AROUND THE PORTS

Keith Flint, Port Officer Adelaide, South Australia

I received the following letter from John Maddox last April, just too late to include in Flying Fish 1997/1:

In February this year I accepted Keith Flint's kind invitation to sail on his 65ft Helsal II in the Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race and cruise back to Adelaide. The course was from Port Adelaide southwest to round Yorke Peninsula, then through Investigator Strait between the Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, rounding Cape Spencer to cross the entrance to Spencer Gulf. Kangaroo Island shelters Gulf St Vincent from the Southern Ocean winds, and Port Lincoln is tucked behind a small headland and protected by Gambier, Thistle and Boston Islands.

Helsal had no trouble at all making 14 knots with a shy spinnaker on the beam, and I understand that her fastest speed ever was 24 knots along the west coast of Tasmania when surfing down waves in a race from Melbourne to Hobart. She holds the Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race record, and although she kept it this year we were beaten over the line by Future Shock, a smaller (50ft), newer `lightweight flyer'. Nearly a hundred yachts took part, with sixty-two in the racing division and the rest in the cruising class.

Helsal is a Joe Adams design with GRP hull and timber deck, launched in 1979 and considered pretty light when built. Her gear is fairly heavy, of course, and to hoist the mainsail the halyard goes through a turning block where the mast passes through the deck and back to one of the sheet winches operated by the coffee-grinder in the centre cockpit. The winches on either side of the mainsheet traveller, used to move the traveller to windward, are the same as those used on my own 30ft Simarjon for the genoa sheets!

Port Lincoln is a grain port, with huge silos to store the wheat that comes down from the farming areas to the north. Fishing is the other main industry and supports a large fleet of trawlers. More recently tuna fish farming has started, and results were good until a severe southerly storm in 1995 caused the water to be churned up and many of the tuna to choke on the detritus churned up from the floors of their pens. The industry now favours larger pens placed in deeper water.

All the yachts went first to the town pier, then either anchored off the yacht club or went round to the marina that, although a little out of the town centre, is being built around a dredged and drained former swamp. Giant bulldozers are excavating the land behind the existing quays and placing rocks as a sea wall (just large enough so that the local teenagers can't lift them!). Then the sea will be pumped in slowly -- last time, when the artificially-made canals were flooded by breaching the dam wall, the sea rushed in with such force that some of the stones forming the sea wall were dislodged. The marina is still being developed and at present there are only temporary toilet facilities. There is, however, an excellent restaurant serving both the marina and the apartments (two and three storey only) that are still being constructed.

The best months for cruising around Port Lincoln and the surrounding islands are February to June, when moderate winds and pleasant autumn (fall) weather are the norm. Most OCC circumnavigators coming across the Pacific via Fiji, Vanuatu or even New Zealand aim for Gladstone or Brisbane in Queensland and pass north of Australia. In contrast, Mike and Pat Pocock sailed Blackjack south of Australia and Tasmania, and then crossed the Great Australian Bight. If OCC members want to follow their challenging route they could not do better than to call in at Adelaide to see Keith Flint and then go on to Port Lincoln, before continuing to Esperance and Fremantle for a visit to Chich Thornton, Port Officer for Perth, Western Australia.

John Maddox, Port Officer Sydney, Australia

Mark Fesq and I had the pleasure of coming alongside Geoffrey Phegan's Morasum for lunch at the Basin, Pittwater in August. Morasum is a sistership of the famous Finisterre, designed by Sparkman & Stephens for Carleton Mitchell in 1953. Finisterre was 39ft LOA, 27.5ft LWL and 11.25ft in the beam, with a centreboard giving draught from 5.25ft to 7.5ft. Rigged as a yawl, she was fast downwind and did well in the Bermuda Races of that epoch.

Morasum was built in Hong Kong for the reputed then CIA station chief and during the cold war was actually impounded by the mainland Chinese for `political' reasons. Built of teak with bronze fittings, Geoff is only the third owner since 1956, the second having lived aboard in Mexico after buying from the estate of the original owner. Geoff purchased the yawl in Australia after she was sailed out from Mexico.

Living of board, Geoff is able to give Morasum the attention she deserves and it is great to see a fine timber yacht being restored to her former glory with lots of TLC. The brightwork both above and below decks is really unbelievable, although Geoff says that the laid decks require some attention. He has now continued northwards, his cruise having commenced from Hobart, Tasmania.

PS: Morasum has numerous hidden compartments, which surely reflects the first owner's `job description'.

Chich Thornton, Port Officer Perth, Western Australia

As Port Officer for this delightful spot I am saddened by the scarcity of visiting members. One passed by on a non-stop Round Australia voyage a few years ago, and another parked his yacht here for a time and immediately flew off to the United States, but there have been very few others and I can only think that members are unaware of the attractions of Western Australia.

