinghy: By Barbetorte - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4179989 |
Traditional gaff rigged dive boat restoration.
One project Max and I tried was the restoration of an 1880's design era wooden sailing dive boat. She was caravel planked and half decked with a central cockpit. Boats of this type used to carry pearl shell helmet divers, who used Seibe-Gorman brass dive helmets with hand cranked dive compressors of the 19th century.
"My Love" was about 18-20 foot long on deck, a fair bit smaller than the helmet dive boats were, and may have been a support vessel to dive operations. It took a few months of restoration work, caulking and painting. Re-launching day was excellent, to see her in her former glory, Gaff rigged, huge long wooden boom and bowsprit. She was heavy and beamy with a full length shoal draft keel. We sailed for a few months.
I took the helm of "MyLove" on an ordinary looking day with a crew of locals. A few hours into the sail, a mile from Tahunu when we were hit by a line squall, capsized and the hull filled with water (no bouyancy tanks) We removed the mast and sails and this allow the hull to right. The wooden hull was awash, and floated with only a few inches free-board, unbailable as waves kept filling the cockpit. Eventually we drifted to beach at an inner lagoon sand flat about a mile from Tahunu to bail her out, refloat and get a tow back. Unfortunately the rig was damaged and her owner Tihau, a copra and trading store owner never re-rigged her. "My Love" returned to haul copra (coconut) from nearby motu (islands) under outboard power only. A few lessons learnt by all.
We also had a 22 foot wooden planked outrigger sailing canoe hull owned by ?Tihau at home for restoration but never got around to working on that project.
First blue water cruising yacht voyage
My blue water cruising-voyaging began in 1978 when Dad chartered "Ave Maria" a ferro Hartley RORC 39 owned by the Catholic mission - to sail from Manihiki to Rarotonga about 650 nautical miles of deep blue open ocean. This was because no ship had visited Manihiki for 6 months and it was the only way off.
It was memorable first sailing voyage with Captain Bruce Carnahan at the helm. Capt Bruce is a colorful character, he worked an Alaskan tugboat skipper , then sailed a 22 foot Pacific Seacraft Flicker from the States and solo and very tired he ran onto the windward reef of Penryn Island one dark night. The baot was shoal draft enough to salvage and get into the lagoon, and it took 9 months before Central authorities knew that Bruce had entered the country, by then he had started a family. He married and settled on Penrhyn Island, took up skippering copra boats like "Manuvai" and had about 6-7 kids by the time we sailed with him. Occasionally he'd go to work tug boats back in Alaska for 6 months to boost the finances more rapidly.
Good speed was made thrashing into the SE trades and swells on a close reach but it caused a bit of seasickness grief to some of the passengers. That included myself in the first hours of the voyage the chicken drumstick lunch didn't stay down and i learnt not to chuck up to windward, it missed me but got Capt Bruce, sorry about that! (The aftermath was couldn't eat or smell roast chicken for years after this either, just the smell of it induced nausea even on land!) Two of the crew were confined to bunks for 7 days, very sick, they lost allot of weight. Becalmed off Aitutaki the 2 Master mariners Bruce and Peter broke out the Captain Morgan Rum and some interesting tales and sea shanties ensued. Later on "Manuvai" came along and gave us a tow at their cruise speed of 9 knots, , the 2" towline springing us forward over swells like a slingshot. What a wild ride. Night fell and I fell asleep in the forepeak bunk but later awoke to slow motoring, the towing forces had cracked and lifted the ferro cement foredeck just above my bunk! so the the tow was slipped off. Moral of story, only try high speed towing with a steel hulled or planning hull vessel. We motored to Avaru port, Rarotonga.
The good thing about ferro-cement construction is low-maintenance to the hull, they can sit in toredo-worm infested seas for ages no worries,, the usual zinc anode changes and antifoul and little problem with the material compared to fibreglass or wood hulls. and little rusting like steel if they're built well. Ave Maria looks similar to Moet .
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| Hartley RORC 39 "Moet" |
I left Manihiki in 1978 after some very interesting teenage years for further education in Australia.
South Pacific Yacht cruise 1983
On a visit to NZ in 1983 (aged 23) going cruising was certainly on the mind. I consulted Nev, a NZ yachty, fisherman and boat builder, who suggested to try crewing when the yachts take off for the South Pacific cruising season around April (just after the cyclone season and before the winter storms). Asked about along the yacht-docks in Auckland looking for a crew spot to the South Pacific.
Snowbird -Farr 1120
Luckily a crew was required aboard "Snowbird", a Farr 11 m cruiser-racer, for a 2 week delivery trip to Fiji. Bruce the skipper built the immaculate vessel himself and his son Steve was crew. On the final night-out in Auckland we were accosted on the street by a knife-wielding junkie, luckily Bruce was able to talk the guy down and he left us with no harm. We sailed to Whangarei to provision and get a 4 th crewman, who turned out to be a con-thief who stole some stuff off the yacht and disappeared, note to skippers. So we set off with 3 aboard, rode out bad weather in the lee of Bream head, then ran before a strong Sou' wester surfing on waves at 13-14 knots at times! A week later we were headed by a NE gale, hove-to drifted at 2 knots west-wards away from Fiji for 2 days, we crashed off huge waves, the interior visibly shaking and booming like being in the interior of a huge drum. One day the cold damp was replaced by warm tropical winds which carried us quickly to Suva. Also Bruce taught me the basics of celestial navigation with a sextant and nautical almanac (Data book). Left Snowbird, Bruce and son Steve to meet the family at Nandi and I went backpacking ashore.
