‑yacht.asn.au issue 27 – june 2009 – classic ......2013/02/27 · issue 27 – june 2009 –...
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Issue 27 – June 2009 – Classic Yacht Association of Australia Magazine
www.classic‑yacht.asn.au
Our aim is to promote the appreciation
and participation of sailing classic
yachts in Australia, and help preserve
the historical and cultural significance
of these unique vessels.
CONTENTS
CYAA REPRESENTATIVES 2
COMING EVENTS 2
END OF AN ERA – THE CLOSURE OF SEARLES BOAT YARD IN PORT ADELAIDE 3
IMPORTING SEA MIST 7
QUEENSCLIFF MARITIME WEEKEND 2009 10
NOTES ON AS YET UNFULFILLED TRIP TO QUEENSCLIFF 12
THE NEW ZEALAND RUDDER CUP LAUNCH RACE 12 DECEMBER 2008 13
CROSS TASMAN EXPORTS (PART II) 15
ANOTHER GREAT SEASON IN NEW ZEALAND 16
NEW ZEALAND CLASSIC SERIES 17
COUTA MULLET 18
THE HEART OF TASMANIA – THE WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL 19
ALEGRIA –THE VOYAGE HONOLULU TO FANNING ISLAND 21
HEAD TO HEAD WITHOUT A TACK 28
DECKS FOR CLASSIC BOATS 28
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 32
page 2
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
CYAA REPRESENTATIVES
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERCYAA Officer
343 Ferrars St
Albert Park
Victoria 3206
admin@classic‑yacht.asn.au
EDITORIALRoger Dundas
Mobile 0419 342 144
Design and Production
Blueboat
www.blueboat.com.au
NEW SOUTH WALESPhilip Kinsella
Tel (02) 9498 2481
QUEENSLANDIvan Holm
Tel (07) 3207 6722, Mobile 0407 128 715
SOUTH AUSTRALIATony Kearney
Mobile 0408 232 740
TASMANIAKelvin Aldred
Mobile 0412 108 994
VICTORIAPeter Llyod
Mobile 03 9431 1611
COVER PHOTO: SLIPWAY DOOR, SEARLES BOATYARD PHOTO: GABRIELLA SZONDY
COMING EVENTS
QUEENSLAND CLASSIC SAILING SEASON 2009 Queensland
Kicks off 6 – 7 June 2009
Dan DeBuriatte – [email protected]
CLASSIC SUMMER SAILING IN NEW ZEALAND New Zealand
29 January – 14 February 2010
www.classicyacht.org.nz
THE 2010 WHYTE JUST & MOORE, GEELONG WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL Geelong, Victoria
6 – 8 March 2010,
Ph: (03) 5229 3705 or email [email protected]
SWEDEN CHALLENGES AMERICA IN CLASSIC SAIL RACE www.thechallengesverigeamerica.com/en/news
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Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
ENd Of AN ERA ThE ClOSuRE Of SEARlES bOATYARd IN PORT AdElAIdE
GAbRIEllA SzONdY
A 170-year tradition of boatbuilding at Birkenhead, Port
Adelaide, ended on 15 April 2009 with the forced closure of
Searles Boatyard, the last of the Jenkins Street boatyards.
Searles went down with full order books, its half dozen
employees hard at work to the last.
Boat building, repairs and maintenance have been carried out
continuously in the Jenkins Street boatyards since the start of
European settlement in South Australia, with one of the yards,
A McFarlane and Sons, managed by the fifth generation of
the family.
These boatyards were integral to the establishment of the
colony of South Australia through the role they played in
import, export and settlement of the state. In the 21st century
they were still profitable businesses providing full time
employment to skilled artisans servicing the many timber
boats owned by members of the Royal South Australian
Yacht Squadron, Port Adelaide Sailing Club, Cruising Yacht
Club of SA, Port River Sailing Club, Largs Bay Sailing Club,
Small Boat Club of SA and Garden Island Yacht Club, as
well as working boats such as fishing boats, police craft and
pilot boats.
But the South Australian state government’s plan to remake
the Port waterfront as an upmarket residential development
with private marinas had no room for traditional boatyards.
The government’s Land Management Corporation insisted
they be moved; boatyards and the type of work associated with
boat building and repairs were not visually appropriate and
did not present the right image for a waterfront development
such as Newport Quays.
SA Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and
Energy, Pat Conlon, did not consider the boatyards
worth saving and commented: ‘I don’t believe that
the historical value that they pretend exists in the
boatyards is actually there.’
SA Treasurer and Member for Port Adelaide Kevin Foley said
the end of boat building activity in the Inner Harbour was
necessary to make way for the regeneration of the waterfront,
‘It’s been a proud part of the Port’s history and, as the new
Port emerges, it is a sad but understandable progression which
meant the boatyards had to close.’
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Classic Yacht Association of Australia
During the consultation process between the LMC and the Port
Adelaide community, the community repeatedly voiced their
concern about the sanitised redevelopment of the Port eroding
the area’s maritime heritage. The community also made clear
their desire to retain the history, character and culture of the
Port by using the boat building activities and maritime heritage
as an attraction with the boatyards as a working museum.
Yet SA Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy, Pat
Conlon did not consider the boatyards were worth saving and
commented: ‘I don’t believe that the historical value that they
pretend exists in the boatyards is actually there.’ And, despite
Searles having an EPA license valid until 2012, Mr Conlon
concluded, ‘On environmental reasons alone, the boatyards
should not be there.’
The fight to save some of the Jenkins Street boatyards included
an application by the National Trust to have the boatyards and
sailing club sheds listed on the State Heritage register, and an
open letter to the South Australian Premier Mike Rann signed
by a group of prominent people concerned by the imminent
demolition of the historic boatyards. The signatories included
yachtsman Sir James Hardy, ABC political satirist and former
Birkenhead resident Brian Dawe, Australian National Maritime
Museum director Mary-Louise Williams and Editor of Classic
Boat Magazine (UK) Dan Houston (see letter published in
CYAA Issue 25 July 2008).
According to the National Trust, Searles Boatyard, A McFarlane
and Sons and the Central Slipping Company were rare
survivals of the continuous maritime activity in Jenkins Street,
Birkenhead, while the Port Adelaide Sailing Club buildings
were a physical reminder of the pleasurable side of boating.
Among the boatyards, the Jenkins Street location also housed
at times the early premises of the Royal South Australian Yacht
Squadron and the Adelaide Rowing Club – manifestations of
the new colony’s growing wealth and sense of establishment.
The National Trust application for heritage listing reads:
‘Among the early shipwrights and boat builders at the
Jenkins Street site were McKendrick, Taylor, Jenkins, Playfair
and Pickhaver. As the boatyards changed hands, the trading
names changed, but the undertaking remained the same – the
building and repair of small ships and boats.
The LMC ordered Searles to cease trading by 15 April
2009 and to quit the premises by the end of May with
the boatyard to be demolished in June.
Pre-eminent in this early group was Samuel Jenkins from Nova
Scotia, an impatient man known as ‘Shove-along Jenkins’ who
in 1868 established a large yard to which he added in 1881 a
powerful mechanical slip known as a ‘Scotia Marine Railway’.
The yard employed up to 25 local artisans and gave its name to
the present Jenkins Street on which the subject places stand.
The small vessels which were the primary concern of the
boatyards were essential to and indicative of the development
of the Port Adelaide community. The working craft supported
the growing importance of the fishing industry and of coastal
trading, while pleasure yachts and launches were built for
the rising class of successful colonists who had the time and
money to enjoy recreational boating.’
Despite intensive work by the National Trust and its new Port
Adelaide branch under chair Tony Kearney, the application
for heritage listing was rejected and one by one the boatyards
have been closed and demolished. The last yard standing
in Jenkins Street was Searles Boatyard, owned by Kingsley
Haskett who had started as an apprentice at Searles in 1963.
The LMC ordered Searles to cease trading by 15 April 2009
and to quit the premises by the end of May with the boatyard
to be demolished in June.
Richard Tuson ‘Dick’ Searles founded Searles Boatyard as
R T Searles in Jenkins Street in 1913 after first working with
Ben Weir and Alf Pickhaver in their boatyard next door. R T
Searles was also a member of the committee that built the first
clubhouse of the Port Adelaide Sailing Club. During the First
World War, Richard Searles lived with his family in a cottage
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Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
on the Jenkins Street premises while working as caretaker for
the RSAYS, then set up his boatbuilding business at Largs Bay.
When his sons R W ‘Bill’, E G ‘Ted’ and L G ‘Les’ joined him,
the business was renamed R T Searles & Sons and in 1929 it
was established back at Jenkins Street on the current site. The
last of Richard’s sons retired in 1977, selling the business to
the yard’s senior shipwrights Brian Mellors and Roger Knill.
Kingsley Haskett, returning from a career in the merchant
marine in 1989, obtained a third of the business in 1993 and as
senior shipwright bought it outright in 2000.
Searles had three slipways and slipped around 120 boats
per year. In addition to recreational boats, Searles also built,
refitted, repaired and maintained many of the ‘Mosquito
Fleet’ of local ketches, as well as trawlers, fishing vessels,
lifeboats for the Australian Shipping Board, patrol vessels
and minesweepers used by the RAN during World War II,
Australian Army, police and pilot boats, Lake Alexandrina
ferries, and some of the original Popeye cruise fleet for the
Torrens Lake including No. 4 which was used as the Royal
Barge on the Queen Mother’s visit.
The many yachts built at the Jenkins Street boatyards include
the following, some of which are still in use today:
Sayonara, a 58 ft topsail gaff cutter designed by William
Fife III, built by A J McFarlane and launched in 1897 for G F
Garrard, then commodore of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.
Still racing in Melbourne.
Nerida, a 45 ft gaff cutter designed by Alfred Milne of Glasgow
and built by R T Searles & Sons in 1933 for Thomas Hardy of
the RSAYS. She was constructed of grown frames and blue
gum from Kangarilla near Hardy’s winery in McLaren Vale.
After being sold to Colin Haselgrove in the 1940s, Nerida
competed in several Sydney to Hobart races, winning the race
in 1950 and going on to win the first Adelaide to Port Lincoln
race in February of the same year. After life in South Australia,
she went to the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, then to Victoria
in 1953, where she served as an official starting boat for the
1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. In 1971 Sir James Hardy
bought back Nerida and she is now in Sydney.
Nautilus, a 56 ft ketch designed by John Alden along the lines
of the Gloucester fishing boats and built by R T Searles & Sons
in 1928 for Frank Verco of Verco Milling Company, a member
of the RSAYS. Nautilus was constructed of 1½ inch jarrah
planking with New Zealand kauri topsides and deck. Frank
Verco sailed Nautilus for several years before selling her to
brothers Frank and John Livingston of the South Australian
South East who renamed the yacht Kurrewa III. The brothers
sailed her in several Sydney to Hobart races and won the
1947 Trans-Tasman Auckland to Sydney yacht race in record
time. In 1949 they and their sister Emily – together with Bill
Gordon and Alan Bath – were the first Australians to take part
in the Trans-Pacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.
During the war, Kurrewa III was taken over by the RAAF and
served in the Darwin area. She was last heard of back under
the name Nautilus in Sydney.
Roama, a 54 ft yacht designed by Edward Slater and built by
R T Searles & Sons in 1951 for Roy Tilley of Sandringham,
Victoria, with a 70 ft mast and sails by Ratsey and Lapthorn.
Roama’s 7-ton keel was the heaviest keel cast on the premises
at Searles – most of the lead keels were made by Searles on
the premises, from the pattern to the casting. Roama has twice
circumnavigated the globe.
Martindale, a 66 ft luxury motor yacht launched in 1932,
designed and built by R T Searles & Sons for John Andrew
‘Jack’ Tennant Mortlock of the Mortlock pastoral family and
named after their Martindale Hall property at Mintaro. The
interior featured mahogany panelling and she was fitted out
with two staterooms, a saloon with accommodation for four,
a large galley and a bathroom. Part of her teak steering wheel
came from the old South Australian gunboat Protector and
part from a yacht once owned by the King of Norway. Her
original engine was a twin cylinder semi-diesel Petter taken
from the first Martindale, which was later replaced by a 100
bhp 6-cylinder Gardiner L3 type diesel. In 1941 Martindale
Kingsley Haskett
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Classic Yacht Association of Australia
was loaned to the RAN for use as an auxiliary patrol boat
to carry out patrol and sea–air rescue duties in New Guinea
waters. In 1951 she was returned to her owners and refitted at
Searles to pre-war condition. Subsequent owners included Mr
H Halstern of Willunga Reef, Sir Thomas Barr-Smith of Mount
William Station at Willaura, Victoria, Mr Perc Puckridge of
Port Lincoln, Mr Godeon Abbott of Hawkesbury River, NSW,
and Mr V Nash of Potts Point, Sydney.
Anyndah, a 29 ft Bermudan cutter built by R T Searles in 1928
to an Albert Strange design for Norman Ford of the RSAYS.
