Obituary
Editorial
Iroquois Bits & Bobs
Sailing with BARU - Summer 85
Letters
AGM 1986
VAHINE to Buenos Aires and Back
Iroquois East Coasters
Iroquois Chieftain
Fees
East Coast Multihull Symposium
Iroquois South Coast Rally 1986
Membership Application
Chairwoman - Haidy Blake
Secretary & Editor - Stuart Fisher
Technical Secretary - Ken Pack
RODERICK MACALPINE-DOWNIE
Roderick died of cancer recently. He had fought long and hard using all the treatments available, but in the end was overcome. At no time did he complain or even refer to his difficulties except with ironic humour, and he never admitted that there was any doubt that he would win out in the end. He was not a trained naval architect or even a trained boat designer, but he had that rarest of all gifts instinctive understanding of his craft; he worked only at the mechanics of translating his vision into reality via paper. His greatest deficiency was that he could always understand the other fellow’s point of view and even when he knew it was fallacious, would always concede the right of belief and expression. His determination not to claim primacy or supremacy will, however, make it a detective’s job to write an adequate biography, but he did design winning catamarans for the Little Americas cup twenty five years ago, the fastest offshore sailing craft of fifteen years and twenty years ago and of a type only just now being accepted, and he has designed the two fastest wind powered, sail driven craft ever built in the entire history of the whole world. He also designed our Iroquois, still the best looking multihull on the water twenty years after it was first launched, and still the best interior plan available; still, in fact, a D type Jaguar amongst yachts. What, on the other hand, he could never understand was why so many of the people he dealt with lacked the self respect which would enable them to meet their obligations to him. However he regarded life with relish and humour and I can still remember the wondering delight in his voice when, having related some complex story of power and finance in the yachting world, he concluded with the words "I do so enjoy the gigantically greedy, don’t you?".
His last unfinished work was for a new World speed record boat. Like all his designs it is a simple concept having that particular quality of being the obvious answer that all designers know only comes as the result of hours and hours of work and thought. The craft had even got to the rough hull lines stage, so it may yet see water, even if not under Roderick’s name.
His was an influence which will be greatly missed in our world, for although far from obvious, his was a true power, far stronger indeed than that exerted by less gifted but more vocal practitioners of his art. Not that he would have complained, he always felt that having the gift was enough; in the remote eventuality that there is some form of hereafter, I have no doubt that he will find as much to relish there as he did here.
If one looks back to 1947 and 1966 one finds that 1985 is the next year in succession for a bad winter. 19 Earth years seems to be a significant figure in solar system time, at least experience of the last 38 years would seem to indicate that! The significance being that after a vile winter we seem to be able to expect a radiant summer. Seems a fair enough proposition to me; in principle it seems OK, fair’s fair after all! The problem with cold winters is that they hold up maintenance and repair programmes, but, I did get some nice stripes painted on, have you got yours on yet? If you haven’t you should, no-one can reasonably expect their boat to sail really well without stripes. Why else do people paint them on?
It is ironic that Iroquois catamarans should start being produced again at the same time that Catalacs start having financial difficulties, has the receiver been called in or is it just a temporary cash flow problem? It does show what a problem it is to build boats for leisure purposes. You must have a unique product (surely Catalacs did) to side step competition, a superb after sales and customer relation service (surely Catalacs is the best) and a high resale value (Catalacs started the trend in part-exchange deals) and a good product profit ratio; could Catalacs possibly be too cheap and offering too much for the money?, it seems so.
The problem, then, for all boat builders is how to go about charging a price high enough to enable them to produce a working profit, whilst not scaring off the punters. The simple answer is resale value. If owners buy a boat or a car, they know that certain makes will lose a large proportion of their value whilst the ink dries on the cheque, and the boat or car is transmuted from a pristine manufacturer’s new product into a second hand, but well kept, example and all without even having to leave the show room. It is certainly a problem with Iroquois catamarans. Their loss of value was always so substantial that the new boats were only bought because potential customers just couldn’t get hold of a second hand one of reasonable quality. A 2 or 3 year old factory finished, under-used Iroquois must always have been one of the better boating bargains. Sail Craft could never come to grips with the problem. If buyers had lost less on reselling their boats the sales potential of the new boat would have increased wonderfully. One has only to look at the relative second hand prices of a Prout or Catalac and compare them to the second hand price of a contemporary Iroquois, the difference runs into many, or even more than ten thousands. It is ridiculous, there is no doubt that the Catalac and the Prout are splendid boats in their way, but the Iroquois is the aristocrat of the type, and as owners we should all put on a unified front in order to equalise the value of our boats compared to other similar boats. I do accept, of course, that if this had happened earlier, few of us would now be members of the Iroquois Owners’ Association simply because we couldn’t have afforded to buy them, but that’s another story. By the way, anyone want to buy an Iroquois, going cheap (relatively).
Bo Henricsson, 136 DAHINDA, writes from Landvetter in Sweden, saying that he liked the Chaucher and offering to write us a few notes on Iroquois sailing in Swedish waters, here’s listening to you Bo.
Roy Butler, COMANCHE CRYSTAL, writes to say that he is selling (or may have by now sold) his exquisitely finished Comanche, it is a 1979 centreboard version, asking price £28000.
Warren Noden has bought Iroquois 126 and is moving it from Annapolis to Florida, there must be quite a Florida fleet by now. He paid $35000 for 126. Warren wants to meet other Iroquois owners down there. When you finally all meet up, don’t forget to send a report to the Editor. Warren has previously owned a Mark I, no. 58, then moved into a much larger 38ft. cat, which he traded for his Mark 2.
Vyv Bennett, 70 CATINA, who spoke at the 1985 AGM and showed slides of his Turkish and Greek sailing, wrote to say that he couldn’t get to the ‘86 AGM but that he’s had a good sailing season, going North to the Greek Island of Lesbos then down the Turkish coast to Kugidasi, across to Samos and back to his home mooring on Tinos. He promises a fuller account later, here’s holding you to it Vyv.
Peter Cotgrove, 48 MAUNA MEA, sent the nice photo of Mauna Kea which adorns our cover this time. He still sails and races his boat in the Thames Estuary with verve and determination and cruises extensively, crossing the Channel six times and cruising from Holland to Fecamp. He has owned Mauna Kea for 14 years (but has never been a member of the Iroquois Owners’ Association! - Ed) keeping her on a mud berth and using her every weekend between April and October, with a group of 6 friends.
Gunnar Enberg, 188 GUN-GUN, writes with a report on his summer cruise aboard Russ Dordi’s BARU (published elsewhere in this issue, Ed) and promising photos of his new engine installation, here’s looking at them Gunnar (they’ve arrived, they’ve arrived and we hope to use them in the forthcoming Iroquois guide, Ed).
Dr. Reg Crampton, 74 VAHINE 2, is back at last and gave a fascinating account of his voyage to S. America, where he was the first British vessel into Argentina after the Canberra returned the Argentinian POW’s, then up to the Caribbean and home. A garbled version prepared by your reporter at the AGM should appear elsewhere in this issue.
Chris Hammond has bought 68 MBOTE, and is changing her name to SAFARI VI. Chris is the designer of the Hirondelle catamaran and won the Fisher Nautical Portsmouth Yardstick prize in the World Micro Multihull Championships at Brighton, and won the Micro class of the 1985 Round the Island race in AZTEC, a modified Macalpine-Downie designed catamaran rigged with a single wishbone boom wingsail on each hull, here’s waiting for news from you, Chris.
202 SPIRIT OF THE SUN has been sold to Lt. Col. Low of Torquay, but he is not as yet a member, if anyone sees the boat or meets the new owner pass the good word.
John & Sonja Roes, A 17 DUTCH YANKEE, writes to join (see his letter elsewhere, Ed). Your secretary offers public apologies for obtaining 2 payments for subs from them, one will be returned!