There was a small hostel on a small Island with memorable snorkeling trips with a great local guide. A month later i began looking for a way onward.
Deliverance 2 - Pugh 52 Ketch
In Suva i ran into Russ "Rock" Powick, the owner of "Deliverance 2". We first met in Auckland at Snowbirds going away party. Rock worked as the Cook of the NZ Antarctic base for 2 years and later went manganese mining at Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory. He invested 10k in silver and sold it for 70k enough to return to NZ and build the yacht in an amazing 2 years at his mum's property. All before the age of 37. The other crewmen were young Aussies Paul and Muldoon. They usually sailed with 3 aboard but had trouble with the self-steering unit so 4 crew were needed to steer 24 hours per day.
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| Deliverance 2 for sale in 2017 at Pihia, Bay of Islands, NZ |
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| Skipper Russ Powick brings Fijian news reporters aboard Deliverance 2 in the original tender (1983) |
In Fiji news reporters interviewed us and the local news paper ran an article "Miner's go for a sail"
We headed for Tonga, beating into the trades with relative ease thanks to the heavy displacement steel hull to arrive in the Vavau group, The Northern Islands in the Kingdom of Tonga (the King and his ship did call in too). We dived at Mariners cave, from inside the pool looked like a glistening sapphire from within, In the sealed air pocket chamber instant cloud fog formed as every swell compressed the air then it disappeared instantly too. Our ear drums popped in and out with the pressures surges, amazing like being in the lungs of the sea. This video captures Mariners caves wonders.
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| Exiting the mariners cave (1983) |
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| Mariners cave pool (1983) |
On passage each did 6 hours broken into 2 x 3 hour watches. The nav-nook had a transit sat-nav unit, one of the few yachts at the time and it was the precursor system to gps of today (it cost $6000 in 1982! compared to $200 or less for a small hand-held gps today) . Besides steering and sail changes, I assisted with navigation, continued learning celestial navigation using a sextant for sun-sights with the help of a navigation calculator which had the nautical almanacs for the next 20 years programmed in it. Also had ago reducing the sights of some star sights taken at dawn or dusk.
We kept meeting European solo skipper Earhart at different anchorages, He was a colorful character and a true south seas romantic. A carpenter by trade he built a beautiful 33 footer up from a glass hull. It was almost the perfect sized cruising boat and a credit to his skills.
Then onto Pago Pago harbour, American Samoa. There we met American Tuna purse-seiner crews and heard many amazing deep sea fishing stories as well as tour one of the state of the art vessels. nothing was done in halves, they supplied the tuna cannery which was a mainstay of the local economy.
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| Super seiner Tuna boat fleet in Pago Pago harbour |
Apia, Western Samoa was a day sail away. It was much more laid back, without the rampant development in the American run Samoa, a huge cultural difference even though the same polynesian peoples. Unfortunately, the dinghy was disappeared one night when trailing astern from it's painter. The first mate Muldoon was a good carpenter by trade, so he and Rock designed and built the replacement dinghy "MV Vailima" in 2 days. Having had a few mishaps trying to get a few late evening guests though the shore break in the old plywood 8 ft tender, the "Vailima" (named after the Islands favorite beer) was a 11ft long, 5 ft wide square as plywood punt design with a large carrying capicity. The plimsol line marks read "1 carton, 2 cartons, 3 cartons plus netball team", a very hard dinghy to sink when fully loaded in a shore-break. It was hoisted aboard on a halyard and stowed upright across the wide deck at sea.
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| MV Debut in the South Pacific |
While in port we met Capt. Dick Brookes and some crew of the MV "Debut", a former north sea trawler, which was anchored in the harbor. At the time they were working as a yacht salvage vessel, saving many stranded yachts on coral reefs after cyclones using the enormous wire rope winches aboard that used to haul the catch aboard the large ship. Colorfull free spirits living the dream, a rare thing indeed. Captivating yarns were spun and a good time was had by all, 1983 was a memorable year. (NB In 1987 "Debut" got permanently stuck on Emily reef, Cooktown)
The ship has an interesting history, built in 1948, she was a sistership of the "Rainbow Warrior" environmental protest vessell owned by Greenpeace.
D2 sailed from Tonga to Fiji with only 3 crew (as D2 crewmate Paul joined a canadian ketches crew) It was a downwind run with warm tradewinds and gentle swells from astern so good time was made.
Snorkelling in 6 km deep water!
One day we were becalmed over the Tonga trench, over 6,000m (20,000 feet) deep about 80nm (145km) SW of Samoa. So why not go snorkelling there! Maybe it's just invincibility of youth, but It was the most indescribably eerie and pulse racing experience to duckdive down 6-10m into the high visibility (200 ft plus) waters 6 kilometers above the sea floor so far from any land.! The sunlight made radiant beams of light down into the colossal deep blue depths. Kept a good lookout for any sea creatures such as sharks but saw none.