Robert ‘Captain Bob’ Smedley bought Anyndah in 1994 and
after an initial major refit at Searles Boatyard the same year,
the yacht has been returning there regularly for service and
maintenance. ‘When you are on the slip, they allow you to
work on your own boat if they have work to do too. I won’t
get that again. Good advice, good facilities, that’s what I get at
Searles from people with a rich knowledge of wooden boats,
especially this old boat. They know the boat, they’ve worked
on it for years,’ he explains.
A tradition of Friday barbecues at Searles Boatyard also played
an important social role, enabling people interested in boats to
get together and exchange knowledge. Captain Bob comments:
‘It was a meeting place for the boating community in Port
Adelaide, I’ve been going there since 1994 when I haven’t
been away at sea, you would meet up with people from the
Cruising Yacht Club, the Port Adelaide Sailing Club and the
Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron. I will miss that.’
The demolition of Searles and four other traditional
boatyards can be expected to hasten a demise of a
highly skilled trade in South Australia.
Many of the shipwrights working in the Jenkins Street boatyards
had been employed there most if not all their lives. Between
1945 and 1968 R T Searles trained 18 apprentices including
the three latest owners. Kingsley Haskett remembers the days
when the Ruston stationary engine would be powered up
every morning to drive the bandsaws and other machinery.
The demolition of Searles and four other traditional boatyards
can be expected to hasten a demise of a highly skilled trade in
South Australia.
Alone on Jenkins Street, and adjacent to R T Searles, the
expensively developed wharf and training facilities of the
Royal Australian Navy will continue operating. The LMC says
that the Newport Quays consortium is five years away from
developing the Jenkins Street site, but in the present economic
climate and with the project stalled at Stage 2, it is possible
we will not see any construction activity on the site (‘Stage
7’) during our lifetimes. According to the LMC, until then
the land may be used for storage of materials, car parking or
stockpiling of contaminated soil excavated from other stages
of the Port development.
One has to wonder at the urgency with which the South
Australian government has closed down the major part of the
state’s once thriving timber boat industry.
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Anyndah on the slipway
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Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
IMPORTING SEA MIST
MARk RObERTSON
I have always had a love of traditionally-designed two-
masted schooners. The gaff rig, the clipper bow and all
of the traditional trimmings have intrigued me for years.
While my eye has always been looking out for such a vessel,
I had not actually seen one in Australian waters. I have
been lucky enough to sail with friends on the west coast of
the USA, and had seen a few schooners over there, but of
course they were there, and I lived in Australia.
My old American mate Lanny Allmaras and I were in Sydney
having a beer one afternoon, and he told me about a schooner
that was for sale in Washington State. He thought that it was
what I was after. I saw a couple of pictures of her, and noted
that she was in fact a Sea Witch, a gaff rigged ketch. The clipper
bow, the gaff rig and a beautiful shape had hooked me.
I flew to the USA on business, and made a point of visiting the
ketch while I was there. I was sadly disappointed to find her in
poor shape and not worth pursuing. The disappointment and
waste of time was tempered by the fact that I spent five days
on Lanny Allmaras’ boat, where we motored out of Seattle
and up to Port Townsend, and everywhere in between. Port
Townsend is known as the wooden boat capital of the world,
and is a great place for any classic yacht lover to visit.
After three months at home pondering the Sea Witch market,
I stumbled on another Sea Witch named Sea Mist. After
numerous emails with the previous owners, and bunches
of pictures, I decided to try again. Once again with Lanny, I
drove north from Portland to Bellingham, Washington where
Sea Mist had been for the last three years. Walking onto the
dock I was fully expecting to be disappointed once again, and
to have that feeling of frustration at having made a long trip
for nothing. I was delighted to find that Sea Mist looked even
better than in her pictures, and that she had been ‘babied’ for
her whole life.
Once aboard I marvelled at the amount of beautiful and
carefully maintained bright work. Her external paint was in
showroom condition, and was so good that she looked as if she
had a fibreglass hull. While I was delighted and amazed at her
quality, I also felt a sense of doom and had the very sobering
thought about whether I could maintain her to that standard.
I realised that she is a lot of boat, and I felt a sense of being
overwhelmed by it. I almost said ‘No, this is too much for me.’
Lanny and I checked into a hotel where we ate, drank wine
and discussed what I was letting myself in for.
Upon returning to Sea Mist next morning, I had a clearer picture
of what she was, but the traditional rigging had me tricked,
and the gaff rig was something that I had no clue about. We
took her out for a sail, and the previous owner showed me the
ropes so to speak. I realised quickly that the gaff rig is not as
imposing as some people had told me, although having three
arms would help!
While standing on the dock and discussing various aspects of
Sea Mist, I made an offer to buy, subject to a successful survey.
The owners agreed and we shook hands. Deciding to buy a
boat 8000 miles away from home brings forward quite a few
questions ...
Who do I get to do her survey? How do I find someone to
ship her to Australia? How do I deregister her from the US
Coastguard register? How do I have her transferred into my
name after paying for her? What about insurance? Do I have
her brought out on a ship, or do I have someone sail her out?
How and who do I have prepare her for shipping?
Then there is the whole question about what I do when she
gets here.
I immediately went to work finding a surveyor. The boat yard
in Bellingham gave me three different names to choose from,
one of whom had not seen or worked on her before. So I called
him.
I found a very experienced shipwright who specialised in
surveying wooden boats, and would be ideal for my purposes,
but he could not start for two weeks. Luckily for me, once again
Lanny came to the rescue and agreed to drive the six or seven
hours back to Bellingham to be there when Mike McGlenn did
the inspection. This allowed me to go home.
While I waited for the survey to start I set about finding a
company who could ship her to Melbourne. This was easier
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Classic Yacht Association of Australia
said than done. There is a company which specialises in
shipping boats aboard a ship that sinks to allow the boats to
be floated onboard. Then she is raised up and starts motoring.
The problem was that they only sailed out of Fort Lauderdale
in Florida, and via the Panama Canal and Tahiti. They would
land in Brisbane. This left me with two problems, getting
her to Fort Lauderdale by road, and then from Brisbane to
Melbourne, and all for something like $US65,000 plus the cost
of the additional road transport etc, etc, etc.
As I mulled over the transport issue, I set about finding an
escrow service that could deregister her, act for me to ensure
that she had a clear title, hold the funds while the paperwork
was done, and then give me official title of ownership once it
all cleared.
Fortunately I found a service in Portland, Oregon who could
do all of that, and so I put them on standby for my request to
come through shortly.
I was very lucky to have the sellers acting for me as well. I
know that this was partly to assist them in selling their
boat, but they really did go above and beyond their duty to
help me find a shipping company, work with the boat yard
at Bellingham to have Sea Mist prepared for shipping, and
generally look after my interests. This saved me flying back to
the USA to supervise these activities.
The survey revealed Sea Mist to be in very good condition,
with some annoying electrical issues, some plumbing issues,
and a few minor snags which were not deal-breakers. The
sellers agreed to a reduced price to cover the snags, and next
thing I knew, I was the new owner.
Following the transfer of title, I had just about got the shipping
question organised, and had engaged a company to get her
to Melbourne. The process seemed a little convoluted, but
the dollars dictated the method and departure point. I had a
vision that she would be shipped out of Los Angeles direct to
Melbourne, or even Vancouver, Canada, which was only 30
miles north of Bellingham, but it appears that the amount of
shipping between the west coast and Australia is huge and at
the time, the economy had not fallen over, so it worked out to
be cheaper to truck her 3000 miles to Savannah, Georgia, then
ship her to Melbourne via the Panama Canal.
The shipping company JTC Global was very good to deal
with and arranged everything. They are an experienced
boat-shipping company, and seem to know all the pitfalls and
methods, and at the risk of sounding like an advertisement,
they really did take the worry and effort out of the
shipping process.
Working in conjunction with the ex-owner, the boat yard,
and the shipping lines, JTC Global had a steel cradle made
in Savannah, had the special extra-low float to truck her, and
also arranged insurance, although I later organised my own
insurance through my own broker, Rob Viney, at PSB Group.
It was a little cheaper doing it from our end than from the US. I
was guided by Rob’s knowledge of such things and felt secure
about the whole process.
Because you pay for the shipping on a cubic foot basis, it is
best to reduce your package to as small a size as possible so
I had her masts, half of her bowsprit and the davits removed.
Heaps of gear was stored below, and two tenders were stored
on deck around the cockpit. All of this is good sense, but
it does make you nervous and you hope that nothing will
be damaged. The thought of Sea Mist travelling half way
around the world made me nervous, and so, although I was
now well organised, I wouldn’t be happy until she arrived
safely into Melbourne.
When taking on any great project, it helps to be a bit naïve
or you may not go ahead with it. I thought that I had all
bases covered, and that the most difficult part of putting this
together remotely was done and dusted. I didn’t expect my
main concerns to be here in Australia. Because the ship was
delayed into Savannah by hurricanes in the Mexican gulf, her
departure was delayed and so she arrived into Melbourne on
22 December.
In consultation with my customs clearance agent here in
Australia, things were looking pretty good until he advised
me about the possibility of quarantine being difficult, and that
we would have to just ‘see how we go when she gets here’.
Quarantine said that they would want her fumigated, which
would mean her being held over Christmas. Then they added
that they may want to ultrasound her hull.
This presented two problems. The first was how long she
would stay on the dock. The stevedoring companies give you
about five or six days free but after that they start charging like
wounded bulls. Once again the charges are based on cubic feet
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or cubic metres. This worked out to be about $US2000 per day,
and I was potentially looking at two to three weeks, or maybe
even more.
The second problem was the cost of an ultrasound. I envisaged
it costing thousands of dollars and that I would have basically
no say in it. Obviously I wanted to get Sea Mist off the docks
ASAP and with Christmas just a couple of days away, this was
looking unlikely. Some good news was that quarantine would
inspect her at 9 am on the 23rd. The bad news was that they
walked up to her, a quarantine officer looked up and said, ‘I
am not climbing up there,’ and walked off.
It was now likely that they would not look at her until after
Christmas, and my best laid plans were stalling. Some fast
talking from my customs clearance agent Tim Carlton had
them agree to have different officers inspect her at 2 pm. They
looked at her, but wouldn’t climb a ladder, so I had to hire a
‘man basket’ to lift them up onto the deck. When they saw
how much gear was onboard they refused to look any further.
Can you see my face going red with anger and frustration?
With some more fast talking, quarantine agreed to have her
moved to a privately owned quarantine inspection station
in Footscray. This did not speed up the process, but at least it
got her off the docks, and the potential for a $20–60,000 storage
bill was averted. So instead of hiring a crane to lift her onto
a truck, and truck her to Williamstown, she was trucked
to Footscray, where two other cranes were hired to lift her off.
The private quarantine service was helpful but slow, and
of course didn’t work between Christmas and the New
Year. Because New Year’s Day was on a Thursday, they had
decided to have the Friday off, and not return to work until
5 January.
In the meantime, Sea Mist was baking in the summer sun as
she had for a couple of months at that stage.
Around 6 January I was allowed in to see her in a dusty
industrial yard. I was shocked to see how the travel had taken
a toll on her, with numerous cracks in the paint, covered in
road grime. The beautiful bright work was suffering, and the
timbers below the waterline had opened up. A very sad sight,
and one which I am sure the previous owners would not want
to have seen.
The private service had removed all the gear from down
below and had quarantine come to inspect her. As I suspected,
they wanted to see her cleaned and fumigated, so they once
again went away and I once again suffered the frustration of
not being able to get anyone motivated. Another inspection
was done about ten days later, and she was finally cleared to
go. Luckily no ultrasound.
The cranes and truck were arranged again, and this time
she made it to Williamstown. In case you’re wondering, that
little exercise added about $10,000 to the costs. GGM Marine
put some work into the hull below the waterline, applied
new antifoul, and put her back in the water. The masts were
restepped, rigging was once again in place and she started to
look like a classic yacht again.
It has taken a lot of effort cleaning, polishing and adjusting
things, but she is going well and turning a few heads.
I am about to get into the bright work and some areas of
paint which didn’t travel well, and she will be almost as good
as new.
For your interest, insurance is not quite as straight forward as
you might think. Marine insurance covers the vessel while it
is on the ship, then you require separate cover for when it is
on the truck bound for the ship, and of course, another cover
for leaving the wharves to the marina, or in my case, wharf to
quarantine, and then to the marina.
So, the question is, would I do it all over again?
The answer is yes, but not so close to Christmas!
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Classic Yacht Association of Australia
QuEENSClIff MARITIME WEEkENd 2009
CARMEN bEll
Queenscliff is a genuinely delightful seaside resort which
has plenty of 1880s charm and enough attractions to seduce
the most curious visitor.
The area was originally inhabited by the Wathawurung
Aborigines, who in 1803 befriended a white man, William
Buckley, a convict who had absconded when a party under
the command of Lieutenant Governor Collins established a
settlement at Point King, Sorrento. Buckley, in fact, married
a woman of the tribe, had a daughter by her and lived in the
area for 32 years before returning to Europe.
