Racing in class yachts from bayside yacht clubs engaged me for two seasons after which I considered the rewards did not justify the travelling involved, since I lived some distance out of the city. I bought a carve' built sloop in which I cruised alone about Port Philip, an extensive and somewhat depressing bay which enjoys an international reputation for boisterousness and treachery, which if one may judge by its sudden and unpredictable changes of mood, is well earned. Lack of shelter lee shores and sandbanks abound providing suitable training grounds for amateur sailors who are prepared to acquire grey hairs in the process. If one could judge by the number of yachts sailing on Port Phillip in those winters I appeared conspicuously alone in preparing for bigger things.
It is interesting to reflect on the relationship of good cruising grounds to sailing activity in both Melbourne and Auckland. Between 1924, when Conor O'Brien bound for a climbing trip in N.Z. and return via Cape Horne, visited Melbourne and 1968, when Alex Rose called, Melbourne remained unvisited by internationally known yachts with two notable exceptions. The visits of Miles and Beryl Smeeton with John Guzzwell in Tsu Hangand Bill Nance in Cardinal Vertue passed almost unnoticed. And until Haparanda was launched many MelÂbourne yachtsmen had not seen a schooner rigged yacht. This may seem incredible to New Zealanders, and particularly to Aucklanders, whom sailing is a national pastime and differences in rig a matter of continual debate. The wonderful cruising about the Hauraki Gulf and coast of the North Island has stimulated a tremendous interest in sailing and the numbers of yachts bear witness to this. Melbourne with four times the population of Auckland and a poor cruising area, has only a fraction of the boats seen here. In size, variety and quality of finish the Auckland yacht is quite superior. Export of selected islands to the 700 square miles of Port Philip Bay would earn overseas funds for N.Z. and prove a boon to Melbourne yachties!
Meeting Jill put an end to more elaborate preparation, her enthusiasm and demand for a life involving travel be it land or sea proving just the catalyst necessary. By 1959 I was ready to start on a 45' heavy displacement yacht of about 18 tons, in which two people could cruise in comfort for up to a year independant of the shore.
Strength of gear was essential, and while the convenience of electrical gear, was desirable, it was essential that all such equipment be well supported by simple alternatives and easily handled by two. To meet such requirements I firstly decided on a steel hull. This overcame at one fell swoop the four major objections to a wooden hull. I consider these to be:-
The resistance of a steel hull to the latter treatment is extraordinary and is exemplified by the 40- Victorian fishing boat Pioneer, an indifferently built vessel"which when driven on to the Tasmanian coast could be heard a mile away to sound like a 44-gallon drum being thoroughly beaten. She was later dragged off and inspection showed her to be somewhat dented but whole. No doubt such inspection would have involved almost a Royal Commission in N.Z., but with no marine board to pontificate, she went back into service and is still afloat and working. A fisherman who hoarded the "Pioneer" at the recovery saw the bilge moving in and out some inches.
Peter Tangveld lost his yacht when he struck a floating tree in the Carribean, and a year ago a Wellington yacht, Matuku, was lost in the Tasman when its stern disintergrated after resting temporarily upon a rising whale. If it were a miracle that she struck the whale, it was equally a miracle that the crew were subsequently picked up. The possibility of such damage is greater in higher latitudes. Logs are common off the Canadian coast. Ill charted areas lie off both the South American coast and Southern New Zealand. Radar in the navigation of the sounds by New Zealand cray fishermen is useless in detecting the many sunken trees and consequently limits wooden vessels to daylight movement. Southland fishermen, a most conservative group, are looking with favour on the steel hull, as successful trapping depends on the setting of pots along the rocky shore itself, resulting inevitably in the occasional stranding. The possibility of suffering damage or of losing one's boat in any of these ways may be considered remote, but the danger exists none the less and is reduced or obviated by the use of steel.
If the use of steel offers great security it has inherent disadvantages, each of which must be studied very carefully in the planning stage as it is most difficult to overcome them later and an otherwise successful steel yacht can be ruined before it moves off the stocks.
Lex Lundermark standing on the bowsprit which was designed to be an integal part of the boat, being 15" wide it makes a very useful apendage.