Homeward bound
In Fiji Dan Drisco joined D2 as 4th crew for the next leg to New Caledonia. He once worked as a nightclub manager in the US, but in his late 20's had enough, so traveled the world instead. Dan was the ultimate light weight traveler, his gear consisted of only 1 pair of quick dry shorts, a T-shirt sand-shoes and a very-very small bag, He also an affable guy with an amazing ability to assimilate into local life ashore anywhere so was soon off around new Caledonia and decided to stay awhile. Good luck Dan.
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| Muldoon (L) and Dan (R) with 2nd tender "Vailima" built by Muldoon and Russ. |
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| Capt "Rock" at the helm, Paul on the binocs. |
We another 4th crewman on a world backpacking trip for the final leg New Caledonia to Cairns. A fast 3-4 day crossing, our new crewmate got really seasick but to his credit he never gave up steering despite this terrible illness. (note to others- go for shorter coastal trips first to see if you get seasick). we entered the barrier reefs southern end off Gladstone and sailed quickly north inside the reef before strong south easterlies to Cairns.
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| Sailing hard for Australia, Rock surveys the horizon. |
Sailboarding Craze era
The sailboard craze swept through early eighties, so had a go at that, bought a "Hifly" fun board. 11ft 6" long, 6 and 5m2 sails, swing dagger board and planning hullform. Had a go on Dr Cons "Bombora" too, this was shorter, fully battened, much faster and could leap higher. Never really had the acrobatic agility to master it in surf conditions such as Alva Beach, so mostly stayed on the flat stuff around Townsville. Bought a "sinker" wave board but that was going too far, decided then that vessels should naturally float and not require hydrodynamic forces to raise them.
Tasmanian yacht "cruises"
One Summer in the mid eighties i went Youth Hosteling around Tasmania. At an east coast beach campfire, met the crew of "Ellingrah" a 42 ft steel cutter and was soon aboard for the sail to Hobart. However it was straight into a cold southerly gale right from the southern ocean. 6m waves and 45 degrees heel, even after the main was wrestled down. The ship was non-electrical like ye olde days so no beacons or 2 way radio either. However the hull was very well built, dry and strong as an ox. The rigging was old and the engine was seized up so I advised the skipper to heave-to on port tack to drift away from the very dangerous leeshore of SE Cape. I'm glad he did that for 24 hours later it blew out and we safely sailed past the previously lethal towering cliffs, into the Derwent river estuary and Hobart.
Got back to the mainland on one of the Sydney-Hobart race boats returning to Melbourne. "Police Car" was a 1 tonner class, aluminium stripped out flyer. It had been stove-in forward during the race then patched up with cross bracing etc and needed to be nursed back home for major repairs. Crossing Bass Straight even in cruise mode was something else, it howled and we punched into the pitch black cold night. A few waves washed the decks from bow to stern and we were upto our necks in whitewater-foam in the cockpit. Good skipper, crew, safety harnesses and boat equipment gave us confidence and some peace of mind. It abated before entering the rip at the entrance to Port Philip Bay.
In 1986 i got my first exploration job, field assistant..at the camp near Charters Towers the other fieldy was the builder of the "Ellingarah"! So over a campfire yarn he said that selling her was a good thing as at 42' it was a bit too big and expensive to run. He then bought a Herreshoff H28 fiberglass yacht and sailed that one up to new Guinea,, it was a much more practical proposition, smaller was better and financially feasible.
Endeavour 24 "Pablo", 1988-1989
In 1986 i finally graduated in Geology and got my first ever well paid jobs in 1987. After a years work including a 3 month stint in Papua New Guinea, the money was finally saved enough for my first small keel boat, an Endeavour 24 which i picked up in Sydney for $7,800.
The Endeavor 24 is a 1.5 ton masthead sloop of 1.5 tons displacement. Designed for Sydney harbor and surrounds.
It took a few months to prepare "Pablo" and another $1000 or more invested (BOAT = bring on another thousand) for coastal cruising. safety gear such as an 127 mhz epirb, harness etc. Pablo had no electrical system, so used battery powered nav lights and a kero-lamp anchor light. It was fitted with a 2 burner maxi alcohol fueled stove on gimbals. A 6 hp Johnson outboard protected in the cockpit well was good in big seas.
Went for a few sails in Sydney harbor, always remember the knife sharp hydro-foils of the manly ferry cutting through the nearby waters at 30 knots. Also came down with a bout of malaria (contracted in PNG) which put me in hospital a couple of days, its hard to describe its severity except the young intern doctors eyes were nearly popping out as they hadn't seen it in action before.
At anchorage or along the way met lots of yachties and went aboard their craft.
- Thomas Colvin schooner, Larry built an 47' very traditional junk rigged ketch without engine or electrics. She took 3 years to build build and launch. He sailed south from Northern NSW after a "me or the boat" argument with his wife. Some months later, his wife finally found his anchorage and persuaded him to return back home.