In 1838 George Tobin was licensed to operate a pilot service
from the beach below Shortland Bluff (then a heavily wooded
headland) where he and his crew lived. The pilot boats steer
ships through The Rip at the entrance to Port Phillip as the
waters between the Port Phillip Heads are regarded as highly
treacherous and the area is known as ‘ship’s graveyard’ due to
the number of wrecks that have occurred over the years.
The area was named Whale Head in 1836, but was soon
renamed Shortland Bluff after a midshipman on the vessel
which carried out an early official survey of Port Phillip. A
pastoral run was established on the future townsite in 1850.
However, the discovery of the Victorian goldfields in 1851
caused shipping to greatly increase and, when the pastoral
licence expired in 1852, the government resumed the land and
a survey for a prospective townsite was executed. Land sales
proceeded in 1853. Governor Charles La Trobe renamed the
townsite Queenscliff in honour of Queen Victoria. The first
hotel and an Anglican school were erected in 1854 (the father
of renowned artist Arthur Streeton was headmaster here in
the late 1860s).
A lifeboat service was established in 1856 and a jetty and
a planked roadway across the foreshore to the pier were
built when bay steamers began plying back and forth from
Melbourne. It was extended in 1860, and a crane and tramway
were added the following year. Further extensions were added
due to siltation and the need to accommodate larger boats.
As Queenscliff overlooks a major shipping channel relating
to Melbourne and Geelong, it quickly developed a role as a
garrison town and strategic defence post with the installation
of three cannons during the Crimean War. Volunteers manned
them from 1860 and a Fort proper was constructed in the 1880s
amid scares of a Russian invasion.
Fishermen began to move to Queenscliff circa 1860 and a sizeable
couta fishing fleet soon developed as demand had been greatly
increased by the massive influx of immigrants associated with
the goldrushes. Some were Chinese anglers who supplied
dried fish to their countrymen on the goldfields. In 1865
The Geelong Advertiser reported 130 anglers at Queenscliff,
including Maori, Italians, Dutchmen, Frenchmen and Chinese.
Complaints about their occupation of the sand flats led to the
subdivision of the area into allotments (Fisherman’s Flat) for
lease to men licensed under the Fishing Act.
Queenscliff became a Borough (incorporating Point Lonsdale)
in 1863. In 1879 a railway line connecting the town to
Melbourne opened. This was the beginning of dramatic
growth and Queenscliff become a popular holiday resort on
the western shore of the Bay. In the 1880s and 1890s the town
became a very popular weekend getaway for the wealthier
classes of Melbourne society who rode paddlesteamers such
as Ozone while newspapers reported on the families who
were holidaying in the resort and which of the elegant hotels
they occupied.
Ironically it was the motor car which also saw Queenscliff fall
from favour as access to other coastal resorts was facilitated.
However, this decline of internal dynamism meant that the
Victorian resort feel of the town has been preserved.
The 2009 Queenscliff Maritime Weekend is in its sixth year
and incorporates Fishy Tales in the Couta Boat Shed of the
page 11
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
Queenscliffe Maritime Museum, the Blessing of the Fleet in
the Queenscliff Harbour, Benito’s Treasure Hunt on the beach
between the Ferry Terminal and the Queenscliff Pier, and
the Queenscliff Couta Boat Regatta. This year, for the first
time, members of the Classic Yacht Association of Australia
were invited and indeed brought some of their yachts from
Williamstown to Queenscliff.
The new Queenscliff Harbour basin is able to accommodate
visiting boats easily and provides good and secure facilities for
overnight berthing. Harbour staff had diligently cleared the
Central Basin to accommodate the boats attending the Blessing
of the Fleet which was conducted by ‘Barefoot Fisherman’
Lewis Ferrier from his couta boat Rosebud. The Queenscliff
Sea Scouts and the Queenscliff Coastguard participated in the
ceremony, and the Pilot Boats were also blessed by virtue of
their permanent mooring location in the Central Basin.
It is always heart-warming to see couta boats gather in a group,
particularly in their port of origin, Queenscliff. They are most
attractive boats despite their origins as working boats, and
they are thrilling to race. Low freeboard, large sail areas and
heavy handling test the skills of the skippers and crews – and
the bowsprits ought to be classed as lethal weapons.
The Queenscliff Couta Boat Regatta and Queenscliff Classic
Yacht Regatta 2009 was conducted on Saturday, 21 February
2009. Conditions were breezy at the start, with a strong ebb
tide against a brisk south-southeasterly wind, but settled in
the course of the 1_-hour long race.
Couta boat Regina C34 was built by Peter Locke on Beach
Street in Queenscliff in 1934, sailed to Melbourne, loaded on
the coastal trader Casino and delivered to Port Fairy where
she fished for couta for many years and was also used as a
cray pot boat. She was found in 1984 in Portland and restored.
Jeanette Ellis was the only lady skipper who participated in
the Queenscliff Couta Boat Regatta 2009, and she won not
only the coveted white jumper for the ‘first boat home’ (line
honours) but also the Fisherman’s Trophy for the ‘first old
boat’ (over 50 years of age) over the line in Division 2.
Couta boat Romy C2003 was built by the Wooden Boat Shop
in Sorrento in 2003 and was originally named after the first
owner’s wife Vivienne. The Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club
Captain Nigel Abbott re-named her after his daughter Romy,
and once again won the white jumper for line honours in
Division 1. The Fisherman’s Trophy in this Division however
went to the handicap winner Lola C43 whose previous name
was Edna. Lola C43 was built by Doug Walton and his 12-
year-old son Jack at the Rhyll Pier from 1939–1943 and has
also been re-named after her current skipper’s daughter.
It was good to see that the old working boats in the fleet were
holding their own against recently built racing boats, and this
is a credit to the Couta Boat Class Association design rules
which attempt to provide a level playing field by restricting
design development in this type of boat.
Classic yacht Mercedes III (skipper Martin Ryan) won over
Boambillee (skipper George Fisscher) by a mere 26 seconds on
corrected time. The classic yachts started after the couta boats
but, because of their size and consequent faster hull speeds,
overtook many of the boats in front. This they did in a most
gentlemanly manner, as is befitting these beautiful wooden
yachts.
All up, there were 25 boats providing a feast for the eye for the
public watching along the beach and on the Queenscliff Pier,
and plenty of photo opportunity for spectators on Mia Mia,
a 25-metre sailing ketch built in Melbourne in 1965 whose
aboriginal name means ‘resting place’.
The Memorial Sail-Past on Sunday, 22 February 2009 had
special meaning as it did not only honour the fishermen and
sailors who are no longer with us, but it also commemorated
those who lost their lives in the recent bush fires. Lew Ferrier
was on his boat’s foredeck and crews saluted him as they went
past him and then proceeded to Portsea Pier and from there
to their individual home ports of Williamstown, Martha Cove,
Mornington, and Sorrento. An old Tiger Moth plane circled
the boats while they were waiting for their start signal, which
was given with a proper starting cannon from the end of the
Queenscliff Pier by the President of the Queenscliffe Maritime
Museum. And, as the first boat rounded the Queenscliff Bluff,
the Queenscliff Fort detonated one of its large cannons as a
salute – a great gesture.
Yes, Queenscliff certainly can accommodate big groups with
ease – wide streets with very little traffic, generous parklands,
good boating facilities and friendly locals. And lots of
interesting stories about the past, such as this one:
A great story about Queenscliff from the 1930s involves
the famous Australian painter Sidney Nolan. Apparently
Nolan and a friend stowed away on a ship in Melbourne in
1934 hoping they could get a free passage to France. They
decided that if they were caught they would insist they were
missionaries who were trying to get to Tahiti to bring the gospel
to the locals. Unfortunately neither Nolan nor his friend had
a working knowledge of The Bible and neither of them had
much of a desire to remain teetotal for the duration of the trip.
They were discovered before the ship left Port Phillip, were
removed and taken to Queenscliff where they were gaoled.
Carmen Bell
President
Couta Boat Association
www.coutaboatclub.com.au
page 12
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
NOTES ON AS YET uNfulfIllEd TRIP TO QuEENSClIff.
MIChAEl MACTAVISh
This is not meant to be an exhaustive critique but a few
relevant lessons learnt, which may make the next longer
trip more trouble free, even within the confines of Port
Phillip Bay.
This story is about ‘Ella’ and the series of events that meant
we could not take part in the racing and fun we had so looked
forward to.
Mistake number one; we had to turn back an hour out of
Williamstown as the upper shroud just dropped to the deck
and needed to be repaired, before we could depart again, three
hours later. Do not rely on experts, maintenance is always
important.
Mistake number two; the skipper (me) did not take enough
extra fuel resulting in us not being able to make it to Queenscliff
on the Friday. An hour from the west channel in 20/25 knots
of head on sea and at 6.30pm we realized we did not have
enough fuel to get us there. At this point we were motor sailing
with our number 3 headsail. We changed tack reaching back to
Portarlington in the early evening without the engine which
made for a pleasant sail. Nibbles at the inner jetty followed
by egg and bacon pie for dinner saw us just settling in for the
night when Richard MacRae’s ‘Claire’ appeared with all sails
up and no engine working due to fuel problems. Eventually
with our assistance and some good sailing he was snug on the
jetty as well.
Mistake number three; Saturday morning and I checked the
engine oil – nothing on the dipstick – two litres more and just
a hint of oil on the stick, further investigation, lots of oil in the
bilges then a leaking oil filter is found. Richard by now had
discovered a local mechanic who magically finds an oil filter
for ‘Ella’ together with more oil and we are ready to go – well
maybe. At that point my engine is suspect so I decide to head
downwind to Williamstown. Hindsight says that turning off
the engine and sailing to Portarlington definitely saved the
engine from a complete meltdown.
Richard’s fuel problems fixed he decided to drive to Queenscliff
and have a relaxing day with the others.
The lessons I re-learnt are;
• Carry twice as much fuel as your worst estimate says
you need because you cannot assume you can sail out of
trouble.
• Always carry a complete set of fuel filters and an oil filter
and plenty of engine oil. I did have spare fuel filters but no
oil filter.
• Regularly drain the fuel tank and check fuel filters as rough
trips stirs up the water in the tank.
New Lessons learnt;
• The filters particularly are not robust and are probably
the weakest part of a diesel engine. I am told original
manufacturers filters generally have thicker metal in the
filter but good marine mechanics usually rust prime and
then paint the outside of filters they fit in boats to prevent
corrosion.
• Get a good marine engineer to test the engine alarms etc at
least once every couple of years or do it yourself if you have
enough knowledge.
Rigging;
Do not assume that professional riggers do not make mistakes.
If not happy with the rigging get a second opinion. ‘Ella’s’
upper shroud came down on Friday morning due to a section
of near new stainless chain failing. This was only a year old.
Regularly get up yourself and check the rigging at the mast
top.
Having ocean raced various boats over a ten year period prior
to buying ‘Ella’ I knew the rules so it was very relevant over
this weekend to be reminded that racing ‘Ella’ mostly at the
top of the bay is not enough preparation for a trip down the
bay. We had become complacent and sailing to Queenscliff
was a big reminder which took ‘Ella’ and crew out of our
comfort zones.
Safe sailing.
Ella (left) and Eva (right)
Phot
o: R
oger
Dun
das
page 13
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
RuddER CuP lAuNCh RACE
12 dECEMbER 2008
hAROld kIdd
Around 1908 the editor of the influential American yachting
magazine Rudder donated several magnificent trophies
for offshore racing to yacht clubs around the world. Two
came to New Zealand, one to the Royal New Zealand
Yacht Squadron in Auckland and one to Otago Yacht Club in
Dunedin. The RNZYS decided to run a race for motorboats,
around Sail Rock and back, at night, with the benefit of
a full moon on 12 December 1908. Sail Rock is an ancient
volcanic core jutting out of the sea in Bream Bay 20
kilometres offshore, south east of Whangarei Harbour.
The journey from Auckland’s downtown wharves, around
Sail Rock, and back is 108 nautical miles, in waters that
are relatively sheltered from the prevailing westerlies but
hellish in an easterly blow.
The 1908 race was a great success; there were 14 entrants and
the weather was kind. First home was James Reid’s Seabird,
first on handicap and the winner of the superb silver Rudder
Cup was the Matheson brothers’ Maroro, itself a design from
Rudder magazine and home-built by the Mathesons. Another
entrant in that first race a century ago was H.H. Adams’ husky
Bailey & Lowe double-ender Eliza which was hampered by
engine troubles in the race, but subsequently challenged
Seabird to a race to Russell, much further north, in the Bay
of Islands, and back. Eliza won that race, held in rough
conditions.
Eliza was subsequently bought by the Frankovic winemaking
family of Whangaparaoa who changed her name to the
Croatian Kumi. Taupaki veterinarian Haydon Afford now
owns Kumi and floated the idea to me of a centenary Rudder
Cup rerun. Two of my Boating NZ articles on the race later, the
vintage launch community was abuzz with the idea, and the
Classic Yacht Association of NZ picked it up and ran it.