A Pierre Stauffer of Switzerland writes to ask about engine conversion in Iroquois (well now, there’s a question, don’t think it’s something that’s ever worried us before. I’ll have to think about that, Ed).
Jean Pierre Gestin, 287 SITTING BULL, sends best wishes for the New Year to all Association members, here’s wishing out for us Jean Pierre. All Iroquois owners visiting Brittany should ring Jean Pierre before going or when they get there, phone no. 98.97.64.70.
Richard & Ann Collier, 77 CHEROKEE, sent apologies for absence at the AGM, they were in Australia at that time (where it is sunny summertime! do you remember we had that in the old days before the government cuts - Ed).
Jim & Betty Dean, 179 WAR DANCER, write with a question or two from Majorca:
Richard Stilgoe has bought 14 MELODY OF WIGHT from George & Heidi Bone and taken her down west. He would like to become a member of the Association, but doesn’t have our address. If any down-wester sees the boat please pass on the good word.
Ken Boswell, DOODLESACK 2 (ex IROQUOIS of LLEYN) in joining the Associaton (see letter later, Ed).
Paul Cheney, 105 ALOHA NUI, another of our Florida contingent, writes with good wishes to all members and promises to write more later, here’s looking to hear from you Paul.
S D Voerman, 6 MALLEMOK II, a new addition to our large Dutch ownership, is going to join us, he has just bought his Iroquois and wants original documentation and sail plans of the Mark One. Anyone that can help please write direct (see his letter later in this pub, Ed).
Victor Stinson has sold 288 ORLANDO to the Sorfleets, who are changing her name to COCHISE and taking her North to the West coast of Scotland. It is their first Multihull (see letter later, Ed).
Ron Newton has sold 275 SEVENTURE to Robin & Janet Smith, who are basing her at Fleetwood and changing her name to LIGHTFOOT, it is their first Multihull also. Here’s waiting to hear first impressions from you all.
Bob Johnson, 235 VIVACE, writes to say that he had to order new masts (we publish his full letter later, Ed).
David Smith, CHIQUITA V, has decided to renew his rigging, a back stay strop between the masthead and the aerial insulator frayed badly and on the basis that if part is going it may all be going, he’s renewing. His new long shaft outboard has also arrived and the new installation is proceeding apace, in fact the whole boat is being given the once over and should be better than new in the Spring.
Denis Marrian, 183 CAT O’LAFITE, may or may not be selling his boat. It is one with a splendid and effective engine installation, a Sea Panther diesel is in the back of the cabin driving two independently controlled hydraulically driven props, however although I can’t find his original letter I believe I received, but have lost a subsequent letter saying the boat would not, after all, be available. (This man’s a fool, he’s always getting things mixed up, elect someone else, Ed).
It finally looks as though 132 ANTARES OF ASHTON may have to go. The family need to move, the business needs to move and cash is the flavour of the week.
Darch Oborne, 92 AIRBOURNE, was in the UK just before Christmas looking at leisure facilities. He is Director of Community Services for the Township of Langley, British Columbia. It’s quite obvious that things are still viewed differently in the New World. From his description it’s clear that what will take Langley 9 months to build would take West Germany 2 years and Brits 3½ years.
Finally, Kenny Hayward, 268 KARMA, suggests that Ryde Sands is not the best place to have the next Iroquois Owners’ Association Summer South Coast Rally. However, from his comments, it seems that we’re talking about rather different spots; from my experience of the place it’s fairly well sheltered in anything from North West to North East and well clear of the hovercraft and ferries. So Ryde Sands it is. To the WEST of Ryde Pier.
S.D.
This summer we experienced a different kind of sailing from what we are used to. We are a family of four; Gunnar, mechanical engineer; Cecilia, librarian; Dan, student 16; Gerda, student 13. We live in Bromma, Sweden, a suburb of Stockholm. We have Gun-Gun together with Kurt and Gun Skoldhagen, who also live in Bromma. We have our boat at Galo, 33 miles from home. You can get there by car in three quarters of an hour.
Last year Cecilia got an idea. Why not try to exchange boats with some Iroquois owner in England for the vacation? I wrote to Stuart Fisher asking if he knew somebody who’d be interested; he sent us a couple of suggestions. That is how we came into contact with Russi and Barbara Dordi of BARU, Iroquois 305, who live in a nice old house in Faversham. Our vacation periods do not coincide, so when we visited them they were working and vice versa, this turned out to be a great advantage.
When you are abroad you may not just want to sail, but rather see something of the country you are visiting and get to know some of the inhabitants, at least that’s how it works with us. Our first week in Faversham we spent living in the house, making excursions by car in the daytime and occasionally meeting friends of our host and hostess in the evenings. Among others we met Doug and Janet Mackay of Iroquois 153, KAWA; we really enjoyed ourselves.
We have never sailed in tidal waters before, so that was quite a new experience. Being a family whose members are very sleepy in the morning, we found the hardest part to be having to rise early in the morning to catch the tide. Often I weighed anchor alone and sailed off; the rest of the family appeared in due time. Our proper sailing trip lasted just a little more than a week, with start on a Friday and being back the next Sunday evening. Here follows an extract from our log:
We pack our bags and go to the Boat Club, BARU rides at a mooring buoy at Hollowshore. You can get on and off the mooring 2.5 hours each side of High Water, it takes us quite some time to get our things on board as all transport has to be by the dinghy. When we are finished in the afternoon we go back to the house to say goodbye to Russi and Barbara; after that we hurry back to the boat. We get there in the nick of time, there is only one stern that can still be reached from the water, the rest is surrounded by mud. We are going to spend the night at the mooring and we fall asleep in a somewhat leaning position as the riverbed is sloping.
We are heading for a place called Stangate Creek, to take part in a barbecue arranged by the Hollowshore Cruising Club. I rose at 04.20 and started to replenish our stock of fresh water. This operation took quite some time as I could only take 30 litres at a time and had to row back and forth with the dinghy between each filling.
At 06.30 we left the mooring to anchor outside on the river, we had to do this so as not to get stuck in the mud. Our proper start to fit in with the tides took place at 9 o’clock. The wind is good, a SW force 3, it comes from almost straight astern and we make 7 knots leaving the river Swale. At 10.10 we round the Columbine Spit buoy and start beating up the Thames. We can see the gun towers of Red Sand Fort quite clearly, the weather is sunny and bright.
We arrive at Stangate Creek around 2 in the afternoon, after a lovely sail. We anchor near KAWA, Doug and Janets’ Iroquois, and are invited to 5 o’clock tea and Gerda takes a swim. After the tea we go back to our boat for a very light dinner and go ashore for the barbecue around 8 o’clock. The tide is on its way out and we do not reflect on everybody else wearing wellingtons, we have ordinary shoes on. When the barbecue is over and we want to go back, there is 50 yards of mud out to the water. Doug and Janet come to our rescue and drag our dinghy to the least muddy place where we can get out balancing on some rocks; our shoes get rather muddy though. After having changed our shoes, we go to KAWA for coffee and a chat before going to bed.
Today We are going to Brightlingsea! HW is at 5 in the morning and leaving by the tide, I weigh anchor and set the sells, while the rest of the family is sleeping. The wind is a weak force 2 northerly and we beat northwards while the wind slowly peters out.
While we are beating northwards in the soft breeze, something funny happens to us. I have only got the port leeboard down and we are sailing on a starboard tack, land is 3 miles ahead. Suddenly the boat veered to port despite full starboard rudder, we gybe and tack and get back on course, suddenly the boat veered again. Then it suddenly dawns on me, the leeboard is touching the bottom. I check the echo-sounder, the depth is 4 feet. We quickly turn around and get back to deep water again. We are at the southern end of West Swin when the wind dies completely. We start the motor and go on; when we are 6 miles from Brightlingsea the wind comes back from the south and we get a lovely reach inwards.