- 50 foot ferro ketch in Pitwater. Also engineless, was waiting out the cyclone season and would do regular trips to Queenland, especially the WhitSundays, a well known place to meet keen crew mates.
- Maurice Griffiths Eventide 26, a classic wooden bilge-keeler. The boat had old world charm but the professional seafaring young owner pointed out some rot maintenance issues under the cockpit were hard to get at.
- Tahiti Ketch, another wooden classic with old world charm. The owners were surfers who river hopped along the coast looking for the best wave to ride.
Navigation was still pre-GPS. So it was traditional coastal navigation with compass, charts, handbearing compass, sum-log and dead reakoning between landmark fix points. Jeff Toghills coastal nav book and Alan Lucas' "cruising the NSW coast" were good references.
The trip North up the east coast went easy at first. managed to do well timed day trips between the coastal anchorages, allot being rivers with bar crossings. then the existence and effects of the east Australian current began to sink in, i'd never dreamed currents at sea could go that fast, from where you wanted to go, that's why hardly any small Sydney boat ever sails to Brisbane...This was before the movie "Finding Nemo" came out unfortunately.
Also lost the spade rudder off Cape Byron, the easternmost point of the Australian mainland, the rudder stock snapped off at the hull due to metal fatigue. (lesson, no spade rudders offshore again) The EAC helped allot in getting back safely to Coff's harbor for repairs, but arrived to a wave-breaking entrance. Timed the break right and fortunately made it in between wave sets with the jury rudder (dinghy oar lashed to pushpit!). The next boat, a shoal keel 40 footer with an aft hung keel rudder surfed a big wave in sucessfully.
The third boat in wasnt so lucky. It was a solid 35 foot fin keeler on a delivery trip was completely rolled over (360) by a huge breaking wave. This snapped the mast into pieces and threw the entire crew of 2 overboard into the raging surf zone. The police rescue launch braved it, picked up the survivors, cut the downed rigging/mast/sails away with bolt-cutters and towed the damaged hull in. We helped moor the hull at the dock as the experienced delivery crew were still too shocked to function. The mast had also smashed a hatch open and alot of water got down below it was lucky not to sink or be wrecked on the rockwalls. The crew headed ashore to a safe hotel for the night, full-on incident but everyone survived it.
The months spent in Coff's were good. It was the cheapest marina on the coast then, so lots of voyagers and coastal yachties called in, so picked up a few tips from them too. Started installing an electrical system with the help of a visiting electrical engineer on one of the yachts.
Hood 23
I became friends with the owner of a Hood 23 yacht. These are good small cruising boats, as their raised decks provide comfortable space below, in shoal draft or centerboard versions they can go into shallow creeks and bays. The outboard is transom hung and the rudder tucked under the hull so the outboard can be swung up or used without affecting the rudder. The fin keel version has a partial skeg on the rudder. Never got to sail as the jib was torn, but it had a good cabin for a yarn.
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| Hood 23 sailing |
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| Hood 23 centerboard version |
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| Hood 23 raised cabin and flush deck |
While holed up in Coff's, i spotted classical tan bark gaff sails on the horizon and watched the traditional yacht tied up for re-provisioning and an overnight stay before departing early, it later turned out to be my first "Wylo 2" sighting.
Other yachts and yachties i met at Coff's Harbour
- An Islander 40 ft (made famous by Harry Pidgeon) an olde worlde wooden gaffer which Mark and his brother who looked like the proverbial ancient mariners, had sailed north and just returned from Cape York. Bought an antique hand-bearing compass from them.
- 35 foot Roberts? center cockpit sloop owner by Karl and his wife, they were doing the final fiiting out afloat. It seem cavernous inside and was a very nice cruising home.
- A 50 foot aft cabin ketch owned by an electrical engineer. He helped me with the circuit diagram used later to electrify "Pablo", many thanks sir.
- Manitou 32 owned by Scotty from Grafton. It had a big forepeak, center cockpit and raised deck aft cabin. They didn't cost too much to buy, though it felt a bit tender at mooring maybe due to the wine glass section design.
Finally repaired "Pablo's" rudder and sailed North. It went well until a gale struck off the Gold Coast. Hove-to, the boat was thrown off the top of 6m waves to crash into the invisible trough in the middle of the pitch black night, I was prepared to go out the hatch in survival gear clutching a half inflated dinghy mates later named the "jellyfish". Foretunately, the fiberglass hull didn't split open/sink and the dawn came to reveal huge seas and raging wind whipping the crests off them, hard to estimate but probably 40 knots or more. The mainsail started tearing apart but was able to lower and repair it on the boom with a palm and needle before it ripped in half. It eventually abated and 24 hours later was safe enough to cross the South Port Bar and seaway. This one finally convinced me of good electrics, radio for weather forecasting and right boat for job in future. I had a small transistor radio aboard and heard that one guy half sank and hung onto his rudder all night inside Moreton Bay. A 40 ft yacht was driven ashore on the windward side of Stradbroke Island. So got lucky.
The inland waterways of Brisbane were sheltered and very safe. Finally Hauled out at Monty's Marina in Caboolture river. It was the best value haul-out on the coast, so left "Pablo" there and headed north to work for 6 months.