Boating NZ were sponsors and we had great help from the
RNZYS, Coastguard and Auckland’s Harbourmaster. We
cajoled Steve Thomas, Seabird’s present Nelson owner to bring
her up by coastal ship for the race, with generous assistance
from various shipping, haulage and crane operators. We gained
the enthusiasm and involvement of the Matheson family, who
still hold that original Rudder Cup won by Maroro in 1908.
Grandson Andrew Matheson led a Matheson contingent who
not only lent us the precious original cup but also crewed in
the event.
As for the race, it was just bloody magic. We had 26 launches
in several classes, two of them built in1905, taking part in a
mass start off Westhaven in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour
at 1900 on Friday 12 December 2008. The Waitemata rocked
with the wash of elderly hulls streaming towards North
Head and then sweeping round north into the Rangitoto
Channel as daylight faded. The relatively modern planing
hulls like Murray Gatt’s big Pelin Rakoa and Bruce Webb’s
early Jim Young Vindex Delmar soon cleared out. In a sweet
Rudder Cup start
Phot
o: H
arol
d Ki
dd
page 14
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
RUDDER CUP
OVERALL HANDICAP WINNER
Joan (Ray and Jill Russell)
VETERAN (PRE 1919)
1st Seabird (Steve Thomas)
2nd Mapu
3rd Ferro
VINTAGE (1919 TO 1949)
1st Falcon (James Mobberley)
2nd Moanalua
3rd Lady Gay
CLASSIC (1950 TO 1978)
1st Rakoa (Murray Gatt)
2nd Delmar
3rd Waimiga
SPIRIT OF TRADITION (1979+)
1st Lucille (Alan Good) Logan 33.
nostalgic link, Delmar was skippered by Geoff Cooper, whose
grandfather Alf Cooper had competed in the 1908 race in his
Winsome. These two hot ships were closely tailed by James
Mobberley’s 36 footer Falcon, built by Lane Motor Boat Co
for G.R. Chamberlin of Ponui in 1924, now powered by a
180hp Hino and tuned to perfection by her owner, one of our
leading marine engineers. Falcon was touching 17 knots as
she thrummed through the night.
The weather stayed kind. No one who took part will ever
forget the thrill of approaching Sail Rock, standing sheer 455
feet out of the sea, in the dark, just a gentle slop around its base,
the rock echoing the roar of the engines. Kevin O’Sullivan,
navigating Seabird, thrilled the fleet with his clipped, precise
RT sked, ‘Coastguard, Coastguard, Seabird has rounded Sail
Rock for the second time in a hundred years.’ Skipper Steve
Thomas says he felt builder James Reid’s presence with him.
Kumi had some engine problems and there were other minor
discomforts, but 26 old launches started and 25 finished. Tony
Stevenson pulled Wild Duck out at Kawau for a refreshment
break after some overheating and decided to stay once the top
was off the rum bottle. Romany II from Whangarei gamely
plodded around the course at reduced revs after similar
problems, finishing at 1043 on Saturday morning!
The Prizegiving was another thrill as the handicap winner,
and extremely popular winner of the new Rudder Cup Trophy,
proved to be the lovely 1918 Bailey & Lowe-built 45 footer
Joan owned by Ray and Jill Russell.
Seabird won the Veteran class, bettering her 1908 time by
90 minutes. Falcon romped in third overall, out-performing
launches a fraction of her age in a magnificent performance.
Maybe we have rekindled the flame of launch racing, for so
long a feature of Auckland sporting life, but which died in the
Depression of the 1930’s. What a good time to start it again
and ‘look Ol’ Man Depression right in the eye’, as Dick Powell
sang in 1932.
Will we do it again? Of course we will, but maybe not around
Sail Rock every year!
page 15
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
CROSS TASMAN EXPORTS (PART I I)
hAROld kIdd
In the last issue I dealt with the Sydney yacht Annie Ogle
which was imported to New Zealand in 1864. Apart from a
handful of small centreboarders imported to Dunedin from
Melbourne during the Otago gold rush of the 1860s, Annie
Ogle was the last Australian import until the Walter Reeks
yawl Volunteer in 1893. Our local builders were more than
capable of satisfying local demand.
Auckland was where the major shipbuilders and shipwrights
were in business, partly because Auckland was on the shipping
route between the southern Australian colonies and the west
coast of the United States, but mainly because it was the hub
of the western Pacific island trade and because it was right in
the centre of the kauri milling area. Kauri was by far the best
indigenous ship and boatbuilding timber, light, strong, highly
resistant to sea water and available in straight grained lengths
up to 100ft. However its range did not extend more than 80
miles south of Auckland. Vast quantities were available and it
soon became a commercial reality that it was cheaper to build
a ship or boat in Auckland than to ship the timber to another
port and build the vessel there.
One of the earliest shipbuilders was Henry Niccol, a Scotsman,
who set up in Auckland soon after it was founded as a European
settlement in 1840. The staple products of his yard were
cutters and schooners for coastal trading and for the Pacific
islands trade. The first serious yacht built by the yard was the
11 tonner Lizard for Henry’s son Tom in January 1865.
In January 1875 Tom Niccol launched the 31 ton cutter Secret
for a local syndicate. She went across to Sydney in 1875 to
race Magic and then down to Melbourne, but failed to sell in
Australia. She returned to New Zealand and spent a season
sailing around the coast attending Regattas and, for sizeable
prize-money, cleaning up the local cracks, none of which
approached her in size, of course. In 1877 she was sailed back
to Sydney and sold to John Newton. In early 1880 C. and A.
Millar of Melbourne bought Secret. She was one of the trio of
large yachts, the other two being Richard White’s May Queen
and the Hon. W.J. Clarke’s Janet, that attracted public attention
to the sport. Secret raced in Victorian waters with distinction
for many years. A later owner was W.R. Virgoe, Commodore
of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. He laid Secret up in 1890
during the savage economic recession and she was eventually
sold for transporting fish from the west coast of Tasmania to
Melbourne.
One of Niccol’s Auckland competitors in the cutter and
schooner building trade was Charles Bailey Sr. who took over
George Beddoes’ yard on the North Shore of Auckland in 1872.
He built the 10 ton cutter Erin for Joy of Melbourne in January
1877. Joy kept her in Auckland for several months, racing and
cruising, but shipped her to Melbourne in the winter. She was
later owned by A.W. and W.S. Fergie.
In September 1878 Tom Niccol had another go at export with the
29 tonner Waitangi which was commissioned by John Newton
of Sydney and sailed across the Tasman on 12th October 1878.
She was well ahead of Secret in design and probably owed a
lot to the crack English yacht Vanessa. In Sydney she won races
against Sirocco and others. Alfred Milson bought her in 1881.
After extensive remodeling by Walter Reeks her crowning
achievement was winning the Intercolonial Yacht Race of
1887 against Janet and Fairfax’s Magic. She was eventually
sunk in Nouméa in 1904 in a collision.
The last yacht built in Auckland for export to Australia in
this first wave was Taniwha, again built by Tom Niccol in
November 1880 at a cost of £1,500. The yard built her on spec
for a local syndicate, specifically to compete in the Melbourne
Intercolonial Regatta of January 1881. She was a large vessel
of 36 tons, 65ft overall by 55ft waterline by 13ft beam. She
arrived on her own bottom from Auckland in December
1880, just a shell inside, ready to race. In the Regatta Taniwha
was involved in the famous race against Janet and Secret
in Melbourne in which Clarke’s Janet triumphed. Phipps
Turnbull then bought her from the Niccol syndicate. After a
spell in Sydney around 1885, owned by H. Underwood of the
RSYS, Dr Aubrey Bowen brought her back to Port Phillip Bay
but by 1893 she had languished unused for so long with her
other capital yacht sisters that she was sold to Queenscliff for
fishing.
In the next installment we’ll look at the two-boat Kiwi
involvement in the Victorian International Regatta of 1889 and
the second wave of exports.
Waitangi leading Clarke’s Janet and Fairfax’s Magic in the 1887 Intercolonial Challenge Yacht Race in Sydney
page 16
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
ANOThER GREAT SEASON IN NEW zEAlANd
ChAd ThOMPSON
The CYA of NZ continues to grow from strength to strength.
The number of restorations of gaff-rigged major yachts
hitting the water is amazing and there is no sign of let-up.
Our early boatbuilders built well in kauri timber so the
survival rate is fantastic. There is a looming crew problem,
however.
Every season recently, we have seen the diversity of the
opportunities for CYA activities broaden. This season has
certainly been no exception. We had an even stronger
contingent of Australian and other overseas visitors; we re-ran
the 1908 Rudder Cup for launches (see separate article) which
led to the formation of a broader based Launch Committee:
we sorted out Yachting New Zealand’s safety regulations
as they relate to the classics; we reintroduced the old alpha-
numeric numbering system, of immense nostalgic appeal,
as governing body; and we experienced a series of great
encounters of our legendary yacht Ranger of 1938 with her
latter-day challengers.
Our season started in earnest 1500 miles away in Melbourne
with the CYAA 2008 Melbourne Cup Regatta, the third year
New Zealanders have raced in it. It gets better every year with
the Australian fleet growing and a constant number of Kiwis
heading over there at the start of each season. Our West Island
cousins really turn on the hospitality and it is almost becoming
a rite of passage for us to participate.
The Couta boat revival in Melbourne provides a lesson for us
all and shows us how fantastic a similar revival of our mullet
boat fleet could be. We are looking forward to several of the
Couta boats being able to join us for our high season of racing
in 2010 and having them come up alongside the restored
mullet boats for some convivial trans-Tasman rivalry that we
have not seen since the heady days of the flying 18s and 12s.
Late January through until mid-February is the climax of our
season. This year we had the added interest in having two of
Ranger’s old rivals back in New Zealand. Fidelis sailed over
from Sydney and Ragtime (nee Infidel) sailed down from San
Francisco to race. The night race to Mahurangi was an insight
into what lay ahead for these larger yachts as was the actual
Mahurangi Festival race.
The Auckland Anniversary Regatta race home from
Mahurangi became an epic match race between Ranger and
Ta’aroa. Ragtime showed the way home. Although she has
been substantially modernised since her Auckland racing
days, her presence made for a great nostalgic spectacle.
This year’s CYA Regatta was highlighted by the Ranger
Challenge Division of Ranger, Ta’aroa, Ragtime, Fidelis and
Northerner competing against one another in a wonderful
sporting way. The other memorable sight of the regatta was
that of the Logan Bros yachts Moana, Thelma, Rainbow and
Iorangi racing in line astern, each yacht having been launched
originally in the same order from 1895 to 1901.
Two Robert Hogan built masterpeices at the 2009 Mahurangi Regatta. Jesse Logan 1880 (left) and Waitang 1894 (right)
page 17
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
NEW zEAlANd ClASSIC SERIES
29 JANuARY – 14 fEbRuARY 2010
Organised by: Auckland Anniversary Regatta and Classic
Yacht Assn committees
Two fabulous weeks of classic sailing and racing on the
spectacular waters of the Hauraki Gulf and Waitemata
Harbour, and the enjoyment of the warm hospitality and
camaraderie of kiwi Classic Yachties
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday Jan 29: Devonport Yacht Club Night Race to
Mahurangi. (24 miles)
Saturday Jan 30: Mahurangi Cruising Club Classic Yacht
Regatta & Classic Launch Rally
Sunday Jan 31: CYANZ Mahurangi to Auckland Race.
(24 miles) Start 10am
Raft up in Viaduct
Monday Feb 1: Oceanbridge Auckland Anniversary
Regatta
THE SOUTHERN TRUST CLASSIC YACHT REGATTA
Thursday Feb 11: Skippers briefing, followed by dinner at
the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron
Friday Feb 12: Race 1
Saturday Feb 13: Race 2 followed by Race 3
Sunday Feb 14: Race 4
Official Prizegiving
For further information please contact:
Joyce Talbot
p: +64 9 836 4747
m: +64 21 818 448
f: +64 9 836 4015
The remainder of the season’s calendar was well supported
in all classes and the racing was most enjoyable. The Robert
Logan 1880 centreboarder Jessie Logan had a real go in B
Division but was always a bit behind the Herreshoff Buzzards
Bay 25 Jonquil.
The CYA-sponsored Auckland Traditional Boat Building
School (ATBS), at the former RNZAF base at Hobsonville, is
now accredited to officially certify apprentices and continues
its steady progress under Robert Brooke. The apprentice
training and night school classes are still humming, while there
is a waiting list for the frantically popular hobby classes.
New initiatives for the growth of the Association this year
include:
• The formation of an expanded and vigorous Launch
committee. This is an exciting development, on the back of
the Rudder Cup.
• There are also similar moves afoot to see a dedicated
Modern Classic committee being formed over the coming
winter. This should see a significant increase in the growth
of the racing fleet run in such a way as to meet the needs and
interests of owners and crews.
• The CYA and the Auckland Anniversary Regatta Committee
are working closer and closer together each year, highlighting
our yachting heritage around the best period of sailing
weather we enjoy each season, January to March.