We anchor off a nice beach at Mersea Stone to get ashore and have a swim. When we are heading back after a good half hour, we see the boat suddenly start to drag. We hurry back and arrive just as it bumps into another boat. The owner of the other boat is of the redfaced kind who bawls us out at the top of his voice and insists that we cut our anchor warp as our anchor has fouled his warp. Instead we let out as much warp as we have and manage hereby to get our warp under his beat so that when he weighs anchor he gets our anchor out too and can throw it back in again. No damage is done and we go to Brightlingsea to moor for the night. We get a guest mooring between two piles. The harbour master helps us to tie up, then we go ashore for a short walk.
We go ashore to find Reg White and have a chat. He tells us that he has an Iroquois Mk.3 under construction. In fact the Mk.3 is a modified Mk.2a with somewhat higher freeboard all around and double outboard motor wells in the sterns. The wells are equipped with automatic bottom hatches that close up to make a smooth hull bottom when the motors are raised. After a chat we go shopping, among other things we buy a red ensign courtesy flag, we have brought a Swedish ensign to put on the backstay from home. When we have done our shopping we go to the Club House of the Colne Yacht Club, where we take a shower. After that we make a circuit of the harbour in the dinghy, to look at all the catamarans moored there. In the afternoon we leave and cross the river Colne to anchor for the night in Pyefleet, a very beautiful creek.
We have had lovely weather all the time, hot and sunny. A wonderful thing over here is that you can sit out in the cockpit all evening, as there are no mosquitoes around. The only thing to disturb the peace is the noise from all the birds on the saltings!
We weigh anchor at 7.45 in the morning, the wind is a weak SW and we make 4 to 5 knots as we reach towards Harwich. When we get there the wind veers to the north west and we beat up through Harwich and up the river Orwell. We beat up to Pin Mill where there are quite a lot of sailing barges moored. We see the sailing barge Mirosa beating its way up river towards Ipswich. We anchor up just south of the hard, then we go ashore for a nice walk.
We weigh anchor at 10.30 and sail down river. The wind is a very light NW and sailing goosewinged we make 4 knots, leaving all other boats behind in a spectacular way. We pass Mirosa, who is on her way out with a load of tourists.
When we have passed Harwich we set course for the river Deben. There is no problem finding the buoys for the entrance to the river and when we enter the river one hour after LW, we meet a sailing barge on its way out and we get a bit too far off the line of the marks and the tip of our starboard rudder touches bottom, but then we are through the opening in the bar. Now we have the wind on our nose again and we beat up river, the deep channel gets narrower and narrower, at the same time there are more and more boats moored in the Channel blocking our way.
When we get to Waldringfield we take down our sails and go on by motor. We want to get up to Woodbridge to have a look at the tide mill. We get there at 4.30 pm and anchor among the moored boats. When we get ashore we discover that there has been a demonstration run of the mill at 2.30, the next one will take place two days later, but we get a good look at the mill from the outside anyway.
The kids go to the Boat Club to have a shower, and Cecilia and I try to do some shopping, it turns out that every shop closes at 5 so we have to content ourselves with ice cream cones. We get back on board and go down river to find an anchorage for the night and find a beautiful spot at the "Rocks". The only thing to mar a perfect evening are American Air Force planes and gunships passing close overhead to a nearby base.
Now we are off to a late start as we have to leave the river when the current is not too strong and we want to catch the ingoing tide. The wind is a strong gusty southerly of force 4 to 6. Being rather close to the river entrance and the wind being on the nose, we go by motor to get out to clear water to set sails.
I discover that 25 h.p. from an outboard is rather less than 13 h.p. from a diesel inboard, as we have back home. We cannot make more than 4 knots against the wind despite there being no waves on the river. When we leave the river entrance and we meet the waves breaking over the bar, our speed drops to 2 knots and I unfurl the genoa to get through. When we are safely outside, we set sails and beat down past Harwich to the Walton Backwaters. It turns out that these are rather crowded, but we go up Twizzle Creek and tie up alongside a pontoon belonging to Titchmarsh marina. This pontoon is connected to shore by a long walkbridge and we feel quite at home when we can get ashore without having to use the dinghy.
It is more than a mile to walk to Walton, but it is good to stretch our legs; we walk there before dinner to do some shopping and it ends in an orgy of sweets.
We take a shower in the morning, I look at some catamarans lying ashore, one of them looks pretty nice, I think it may be an Aristocat. We leave around 11 o’clock; the wind is a strong SW force 4-5 and we beat towards Brightlingsea. The log isn’t working, it turns out later to be a loose connector. We anchor in Pyefleet 17.45, after an uneventful sail. The kids make off with the dinghy to investigate the surroundings.
I want to take some snapshots of the catamarans in Brightlingsea, and beside that want to find some mugs with Brightlingsea on them to use on our boat in Sweden. We weigh anchor and head for Brightlingsea, it turns out to be impossible to find any mugs with Brightlingsea on them, however! When I go to take my snapshots, I meet another Iroquois owner and we have a short chat, they are going out to one of the sandbars that dry out at low water and they will play a cricket match there.
We leave Brightlingsea with our sights set for Stangate Creek. There is a strong southeasterly breeze blowing, the sun is shining and it is nice and warm. We beat outwards to clear Buxey Sands, where we see a monohull getting stuck on Buxey Sand and we try to pull him off, but the outboard is sadly lacking in thrust and as the water is sinking rapidly, we have to leave him to sit it out so that we do not get stuck ourselves.
After we have passed Buxey Sand we get a nice reach in the direction of Sheerness, it is really a wonderful sail in the suns! but before we get to Sheerness the wind dies. When we get close to the wreck of Richard Montgomery we are hailed by a small boy in a sailing dinghy. He has sailed out to get a closer look at the wreck, but when the wind dies he is caught by the tide and unable to do anything about it. His parents are waiting for him, somewhere on the beach, but he can’t quite tell where. We take him on board and his dinghy in tow and head for shore. When we get closer in the boy recognizes, the place where he came from, but we cannot get all the way in as the beach is very shallow and the tide is on its way out, however the boy’s father has spotted us in his binoculars, and he comes out to fetch his son with the help of a dinghy. The boy gets bawled out!
We anchor in Stangate Creek at 19.30. In the evening the weather gets threatening, a thunderstorm can’t be far off. The kids discover that the water is phosphorescent all around us. We have nothing like that in our home waters and we find it very fascinating. We even put some water in a bottle end bring it into the cabin. When you shake the bottle it glows with an eerie green light.
During the night two real thunderstorms rage. The first one comes around 11 o’clock and the second one around 3 o’clock in the morning. There are very strong thundersqualls but our 7.5 kg Bruce anchor holds; we can see other boats circling by motor till the weather pipes down.
When we wake up in the morning the sun is shining and the wind is force 5 to 7. To fit in ideally with the tides we should wait around for quite a while yet, but we decide to leave anyway and fairly fly over the waves with the wind on the starboard quarter. When we get to Whitstable Bay we have to change course for Faversham and get the wind and tide against us. The wind increases further in strength; we make 8 knots under double reefed main and with 9 rolls in the genoa when we beat up the river Swale.
We anchor outside Faversham Creek at 16.30, but have to wait for a couple of hours for the tide to get in so that we can get to our mooring. When the tide turns we intend to move a little way as we are rather too close to an anchored tug for comfort. So as not to drift down on the tug when we weigh anchor I start our motor and engage reverse. I go to the foredeck to weigh anchor and I call to Dan to put the engine in neutral. He does not notice that the motor is labouring and just shifts with the stick without reducing throttle, we have a single lever control on our own boat. As he shifts, something in the gear control mechanism snaps end we are left with a motor with the gear stuck in reverse.
