WAR BABY IN NEW ZEALAND

Jill Baty

(War Baby is a 61ft S&S designed ocean racer, built by Palmer Johnson in 1972. Owned for many years by Warren Brown, our Port Officer for Bermuda, she is currently engaged in a very leisurely circumnavigation).

War Baby has spent the last two and a half years cruising in New Zealand waters.

On first arriving in Auckland we did a mini-refit at Orams Yard. Warren flew home to Bermuda and my friend Rosalind Cooper and I stayed behind to organise the work. Terry Gillespie's efficient team took the spar out for rigging inspection and painting and after all systems had been overhauled we all went back to work for a while, returning to launch the boat in mid-January.

We first cruised the North Island, then the following summer went down under. War Baby circumnavigated and cruised the South Island and the Sub-Antarctic, the Snares, Auckland and Campbell Islands -- without doubt the highlight of our whole New Zealand experience. The wild life and the terrain were fascinating and we were the first yacht to visit in two years. It is mandatory to take a Conservation Officer with you if cruising these protected areas -- ours was most interesting and informative, and a good sailor. We made good friends with the five men manning the weather station in the Campbells, ate most of our meals together (sharing the work) and were allowed the luxury of showers. They were delighted to show us around and take us on their favourite hikes when our Conservation Officer had to leave. My cousin's nephew Michael Degge, who was taking time for a sailing adventure between school and Oxford University, had the honour of celebrating his nineteenth birthday at the weather station. We joined forces working and cooking, and a good party was enjoyed by all.

The winds in this region of the Roaring Forties have to be experienced to be believed -- War Baby strained on three huge anchors and only just held in 74 knots. The wind would pick up a wall of water on one side of the inlet and move it across to the other side, still in a wall.

We sailed north again and had a happy and memorable visit with Anne and Tim Thompson, Port Officer for Christchurch, who met us on the dock in Lyttelton and showed us all over beautiful Christchurch.

We headed back towards Auckland, rounding East Cape at about 0200 in only 30 knots of wind, well snugged down with two reefs in the main and about half the No 3 out. The watch was changing, Mike had just gone below and the next person was being briefed at the chart table before coming up. Suddenly there was a loud crack which could only be a rigging noise and I found myself surrounded by backstay. I looked up to see the top section of the mast swinging wildly in the breeze with the navigation lights still blazing. The port cap shroud had parted where it goes over the top spreaders.

There were five of us on board and everyone was on deck in a few seconds. It was a quiet, efficient clean-up, doing the best we could in the dark. The motor went on and we made our way in to the coast, where at first light we were able to find shelter behind a headland and, with daylight, do a more efficient job. Then 120 miles of motoring took us to Tauranga, where Terry Gillespie met us and helped organise a crane and set up a jury rig for the passage north to Auckland. The Whitbread Round-the-World Race yachts had just left and we were lucky enough to find that New Zealand Endeavour's spare mast sections just fitted War Baby. We were able to leave the construction of the new spar in Terry's capable hands, and once again returned to work for a fairly short period while the new mast was constructed.

It was necessary for tax reasons to leave New Zealand, so we planned to take the boat up to Tonga in early June with the annual regatta. It was a tremendous rush getting organised in time and we left a couple of days late, but were not worried as War Baby eats up the mileage. However this late start put us right in the path of the worst storm in New Zealand's sailing history, with eight boats abandoned and one whole crew lost. We suffered no damage at all and were glad of the reassurance of a whole new rig. We were, however, lightly crewed, with two of those very inexperienced, so were somewhat fatigued when it was all over, having stood extra watches. Just coping with everyday life in those conditions is tiring, especially as we all had excellent appetites.

The findings of the inquiry after the storm were interesting. Many people prepare their boats well for cruising, but do not prepare themselves or make a real effort to get passagemaking experience before buying a boat. They leave port and often sail thousands of miles before hitting real adversity. There is also the factor that with modern communications help is more readily available and people may abandon their boats before it is really necessary. (Most of the boats were found still floating).

We left War Baby safely tied on Jacaranda's winter mooring with our old friend Russell Anstey and his wife in charge. They had sailed up from New Zealand with us and stayed to have a vacation and babysit War Baby while once again we went back to work.

We returned in late October to take the boat back to Auckland for Warren, who was unable to leave his business. We had a comfortable and uneventful trip, a far cry from the passage north.

A postcard reached me a little later:

We are presently exploring Tasmania, one of the most beautiful areas that we have ever cruised. So few people and so unspoilt, and everyone is friendly and helpful. The water is cold but we manage to swim most days.

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