Wylo2 -Tai Taki
While at Monty's spotted the tan bark sailed "old gaffer" that visited Coff's was anchored there. I was determined to say "gidday" this time. It turned out to be a wylo2 called "Tai Taki" designed by Nick Skeate's of the UK and owned by Dave Simmonds and his wife from NZ. Dave's enthusiasm was contagious. The cavernous tardis-like interior, the mast lowering frame, wide flush decks. It was the second wylo ever built too, in Whangarei near the original wylo2. Soon i was writing to Nick Skeates for more information. Surviving the Gold coast gale got me thinking about more robust boats (maybe a bit too robust!)
"Pablo" was trucked north to Ross Haven marine in Townsville. It was a 1300 km road trip but National road freighters did it without a scratch. It may have been nicer to sail up but contract work was available so had to make the most of the work opportunity. After some antifouling work Pablo was relaunched into its new home of Ross River. Pile moorings were well priced in the 1980's and the river was a good harbor for yachts then (not now though, thanks to a recent port bridge blocking the entrance..) The pile mooring was secure enough to leave the boat unattended for weeks away working.
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| Pablo at Rosshaven Marina in Townsville. |
I lived aboard during field breaks mostly fitting 12v elecrics. solar power, battery , nav lights. Also a few sails out to Magnetic Island were called for.
Met a nice liveaboard couple aboard a 28 foot ferro cruising yacht on the pile moorings. (First spotted in Coff's harbour after its restoration by another owner there)
North Queensland Cruise.
Set sail for Cairns with uni buddies Davo and Con. We anchored at Palm Island group, sailed outside Hinchinbrook Island, anchored at trunk reef (great Barrier reef) and went into Innisfail for Con to return ashore. A cyclone bore down on us so Dave and i moved "Pablo" into a "cyclone (weathring) hole", a small side creek and we tied mooring lines onto mangrove trees. Fortunately the Category 1 cyclone did a sudden right angle turn away from our position when it was only 100 km away.
We sailed on to Cairns and finally went on pile moorings at Port Douglas. I returned to work and sold "Pablo" through the Port Douglas yacht broker.
North Queensland Cruise.
Set sail for Cairns with uni buddies Davo and Con. We anchored at Palm Island group, sailed outside Hinchinbrook Island, anchored at trunk reef (great Barrier reef) and went into Innisfail for Con to return ashore. A cyclone bore down on us so Dave and i moved "Pablo" into a "cyclone (weathring) hole", a small side creek and we tied mooring lines onto mangrove trees. Fortunately the Category 1 cyclone did a sudden right angle turn away from our position when it was only 100 km away.
We sailed on to Cairns and finally went on pile moorings at Port Douglas. I returned to work and sold "Pablo" through the Port Douglas yacht broker.
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| Moored at Port Douglas. |
Meet Nick Skeates and Wylo 2
In 1990, after a bit of old fashioned correspondence, met the legendary Nick Skeates and wylo2 in Russell, Bay of Islands, NZ. He took a few of us out for a day sail and we yarned over a cuppa tea in wylo2's spacious saloon cabin. After helping with wylos' hull scrub at low tide while on the beaching legs i was pretty sure this was the design for me.
In 1990, after a bit of old fashioned correspondence, met the legendary Nick Skeates and wylo2 in Russell, Bay of Islands, NZ. He took a few of us out for a day sail and we yarned over a cuppa tea in wylo2's spacious saloon cabin. After helping with wylos' hull scrub at low tide while on the beaching legs i was pretty sure this was the design for me.
Wylo2 building
Bought an acre of land in the North Queensland countryside, I guess 31 years old is a good time to buy some land. It served as a base camp and boat-building site. My land selection was it had to be away from restrictive council rules and too many neighbors but have power and water out the front. The rural-residential zoning rules allowed for allot more activities than townspeople could ever get away with such a steel boat building and a 14 foot caravan for initial accommodation.
In 1995 the accomodation went up a notch when i bought a 1950's 3 bedroom wooden house in Townsville, then it was transported on a huge house-carrying low loader, stumped on site with cyclone bolts for $31,000. The biggest purchase to date, another 40k had house fully rennovated. but alas this house/mortgage land stuff also rips into any boat-building budget quite severely too and slows boatbuilding down.
The whole wylo2 project to date is covered in my blog wyloyard
Caper Cat 14, 1993-1997
Bought an acre of land in the North Queensland countryside, I guess 31 years old is a good time to buy some land. It served as a base camp and boat-building site. My land selection was it had to be away from restrictive council rules and too many neighbors but have power and water out the front. The rural-residential zoning rules allowed for allot more activities than townspeople could ever get away with such a steel boat building and a 14 foot caravan for initial accommodation.
In 1995 the accomodation went up a notch when i bought a 1950's 3 bedroom wooden house in Townsville, then it was transported on a huge house-carrying low loader, stumped on site with cyclone bolts for $31,000. The biggest purchase to date, another 40k had house fully rennovated. but alas this house/mortgage land stuff also rips into any boat-building budget quite severely too and slows boatbuilding down.