I do not think that I can manage to catch the mooring in the hard wind with the motor only working in reverse, so I send Dan and Cecilia ashore in the dinghy to contact Russi to arrange for a tow in. I don’t dare leave the boat myself, the wind is force 7.
Several hours pass without my hearing anything from Dan and Cecilia. When darkness is falling the wind dies and I prepare to go in in reverse and with Gerda as only help. I weigh anchor and leave it hanging over the bow ready to let go if need be. When we are on cur way into the creek we meet the dinghy on its way out. It is Dan, Cecilia and Russi. We tie the dinghy to the side and set the jib, that way we can get in pointing the right way. When we get into the creek the wind dies completely, but the outboard of the dinghy is sufficient to drive us slowly forwards. It starts raining; we manage to catch the mooring buoy at first try and tie up. Then we start unloading our things.
We have had marvellous weather all the time, the only rain we have had are the squalls at night in Stangate Creek and the squall when we moored the last night. Total distance sailed was 235 miles.
Gunner Enberg,
GUN-GUN, #188
From Rony & Elise Buque
Dear Stuart,
Thank you very much for your kind enquiry regarding our "health and fitness". Yes, thank you, Rony is making good progress, although he still feels the cold badly. We both find we can’t do as much as we used to without feeling tired, but at least we are enjoying what we can still do.
The 1985 season was not, weatherwise, the best on record and Poole was the furthest we managed to get during our longer trips. We purchased a large scale ordnance survey map of the Purbecks and enjoyed some healthy walking as well as sailing, in previously unexplored creeks during our sojourns there and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
After so many years of setting off across the Channel and then visiting as many harbours and anchorages as possible, we found it was a pleasant change to explore fewer places more in depth, so to speak - at any rate that’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it!
During Easter we rode out a storm 10 at anchor round the back of Green Island, and on subsequent visits we have taken the nature trail on Brownsea, made friends with the owners of the houseboats in Bramble Bush Bay and reached Poole Quay via chain ferry and bus (much cheaper than actually trying to moor alongside!).
Quite a few weekends when the wind was blowing particularly hard we never even left our pontoon at Mercury and we therefore feel well established there. We were looking forward to seeing everyone at the Iroquois Owners’ meet in Chichester Harbour, our old sailing area but, alas, after an exceedingly rough trip out of Southampton Water and over to Cowes we turned tail and returned to our berth. Not fair that the weather was so foul, was it.
We enjoyed, a more tranquil autumn’s sailing and now we have had El Buque lifted out of the water at Port Hamble for the winter. If the weather is kind enough we will be visiting her fairly frequently and working on her until after Easter and from then on we shall hope for fair winds and sunny skies.
We are so sorry, but we won’t be back in England in time for the AGM. Once again we are flying out to spend Christmas on the Costa del Sol and will hopefully be enjoying ourselves wandering around the local marinas (also Gibraltar this year) and basking in the sun while sampling the local fino! We will raise our glasses and toast you all in your hostelry and hope to meet up with most of you during 1986.
All good wishes,
Rony and Elise,
Comanche EL BUQUE
From F H Sorfleet
Dear Mr. Fisher,
I enclose herewith a cheque for membership of the Association. As promised in our telecon prior to Christmas, I shall describe my reasons for switching from a monohull to a multi and the choice of the Iroquois.
My previous boat was a Snapdragon 23, which was also my first. After the first sailing season my preference was towards racing rather than cruising, and therefore the choice of my next boat was somewhat influenced in that direction, The natural progression being a "½ -tonner" which required a lot of draught and also a lot of crew, neither being available in the outposts of West Cumbria.
The Solway Coast, Southern Scotland and the waters of the Isle of Man where we regularly race and cruise, is very tidal and does not lend itself to deep fin keelers. Having expressed a wish to compete, I therefore was left with a choice of a drop keel or a multihull, the latter of which was chosen. I acquired boat number 288 from Dr. Stimpson in March 1985 and started racing in April 1985, competed in 9 races altogether and became more successful with the progression of races and experience.
Having experienced all the joys of the multihull it is very doubtful, almost remote, that I will ever return to a monohull. I am contemplating fitting wheel steering and would appreciate any information you may have on the subject.
I look forward to receiving the 1986 newsletter and hope to be a member of the Association for many years to come.
Yours sincerely,
F H Sorfleet,
COCHISE, #288
From S D Voerman
Dear Sirs,
For years it was my wish to own an Iroquois Catamaran. Now I have raised the funds to accomplish this. It will be a Mark I Iroquois, number 6, built in 1967.
The former owner cannot give any documentation with the boat he is to sell because there were made some changes to the sailplan, rigging and interior layout, I wonder how it originally was. The only articles I got are a test report of the AYRS from 1967, and an account of the Crystal Trophy race of 1967 in which the Iroquois made fame, and short mentionings of the boat in issues of Catamaran & Trimaran and Mutlihull International of 1966-68.
It would be great if you could supply, against payment, copies of the original documentation of the Mark I, if possible some drawings of the sailplan, and the rigging of additional sails. I guess some keen members made improvements on their boats on rigging and self-steering which would interest me much, and so copies are welcome too. If it is possible I subscribe as a member of your club.
Your association is for me the only way to obtain the necessary documentation to refer because there is no club in Holland and Sailcraft has vanished, I write this request.
With kindly regards,
S.D. Voerman,
6 MALLEMOK 2
From John & Sonja Roes
Dear Stuart,
Thank you for your note of August 14th. I am very sorry that you did not find my cheque and I am sending you herewith no. xxxxxx that I can look forward to receiving the Association’s newsletter. My cheque xxxxxx was made out to the Association and cashed. I will send an inquiry to the bank as to who actually received it.
I would be pleased to contribute to the newsletter. This year our trip took us from Virgin Gorda to San Diego by way of the Dutch ABC Islands. Our ship is an Apache Mk2 cutter rig with two Arona engines and variable pitch props. My wife and I and a friend of ours were crew; our best run was from St. Croix to Bonaire, a 500 mile run that took 48 hours. We had a steady 30 knot wind on the port beam using 180 genoa and full main. Our autohelm 3000 did all the steering. The cockpit stayed surprisingly dry.
The Mk2 has a lot of buoyancy in the stern and we were never pooped. The ship will start down a wave with the bows fairly deep. At 8 knots the bows rise abruptly due to dynamic lift and she then accelerates to 17 to 18 knots surfing the wave.
Our toughest time was off the coast of Columbia on our way to Panama. Four days of 40 knot winds on the stern really built large waves. Every 10 minutes a set of 5 would arrive. Again the stern would rise and both bows would occasionally submerge at 6 - 8 knots, then the ride down started. We broached once, which was quite enough; by this time we had only the boom staysail up which proved insufficient in the diminishing wind. At 6 knots there was just not enough rudder control to keep the ship going down straight. The wave pattern was producing sets of five waves of 50ft height breaking over widths of 500ft. A 5ft cross pattern would sometimes throw you off just as the ride down started. The waves were extremely steep, much steeper than when we hoved to off Casablanca in the December 82 force 10 storm. The wave pattern off Columbia must be affected by current and reflection off the coast. The waves at this height travel at 30 knots so there is little danger of running into the next one with an Apache. I do not see how a monohull could have avoided rolling over regularly in the conditions.
Columbia has a bad reputation for piracy. We considered going into the Cartagena but the port was closed because of the wave action. Just as well, we would have been robbed for sure.
The Panama canal trip and the visit to the Cuna Indian archipelago was very enjoyable. The trip north to San Diego was great, with a diet of giant shrimp and lobster as daily fare. The trip took us 4 months, including one month in Acapulco for transmission repair. Presently the Dutch Yankee is anchored in San Diego Harbour. Next week we will move to our new slip in the San Diego Yacht Club.
