Sample Blue Water Warriors

Blue Water Warriors by Craig Harris.

Blue Water Warriors CONTENTS


Foreword John Bertrand AO vii
Preface Craig Harris ix


Introduction Outward bound 1

Chapter 1 In the beginning 5
Chapter 2 My early sailing days 17
Chapter 3 The start of the CYCA and the rules 27
Chapter 4 The prize 31
Chapter 5 Morna and Mistral ll – the rivals 38
Chapter 6 Being a navigator in 1947 49
Chapter 7 Sydney and Mistral ll in 1947 57
Chapter 8 Race Day 1947 74
Chapter 9 The journey to Hobart 84
Chapter 10 Back to Sydney 103
Chapter 11 The 1948 race 113
Chapter 12 Sailing home 133
Chapter 13 The 1949 race 156
Chapter 14 Home from England 179
Chapter 15 White Cloud – my last race, 1954 208


Epilogue Where are they now 235


Glossary of Terms 238


Appendix 1 Mistral II and Morna specifications 245
Appendix 2 Communication / Signalling 246
Appendix 3 Beauforte wind scale 252
Appendix 4 Measurements 258


Acknowledgements 259


Sources of Information 262


Index 263

 

Blue Water Warriors Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Race day 1947

Thirty boats entered the 1947 race, which was at the last minute reduced to 28 competitors with the late withdrawal of two yachts. WH McLaughlin retired his 35-foot Volitiare due to family illness and Colleen was sold by her owner, B Berkshire.

Two other yachts − Wanderer and Fortuna − were lucky to make the starting line. Wanderer was becalmed several times on the trip to Sydney from Launceston and did not arrive until Christmas Day. She had not been measured for handicapping but the Cruising Yacht Club granted her permission to start. Arrangements were made for her to be measured in Hobart on her arrival. Unfortunately, she retired before finishing the race. Fortuna, also sailing up from Tasmania, was in serious danger of catching fire when a petrol can sprang a leak in rough conditions and several gallons leaked into the bilge.

Due to the large increase in entries in this year, the race was split into two divisions. Boats in either division were eligible for the John H Illingworth Challenge Cup, Tattersall’s Trophy and £100 prize. Prizes for first, second, and third would be awarded in each division.

The starting fleet of 1947

Yacht name

Owner/Skipper

Length

Type

Home State

Active

J Callahan

45ft

Yawl

Victoria

Aloha

JA Clark

31ft

Cutter

Victoria

Benicia

FA Harris

52ft

Ketch

New South Wales

Christina

R Bull

34ft

Cutter

New South Wales

Defiance

FA Bullock

49ft

Cutter

New South Wales

Eolo

TA Guiffre

60ft

Cutter

New South Wales

Fortuna

Dr R Whilshaw

36ft

Sloop

Tasmania

Gymea

GL Carter

32ft

Sloop

New South Wales

Horizon

S Berg

40ft

Ketch

New South Wales

Josephine

PC Penton

47ft

Sloop

New South Wales

Kintail

D McRae

46ft

Schooner

New South Wales

Kurrewa IIl

F Livingstone

58ft

Ketch

Victoria

Mannara

R Godsall

28ft

Cutter

New South Wales

Mathew Flinders

A Palfreyman

60ft

Ketch

Tasmania

Mistral II

RF Evans

64ft

Schooner

New South Wales

Moonbi

HS Evans

34ft

Yawl

New South Wales

Morna

C Plowman

64ft

Cutter

New South Wales

Nautilus

WM Lawson

33ft

Cutter

New South Wales

Peer Gynt

T Halvorsen

36ft

Cutter

New South Wales

Saltair

AE Walker

44ft

Ketch

New South Wales

Sea Tang

D Drouyn

30ft

Cutter

Queensland

Sirius

JS Booth

35ft

Schooner

New South Wales

Southern Maid

W Trautwein

54ft

Cutter

Tasmania

Stormbird

JHA Herford

32ft

Sloop

New South Wales

Trade Winds

ME Davey

43ft

Sloop

New South Wales

Wanderer

E Massey

46ft

Schooner

Tasmania

Westward

GD Gibson

41ft

Schooner

Tasmania

Winston Churchill

P Coverdale

52ft

Cutter

Tasmania

Christmas Day, 1947, started with a visit to my parent’s bedroom, together with my siblings, to wish them a Happy Christmas and exchange presents. Apart from the immediate family’s gifts, I took note of the other presents and their senders so I could write thankyou letters when I returned from Hobart. Later in the morning, we attended a packed service complete with traditional hymns and carols, led by a fully-robed choir, at St James Anglican Church in King Street, Turramurra. Being an Anglican priest, my father participated in the service. After church, the family went to my grandmother’s home, Chislehurst, in Centennial Road, Chatswood. There, we joined with other cousins, uncles and aunts, my grandmother and my great-aunt in a grand Christmas dinner. In the late afternoon, with very full bellies from over-eating the glorious food, it was home to pack my sea bag. My father would drive me to Neutral Bay early the next morning.

It was an early start in my father’s 1938 Jaguar Mark IV (with its ‘suicide’ front doors that opened forwards) and an early arrival at Halvorsen’s boat shed in Neutral Bay. I was carefully carrying my navigational equipment, along with a bag of clothes to wear both on board and on arrival at Hobart. As we drove around the corner, we could see Mistral II quietly lying at her buoy, waiting to take whatever the Southern Ocean might be preparing for her in the coming days.

At 0530, large numbers of people were already starting to pour out of Central Station for a brisk walk down to Circular Quay. Crowds had decided to take advantage of the weather; it was a perfect day to spend on and along the harbour. Long queues of holiday-makers and day-trippers bound for Manly stretched the lines from the turnstiles to 300 hundred yards. At least 30,000 were estimated to have turned out for the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, some watching from the clifftops and shoreline, others on the water in pleasure craft and sailing boats, close to the action. In just its third year, the race was already sparking attention comparable to the Melbourne Cup.

It took two trips to row the core of our crew the short distance in the dinghy. As I boarded Mistral II, I stowed my kitbag − and checked that the charts, navigational tables, Nautical Almanac and sailing directions were all on board and ready to go. I completed final checks on my sextant, chronometers, desk watch, compasses and the patent log. I ensured that the barometer was reset. This meteorological

instrument was used to check changes in the atmospheric pressure and was essential in predicting short-term weather changes. With everything in order, I went on deck to help the crew prepare the ship for sea.
We slipped our mooring and were towed by one of Halverson’s boats to their wharf and boat shed in Neutral Bay, where we took on the rest of the crew and final supplies.

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