It is a vast state. The population is not much over 1« million, almost all concentrated in a little triangle about the size of England in the southwest corner. Most of those in the southwest live in Perth, where the climate is well described as `Mediterranean with mild winters'. In the summer there is virtually no rainfall there, nor does it freeze in the winter. The humidity is nearly always very low and cyclones tend to collapse into `rain-bearing depressions' well before getting so far south.

In the far north of the state, the Kimberley region, the climate is of course tropical with a `Wet', including cyclones, roughly from December to May. For the rest of the year there is a `Dry'. There, but not further down the coast, the tides have an enormous range. (In Fremantle the range is hardly noticeable.) There are countless islands, said to be quite wonderful by those who have visited them, and the scenery of the mainland is striking. Most of the region has so far escaped what is euphemistically known as `development'. Wyndham, Derby and Broome are the major ports.

A huge part of Australia has a desert or semi-arid climate and this includes the region known as the Pilbara, where iron ore is mined and loaded into bulk carriers at Dampier and Port Hedland. The scale of these operations is astonishing. The continental shelf off the Pilbara is known as the North West Shelf and is the scene of extensive natural gas exploitation. The Montebello Islands, west of Dampier, where once there was British nuclear testing, are now noted as a yachtsman's paradise. Barrow Island is a flora and fauna reserve despite the existence of long-standing oil rigs there.

At North West Cape the land comes close to the edge of the continental shelf. The remarkable Ningaloo Marine Park contains Ningaloo Reef which is said to be one of the finest coral reefs in the world, perhaps even better than the Great Barrier Reef. To see this wonder it might be as well to come soon, as they are drilling for oil pretty close to it. Then further down the coast there is the amazing Shark Bay with dolphins which come to talk to the tourists at Monkey Mia, and water in Hamelin Pool which is so salty that magnificent stromatolites grow there, `the oldest living fossils' as they are described.

There are some interesting names on the chart of Shark Bay -- Disappointment Reach, Hopeless Reach and Useless Inlet, suggesting that some of Captain Denham's 1858 surveying party felt a bit out of sorts. The main settlement in Shark Bay is called Denham, but there is also a settlement called Useless Loop, not far from Useless Inlet.

Further down the coast, off Geraldton, is the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago, three groups of islands of which one is named the Pelsaert Group. The Dutch East India Company's Batavia was wrecked on 4 June 1629 on the northern (Wallabi) group. Pelsaert himself sailed off to the port of Batavia (now Jakarta) to get help, leaving 250 souls behind, and appalling things happened during his three month's absence. Almost equally appalling retribution was meted out to the perpetrators of these deeds when he returned. In the past thirty years the remains of the ship have been brought ashore and skilfully preserved in the Maritime Museum at Fremantle. The story of the wreck and its recovery are fascinating, and add to the interest of these islands.

Fremantle, at the mouth of the Swan River, is a town of charm and character. All necessary yachting services are available, of course, because a lot of ocean racing goes on up and down the coast and also to the islands of Indonesia. In the early 19th century it was somewhat off the beaten track, as sailing ships normally made their way to Sydney via the Cape of Good Hope. But after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 this began to change, even though the anchorage in Gage Roads, protected by reefs to the west, could not really compete with the fine sheltered harbour at Albany on the south coast. Fremantle's cargo handling pier was less than ideal.

At the end of the 19th century, however, a harbour was created at the entrance to the Swan River. Rock bar was blasted and excellent wharves built along the banks of the river. Nowadays this harbour is mostly used by container ships, but cruise ships also call, including the QE2. The opening of the deep-water harbour put Fremantle right on the main route for steamers bound for Sydney and Melbourne, and the town became a colourful and lively place. It is still full of life and has architecture on a human scale, including fine limestone buildings preserved from those days. The enlightened citizenry refused to follow fashion when Perth was busy building skyscrapers on the demolition sites of its heritage buildings. From Fremantle it is about thirteen miles to Perth by road or rail.

There are several other harbours: a fishing boat harbour enclosing an area to the south of the river mouth; Success Harbour, adjoining this, built for the sailing ships taking part in the Parmelia Race to celebrate Western Australia's sesquicentenary in 1979; and Challenge Harbour built for the America's Cup races of early 1987. Success Harbour is the site of Fremantle Sailing Club's rather grand clubhouse, where it also provides berths for visiting yachts. Challenge Harbour is used by the huge Whitbread yachts when they call at Fremantle. There is also a harbour formed recently on reclaimed land to the north of the rivermouth, which is used by the commercial ferries to Rottnest Island ten miles off the coast.