Southern California is a quiet place for British Catamarans. Normally winds start at 11 in the morning and are done with at 4 in the afternoon. 10 to 15 knots is the average fare.
After sailing our ship for five years we are convinced that the only way to tip her is wave action in shallow water. We are content to sail her as a cruising cat. Next year we will try to fix the window leaks and other cosmetics and use her here for testing sailboat instruments I am developing.
Please feel free to edit this dishevelled report to your liking Stuart.
With best regards,
John and Sonja Roes,
Apache 17 DUTCH YANKEE
From Ken Boswell
Dear Mr. Fisher,
As an Iroquois owner I have for long been meaning to join the Association. Could you kindly let me know what the fee is, including subscription to the excellent newsletter. My memory has been jogged repeatedly by fellow owners on the Alde and recently by Pat Boyd, whom we met again at the Boat Show.
You may be interested to know that I bought DODDLESACK 2 (ex IROQUOIS OF LLEYN) sail no. 121, through Pat Boyd late in 1975 when she was lying in the marina at Gibraltar. Some kindly fellow owners I met in Brighton marina last summer told me that your records still showed her as belonging to the original owner, R R Palmer, who sold her in 1973 to George Alexander. The latter was manufacturing Doodlesacks in Shanklin, Isle of Wight, and planned to sail across the Atlantic in a singlehanded race. In order to qualify, he took her down to the Balearics with a crew and then set out to sail singlehanded back to the UK.
After leaving Gibraltar, where he took on a goodly load of wine, he sailed west. George told me that his habit was to sleep in the cockpit and sail mainly under the ghoster, while an Aries wind vane fixed to the top of the hatch kept him on course. On this occasion, at night, he suddenly heard people shouting. On awakening he found that he was sailing close to a beach which he thought must be in Portugal. He then tried to start the engines (two Crescent Crestas) but the immediate response from the shore was a hail of bullets. The mainsail, which I have used until last year, was peppered with bullet holes and one bullet went through the boom just where it reaches the cockpit, presumably just missing George’s head, At this juncture George surrendered. He drove ashore and was dragged from the boat, beaten with rifle butts and tied up. The boat was made fast to a stake on the beach.
After being taken to the local lock-up he eventually persuaded the Spanish authorities (it was still Spain and not Portugal) that he was a harmless sailor on passage.
They let him return to the boat and offered to tow him to the nearest port. This he accepted. On arrival he was asked for a large sum of money to pay for the tow (I think in the region of £700). After consulting the British consular authorities, he concluded that he might well end up again in jail if he did not reach some accommodation. We therefore offered all the money he had (some £300) which was finally accepted. He set sail; the wind was Westerly so he went with it back to the marina at Gibraltar. Then he stepped off the boat there he swore that he would not sail her again.
This is how she came up for sale and why I was able to buy her at a reasonable price. We kept her in Menorca for three years while I was working in Saudi Arabia and then I sailed her back to the UK in 1978 through the French canals. Since then we have sailed her from her East Coast berth on the Alde, to the Solent, Brittany, Cornwall, the Channel Islands, Holland etc. Last summer was a nasty one. For us it set two records. In Bembridge Harbour the anemometer went off the clock at over 55 knots and off Dungeness in another gale the speedometer reached 22 knots as we surfed down wind on the rollers. We just missed the meeting planned for Chichester harbour. We anchored off the beach just to the East of the entrance in a fairly heavy swell and departed next day in a force 7 for Brighton. This was only a day or two before the rally, which we might have stayed on for if the weather had been better.
This year we are planning to go to the Scillies. My problem is that I am acquiring a Border Collie puppy and she will just have to learn to sail too.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
Yours ever,
Ken Boswell,
DOODLESACK 2, #121
From Doug & Dee Gutteridge
Dear Stuart,
Many thanks for your Annual General Meeting application, Doug & I would like to be there.
I met Richard Stilgoe the other day and he would be interested in membership of the Iroquois Owners’ Association and if you can get it off to him in time could possibly be interested in coming to the meeting on the 3rd. He has one of the early ones, Sail no. 14 I believe, and keeps her down in Salcombe. Are you interested in photos of Iroquois - namely Ocean Habicat, Chiquita and Antares of Ashton, and others spotted on our trip to down South?
I am trying to find time to write out a condensed version of our Summer cruise, but there are so many points that need deleting, or perhaps other people may be interested in our numerous rnuckups!
Starting with yours and many others good wishes and enthusiastic send off from our pontoon at Brighton, only to see us return half an hour later, sails between our legs, with a halyard caught on the top of the mast - an impossible task for us to untangle in the notorious Brighton Marina entrance swell - simple to David Smith’s monkey-like agility, who shinned up the mast as if he’d done it all before and had it free in seconds.
Our cruise was filled with many memorable moments like that, but it was the quickest way to learn how not to do it next time! We met many other multihulls on our trip and found a true comradeship between us all and would request you include us as applicants for membership to MOCRA so that we can be in touch with what is going on in the Multihull world.
I enclose a photo of Three Legs of Man taken at Cowes, as it was a boat that caught our imagination and also gives an example of the kind of weather we experienced in late August, early September.
Look forward to seeing you at your new venue on the 3rd of January. A very Happy Christmas to you and your family and thanks for all your friendly help and advice this year.
Regards, Doug & Dee,
OCEAN HABICAT
From Denis Marrian
Dear Mr Fisher,
Many thanks for recent issue of the Iroquois Assoc. Newsletter. Welcome as always. I’m putting 183 (Iroquois MkIIA) up for sale if anyone you hear about is interested. Roller reefing on jib and self furling main; it has a Sea Panther diesel fitted with twin hydraulic driven props - independently controlled. Anchor winch, Flexigate Compass, Drywind Heater. Storm jib & No. 1 jib, as well as 150% Jenny. Fitted fin, VHF & Echosounding - available as extras. Lying at Brightlingsea. £16,000.
Perhaps you could put the note in the next Newsletter, unless I let you know that it has been sold.
Aye,
Denis Marrian,
CAT O’LAFITTE, #183
From Bob Johnson
Enclosed is my cheque for 1986 - Iroquois Owners’ Assoc. Thanks for your continued interest and activity on our behalf.
Last summer I had the interesting experience of replacing my mast. It had been bent during unstepping the previous fall (stupid mistake on my part). The problem that’s interesting is the trouble I had in replacing it.
Getting a new one from UK was easy. Getting it to me was something else. The new one got run over by a lift-truck en route and was a total loss in so far as the insurers were concerned, but the lead time to get a new one was such that we finally pieced together one good mast from sections of the old and the damaged new one. The trick was making an internal sleeve out of a section of the mast itself: cut the sail track out, compress the edges together, and you have a perfect sleeve that fits inside the upper and lower mast sections that are then fastened together, using this sleeve and riveting it all together. This fabricated mast held up beautifully and performed perfectly the rest of the sailing season.
Best regards,
R R Johnson,
VIVACE, #235
From Jim & Betty Dean
Dear Ken,
I am owner of Iroquois 179; at present I have two problems with the boat, I need replacement rudder blades and a new unit to support the outboard, do you have any information on suppliers of these items? The rudder blades started to delaminate last year and I was unable to find a supplier last time I was in UK. I have sheathed them with glass, but I would prefer new units, wood or glass. I have a fixed steel (bucket) support for my outboard, but it is rusting badly and I understand that some Iroquois have an aluminium unit which lifts up.
For information I have fitted roller reefing, the unit was from Sailspar and fitted to the existing forestay and beam fitting with an additional swivel joint and only needed the pins changed from 1/2" dia. to 3/8" dia., the drum is then clear of the striker vertical post. I purchased a new sail from Lucas which is a superb cut and my comments are "I should have done it years ago!".
