ALES AND CALMS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19666, 25 June 1938, Page 18

ALES AND CALMS

ROUND WORLD VOYAGE SOUTH AFRICAN YACHT ROUGH ATLANTIC TRIP ARRIVAL AT AUCKLAND (Per Press Association.l AUCKLAND, this day. After a succession of gales and calms days, when the close-hauled craft was lost in a furious smother of .'.time and others when she lay mot.anles on a tranquil sea, the South Afr'ean ketch-rigged yacht Land’s End reached Auckland yesterday ka the course of a world voyage, 21 days out f. om Rarotonga.

She made her landfall at Great Barrier Island on Thursday, but confusion : ; marine lights ahead persuaded her master to lay-to during the night unit cr the lee of Tiritiri. Under sail, she entered the harbour yesterday morning and proceeded from Rangitoto under power to her berth.

Although she flies the burgee and emblem of tne Royal Natal Yacht Club, o lere is a cosmopolitan, flavour about the yacht. As her name, "Land’s Lnd,” might indicate, her master and c wner is a Cormshman, Captain H. jeffery, but the vessel was built in South Africa, and it was from Durban that the voyage commenced last September. For Captain Jeffery it is the fulfilment of a long-cherished hope. Changes in personnel were made at Papeete. and the crew of four now comprises two Englishmen and two South African nationals. The mate is Mr. G. Cadenhead. and the other members are Mess Vs. C. Wilson and JWorden.

Nor’-wester Ridden Out

Many cruises along the South African coast have inured Captain Jeffery to storm conditions in a small boat, but for some others of the crew the initial passage from Durban to Port Elizabeth offered them their first taste of difficult sailing. Heavy conditions were experienced off Cape Lagullas, the yacht riding a fierce north-west-erly in an effort to ‘weather the promontory before eventually taking shelter -in Struys Bay. However, there was time for few thoughts of respite. The wind suddenly veered to the south and, in order to avoid the threat of the lee shore, it was imperative that the yacht should be put to sea.

"The chart had told us it was a sandy bottom, but our anchor must-have caught the only rock in the bay, ’ Captain Jeffery said. "We got away, and none too soon, but only by leaving the fluke of the hook behind us.” By steamer run across the South Atlantic, from Capetown to Sc. Helena, would be a mere 1700 miles, but to the Land’s End, handicapped by variable winds and then struggling to regain hen course in the teeth oi a westerly &ale, 2500 miles had to be traversed. The voyage to Ascension Island picsented no difficulties and, on the next leg of the cruise, she covered 3400 miles in 70 days to reach Trinidad on New Year’s Day.

Catch of the Year

Leisurely sailing through the West Indies, the yacht passed through the Panama Canal and, taking on stores and water at Balboa, she was headed for Galapagos. The fact that no clearance papers were possessed presented a problem when the master decided to put in at S'an Salvadore, arriving on the very day of a chance visit by an Ecuadorian gunboat. "By the fuss that was made, I think it must have been the gunboat’s catch of the year,, bin finally we escaped by paying 17] times the normal fees,” Captain JefTery explained.

Trade winds carried the Land’s End to Tahiti, and the voyage to Rarotonga was marked only by one or two moderate blows. Then came one of the most exasperating stages of the cruise. Several days out from Rarotonga, fierce squalls presaged a storm, and eventually, one early morning in the “graveyard watch,” the barometer dropped to a phenomenally low level. Sail was shortened until the yacht was carrying nothing more than a foresail and a storm trysail, and was close hauled. In the heavy sea breaking just abaft her beam, her course was, according to the captain, like a racing craft undertaking fancy sailing around a senes of buoys. Days of calm followed and, with listless canvas flapping*on the masts and yards, the damage was temporarily repaired. It was found that the peak of the heavy mainsail and main hoist halyard had been carried away and the close was also blown out of the jib.

Remaining Uniil Spring

While the plans of the master are uncertain, it is probable that the Land s End .will remain in New Zealand waters until late in the spring. After soending a month in Auckland, sne will visit the Bay of Islands and then proceed to southern ports, including Mi - ford Sound and Stewart Island. Late in the year, a course will be set lor c V c'.'cy New Guinea, and the Dutch East*lndies. The ultimate route to be followed from the East. Indies to South Afr'ca has not .vet been determined, but it is expected that the yacnt will be fully two years absent from Durban. If the outward appearance of the yacht in her trim yet sturdy Buxna.n Shelve, an impression of sea^Jnnet::, the comfort below far the accommodation that would - pooled on a vessel of her size. rheie is surprising head room in the spacious saloon cabin and kitchen, while •apace is taken up by a snug eharthouw, .n mediately forward of the wheel and the encine-room, wmch houses a horse power Diesel motor Electric lighting, a radio receiving set, refuge, ating equipment, and a bathroom are a few of the'facilities provided.