The whole wylo2 project to date is covered in my blog wyloyard
Caper Cat 14, 1993-1997
After commencing the wylo build, i read Nicks seaspray article which mentions that in order to succeed at boat building he needed a "sanity machine". (In his case it was a Heron dinghy.)
Work began to pick up again by 1993, I decided to buy a 14ft Caper Cat, a micro-cruiser beach catamaran as a sanity machine. The experience with the paper tiger proved cats are very stable and fast small craft.
Had to go to 1200km to Brisbane to buy her for $1,100 and tow back but it was well worth the trip. The Capercat has 2 big dry storage hatches for camping supplies and gear, hobbie style surf cat hulls (no centerboards) and kickup twin rudders, A masthead float so it wont turn turtle and efficient sloop rig - roller furling jib and fully battened main. I liked the bracket to hold a 2hp outboard A danforth anchor, EPRIB, flares and V-sheet were also aboard.
The Caper Cat proved to be a very capable and safe beach, coastal & barrier reef island cruiser for a minimal outlay. I was based near Rollingstone, midway between Ingham and Townsville. Although fitted with an outbaord bracket for 2HP, i never owned one. All the sailing and cruising was done engineless with simple paddles for windless approaches to shore. This never seemed to be a problem given the cats' relative speed and light air sailing abilities.
Work began to pick up again by 1993, I decided to buy a 14ft Caper Cat, a micro-cruiser beach catamaran as a sanity machine. The experience with the paper tiger proved cats are very stable and fast small craft.
Had to go to 1200km to Brisbane to buy her for $1,100 and tow back but it was well worth the trip. The Capercat has 2 big dry storage hatches for camping supplies and gear, hobbie style surf cat hulls (no centerboards) and kickup twin rudders, A masthead float so it wont turn turtle and efficient sloop rig - roller furling jib and fully battened main. I liked the bracket to hold a 2hp outboard A danforth anchor, EPRIB, flares and V-sheet were also aboard.
The Caper Cat proved to be a very capable and safe beach, coastal & barrier reef island cruiser for a minimal outlay. I was based near Rollingstone, midway between Ingham and Townsville. Although fitted with an outbaord bracket for 2HP, i never owned one. All the sailing and cruising was done engineless with simple paddles for windless approaches to shore. This never seemed to be a problem given the cats' relative speed and light air sailing abilities.
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| Caper Cat 14 - beach rollers stow well forward of main beam. |
Started sailing from Cape Palleranda and Ross creek in Townsville. The cat easily sailed around Magnetic Island (counter-clockwise) in a day due to the 8-10 knot cruising speeds. . The boat moved well in even the lightest breeze.
Added the beach roller gear (from Calyspo Sailcraft Brisbane, the builders) which could be carried between the hulls while sailing and used to haul a fully laden boat up most beaches above the high tide mark.
Sailed to Hinchinbrook Island from Dungeness. Rollered up to camp on the Island on a windswept beach on the southern end the Primordial Island after sailing across the shoal waters of Hinchinbrrok channel.
Another trip was around the northern Palm Island group sailing from Dungeness. Northern orpheus island to camp ashore and returned via the seaward (windward) side of Pelorus Island.
Added the beach roller gear (from Calyspo Sailcraft Brisbane, the builders) which could be carried between the hulls while sailing and used to haul a fully laden boat up most beaches above the high tide mark.
Sailed to Hinchinbrook Island from Dungeness. Rollered up to camp on the Island on a windswept beach on the southern end the Primordial Island after sailing across the shoal waters of Hinchinbrrok channel.
Another trip was around the northern Palm Island group sailing from Dungeness. Northern orpheus island to camp ashore and returned via the seaward (windward) side of Pelorus Island.
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| Sailing off Pelorus island, Palm Islands, North Qld. |
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| Palm Islands, anchored and lowering main sail. Note masthead float which prevents turtling in a capsize. |
Took the cat to the WhitSundays with (now) Dr Con, and borrowed a 2hp outboard from friends Gary "Gekko" and Ronlyn Fischer where we stayed inland of Mackay. A strong 30 knot SE wind quickly thwarted the trip even as it began. It was blowing straight down the narrow channel we launched into with a fast incoming tide kicking up sharp seas.. Tacking into this was extreme and we weren't making any ground upwind. Suddenly a jib cleat broke with a huge bang, it was game over. I'm sure in better sub-25knot conditions, the cat with outboard could easily handle the Whitsundays (it would need mainsail reefing and storm jib above this, the 2hp outboard is a calm weather only get home, it lifted the prop out - cavitated when hobby horsing at the beginning and had to be shut down)
The Cat was great with a few limitations - no protection from the sun, wind, wet or spray at all, and its difficult to power upwind in a seaway. So 2 days out there in the tropics was plenty for most of us who tried it. Caper Cats have done remarkable long distance coastal voyages and it's a testament to the seaworthiness of the boat with a hardy well prepared crew.