Sincerely,
Jim Dean
WAR DANCER, #179
Ken Pack’s reply
Dear Jim,
Sorry for not replying sooner, but your letter caused quite a trauma. I have recently extended my MkII by 3’ for a number of reasons, but mainly to install very well balanced, accurate steering so that it can be electronically operated (we had to end the argument as to who went outside when it rained). So of course I have two complete rudder blades, a spare and cases, fintails etc. all hung up in my garage in case I want to return to a standard Mark II, and I think that may be wise for the ‘86 season. The rudder blades do not really form a problem - given a pattern any good boat builder can laminate these, it’s just the quote involved.
I think your first move would be best through Peter Smith, 76 Regent Road, Brightlingsea, Essex. Tel. 0206 30 2854. He was foreman for Sailcraft and knows the boat backwards and most of the people who made the parts. He is very keen. If that doesn’t work I have a few other contacts, but would need to see if there was any response, but they would be very much a second choice.
Sincerely,
Ken Pack
From Aat Marinissen
Dear Mr. Fisher,
Enclosed please find my subscription fee for 1985. The IOA Newsletter is much appreciated and it seems that people keep inventing and applying improvements on their Iroquois.
I followed the advice of an Iroquois friend and checked the position of the rudder blades. To obtain an exact 90o angle to the transoms for the blades I had to shorten the tiller connection beam by two inches! The impression is that there is less turbulence and better steering.
To the most appreciated items certainly belongs my roller reefing headsail. It is such a convenience that on leisure days we often use this sail only. It is slightly larger than the 150% genoa and reaching it offers adequate push. The roller system is a Goiot, very well made and operating perfectly. To accommodate the roller drum I had to change the fore-stay fitting, which was done by mounting a second eye plate to the rear of the cross beam and connecting it to the original fitting by means of two plates that accommodate the toggle to the fore-stay terminal. This is also shown on the sketch from my Iroquios sketch book, as is the tiny boarding ladder that folds up against the transom still allowing the rudder its unobstructed swing. This ladder was made of s.s. pipe, two s.s. brackets and a wooden step, and makes climbing on board after swimming (or worse) comfortable.
Best wishes for the coming season,
Aat Marinissen,
SUPERSTAR, #187
From Jack Goodman
Sorry it took so long to get this back to you. Aelen & i pick ed up the boat in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. this spring, It had been sitting for a year and was in a pretty bad state of disrepair. It took 3 days to get rid of most of the mould, get the motor working, the electrical etc. Fortunately I had brought enough tools and spares. The first day out we started motoring up the coast about 3 miles out in a dead calm, about 10.30 a.m. it started blowing a little out of the NE and we started sailing and tacking; by 2.00 p.m. my hand meter showed 35 m.p.h. wind, still out of the NE, so I pulled the sails down to make the next inlet before dark. I might say that in the canals we had not been able to sail the boat to get experience before going outside. The halyards blocks were frozen and one rudder would not go completely down, which caused considerable weather helm. With all that and the wind we were glad to he back inside. (The running lights still did not work). It blew like that for the next week, so we stayed in the canal the rest of the trip. The 35 h.p. Johnson worked perfectly and the boat was an excellent motor sailer. We went about 6 knots and got about 7 m.p.g. (statute). The waterway was gorgeous and each day was different and exciting, never boring like I had been led to believe. One of the best parts was anchoring in the evening and rowing over to the other boats to chat. The most memorable was a couple from Germany who had built a steel monohull and sailed it through the Panama Canal and around Cape Horn. They had bought some property in Chile and were returning to Germany to sell one boat and move their things to South America. Another couple were from England, Reg F. Crampton, No. 74 (NOT sold as in the Listing) and wife on a Mk.Il 30ft. Iroquois, Vahine II. (The first one turned over and washed up on the shores of France). They had retired, fixed up their boat, and had sailed down through Europe and across to South America, where his wife was raised, and up the islands to FL., and into the waterway. After 30,000 miles they were headed back to England, the week after we met them.
After the trip I have concentrated on turning the boat into a sailboat. I pulled down the mast, made a new forestay and backstays, and made a fitting for the mast head to run all the stays to the top of the mast. I now have wind instruments (SR Mariner) and quiet nights, the wires in the mast used to bang around all night. They are now inside a PVC tube and quiet. The best thing about this was running the halyards internally; the boat sails at least 5o closer to the wind and gets into a grove, so to speak. I recommend getting all of the clutter away from the front of the mast. Everyone who has sailed the boat has noticed the difference. My next project is to paint the decks white, seal all the leaks, and go after cleaning up the bottom. I am going to flush fit all the bottom fittings and take off the skegs. Removing the skegs should improve tacking as well as low speed, and reverse manoeuvring. Next, after checking improvements with the old sails, I plan to get a fully or partially battened main sail and a larger genoa. Since the mast is effectively longer, I am going to go to a higher aspect ratio, with only a small increase in sail area. I have always opted for efficiency rather than brute force. (The mast is now 35’ 8" tall).
1 would like to add, the boat is a joy to sail and fits our cruising needs perfectly. Sorry it has taken so long to get your material back to you, thanks.
One more thing, I plan to deck over the trampoline area with teak. I have reason to believe this will actually speed up the boat in medium rough weather, as well as make for a drier ride.
Yours
Jack Goodman,
GUMBIE CAT
From Fred & Frankie Boyd
Dear Roy, Pauline & Paul (Butler),
Now we have settled down here in Larnaca for the winter, we thought we’d just send you a short account of our cruise this year from Palma, Mallorca to Larnaca, Cyprus.
We left Palma on the 18th April 1985, in company with friends, aboard a 45ft ferro junk rigged ketch ‘Hai Kung Chu’. We cruised along the southern coast of Mallorca, stopping every night as we weren’t in any hurry and we like our sleep and only resort to night sailing if it’s absolutely necessary. We weren’t very lucky with the wind and seemed to spend most of the time tacking. We worked our way up to Cala Morga on the north east side of Mallorca, which was the nearest point to Menorca. We waited here for three days waiting for a favourable wind and while we were here two other yachts, who we had spent the winter with in Palma, arrived; they were also heading for Menorca.
There was very little wind when we left so it was on with the iron horse. We did try sailing for a couple of hours but progress was very slow, so the motor went on again. After midday the wind came up from the south and we had a spanking sail. Menorca is a lovely island, green and flat and very different from Mallorca with its mountains. We made our landfall at Cala Santandria on the west coast and then cruised the north coast, still in company with ‘Hai Kung Chu’. Unfortunately as we were leaving a little bay on passage to Mahon, the island capital, ‘Hai Kung Chu’ hit an uncharted rock and was holed. They were able to sustain the leak by pumping and we escorted her into Mahon. We stayed there for ten days, but in the end had to leave our friends there, still sorting out the insurance claim.
We had made friends with another couple on an Endurance 45ft ferro schooner called ‘Pipedream’ and decided to cruise in company as they were heading in the same direction as us. The weather wasn’t very good in Mahon at the time, lots of rain and not much in the way of wind. We eventually left on Saturday, 25th May, having said a sad farewell to our friends on ‘Hai Kung Chu’. We picked up a spanking breeze and progress was very good. We hoped to make Porte Conte in Sardinia in record time, but knowing the Mediterranean the wind soon died with only sixty miles on the log and a hundred and fifty to go. We had no option but to sit there and wait as the motoring range of our outboard is only about seventy miles. In fact the lack of wind was such that it eventually took us seventy eight hours and we arrived in Porte Conte at 7.30 p.m. Tuesday. In the process of waiting for wind the sea was flat calm and the sun shining and we had lots of visits from dolphins and turtles, who obviously wondered why we weren’t moving. In fact, on the second night out we went to bed and just left an all round white light up, as we hadn’t seen a ship so far. The rest of the trip was taken up with ghosting winds from all directions. Eventually we got into range and motorsailed for the last three hours into Porte Conte and we met up again with our friends on ‘Pipedream’, who had motored most of the way.