• Another significant milestone this year has been the CYA’s
Rescue Trust obtaining permission from our National
Maritime Museum to restore Corona, the famous 26ft mullet
boat of 1936, with luck in time to compete against some
Couta boats next February.
• The Rescue Trust will also, in association with the Matheson
family, restore the 1907 32ft launch Maroro which won the
Rudder Cup in 1908. Maroro has lain on the shores of Blind
Bay out at Great Barrier Island for years. Both boats will be
restored at ATBS.
page 18
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
a heritage Mullet Boat. My feeling is that modern materials
and modern equipment will be the obvious starting point.
The most likely way to ensure that the heritage values are
kept is to define a base set of values, demonstrate these in the
first restorations and then set up a process that allows future
restorations or new built boats to further the heritage project.
One of the common issues that will appear is difference of
opinion of what was around in days gone by, rather than have
a committee that needs to asses and define rules of what’s
allowed, I’d recommend the boat owner needs to present and
demonstrate the heritage of the change; this is 100% about face
from a development concept which allows anything inside a
set of rules. What I’d recommend is that nothing is allowed
unless the heritage is able to be demonstrated. From time to
time there will be some consensus about acceptable changes
from the heritage values, probably around safety, except for
these global changes the proof method helps to maintain and
where appropriate grow the heritage of the fleet.
What I can see for the development fleet is more innovation,
new aspects of craftsmanship and increased opportunity for
competitive sailors that want to see just how far can the Mullet
boat be taken, of course still within the rules.
Heritage fleets are about boats that have been built a long time
ago, either restorations or new built, boats with heritage that
can be sailed within the scope of their capacity. Contemporary
fleets are about new potential new ideas, new capacity and a
desire to evolve.
I’d suggest it would be hard for any mix of heritage and
contemporary boats to exist with these conflicting desires.
So it must come back to are we talking about heritage or
contemporary boats
COuTA MullET
MARk bERGIN
On a recent trip to Auckland I had the pleasure of sailing and
discussing Mullet Boats, a few months before this trip I had
the opportunity to introduce Harold Kidd to Couta Boats.
Although the Mullet Boat and Couta Boat might appear to be
similar I found there are quite a few differences.
Rather than go through all the small details I found there was
one interesting concern between the two types of boat, and
that was how to keep the heritage values in classic fleets.
After my conversations with the Mullet owners in Auckland I
came to one clear understanding; the Mullet Boat as we know
it today appears to be a development boat, that’s not a bad
thing after all the 18 foot skiff is a development boat; and we
have many eras of the 18 footers, some where the boats will
never be seen again and others that hark back to memorable
days the fit directly into the classic boat world.
I suppose my thoughts are that there is an opportunity to
have both, sorry if that sounds like I’m sitting on the fence
but two versions can exist and both assist each other; a classic
Mullet fleet would help promote the heritage roots of the class
and the contemporary fleet would allow the current boat
designers a chance to keep expanding and exploring what’s
possible in a moderately priced boat.
Some of the things that will be difficult here will be working out
is what makes up a heritage boat and what is a development/
modern boat; from what I understood there are a couple of
restorations underway; so there’s the first set of guidelines for
Sisters, or two eras of NZ boat design? You decide
Phot
o: M
ark
Berg
in
page 19
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
ThE hEART Of TASMANIA – ThE WOOdEN bOAT fESTIVAl 2009
kElVIN AldREd
The Wooden Boat Festival takes place every two years
in Hobart, Tasmania and wooden boat owners from all
over Australia register early to have their wooden boats
registered before close-off due to over-registration.
It’s a very exciting time vfor many woodworkers, boat owners
and boat builders who may be applying last minute varnish
to cabin sides in readiness for the opening of the Wooden
Boat Festival.
I was most eager this year to attend the festival to again
showcase the wonderful traditional wooden boat building
skills that created the 2006 major project boat of a 30-foot
classic motor sailer built in 1200-year-old Huon pine. Students
at the Wooden Boat School shed based in southern Tasmania
constructed her. I sponsored the project and was one of the
seven students who constructed her during the two-year
diploma course of traditional wooden boat building.
I had decided to take a leisurely two days to sail her
from Franklin to the festival based in Hobart and I was
accompanied by a fellow student with whom I had worked
during our two-year fulltime course.
The trip to the festival was about 65 nautical miles from
Franklin in the Huon Valley and we planned to overnight
on Bruny Island. We stayed at a spot called Barnes Bay and
anchored in the well-known duck pond area of Barnes Bay.
How amazing to row your tender in Barnes Bay to the shore,
use your galley knife to gather all of the oysters and mussels
you can eat from the rocks and row back for the preparation
of a seafood feast. How good it was. Oysters Kilpatrick still in
their shell with natural salt water and mussels boiled in the
clear waters from Bruny Island.
Sullivan’s Cove is the entrance in the Derwent for the Wooden
Boat Festival and as we arrived to be directed to our berth
in Kings Pier, volunteer dock crew attendants were on hand
to assist us into our designated pen. A rubber ducky with
volunteers also came alongside to assist with our tender
during tie up.
It was a wonderful start to the four-day festival and we were
most eager to go ashore and start the fun after boat registration
Tasmanian timbers afloat in Hobart
Phot
o: K
evin
Ald
red
page 20
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
and collection of our personalised boat description banner to
hang proudly on the transom.
There were over 400 boats on the Hobart waterfront and 164
boats ashore including the wonderful model boats.
Tall ships James Craig, Enterprise, Endeavour, Lady Nelson
and Windwood Bound looked wonderful on the Derwent
River. They were a spectacular backdrop for the hundreds of
wooden boats heading for their mooring.
If you wanted to get out on the water, this year’s festival
offered many options. There was kids’ mini-boat paddling
as well as rowing with Mission Afloat. The on-water activity
for bigger boats included a classic yacht rally and a closing
sailpast. The amazing 18-footers also raced twice a day.
The maritime market place, the ever-popular quick and dirty
dinghy building and community boat building added a new
dimension to the festival.
Current students from the Wooden Boat School played a large
role in demonstrations in the Shipwrights’ village, a fascinating
skills-attraction of the festival. They gave demonstrations of
copper nail roving, steam bending ribs, oar making, caulking
planks and clinker dinghy construction on a 12-foot dinghy
being constructed in Huon pine.
Excellent music and entertainment were provided from 200
entertainers including musicians, Morris dancers, puppeteers
and a magician.
Thirty-four trade exhibitors in the Maritime marketplace
added to the atmosphere and showcased everything from
anchors, engines, propellers to classic chromed deck fittings.
The sea taste stalls and numerous food outlets throughout
the three acres of boating activity catered for every taste of
festival visitors and their thirst was quenched from the two
bars onsite.
The of specialty timbers from Tasmania used in the construction
of so many entrant boats certainly showed that Tasmania has
the best boat-building timbers in the world. Many Tasmanian-
built wooden boats include Huon pine, King Billy, celery top,
blackwood, spotted gum, blue gum, swamp gum, myrtle and
sassafras in their construction.
Over 40,000 people enjoyed the wonderful four days of
maritime and woodcraft celebrations. Special thanks must go
to the 300 volunteers, sponsors and Tasmanian Government
for the total success of the 2009 Festival. Festival organisers
and staff should feel very proud.
According to many of the 550 boat owners who brought their
wooden boats to this year’s festival, it was the best ever.
How lucky we are that the 2011 Wooden Boat Festival is now
less than two years away. Put the dates in your diary, 11–14
February 2009. Congratulations Tasmanian Wooden Boat
Festival, you are a world-class event.
page 21
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
AlEGRIA ‑ ThE VOYAGE
hONOlulu TO fANNING ISlANd
STuART STubbS
With Maris Stuart Stubbs rocke my partner, and our two
crew, James and Amber, I steered a course from Honolulu
on Wednesday, 18 September 2007, after a flurry of good
byes from family and new-found friends, who’d been with
us during our long preparation of 10 months.
Barely an hour into our voyage, it seemed it might all come to
nought. As we sailed out of the lee of Diamond Head and Pali
mountain range, the northeast trade driven swells quickly
kicked in. Each time a beam sea came by, the propeller shaft
would produce an eerie grinding sound. I jumped on my
mobile phone to Mario but the connection soon died and I was
none the wiser. Opening of one of the two large and weighty
trap doors in the main saloon, there was more water than I
cared for sloshing from one side of the keel to the other, so I
pulled out the aft cabin steps to gain access to the PSV bearing
on the propeller shaft. Sure enough, water was streaming from
where the ceramic seal meets the steel face, but it didn’t take
too long to juggle the seal so that it sat correctly and suddenly
the flow of water stopped.
I looked at first mate Maris, whose face was quite pale.
She had been in the heads and would be comotose by the
evening. The seasickness took three days to fully abate, but
she stuck through all her watches despite the soporific effects
of Dramamine. Her misfortune was our fortune, though, as
there were now only three people, not four, to share the box of
mangoes Mario had given us as a departing gift.
Our first destination was Fanning Atoll (Tabueran Is, in the
Kiribati (pron. Kee-ree-bahs) chain) 900 miles away and
almost due south. The wind was from the Northeast at 20
knots and the rhumb line course 185 magnetic. We steered as
much to the east as the wind and current would allow; this was
typically 170 Magnetic. Over the four days from 19 September
to 22 September, we averaged 109 miles per day with a best of
127, not particularly impressive but very much a case of softly,
softly. The biggest seas we encountered came as we passed the
Alenuihaha Channel; even at 150 miles away, the winds that
funnel between the Big Island and Maui produce prodigious
waves. Only a day later, however, we were motoring across
the gentle swells in the rain.
The four of us settled into an easy routine of two hour watches,
three times a day. James and Amber, whom Maris insisted
share at least the first leg of our voyage as she gained her sea-
legs, proved their worth as friendly, diligent and responsible
couple. It took a couple of days, but the “Sailmail” email
program was finally sorted and daily updates to Yotreps of
our position, and emails to friends and family were sent; the
satellite phone was activated; and the car keys of our borrowed
Honolulu car were found. We hand-steered (leaving the
auto-pilot to the relentlessly flat seas of the doldrums to
come) and therefore experienced all weathers, together with
nights of vibrant stars overhead and the ubiquitous trailing
phosphorescent wake.
On Sunday, 23 September, the log shows I pulled in a 20-pound
plus blue fin Tuna. We simply trailed a 200-pound breaking
strain blue nylon line with a plastic squid lure, which just
bounced along 150 meters back in our wake. When the tuna
strike, you just pull them in hand over hand. We also had a
rod in a rod holder, and then you assumed the Lee Marvin role
and worked a bit, quite a bit, to haul them in. (To our chagrin,
we also managed to hook a few sea birds that were hauled on
board, detangled and released.)
At around the half way distance on that Sunday with 565
miles under the keel, we found ourselves approaching the
area of calms with the wind speed down to 2 knots. The
log shows 8 miles in 3 hours. On the Monday the log shows
thunderstorms, lots of rain, no wind; that day we achieved
only 58 miles. By Tuesday, 25 September, the wind was back
up to 15 knots, but on the nose. The only headway south was,
paradoxically, due west (east would have taken us backwards)
and so, consequently over the day, we lost most of our easting
advantage. My cryptic scribble at 1945 that day is “gusts to
30 knots in a rainsquall at dinnertime”. Then the note read
“big black cloud”. My memory of this was that the night
suddenly became pitch black, and then just being driven up
to windward for a few minutes as the squall came through,
quite an exhilarating ride, the boat being quite controllable.
I suspect we had a reefed main, the 90% headsail and the
mizzen up, which ended up being our choice of sail for the
Masthead view of Alegria
Phot
o: S
tuar
t St
ubbs
page 22
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
Fanning fronts the soccer field. It consists of a series of one
room offices for each of police, radio, etc.. No telephones
just a couple of utility vehicles and a monthly supply vessel.
On Fanning, or Taburean as it is now called, life goes on in a
largely islander manner. There are no doctors, sometimes a
nurse, and little understanding of western hygiene. The kids
go to school and are transported across the lagoon on a WW2
landing craft sans its forward drop down door. On their way
back home from school the children break into spontaneous
a capella singing - truly beautiful. There is one westerner
living on the Island, Bruno. He has built a white stone house
reminiscent of his native south- western France, and it is the
only western-style accommodation on Fanning. He introduced
us to the local coconut flower cordial served ice cold at “Bar
Tabatha”, that he runs with his Kiribati wife. I seemed to be
the only one who really liked it and bought the entire island
stock of three bottles from the local store.
After obtaining pilotage advice from Robby, we manoeuvered
around the coral bombies and moved the boat to the other
side of Cartwright point. Here the beauty of the lagoon was
somewhat compromised by a 150 foot rusting oil barge to
which Robby and Lorraine had warped their Southern Cross.
The upside was that for the week or so we were there we were
able to enjoy 2 or 3 “barge parties”, the steel deck of the barge
was ideal for lighting the wood fired barbecue.