Hartley TS16, 1997-1999
Bought "Jakkarri" a Hartley TS16. A much more comfortable craft (and belatedly sold the Caper Cat to "Kimbo" at Toomulla) The Hartley's 16ft long plywood double chine hull is based on the historical broad beamed NZ mullet fishing sailing workboat or "mullety", it has a steel swing centerboard, heaps of cockpit and deck room aft and a small cabin with 2 bunks and room for gear. The bermudan rig is more modern though, the jib had a roller furler and the main could be reefed. She had electrics, nav lights etc so was a real pocket cruiser, far more comfortable than CaperCat, you could get some shelter, stay allot drier and sleep aboard if needed (Though camping ashore was a better rest). A 6hp outboard gave strong motoring power. Speed was about half that of the cat to about 4-5 knots but cabin shelter and much more storage made up for that.
Hartley TS16, 1997-1999
Bought "Jakkarri" a Hartley TS16. A much more comfortable craft (and belatedly sold the Caper Cat to "Kimbo" at Toomulla) The Hartley's 16ft long plywood double chine hull is based on the historical broad beamed NZ mullet fishing sailing workboat or "mullety", it has a steel swing centerboard, heaps of cockpit and deck room aft and a small cabin with 2 bunks and room for gear. The bermudan rig is more modern though, the jib had a roller furler and the main could be reefed. She had electrics, nav lights etc so was a real pocket cruiser, far more comfortable than CaperCat, you could get some shelter, stay allot drier and sleep aboard if needed (Though camping ashore was a better rest). A 6hp outboard gave strong motoring power. Speed was about half that of the cat to about 4-5 knots but cabin shelter and much more storage made up for that.
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| Jakarri at Magnetic Island. |
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| WhitSunday Islands. |
Returned to the northern Palm Islands to camp a few nights, go snorkelling (nice coral and fish) and hiking on wind swept hills.
The final 3 day cruise around the WhitSundays was memorable and went well this time around with local friend "Gekko" crewing and guiding. From Shute harbour ramp and anchorage its generally upwind to the Islands. The area also has high tidal range 4-5m which generates some good strong tidal currents in the narrows between islands. Did a bit of crab-like sailing to get across the main channel. The 6hp Johnson made all the difference in these conditions, especially when the wind was too light to sail fast enough. Whithaven beach was amazing, we camped out in National parks and the Spinaker run back was sublime.
Trailer sailing is definitely a user-friendly way to sail on the Tropical North Qld coast (or anywhere really) Prevailing winds are E to SE, so its easy to head upwind at the beginning and if it blows up run back into the ramp to escape the bad conditions.
It's also very easy to get upwind along the coast in a hurry, 50 knots to windward on the road trailer! In North Queensland it's far easier for keel yachts to sail northbound with trade-winds than it is to sail south.
The exploration economy went pear-shaped again, and now had a house to look after too, so had to reluctantly sell Jakkari in Townsville. She was a fine craft.
The "boatless" era
Over a decade without a serviceable boat at the turn of the century! (Still had my wylo 35 hull stored away at home in Rollingstone, tho). I moved to SE Asia to work as an expat with a few breaks to NZ. Tried English Teaching in Bangkok, met my wife Lin, bought a traditional Chinese style townhouse in need of renovation and began a family. Mineral Exploration work was back in 2006 so worked as a geologist again. First in Qld, then 3 years in SE Asia. Did manage to mess about in boats every now and then though.
Took a Hobbie 16 out to introduce my wife to sailing in the calm waters of Jomtien beach, the Gulf of Thailand.
A second, more spirited Hobbie 16 sail at the surf beach at Dong Hoi, central Vietnam. The sun spa resort hires them out and has staff to help with the surf launching and beaching. It was pretty windy and surf was about 1 meter, whoo.
Back in NZ at the Bay of Islands for a break to visit Mum and Dad. Went in a Russell Boat Club Tall ships race aboard the 60+ ft steel schooner Sione owned and skippered by Alan and Martha Meyers. What a memorable day with scores of old sailing ships and yachts sailing out to nine-pin rock and return. Square rigged vessels, gaff rigged, most with bowsprits and wooden dead eyes and ratlines in the rigging. arrgh me hearties! Allan and Martha lived and cruised extensively on her, raising a fine family in NZ too. Henry was also aboard that day, he's since built a wylo2 35ft gaff cutter called Mahina. Here is an article of the tall ships race from another year (with strong winds) Sione is in the third photo from top.
Another Bay of islands visit we sailed aboard charter yacht Phantom with Rick and Robin Blomfield. We were in very good company. It is one of the best day sailing trips out to the islands. Phantom is a Sparkman and Stephens 50, a fast and well balanced yacht. Robins lunches on deck are second to none for the 10 guests. Passengers can either sit back relax or have a go at sailing, I took the helm for awhile, amazing, Phantom was perfectly balanced and the rig powered up beautifully in the gusts. We went ashore on Urapukapuka island and admired the incredible views from a springy couch grass hilltop. Definitely go for a sail on Phantom if you're in the Bay of Island.
Boat owning again
Fatty Knees 8: 2012-present
Moved my family back to Australia after 3 years exploration work in SE Asia. We bought another house (again slowing boat building/ ownership down allot) So with limited budget, i bought a Fatty Knees 8 dinghy on trailer for $900 It's a small American catboat with a fibreglass clinker hull probably built in the 1950's - 1960's? (sail No 150) in Longbeach California. They were designed by Lyle Hess and make fine yacht tenders. Thousands more were built and they're still in production today in Massachusetts, USA.