From here we left ‘Pipedream’, who had to go into Alghero to get their engine looked at, so we carried on on our own. We decided to go round the north end of Sardinia. The island is very mountainous and green and we found the harbours near enough empty and with very few yachts. We went through the Fornelli Passage which is very narrow, and although there was no wind to speak of, it seemed to scream through the passage. We were very close to Asinara Island, which is a big Italian penal colony, and we thought at the time, what a beautiful place to work out your sentence. We worked our way along the top of Sardinia and finally over to Bonifacio in Corsica.
It gets quite confusing with money, going from Spain to Italy and then to France. Like France, we found Corsica expensive. We waited for our friends in ‘Pipedream’ to catch us up here and they arrived the next day. We enjoyed Bonifacio very much, long walks with spectacular scenery, but the reputation of this area is for strong winds, which we encountered for the remainder of our stay and in fact left after five days in about a force 6.
We motored out to sea and just set a No. 1 headsail and took off at about six knots with the wind behind us. The forecast was NW 5-7. We headed back over to Sardinia where we hoped to cruise the Maddalena Islands, but this proved to be impossible because of the weather conditions. As we cruised between the islands the wind increased and we were recording speeds of eight to ten knots surfing down the waves, and indeed had one burst of eighteen knots. We managed to find a sheltered anchorage in amongst the islands where the sea was calm, but the wind was still screeching at thirty knots. It blew all night and we decided to leave and get as far away from the Bonifacio Straits as possible. We upped anchor and with the wind behind us we were doing six knots under bare poles. After rounding Cape Ferro we came onto a reach and decided to set the small headsail. This kept us going at a spanking pace. We eventually made La Caletta with the wind down to a reasonable strength. From here down to the south east tip of Sardinia, we were dogged with light airs and fickle winds and only managed twenty five to thirty miles a day. When we finally reach the south east tip of Sardinia the wind was screaming again and we had to shelter here and wait for the right conditions for our crossing to Sicily, a journey of just under two hundred miles. Here we met up with other friends we had made in Mahon on a Sunfizz 40 called ‘Revolver’, who in fact stayed with us until Corfu.
We finally left on Friday, 21st June, with a forecast of W - NW 5. We had a good sail to start with but then, as always, the wind let us down again. We eventually got into San Vito, Sicily, on midnight Saturday. From here the three boats cruised leisurely along the north coast of Sicily, which seems to have a thriving fishing industry, as the harbours were crowded with fishing boats.
On route we visited the Aeolian Islands, which were certainly worth a visit and were one of the highlights of our cruise. The first island we visited was Vulcano and it was quite an experience to walk up to the top of the volcano and look down into the dead crater, which was no mean feat in the heat of the day, but very worth while. Down on the sea shore one can experience the hot sulphur springs bubbling into the sea along the shore, which makes the water even too hot to swim in places. From there we visited the other islands, Lipani, Panarea, and last, but by no means least, Stromboli, which is still a very live volcano. We would love to have visited the volcano but there is no harbour here and the anchorage is not very good and it was a seven hour round trip with a guide and you have to get there in the evening to appreciate the splendour of it. We anchored off for the night and during the night experienced a bit of splendour of our own with a few explosions throwing lava quite some distance into the air.
From here, back down the islands and over to the Straits of Messina between Sicily and Italy. We stopped in a harbour called Scilla on the Italian mainland to wait for the tide to go through. This area is full of legend, in fact Scilla was reputed to have plucked unwary sailors from the decks of the old sailing ships as they passed through. In fact it was said that if she didn’t get them, then one of the three whirlpools certainly would. The three boats sailed through here the next day without any hindrance from witches or demons and stopped in a harbour called Cap Dell Armi, which is a brand new commercial harbour built for a big chemical plant, but because of some accident with chemicals the project was shelved, so there is a complete new harbour with nobody on it, which is a boon to cruising yachtsmen.
The rest of the trip round the Italian coast was made up of day hops and anchoring off the beach overnight as the weather was very settled, which was just as well as harbours are few and far between along the foot of Italy. We finally anchored at Cape Cotonne as it was the most convenient point to leave for Corfu. We didn’t have long to wait as the next morning at 4 a.m. we found our nice sheltered anchorage had suddenly become a lee shore, so decided to head for Corfu.
Had a spanking sail to Corfu, but finished up motoring the last ten miles or so. Cleared into Greece at Igoumenitsa, which is on the mainland, and next day sailed back to Corfu. Found Corfu very English, very touristy, but a lovely green island with lots of cypress trees. From here we said goodbye to ‘Revolver’, who was staying there to charter, and carried on down the Ionian visiting the islands of Paxos and Anti Paxos and then cruised a big inland sea called the Gulf of Amvrasia. This is a beautiful cruising area and we were surprised at the lack of yachts. From here through the Levkas Canal and stopped at Nidri on Levkas Island. This seems to be the home of charter fleets, they were everywhere. Then on to Cephalonia Island, having a quick detour to circumnavigate the Onassis island of Skorpio. From here it was to the island of Ithaca for the night, then on to the Gulf of Patra, stopping at Patras. We found Patras a very busy place and a main terminal for Athens.
From here the anchorages got more interesting, the first one being Nafpactos, where the harbour is built inside a medieval fort. Further down the gulf we called in at Trizonia Island, which seems to be a crossroads for yachtsmen as the restaurant on the hill keeps a visitors’ book for all yachts passing through and one can spend many hours browsing through, finding names of familiar boats who have passed this way. It was here that we parted company with ‘Pipedream’ as they had to be back in the UK for next year. From here it was recommended we go to Galaxidi, which is the port nearest to the very famous ruins of Delphi, which you get to in a bus and is a long way up in the mountains. This was certainly worth a visit as it is one of the best examples of ancient Greece.
Our next highlight from here was going through Corinth Canal, which was a fantastic experience, then we had to take it easy because our eldest daughter and husband were joining us at Athens for two weeks holiday and we had a month to kill.
In the meantime we thought we might try and get up to the Northern Sporades. Although we had a good sail across to the island of Evvia, from then on we had to contend with the Meltemi, which is a wind we were to become very familiar with. It blows from the north most days between force 5-7, and although we fought for many a day to try and make way against it, progress was very slow, very uncomfortable and wet. We decided instead to visit the island of Andros in the Northern Cyclades, and from there back to the island of Kea.
We eventually picked our family up in Athens and took them down to the islands in the Saronic Gulf, which included Aegina, Poros, Hydra and Spetsia. The weather was beautiful, even though it was September/October time by then. A good time was had by all. After getting back and visiting the Acropolis in Athens we saw our visitors off.
From here it was island hopping across the Aegean visiting Kithnos, Mikonos (which is reputed to be the most photographed island in the Aegean), lkaria, Patmos, Kalymnos, Kos, Simi, and so on to Rhodes, where we took our leave of Greece and sailed to Marmaris in Turkey. We found the Greek Islands very beautiful and all different, each having a character of its own. The Meltemi persisted throughout so it was nice going south.
We found Turkey vastly different from Greece, a beautiful country and very, very green and we found things surprisingly cheap and the people very friendly. After clearing in at Marmaris we leisurely cruised along the coast, calling at Fethiye, Kalkan, Kas, Finike, Kemer (where they are building a new marina). Then Antalya, which is the regional capital, a beautiful town, the harbour is a little bit inadequate but they are building a marina which should be nice when they finish. From here it was on to Alanya, which was also very enjoyable; here also a very small inadequate harbour, also shallow so no good for large yachts, but we managed to squeeze in between the fishing boats, being shallow draught.