In the shade of our boat a school of surgeon fish kept cool.
Maris and I amused ourselves fishing for them with pieces of
banana skin. We were successful and had a number of good
meals from them. Lorraine showed us how to explore the
underwater world in the pass. We would walk to the entrance
then with snorkel, flippers and goggles dive in and down and
be carried along by the flood tide. The pass was full of corals
and fish and very well ensconced lobster.
I joined Robbie and Lorraine for a walk to Whalers Point. We
came to a village where women dried fish in the sun on raised
rest of the trip. By this time, the radar had become a very
valuable for “squall dodging”.
I hate to say his but my log on Wednesday, the 26th, shows
we had run the engine for 68 hours since leaving Honolulu
consuming 75 US gallons of fuel. I assured the crew we
were indeed sailors, but had to eat my words the next day
when winds from the NNE and flogging sails resulted more
motoring, despite us being in the SE trade belt. We had 256
miles to go to Fanning, with Maris hoping for some relief from
the relentless rain and a boat full of wet towels and linen (just
a few minor leaks!! - Maris). The log shows “SS caught four
fish”. On the 27th, the log shows a big fish bit off the tackle.
The fish I caught were mostly metre long blue fin tuna with
one yellow fin and a small Mahi Mahi.
By 2030 hours on Friday we had 50 miles to go when Maris
had a “Twilight Zone” moment. About to turn the chart
plotter off to reduce radio interference, she realised our
position made no sense, with the boat pointing due east and
no speed registering whilst we were supposed to be chugging
along due south at three knots. Sighting the rising moon and
our trusty Danforth compass, she confirmed we were indeed
on course; it was an east-setting current driving us over two
knots sideways that was fooling our B & G equipment and
the chartplotter. The strong current meant my efforts to tack
up to the entrance into English Harbour on Saturday became
very frustrating. The ebb tide saw us zig zagging back and
forward, with the land perhaps 5 miles away for most of the
day. In frustration, at around 1500 hours I cranked on the iron
mainsail and we cruised along the fringing reef with dolphins
accompanying us. Finally at 1600, at slack water flood, we
headed for the pass with all crew on the foredeck keeping
lookout and me in the forward steering position. We held
our breath and powered through, to join three other yachts in
English Harbour. We made it!
FANNING
We had been in touch with our friends Robbie and Lorraine,
who were moored inside Fanning on “Southern Cross”,
an Angleman Sea Witch gaff rigged schooner, also built by
American Marine. They had left Honolulu in July bound for
Tahiti but strong winds gave them a washing machine ride and
they decided Fanning looked the goods for rest, recovery and
repairs. It was Sunday in Kiribati, so we couldn’t go ashore
until customs and immigration arrived, but Robby and Lorraine
gave us a warm welcome and we were able to go on to the other
yachts, which had a party organised for the evening. The other
yachts were all North American, one of which, Seducente, we
continued to meet throughout the Pacific.
The friendly Kiribati officials came out by boat to clear us on
Monday morning. The entire single story administration at
Stuart with lunch
Phot
o: M
aris
Roc
ke
page 23
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
platforms. The houses were one or two rooms often open
sided. A few had solar panels to power their DVD players.
A schoolteacher invited us to eat mango and banana in
her home and we sat cross-legged on the floor sharing the
food given generously by smiling cheerful people. In spite
of the odd American WW2 truck now entwined with trees
and vines the island is stunning in its beauty, just a ring of
palms (planted for copra) around the roughly eight mile long
lagoon, the colour of the water turquoise blue.
The only non-routine maintenance at Fanning was for me to
go up the mast and re-seize the port spreader to the upper
stay. I also ferried 50 gallons of diesel in jerry cans in the
dinghy. The Hiscocks stated that, “Situated at Cartwright
point we were cut off from the settlement only a quarter of
a mile away by the 5 knot stream in the pass. This made
it inadvisable to attempt the crossing in a dinghy.” On one
occasion, with three aboard our 10 foot Dyer dinghy crossing
the pass in a wind against the tide, small steep waves hit the
outboard and stopped it. I was able to restart and we made it
across the entrance, 100 meters across.
FANNING TO APIA
We planned to leave Fanning on Friday (justifying this taboo
by saying it was Saturday in Kirabati – the eastern islands
maintaining the same time as their parents in west of the
dateline). Stymied by a pubic holiday, it then took us a day to
clear on Monday, as Customs was visiting her sister in the next
village. So on Tuesday, 9 October we left Fanning at 11.45am.
The surf was rolling in and breaking with a thunderous roar
but we exited with no dramas. The weather was fine, with
wind from SSE at 15 knots. Some time in the afternoon the
log shows we caught a two-foot long blue fin tuna. The log
comment is “lovely dinner – Wow!” By Tuesday the wind
was up to 20 knots and we were achieving a course over
ground of 8 knots.
Late on Wednesday the 10 October, we crossed the equator.
Debbie, wife of our engineer, Mario, in Honolulu, had given
us a parcel. This contained a list of various activities required
to appease King Neptune. We sacrificed a libation to his wife,
Amphitrite; turned our clothes inside out and put on pirate
scarves after cutting off a lock of our hair; then ran three times
around the boat clockwise. Luckily at this time 0400, it was a
relatively calm night.
Our course was around 200 magnetic, headlining for Apia,
Western Samoa. During this period we achieved 312 miles
in 2 days. At 0400 hours on 10 October, with me steering, I
found no response from the wheel. I rang the ship’s bell to
bring all hands on deck. The steering quadrant attached to
the top of the rudderstock was positioned directly under the
cockpit floor and the only access was through a small cut out
in the bulkhead of the aft cabin. I went down and pulled the
bedding of our double bunk out of the way to gain access
to the removable panel. I crawled in with my torch. It was
evident that the bronze key way, which locks the quadrant to
the stock, had fallen out, resulting in the quadrant slipping
a couple of inches down the rudderstock. I realized that if I
replaced the key way and tightened the two quadrant bolts,
we should be OK. It worked and we were back in business.
Phew! In the meantime Alegria had quietly turned herself
around and faced into the trade winds where she sat duck like
awaiting further instructions. At this stage we were 700 miles
from Samoa, and the next day the same problem reoccurred.
At 1635 on the 12 October it went for a third time.
This time, James and I both got into the cavity under the
cockpit and while he held a spanner on one end of the cinch
bolts I tightened the other. At this point I noticed that the
emergency steering arm, which was connected to a Honda
civic steering rack installed by Mario, was broken where the
arm from the rack was welded to a stainless steel tang attached
by a clevis pin to the main steering quadrant. As it turned out,
the geometry of this auxiliary arm was not correct for some
positions of the main quadrant arm. Only sometime later
in Noumea, it dawned on me that if I used a stainless steel
rigging tang that allowed some movement where the arm
joined the tang, then there would not be any conflict between
the movement of the main arm and that of the auxiliary rack.
This meant that until Noumea we did not have any emergency
steering system should the main hydraulics or any mechanical
part of the system fail, although there was a hole in the trailing
edge of the rudder to which a pair of ropes could be attached
for steering using the headsail winches.
The next few days seem to be relatively uneventful; wind from
the SSE at 15 knots boat speed around 5 knots. Maris picked
up a Taiwanese fishing vessel on the radar and spoke to the
Korean crew. The ship was about 8 miles away and displaced
Fiji
Phot
o: S
tuar
t St
ubbs
page 24
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
a young woman in a four-wheel drive. She said she had seen
me in the bank and needed to speak with me. She told me that
her mother was in hospital and she needed $200 for an airfare
to visit her. She asked if I had a girlfriend and when I replied
in the affirmative this seemed to have little effect on her spiel.
I was on my way to purchase more diesel and a fan belt, so I
asked her to drive me to the store on the side of town. I gave
her an exorbitant taxi fare and did my best to extract myself
gracefully. I don’t think she was particularly pleased. Eric
Hiscock, on his visit in Wanderer IV, was woken by a shirt
being waved in his face by an almost naked young woman
who had swum out to their yacht (and with his wife in the
adjoining berth).
Back in the luxury of a marina, the one thing wrong was that
we were now in the world of 240 volts. After one false start,
I purchased a step up-step down transformer and we were
then able to keep the fridge/freezer going without running
the engine. No, I do not have a gen. set; just two 85 watt
solar panels on the pilothouse roof. My fun in Apia was
disconnecting these from their mounting hinges and angling
them to the sun to maximize input.
James and Amber were to leave us in Apia and flew back to the
States via American Samoa. Maris and I enjoyed a brief few
days snorkeling on the reef, enjoying some good meals in local
restaurants, and visiting Robert Louis Stephenson’s home. A
champion of Samoan sovereignty, Stephenson supported
the Samoans in their struggle against powerful colonial and
commercial interests. Samoa is one of the few island nations
in the Pacific that was never formally colonized and the pride
of the Samoans in their sovereignty is evident. We hired a
car and drove to the opposite side of Upolu. It was Sunday
and everywhere the islanders were dressed in their Sunday
best walking to and from church. They also relaxed in the
open meeting houses adjacent to groups of fales (open-sided
or partially screened houses).
300 tonnes. It was the first of a number of fishing vessels we
would see during our passage and we realized what a lonely
passage it had been to Fanning with nary a ship sighted. Our
Raymarine radar proved not only useful in picking up ships
over the horizon, but adept at imaging rain squalls; we were
able to dodge around the back or sometimes out run them on
a number of occasions. October 14, Maris’ birthday, Neptune
becalmed us, allowing the birthday girl to bake a cake. We
celebrated with dinner in the aft cockpit: wasabi, and lime
juice with freshly caught raw tuna for starters.
On Tuesday 16 October two more big tuna came aboard. Maris
claimed there was no more room in the freezer so I released
one of them somewhat reluctantly. On 17 October we had
traveled 2324 miles from Honolulu and had 124 miles to go
to Apia. Suddenly the round the compass winds of the the
southern convergence zone ceased, and brisk trades and seas
returned. On the 18th, the island of Upolu was in sight.
APIA, SAMOA
I had some difficulty picking up the leads into Apia. As we had
found with the Fanning pass, the charts in our Raymarine were
not accurate; the electronic charts were based on the extant
paper ones most of which have not been cross-plotted by GPS.
If we had followed the chart plotter into Fanning or Apia, we
would have end up on the reef at Fanning and be anchored on
dry land at Apia. We contacted harbour control on VHF and
they sent out a rubber duckie to guide us in to the new and
almost empty marina. A group of burly Samoans looking like
a SWAT team arrived with a pack of sniffer dogs. The dogs
had a great time exploring the boat. Nevertheless we found the
Samoan customs and immigration officers very friendly and
professional. Western Samoa is largely administered by New
Zealand and, like Kiribati, is part of the Commonwealth. This
is some benefit to Australians when clearing; our American
crew were treated with a little more formality.
First stop after clearing customs and immigration was to head
to the famous Aggie Grey’s hotel for a celebratory cold beer.
Aggie Grey’s lived up to expectations with its old world air
of a colonial past. Rebuilt after a fire, it was in great shape,
and still run by Aggie’s descendants. One of them hosted the
nightly floorshows, which featured traditional dancers from
Upoulu and the neighbouring, and more remote, Savaii Island.
Although somewhat commercial, the show and traditional
food were great fun. In the foyer of the hotel on one occasion, I
saw a tall distinguished looking Samoan dressed in traditional
lava lava, his face almost completely tattooed, and carrying a
leather-bound insect whip. He would not have looked out of
place to Captain Cook.
My only other ‘encounter” via Aggie Greys was while walking
past the hotel along the waterfront when I was bailed up by
Water storage
Phot
o: S
tuar
t St
ubbs
page 25
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
Samoa is a great place and one we both would like to visit
again in more relaxed circumstances.
APIA TO SUVA
At 0920 on Sunday 28 October we departed Apia heading
for Suva some 800 miles away. It was now to be just Maris
and me and our friendly B & G autopilot. We first had to
negotiate the Apolina Strait between Upoulu and Savaii,
a beautiful sail between the islands that took most of the
daylight. By 1835, and some 45 miles from Apia as we were
leaving the Strait, the log shows a “large rain cloud” and
“changed course to avoid”. The wind changed from 5 to over
20 kts in an instant and we spent the evening dodging large
squalls. Another note is “lightening”. Unfortunately, our
autopilot doesn’t like to many brisk changes of course and
a button jammed itself at 11pm. Both of us were exhausted
and we hand-steered through the night on half to one hour
watches until Stuart could re-set the pilot at dawn. With
the rough seas, Maris came down with another bout of the
dreaded seasickness.
Over Monday the weather cleared and Tuesday, 30 October,
distinguished itself as we sailed abreast of the inhabited
volcanic island of Niuafo’fou, 235 miles south west of Apia.
The log records, “wind in NE, hard to sail down wind,” and
it stayed in this NE quadrant for the next couple of days,
resulting in more motor sailing. Luckily mild winds prevailed
as a jam on the mizzen mast resulted in a climb to the top for
Stuart on Wednesday.