During the cyclone season in the tropics the southern parts of Western Australia enjoy `Mediterranean' summer weather. Up the Swan River from Fremantle there are a dozen or more yacht and sailing clubs which provide racing programmes, and many local yachts have masts which can be lowered to pass under the three river bridges. Rottnest Island is also a popular destination -- during the summer the prevailing wind is easterly, with strong sea breezes in the afternoon for the return trip.

South of Fremantle there are plenty of other harbours and anchorages to visit, all of course cyclone free. The harbour at Albany and the Recherche Archipelago near Esperance are particularly interesting. The voyage across the Great Australian Bight can be undertaken at any time of year and certainly need not involve any Roaring Forties scenarios. The essential thing is not to be in hurry and to heed the excellent weather forecasts. Then one sails from one port or archipelago to the next as and when the weather suits.

Fremantle is also a gateway to the wonderful islands of the Indian Ocean, including the Cocos Islands and Christmas Islands, both Australian territories. Noted Fremantle mariners include Jon Sanders, who sailed three times round the world non-stop, and more recently a prot'g' of his, David Dicks, who completed a non-stop eastabout circumnavigation in November 1996. He was seventeen when he left Fremantle in March and still seventeen when he rounded Cape Horn in May.

Let's hope you will not be led astray by the Millennium Odyssey track chart, which studiously avoids the non-tropical areas of Australia. Come and visit Fremantle!

Ted Laurentius, Port Officer St John's, Newfoundland, Canada

1997 is the 500th anniversary of the discovery of mainland North America by modern European explorers and it sure has been quite a birthday party. The highlight was the arrival in Bonavista on 24 June of the replica of John Cabot's ship, Matthew. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were on hand to catch the lines and greet the hardy crew. David Allan Williams was the master and did a superb job of getting the tiny carvel ship to her destination safely and on time.

To mark the occasion, seventy-two yachts sailed from ports in eastern Canada to be on hand for this recreation of Cabot's landing. Needless to say, the party lasted for several weeks. The Matthew arrived in St John's a week later to an estimated crowd of fifty to sixty thousand. The Canadian Flotilla were joined by many local craft and eleven yachts from the US. Unfortunately, I did not hear from any OCC visitors, though several had written to me earlier in the spring. Maybe next year?

Gulshan Rai, Port Officer Representative Mumbai (Bombay), India

Festina Lente (Latin for `make haste slowly'), a 4Oft Laurent Giles designed sloop, was the first sailing vessel to reach here soon after the monsoons. Skippered by Australian boatbuilder Howard William Moon, Festina made a non-stop passage from Darwin to Cochin in thirty-one days. Another Australian yacht to visit was the 6Oft steel ketch Lazybones from Townsville, sailed by Bob Harris and wife his Rae.

The 30ft Canadian steel sloop Illawong (Aborigine for `by the water'), was sailed by Phil and Julia Illingworth across the Atlantic and the Red Sea with a final destination of Perth. They had met up with Mark and Roving Rear Commodore Liz Hammick Scott of Lone Rival in the Mediterranean.

Westerly Corsair 36 Cockaigne (an imaginary land of luxury and ease) was sailed by American ex-navy officer Patrick Moran and Scottish crew Carolyn Duncan, formerly with the British Foreign Office. They had set off from Port Hamble, England, on a westabout circumnavigation.

OCC members Jim and Lyn Foley aboard their 40ft Sanctuary hope to visit here next January. Another OCC member, Mike Pilling of Laughterton, England, was in Cochin this summer in his 62ft ex-Danish trawler Inga Viola, now converted to sail with gaff rig and 2000sq ft of canvas. He left Grimsby, UK, in August 1996 to support a scientific expedition in the Chagos archipelago in February, calling in at Kenya on the way.

Derrick Allen, Port Officer Harwich, UK

A recent two-week holiday in the British Virgin Islands took me back to old haunts when, in 1956, I chartered my yacht Fedoa to Americans through the Agency of Vernon Nicholson out of English Harbour. Whilst in the BVI I spoke on the telephone to Dick Morris, but due to pressure of work and flight times we were unable to meet.

I am now back `on station' in Suffolk Yacht Harbour where I have a Hardy 27, the third Fedoa, the previous having gone to Belgium and the first to the US in 1957. She was a 56ft wooden ketch, fitted out in limed oak with her engine forward of the saloon. I wonder if any member knows of her current whereabouts?

Next year I hope to continue my `voyages of discovery' in the Western Isles of Scotland where I am based on Loch Carron. Members are very welcome to contact me at either location.

PS: How about a Port Officers' gathering in AD 2000?