The previous owners story is that they bought it from a visiting cruising yachtsman (presumably crossed the pacific from the US) who changed tenders to an inflatable because he was getting older and it was easier to get aboard and stow away.
More on this dinghy elsewhere in this blog and in waterways.
Investigator 563: 2013-present
Picked up an old Investigator 563 (18') trailer-yacht near Bluewater. It was designed by Kevin Shepard and built in Sydney, probably in the 1970's, and one of the oldest ones, having sail number 9 just visible. Teria sails well, is sloop rigged and has a 10hp outboard. She has a shoal draft keel with lead ballast/ swing centerboard and a 50% righting moment, similar to a full sized yachts specs. A pop-top cabin gives standing headroom at anchor. A 9 ft sit on top Scamp kayak goes out on every trip as the tender. I've gradually repaired and added things on the Teria between sailing trips (mostly around Magnetic Island). A major job was re-constructing a new galvanised steel trailer frame.
It's also very easy to get upwind along the coast in a hurry, 50 knots to windward on the road trailer! In North Queensland it's far easier for keel yachts to sail northbound with trade-winds than it is to sail south.
The exploration economy went pear-shaped again, and now had a house to look after too, so had to reluctantly sell Jakkari in Townsville. She was a fine craft.
The "boatless" era
Over a decade without a serviceable boat at the turn of the century! (Still had my wylo 35 hull stored away at home in Rollingstone, tho). I moved to SE Asia to work as an expat with a few breaks to NZ. Tried English Teaching in Bangkok, met my wife Lin, bought a traditional Chinese style townhouse in need of renovation and began a family. Mineral Exploration work was back in 2006 so worked as a geologist again. First in Qld, then 3 years in SE Asia. Did manage to mess about in boats every now and then though.
Took a Hobbie 16 out to introduce my wife to sailing in the calm waters of Jomtien beach, the Gulf of Thailand.
A second, more spirited Hobbie 16 sail at the surf beach at Dong Hoi, central Vietnam. The sun spa resort hires them out and has staff to help with the surf launching and beaching. It was pretty windy and surf was about 1 meter, whoo.
Back in NZ at the Bay of Islands for a break to visit Mum and Dad. Went in a Russell Boat Club Tall ships race aboard the 60+ ft steel schooner Sione owned and skippered by Alan and Martha Meyers. What a memorable day with scores of old sailing ships and yachts sailing out to nine-pin rock and return. Square rigged vessels, gaff rigged, most with bowsprits and wooden dead eyes and ratlines in the rigging. arrgh me hearties! Allan and Martha lived and cruised extensively on her, raising a fine family in NZ too. Henry was also aboard that day, he's since built a wylo2 35ft gaff cutter called Mahina. Here is an article of the tall ships race from another year (with strong winds) Sione is in the third photo from top.
Another Bay of islands visit we sailed aboard charter yacht Phantom with Rick and Robin Blomfield. We were in very good company. It is one of the best day sailing trips out to the islands. Phantom is a Sparkman and Stephens 50, a fast and well balanced yacht. Robins lunches on deck are second to none for the 10 guests. Passengers can either sit back relax or have a go at sailing, I took the helm for awhile, amazing, Phantom was perfectly balanced and the rig powered up beautifully in the gusts. We went ashore on Urapukapuka island and admired the incredible views from a springy couch grass hilltop. Definitely go for a sail on Phantom if you're in the Bay of Island.
Boat owning again
Fatty Knees 8: 2012-present
Moved my family back to Australia after 3 years exploration work in SE Asia. We bought another house (again slowing boat building/ ownership down allot) So with limited budget, i bought a Fatty Knees 8 dinghy on trailer for $900 It's a small American catboat with a fibreglass clinker hull probably built in the 1950's - 1960's? (sail No 150) in Longbeach California. They were designed by Lyle Hess and make fine yacht tenders. Thousands more were built and they're still in production today in Massachusetts, USA.
The previous owners story is that they bought it from a visiting cruising yachtsman (presumably crossed the pacific from the US) who changed tenders to an inflatable because he was getting older and it was easier to get aboard and stow away.
More on this dinghy elsewhere in this blog and in waterways.
Investigator 563: 2013-present
Picked up an old Investigator 563 (18') trailer-yacht near Bluewater. It was designed by Kevin Shepard and built in Sydney, probably in the 1970's, and one of the oldest ones, having sail number 9 just visible. Teria sails well, is sloop rigged and has a 10hp outboard. She has a shoal draft keel with lead ballast/ swing centerboard and a 50% righting moment, similar to a full sized yachts specs. A pop-top cabin gives standing headroom at anchor. A 9 ft sit on top Scamp kayak goes out on every trip as the tender. I've gradually repaired and added things on the Teria between sailing trips (mostly around Magnetic Island). A major job was re-constructing a new galvanised steel trailer frame.
In 2024 Teria is setup as a solo pocket cruiser. The forepeak is a supplies storage area and an ST1000 tiller pilot, (automatic electronic helmsman) is fitted.