Just after midnight on the morning of the 1 November the
comment is “wind in all the wrong directions” and “some dark
cloud,” then, “wind building”. The approach and run down
the Nanuku Passage, the north- eastern approach through
the Fiji islands, brought an oppressive, overcast sky. At 1700
I recall watching the rain rush up from behind accompanied
by a 30-knot squall that resulted in a lively half hour sail. It
couldn’t have been too bad as Maris stayed sound asleep
below, so we charged on with the Fijian Island of Taveuni on
our starboard bow. This was the start of a 100-mile run down
to Mbatiki Island through the Koro Sea.
It was here that we crossed the international dateline early
Friday, 2 November, truncating that day to 2 hrs long when, at
2am, it suddenly became Saturday! To keep myself awake, I
checked the trolling line and discovered a drowned barracouta,
about three feet long. The night was very black with very few
lights and several unlit fishing craft showed up on the radar.
The next day I kept an eagle eye out for Thakau Momo, a
dangerous reef between Koro and Mbatiki Islands. In the end
I could just pick out the light tower a mile or so away.
On our final approach to Suva Harbour, rounding the island
of Viti Levu where we could see the lights of the airport in the
distance, we had a problem with the autopilot, and it wasn’t
the usual problem of stuck buttons. We finally realized the
impeller had become fouled with debris and with no boat
speed recording on the B & G log, the autopilot failed. As
we passed a light off Belcher rocks, a large “police”-type
helicopter flew over the top of us in the middle of the night.
By 0330, we reached our waypoint off the entrance to Suva
Harbour. I could not make out the leading light, so headed
back out to join a small convoy waiting for dawn. At 0500,
I made another approach as a large Chinese fishing trawler
came roaring past and I decided to sit on its tail as much as I
could to follow it in. This strategy worked and we contacted
harbour control on VHF to be told to anchor at the medical
examination anchorage and await pratique.
We had completed our first ocean passage as a couple. There
were four other yachts anchored around us including our friends
from Fanning on Seducente. Another arrival on a Sunday
meant this time a peaceful day of cleaning and resting. At mid-
morning Monday, a crowd of ladies and gentleman from Fiji
customs and immigration arrived by boat and cleared 3 yachts.
They all came aboard snapping photographs, with the ladies
pointing excitedly at our microwave. We were each charged
USD120 for the privilege of the visit. Maris liked the anchorage
with its full view of the sky and passing harbour traffic. Over
several nights the Indian festival of Divali fireworks could be
seen over the length of the shore after dusk.
Our dinghy with 3.5 HP Nissan outboard was pressed into
service to take us to the Royal Fijian Yacht Club about half a
mile away. There we bet on and watched the Melbourne Cup
and drank flaming Ouzos – the local special. We did not find
the atmosphere in the yacht club particularly friendly, with
no one really acknowledging our presence nor attempting to
make us feel welcome.
The taxi ride to town was $2 Fijian. Suva has a tremendous
market with excellent produce, but Maris found the town
Apia, Samoa
Phot
o: S
tuar
t St
ubbs
page 26
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
two white lights dead ahead at a distance which seemed well
under a mile. I summoned Maris and held course. I think
fatigue was getting to me. I contacted the ship on VHF and
asked it to change course. We ascertained that it was crossing
our bows and that we should pass each other port to port. I
could not see his port or starboard light and would not like to
ever go through that one again.
On the 16th at 1450 it read “rough seas, gusts to 30 knots”. At
1800 hours we were contacted on VHF by an unseen French
vessel. Without identifying itself, it asked for particulars of our
crew numbers, where we had come from and our nationality.
I later hailed them back on the VHF, knowing they were out
there somewhere though they didn’t show up on our radar,
and asked them to confirm the tide at the entrance to the Pass
Havannah which we had determined using the tide program
on our laptop. Identifying themselves this time as a naval
vessel, they confirmed that 0600 hours on Saturday the 16th
would be the ideal high tide to enter the Pass.
By 0700 the wind finally abated to 14 knots and we were in site
of the Pass. Dolphins came again to welcome us and the sky was
a brilliant blue. Suddenly the world was good again and we
enjoyed a glorious sail through the winding Havanna passage.
More confusion followed finding the leads into Port Moselle
but eventually at 1500 we were snug in Port Moselle marina
and were quickly cleared by the friendly customs.
All around us were Aussie and Kiwi monohulls, cats and a
power cruiser, waiting to make the final jump home. Port
Moselle has a brilliant dockside market open everyday with
almost everything and more you could want to buy. In
addition, the boulangeries were a magnet, with croissants,
baguettes a wonderful selection of crusty bread, and an eye-
popping patisserie. We had great fun in the supermarkets and
wine shops with fabulous cheese and I believe very drinkable
Bordeaux reds for $10 a bottle. I finally christened the oven
and cooked a roast duckling.
dispiriting with its fading infrastructure and security at the
entrance of many shops. Our friends on Seducente took their
boat to a cyclone proof anchorage at the top of the harbour
in front of the almost empty Trade Winds International hotel
(there’d been another period of political unrest in the not
too distant past). The setting was beautiful with tiny islands
surrounding the small watery enclave.
Eventually heart in mouth we took Alegria into the shallow
waters of the yacht club where we bunkered and filled the
water tanks. We shot out with the depth sounder on zero most
of the way back to our anchorage.
SUVA TO NOUMEA
We were officially in the pacific cyclone season so on
Remembrance Day 2007, having barely spent a week in
Fiji, we headed for Noumea via the Beqa passage between
Viti Levu and Mbenga Island. As we sailed through this
passage, a school of porpoises beckoning us to come to nearby
Vartulele Island. At 1700 hours it looked the perfect place to
lose your self for an indefinite period of time. Sadly we kept
on going.
By 1140 the next day the wind began to build. The log says
“headed”, also “avoided a rain squall”. At 1930 that evening
Maris’ comment was “changed course to dodge a squall” and
“auto pilot not working”. At 1933 on Tuesday, the 13th, my
comment is 20 to 30 knots, lumpy horrible seas. From then on
the wind pretty much stayed in the 20 to 30 knot range night
and day. This was not that bad but the sea state was like field
of giant 200-meter wide mushrooms. This mess was left over
from a deep low well to the south east of us. For the first time,
we did not have the consistent trade driven seas we were used
to. You could not stare transfixed as the waves march up to you
like huge phalanx of soldiers then passed harmlessly under the
keel. Alegria simply floated over each and sent them on their
way. Now you were pushing the boat through a sort maze of
waves never entirely sure of which was the best way through.
For a couple of hours I turned the boat more to the north away
from the rhumb line to our destination of the Havannah Pass,
taking the waves more on the quarter. I don’t know if it made
much difference but after a while I calmed down and gradually
brought the boat back on course. By lunch on 14th November
the comment is “we are getting back on the rhumb line”, and
“COG 8.1 knots”, helped by a 1-knot favourable current. At
0244 on 15 November it was still gusts to 30 knots and an
uncomfortable sea state. And so it went on.
Early on the 16th, it was still a 25-knot wind from the SE.
My log recalls a few thuds from waves and one that hit the
pilothouse roof with some water coming in the companion
way. At 0457 I record a large ship 6 miles dead ahead. I may
have dozed off for a few minutes but when I awoke there were
Suva Harbour, Fiji
Phot
o: S
tuar
t St
ubbs
page 27
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
We blithely went to the cinema and saw Ratatouille in French
(and Maris finally realized she was in France as there were
no subtitles). After Suva, Noumea abounded with good
restaurants; one called Zanzibar was excellent.
We hired a Renault Klingo and went into the hinterland to
find some beautiful rainforest and magnificent views of the
coastal islands from the hills. There are numerous eco-tourist
farms serving gourmet local produce such as venison.
We ended up staying in Noumea for three weeks, repairing the
emergency steering and waiting for an airfreight Admiralty
pilot that eventually arrived by snail mail. The main reason
for our delay is that we decided to sail in tandem with some
extremely cautious Aussies who were prepared to wait
seemingly forever for the right weather window – something
we had not really thought about before. Perhaps with cyclones
over Cape York and Fiji, their reasoning was sound. In the
meantime Seducente graced us with their presence and the
guys had lost none of their exuberant spirit.
NOUMEA TO BRISBANE
We finally departed Noumea on Sunday 12 December in
company with two other yachts, one of whom split off early
to head for Bundaburg. With Sashay II, we headed for Coffs
Harbour. For most of the first few days the wind speed was
around 10 knots and it was “motoring again” across the Coral
Sea on a gentle swell.
By late Thursday, the wind had climbed to 18 knots and was
almost on the nose. By 0800 on Friday, it was gusting over
20 knots. So, although we had set off in a sou’easter, the
wind was now from almost due south and we were finding
it heavy going in the 6 to 8 ft seas. Eventually at 1000 hours
on Friday the 14th, we changed course from 150 to around
300 M and immediately the ride became more comfortable.
From a position around 200 miles out from Coolangatta, we
bid farewell to Sashay II and plotted a course for Brisbane. We
rounded the top of the Queensland Tablemount, which comes
up to 290 meters below the surface in water 4000 meters deep
and there were certainly some currents around it.
It just so happened that Stuart’s sister, Angela, was in
Coolangatta, (she’d flown to Brisbane from Melbourne) and
was making her way to Coffs. Seeing our abrupt change of
course on our daily “Yotreps” track, she cancelled all plans
and set off back to Brisbane. Whilst our HF/Pactor modem
combination worked reasonably well, we believe the insulated
backstay that was removed in the re-rigging (when we thought
we would be relying only a sat. phone) would have worked
better than our uninsulated one (“don’t touch the rigging;
Maris is on the modem”).
Around 1800 on Friday, I pulled in a decent Mahi Mahi with
the wind blowing a nice 15 knots. On Saturday 15th at 0430 we
reached our waypoint 85 miles off Moreton Island, a little less
than a day from landfall. As the fine day progressed the wind
gradually died and a large pod of dolphins swam through the
miles of yellow-coloured coral spawn through which we were
now motoring. It looked like oil on the limpid sea. The only
excitement came in the mid-afternoon when Maris pointed to
the 800 pound billfish leaping out of the water 30 meters off
our starboard side. It had hooked the tuna line and that leap
broke the steel trace. The course on our chart plotter showed
that he had been pulling the boat in an arc for the last 5 minutes
until he got tired of that game.
As it got dark we continued to motor towards Caloundra
Head, the entrance to the shipping channel into Moreton
Bay. I did not feel like waiting until the next day to enter the
channel (not a good idea). Thanks to the Raymarine we had
no trouble picking up the entrance beacon and then at 2300
started the 9-hour journey to Manly. As midnight tolled, my
night vision became useless and I was beginning to hallucinate
from lack of sleep. The dinghy mounted on the foredeck meant
I couldn’t see the channel markers. Maris did a wonderful job
of piloting us by reading the Raymarine (just like a computer
game - Maris). We didn’t enjoy a close encounter with a
large ship coming the other way and learnt this time to sail
down the side of a main shipping channel, rather than down
the center as is more advisable in coral-ringed Pacific ports.
Finally dawn came and we were off Tangalooma on the inside
of Moreton Island. We steered between Green and St Helena
Islands and at 0700 arrived at the customs wharf at Manly.
Home at last! Our boat had brought us 4500 miles without
any breakages and looking as good as the day she left.
EPILOGUE
A friend said that now we are back we should sell the boat
as quickly as possible to recoup our costs – adventure over.
Having lived aboard for 18 months now, I am not so sure. We
are enjoying the fruits of our labour just living on the boat and
making further small improvements. After living in houses
for thirty years it is quite a change, but the boat feels like some
small Japanese apartment, only with sunshine and water all
around us.
And there is more: I could not have completed the refit, nor
made the voyage, without Maris and have great admiration
for her courage as a sailing newcomer to actually commit to
the voyage. Our adventure was about doing something that
touched our souls, and for that I thank the world of wooden
boats, and my partner who shares that world with me.
page 28
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
listening to John and Roger telling helicopter stories. For some
reason my Dad had developed an idea to go on a bike ride. But
he couldn’t work out why there were no bikes in Eden. And
when he found a bike at the information shop, he soon fond
out why there were no bikes in Eden. Eden has hills!!!
THE KIND FISHERMAN
We made friends with a fishing boat. They had just pulled in 4
tonnes of Salmon and had some to spare. So we ended up with
a huge fish that we gutted and filleted and ate for lunch with
some people that John had made friends with up in the town.
We heard more horror sailing stories from these people and it
started to make me wonder how safe it really was travelling in
a small 52 year old wooden boat, up the coast of Australia.
THE LOG BOOK
An hourly entry into the log book was compulsory on our
journey. At 2am in the morning it was about the only thing
keeping me from falling asleep. It even gave me a couple
of chances to helm. This was a pretty amazing experience,
having to watch the compass light for up to half an hour and
push and pull according to the waves was quite a strain on
my concentration.
FISHING
We tried fishing on the way up to Eden, but failed dismally.
