The News, Culture and Practice of Sailing woodenboats
in Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific.

ADVENTURE Mark Chew ADVENTURE Mark Chew

Hurricane Harry and KELASA

Once, 42 days out of Sydney, while beating painfully to windward off the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, en route to Nelson, he somewhat outrageously wrote that he was starting to like ocean sailing.  He’d sailed more than 70,000 miles at that point.

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ADVENTURE Mark Chew ADVENTURE Mark Chew

Destination Greece

As the world becomes more and more risk adverse, and our weekly screen time reports go up and up, perhaps we can be advocates for stepping outside the commonplace and doing things a little differently.

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ADVENTURE Charlie Salter ADVENTURE Charlie Salter

Jesus was a Sailor

‘The run from Honolulu was a nightmare. In the last weeks of December I battled constant gales. The turbulent sea threatened to smash my boat to pulp. On two occasions the little boat was wallowing more than half full of water. My arms were so tired from constant bailing, I could not raise them above my shoulders. Once again, I strapped myself to the bunk and prayed. Providence has been kind to me.

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BOOK REVIEWS Mark Chew BOOK REVIEWS Mark Chew

What an Arduous Business!

Back in 1952, when Ben started planning this voyage, the Royal Navy hadn’t really got into ‛adventure training’ (I imagine that most of the older officers had experienced more than enough adventure, in the previous decade), so it was a lucky chance for Ben, that the Lords of the Admiralty decided that he should be posted to New Zealand (which also happened to be the country of his birth).

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TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew

MAIWAR

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.

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FILM Mark Chew FILM Mark Chew

SAVAGE WATERS

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.

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TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew

Greetings From Vanuatu

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.

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TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew

Full Stop

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.

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TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew

Farewell Samoa

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.

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TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew TOM'S ADVENTURE Mark Chew

Notes from Pago Pago- American Samoa

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’.

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FILM Sal Balharrie FILM Sal Balharrie

‘The Restless Wind’ A 1950’s voyaging film

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.

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ADVENTURE Mark Chew ADVENTURE Mark Chew

MAORI LASS- “It just feels like a different world”

“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.”

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