From its earliest days, the Ocean Cruising Club has celebrated those who dared to brave the ocean in small boats, and many of its early members are now legend.

Two feet of her bow was missing; the cabin house had mostly disappeared as she ground her way upside down across the outer reefs that protect Panawina and the other islands of the archipelago; all but one of her oars were gone; and her valuable equipment had been shared among the islanders. Interestingly, when her wrecked cabin disgorged its load of water she righted herself and remained so until she was found.

The trio of rafts travelled 14,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean from Ecuador to eventually and accidentally arrive at Ballina on Australia's east coast.

Regular readers may have noticed that here at SWS our interest in Wharram Catamarans has morphed into a minor obsession over the last year or so. Well how could we not sit up and notice this surfing adventure film released today in the UK.

“What matters is action. Not to think about writing, but to write. Not to think about sailing, but to sail. Not to think about loving, but to love.”

As the day wore on the breakers grew closer. By early afternoon I had rounded the northeastern tip of the island and begun to make my way along the northern side. By about 1400hrs the first pang of fear came in. I was rowing along, just outside the reef, the land was oh so close, yet completely inaccessible.

Tom and his immediate family are not much into the modern fashion for instantaneous communication. They’d much rather mull over a suitable answer or wait for the best time to send it than have a Pavlovian reaction to incoming mail.

The thought of rowing nonstop back to Australia looks very attractive at the moment, in which case, I can expect to make landfall in Australia in about 120 days, perhaps a little less. But, of course, this is all conjecture.

Apparently, American Samoa has more big pickup trucks per capita than anywhere else in the world - I don’t doubt it. The trucks and the law enforcement are the only obvious signs of colonisation, but reach in your pocket and you’ll find those green banknotes that say ‘In God We Trust’.

We all know what happened to the WINSTON CHURCHILL. But her accomplishments in life have been eclipsed by her tragic demise. Many might not know of her whirlwind circumnavigation in 1967. A time in history when the word “laconic” began to be owned by Australians

All day the village worked, unloading everything imaginable for a settlement. There were building materials, outboard motors, bicycles and motorbikes, freezers, mattresses, and sacks of rice, flour and sugar - the essentials.

Although SALMO did not have an engine under Peter’s ownership and equipped only with an AA book (of roadmaps) to navigate by he sailed her to the Clyde. Then in 1956 he voyaged alone to Labrador and laid her up to winter in Canada. He returned to England to marry Jill, and returned to Canada to continue his voyaging to the Panama Canal and on into the Pacific Ocean.

“As the latest custodian of Māori Lass, I’ve often tried to visualise the people who’ve sailed her before us, the far-flung corners of the world she’s been to and the rough weather she’s survived. Rounding the buoys in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel during twilight racing with the Kettering Yacht Club just doesn’t seem a suitable enough challenge for her.”

The sun was my constant. It was regular, beautiful, immense. I started asking for help. “Why are you testing me?” “When will you make it better for me?” “Why are you challenging me like this?”

It is clear that Tom is finding it challenging to make his way south to the latitude of Hiva Oa. In spite of the strong westerly-flowing current, the force of the south easterly trade winds is making it difficult to hold a course south of west.

The great irony of Thamas Tangvald’s life was that he could never see nor comprehend how negative his father's influence really was. What he never grasped was that his father was in fact an agent of tragedy.

The sheets were inch thick manilla or sisal rope and there were no winches or cleats, just solid belaying pins. The enormous tiller was controlled by a rope bridle. There was no shelter for the helmsman from heavy weather although luggers built in following years had a small wheelhouse.

Don’t expect character arcs, unresolved sexual tension or Chekov’s Gun, but do expect spine tingling accounts from the last great fleet of square-rigged sailing ships the world would ever see, and extraordinary imagery to match.

Five weeks after leaving Lima, Tom passed the 1,000 nautical mile mark on Sunday 7 August. He is now nearly a third of the way through his first leg with around 2600 nm of, hopefully, plain rowing to go before he reaches the Marquesas.

MAIWAR is fully loaded with enough food and water, spares and supplies to last me the five months. Her diminutive size means that for the first few weeks I’ll be sharing my bunk with my onboard pantry, I’ll by eating my way into more comfortable accomodation.