So we decided that at Eden we would scrap the old reel and
tackle and start anew. We even built a makeshift rod holder
with PVC pipe and clips. Not very Classic but we succeeded!!!
Even though our fish was later deemed only fit for cat food
(by a so called fishing expert) I considered it a win.
WET, COLD, TIRED BUT HAPPY
We arrived in foggy Sydney. We were wet, we were cold, we
were tired but we couldn’t help being happy with a safe trip.
We pulled up in Royal Sydney and walked round the corner
to have a well earned breakfast at the café near Luna Park. Its
safe to say that it was an all round great trip.
hEAd TO hEAd WIThOuT A TACk
ARChIE ChEW
In December 2008 CYAA President took his 1956 Phillip
Rhodes sloop Fair Winds from Port Phillip to Port Jackson,
with the able assistance of his 13 year old son Archie, with
a following wind all the way. Archie Chew illustrates the
journey.
OUT OF THE HEADS
Our trip began at 5:30 in the morning. With the steady groan
of the motor in the background, we made our way down to
the heads. After an uneventful trip, we came in to contact
with some fairly big waves. This being my first open sea trip,
I was told that there are generally big waves at the heads
(John Donati later explained to me in great detail) but I think
everybody was a bit surprised, when the boat ended up half
way out of the water. We had made it out of the heads more or
less in good health.
FOOD, DRINK AND HAPPY HOUR
I first learnt the importance of happy hour (from 6-8pm) on
our first day. Everybody was up and about. Dinner was put
in our pathetic excuse for an oven (I think Dad might have a
bit of a soft spot for it though) and helming duties were given
to anyone whose dinner was ready last. This may have been
a sailing trip but with two Italians on board it quickly became
a fine food trip; the menu consisted of Lamb Rogan Josh,
Lasagne, , spatzle with a beef stroganoff (Spatzle is German
pasta) gourmet sausages mash and baked potatoes and many
many pots of 2-minute noodles. Mum still can’t work out why
there is Lamb Rogan Josh still stuck to the back of the oven”
EDEN
We stopped in the sleepy seaside town of Eden. We pegged out
the washing, scrubbed up at the local showers and sat around
Phot
o: M
ark
Chew
page 29
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
dECkS fOR ClASSIC bOATS
RICk MITChEll
In this article I will look at the three main kinds of decks
that you are likely to find on a classic wooden boat,
examine their strengths and weaknesses, and point out the
things that indicate when a deck is in need of maintenance
and/or repair.
TRADITIONAL LAID DECKS
A laid deck is made up of planks that are laid fore and aft,
and directly fastened to the deck beams that run athwartships.
(The deck beams are comparable to the joists that support the
floorboards in a house, and the deck planks are comparable
to the floor boards.) But deck planks butt up against one
another, with no tongue and groove, and, once fastened
are caulked and paid with pitch (on larger boats), or putty
(on smaller yachts).
The main advantage of a traditional laid deck is that it is very
easy to see when there is a problem. When there is a problem
with the deck, water will drip into the cabin. When this
happens it is easy to either harden up the caulking, or replace
a specific plank if it has begun to rot.
Fair Winds leaking deck
Phot
o: M
ark
Chew
AN ASIDE
Traditional wooden boats are made up of individual
components that are fitted and fastened together, and the
design of these components allows for the wooden pieces to
move in relation to each other as the vessel works in a seaway,
or as their relative moisture content alters. Because traditional
boats are made of individual pieces, they are relatively easy
to repair.
The main disadvantage of a laid deck is that to maintain
its watertight integrity it is necessary to make sure that the
planks have a fairly constant moisture content. In the past
most vessels with a laid deck were either working boats that
were often at sea, or yachts with live-aboard paid hands who
were responsible for wetting down and scrubbing the decks
daily, something not many of us can afford these days.
CANVASSED DECKS
In the past smaller boats often had canvassed decks. These
decks were made of tongue and groove planks, fastened to
deck beams, which were then covered in stretched canvas
which was bedded down in a lead-based paste and then
painted until the weave of the canvas was almost filled. In
this case the canvas provides the watertight membrane, and
the deck planks the structural strength. This kind of deck was
cheap and effective. However, there are very few boats that
still have canvassed decks.
Currently the idea of a waterproof membrane stretched
over a structural substrate has morphed into a plywood
deck over which is laid fibreglass cloth bedded down with
epoxy resin.
EPOXY SHEATHED PLYWOOD DECKS
The structural component of a sheathed deck is the plywood,
which replaces the planking of a laid deck. Plywood by itself
is not a particularly hardwearing material, and once worn
is susceptible to rot, (as the surface of the plywood wears it
exposes endgrain which will draw water into it, encouraging
the growth of fungus or rot). So while it is possible to make
a plywood deck without epoxy sheathing, it is not advisable
to do so on a deck where there will be reasonably constant
foot traffic.
The advantages of an epoxy sheathed deck is that it is easy
(and relatively quick) to lay, easy to maintain, (just paint it),
Timber over ply deck
page 30
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
Indeed most classic yachts that have been restored recently
have this kind of deck. But it does have one major drawback.
If, for some reason the watertight seal of the surface of the
deck is broken, water will penetrate the join between the solid
timber and the plywood, and if this water penetrates the ply,
rot will occur. The real problem with this rot is that it will not
be visible, trapped as it is inside the plywood, underneath
the solid timber, until it works its way through the ply and
emerges on the deckhead. When that happens a major repair
will be necessary. Often a substantial part of the deck will
need to be ripped up just to locate the source of the water and
to trace its path before the repair can begin.
Here at Michael Hurrell Shipwrights we believe that when
building a new yacht, or fully replacing the deck on an old
one, the best way to avoid this potential problem is by making
sure that where the deck will be penetrated, the deck substrate
is blocked out with solid timber, not plywood, which resists
rot much more than ply. If this is done, and rot does occur, it
can be cut out and repaired from underneath the deck without
disturbing the timber planking.
THERE ARE TWO MAJOR CAUSES OF WATER PENETRATION.
First, it is inevitable that there will be fastening and fittings
that will penetrate a deck. If the holes that are caused by these
fittings and fastenings are not completely sealing, water will
penetrate. Often these fittings (winches, runner attachment
points, etc) will come under heavy but intermittent load
which can work fastening loose. This can allow water to work
its way into the endgrain of the plywood.
The second major reason for water penetration is failure of
the seam compound. There have been great improvements in
the quality of seam compounds in the last 10 years, but some
early compounds have quite limited flexibility, particularly
if not applied correctly. This often resulted in one side of the
seam compound detaching itself from the edge of the seam,
and letting water penetrate under the solid timber, with the
potential consequences I have listed above.
It is critical when laying a timber deck that is being sealed
with a polymer seam compound that each edge of the plank
is rebated. This will place the join between the seams under
the middle of the seam. It is also critical that the seam is
and adds a lot of strength to deck structure, and, if laid and
sheathed well, gives years of service.
The main disadvantage of a ply deck is that it does not have
the look of a classic deck as it does not have the seam lines,
or the natural timber grain, of a laid deck. It is also not a very
easy deck to repair, as the plywood, once scarfed and glued
together essentially becomes a single entity. This kind of deck
needs to be inspected regularly, because, if for some reason,
the fibreglass is damaged and water penetrates the plywood,
rot can spread quickly along the veneers inside the plywood.
This rot may take some time to become visible on the deckhead
(bottom face of the ply), by which time a major repair may
be necessary.
When inspecting a deck like this for damage, you should look
initially for wear on the paint. If the paint has been worn away,
examine the fibreglass cloth to make sure that the weave of the
cloth is visible with no places where the individual threads are
worn away. If they are they will need to be repaired. The other
thing to look for are places where the fibreglass has lifted off
the plywood. These will appear as bubbles, the surface of
which you will be able to press down. Water penetration can
cause the epoxy to detach from the ply, which will cause these
bubbles and also allow water to gather and sit on the surface
of the ply.
PLY SUBSTRATE/SOLID TIMBER DECK
This deck combines the look of a traditional laid deck with
the low maintenance and strength of the sheathed ply deck. It
consists of an epoxy sheathed ply substrate over which are laid
solid timber planks. The planks are bedded down in a flexible
marine glue. The seams between the planks not caulked with
cotton but only paid with a polymer-based seam compound.
This is the kind of deck most restored yachts have.
This kind of deck is, at first glance, the most suitable for classic
yachts combining the strengths of two other decking systems.
Laid deck
Fair Winds deck nearing completion
Phot
o: M
ark
Chew
page 31
Issue 27 - June 2009 © CYAA
fOR SAlE: CONCERTO 1969 TEd hOOd 50’ CENTREbOARd kETCh
$265,000 Designed and built by Ted Hood as his own boat.
Fibreglass hull and deck moulded under Lloyd’s
supervision by Tyler Yachts UK. Shipped to Holland
for solid teak fit out by the famous Frans Maas’ Yard.
(Including beautiful and practical tiled open fireplace).
Originally rigged as a ketch or “racing yawl” under the
CCA Rule of the time, her mizzen has been removed and
stored and as a result she has a lovely long and roomy
cockpit. For the past 7 years she has been a much loved
family boat and weekender on Pittwater and her standing
and running rigging were replaced in 2008 before a
1500nm Queensland cruise last Christmas school holidays.
Numerous photographs, articles and full details are
available at http://www.directorspot.com/concerto.php
or by contacting her owner John Lamble on 0408 970 087.
primed correctly and that breaker tape is laid into the bottom
of the seam, before the seam is paid. These three steps will
ensure that the compound adheres to the sides of the seams
for maximum flexibility while making sure it doesn’t stick to
the bottom of the seam which will reduce the ability of the
compound to flex horizontally.
To avoid this kind of damage, the consequences of which
may not become visible for years, it is extremely important
to regularly examine this kind of deck and the items that are
mounted on it. If a fitting is loose it should be rebedded and
refastened. If the fitting becomes loose again, it may be that
the fastenings are too small, or the blocking out under the
deck needs attention. If some seam compound has come away
from the side of a seam, is should be repaired immediately
before water has a chance to do any damage.
This is first in a series of articles that Michael Hurrell
Shipwrights will be contributing to this magazine. If you have
any further questions about decks please drop us a line.
In the next issue we intend to look at timber planking,
(traditional and modern), construction methods and repair
processes. We would welcome any questions readers may
have about this, or any other, aspect of wooden boats, their
construction, maintenance and repair. We can be contacted at
MElbOuRNE WOOdEN bOAT fESTIVAl
fEbRuARY 2010 dOCklANdS
The inaugural Melbourne Wooden Boat Festival will be held
at Docklands in early Feb 2010.
This event will bring together all of the major Wooden Boat
and Classic Boat associations in Melbourne an opportunity for
all Wooden Boat fans to participate.
The program is 2 days of display in Docklands and 1 day at
Williamstown. The Docklands program will feature in port
sailing for the smaller craft, public interpretative displays
featuring boat builders, working boat and recreational history.
The Williamstown program will be a classic rally, heading
down towards Portarlington (a delivery leg for those intending
to visit the Queenscliff Maritime Weekend)
The event is designed to help promote Wooden Boat
heritage and connect a broader public with the spirit of
boating heritage.
For registration, program info and news visit
www.woodenboat.com.au
For sponsorship or event information contact Mark
Bergin – Festival Director [email protected]
+61 418 565 848
woodenboat.com.au
woodenboat.com.au
woodenboat.com.au
woodenboat.com.au
woodenboat.com.au
woodenboat.com.au
woodenboat.com.au
woodenboat.com.au
page 32
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
MEMbERShIP APPlICATION WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT - BECOME A MEMBER!
Your support makes all the difference, and costs so little.
To ensure you never miss another issue of this newsletter,
why not become a member of the Classic Yacht Association
of Australia. Full membership costs just $75, or crew/
friends membership for $50 including GST.
APPLICATION FOR FULL MEMBERSHIP
I ....................................................................................(Full name of Applicant)
Of .................................................................................(address)wish to become a member of the Classic Yacht Association of Australia and apply to have my Yacht accepted on to the Yacht Register for the annual fee of $75
Signature of Applicant ..............................................
Date .............................................................................
Please supply the following details:
Phone Number ..........................................................
Fax Number ............................................................... Email Address ............................................................
Boat Name .................................................................
Designer .....................................................................
Date of Build .............................................................
Construction .............................................................
LOA ................................ Rig ................................... Sail Number ..............................................................
Details of other Yacht Club Memberships:
......................................................................................
APPLICATION FOR CREW MEMBERSHIP
I ....................................................................................(Full name of Applicant)
Of .................................................................................(address)wish to join the Classic Yacht Association of Australia as a crew member / friend for the annual fee of $50
Signature of Applicant ..............................................
Date .............................................................................
Please supply the following details:
Phone Number ..........................................................
Fax Number ............................................................... Email Address ............................................................
Boat Name ..................................................................
Details of other Yacht Club Memberships:
......................................................................................
Return this completed form to the following address:
CYAA Membership Officer343 Ferrars Street Albert Park Victoria 3206