From here we left for Cyprus, a distance of a hundred and thirty miles or so. We found the wind let us down badly (once again) and about eighty miles was done under engine, after taking on extra fuel, and finally we made Paphos on the south west coast. This is a most surprising island, it’s the nearest thing we have come to England since we left. A complete range of English food, petrol sold in gallons, cars driving on the left, English radio and TV and even the police in English type uniforms, to say nothing of parking meters, including the traffic wardens, Woolworths, Marks & Sparks and Co-op. After clearing in at Paphos we had a spanking sail down to Limassol, where we were stuck for four days with easterly winds.
We eventually left at 12.30 a.m. on the 5th December and had to motor for the first three hours and then picked up a lovely breeze, northerly 2-3, and we sailed the rest of the way to Larnaca, arriving at midday. Met up with a few friends and found that there were lot of live-aboards here. Now we are tied up snuggly in the marina and will rest up here for a few months, getting the boats ready for our next adventure and unwinding from this one. Our total mileage since leaving Palma was 3365 miles (sea miles).
Fred & Frankie Boyd,
Comanche No. 22 ‘BUSTER’
This year’s AGM was held in our new venue, the Old Bridge House pub, first on the left going South from Tower Bridge, on the actual approach road to the bridge and only about a 5 minute walk farther from Tower Hill underground station than the Cruising Association library. There turned out to be empty streets just behind the pub and no problem with parking at all. At present the 1987 AGM is planned for the same venue.
The room was just about the right size, the bar was handy and the food good, though not to the Lucculan standards of that provided by the Parrs at Ivory House. Attendance, as ever, was excellent, 61 people attending. Dr & Mrs Crampton came along with a party of guests and Reg gave an illustrated talk on his voyage. Reg White brought some friends and also illustrated and described his latest venture, the Iroquois Chieftan. Bo Henricsson and his wife came over from Sweden and Piet & Anne Marie Roes came from Holland. The Hart-Holmes-Moss combine was fully represented, as was the Plat-Wheate combine. Russi & Barbara Dordi, Paul & Mrs Smedley, Barry & Mrs Bucknall, David & Yvonne Smith, Doug & Dee Gutteridge, Peter & Mrs Rohde, George & Heidi Bone, Doug & Janet Mackay, Ken & Thelma Pack, Di & Derek Morris, Patrick Boyd, David Asdell, Peter Hard and Haidy & Rod Blake, and that other chap whatsiname, were all there.
Haidy Blake, as Chairwoman, welcomed all members, and Stuart Fisher reported on the Associations’ activities and finances, which were reported to be in a healthy state, the current bank balance being in excess of £800, and the Annual General Meeting being financially self supporting.
Election of Officers took place: Haidy Blake was elected Chairwoman for 1986 and Stuart Fisher was elected administrator and editor of the Newsletter.
Supper was then taken, followed by illustrated talks by Reg Crampton and Reg White. The meeting ended at about 10.45 p.m.
S.D.
(This is a brief report based on the notes which Reg used at the meeting and does not in any way do justice to the full talk he gave - Ed).
The trip lasted for 3 years, from June 1982 until July 1985. 6 months were spent at sea and two and a half years in harbour. During that time we visited in the following order: GIJON; FERROL; CORUNA; VIGO; CASCAIS; PORTO SANTO (Funchal); ALVAGEN ISLAND (Santa Cruz); St. VINCENT, and passed by the St. Peter & Paul Rocks and the Island of the archipeligo of Fernano de Noruna, and made our first port of call in S America in RECIFE.
We then coasted down South America to Buenos Aires and due to the problems caused by the Falklands conflict, crossed the River Plate into Uraguay. We then coasted north to Cayenne, stopping at many ports on the way, and then sailed up to Guadaloupe for the start of our Caribbean excursion, sailing North West through the Virgins, Turks and Caicos, Salvador and Bermudas to Fort Lauderdale in Florida, then up the inland waterways to set sail finally from Fernandina for the Azores, and so eventually home.
During the trip we had 12½ days of gales up to force 9 at sea, and up to 100 knots when anchored. We met waves of up to 20 feet high, visited 9 countries, 18 islands and 44 ports of call. The shortest hop was from Ferrol to Corunna, of less than 10 miles, the longest was from Florida to the Azores, of over 3000 miles.
The trip was planned with extreme care and in great detail. When we finally put all the vast quantity of stores, spares and equipment aboard, we prepared a meticulous list of every item with its exact location recorded. Everything was then kept in that location and on several vital occasions this index proved to be a god-send.
The route was worked out on a no-heroics, warm-weather basis and for this we used the Admiralty publication Ocean Passages of the World, pilot books, charts and the stories of other similar voyagers written after their trip was finished,
We prepared many lists; lists of jobs, list of repairs, list of work, list of replacements, lists of spares, food, tools, charts and equipment to be carried. We worked out the final weight of all the gear and stores and made out our loading plan accordingly. When it was all aboard VAHINE was 5 inches down on her marks, it was not therefore a fast passage.
Some of the work we carried out or equipment we installed, is as follows:
WEIGHT OF GEAR
|
Item |
Weight (lbs) |
|
Food & Water |
880 |
|
Fuel/Oil etc. |
450 |
|
Engines |
160 |
|
Generator |
40 |
|
Batteries |
60 |
|
Anchor Winch |
30 |
|
Chain/Warp |
40 |
|
Cleaning/toilet etc |
25 |
|
Medical |
10 |
|
Galley, Utensils, Crockery |
50 |
|
Emergency |
35 |
|
Safety: Incl. Raft, Dinghy |
250 |
|
Spares/Paints/Tools |
80 |
|
Total |
2110 |
|
Personal Gear at 200lbs per person |
400 |
|
2 people |
230 |
|
Total |
2740 |
|
Weight with 4 aboard |
3000 lbs |
This is equal to about 50 cu. ft. or about 5" of waterline.
The trip was a splendid success for the boat and for us, the worst weather we met all the way was in the Bay of Biscay on the way out, and the most difficult and tense time was in the Channel between Portsmouth and the Isle of Sheppey where we had thick mist and strong winds. The highs of the trip were the people that we met on the way and the sea creatures we saw, the most important single factor was the human one, in my case my wife Consuelo, who was an absolute tower of strength to me. We sailed and motored 30,000 miles, the boat is probably in better condition now than when we started and I would definitely do it again.
Dr R Crampton
Season 1986
The Harwich Harbour Series
Friendly Racing for Cruising Multihulls
Harwich Harbour is formed by the junction of two rivers, the Orwell, and the Stour. It is filled with scenic attractions, from traditional East Coast mudflats backed by rolling green hills, to the bustle of container traffic for Felixstowe, Ipswich and Harwich. There is extensive river sailing and an easy transition through a wide entrance to sea sailing. Facilities are available within the estuaries for almost any form of mooring, and land transport is easy. Access to sheltered sailing waters is always available. Start lines are large enough to avoid congestion. The area is monitored by all professional services.
Harwich Town Sailing Club and Shotley Sailing Club offer their facilities for the purpose of this series to multihull sailors wishing to join in Cruiser Racing. Launching ramps are available; there is a crane at Harwich and a gantry at Shotley, both useable near High Water.
Both clubs run a full series of cruiser races open to visiting multihulls so it is possible to join their handicap fleets every other Sunday throughout the season. From this programme we have selected a balanced, representative series to give us the widest choice of sailing waters and experience.
|
H.W. |
Start Time |
|||
|
Sunday |
June 1 |
Shotley SC |
20.23 |
11.00 |
|
Sunday |
June 22 |
Harwich Town |
12.45 |
11.00 |
|
Sunday |
July 20 |
Harwich Town |
11.39 |
11.00 |
|
Sunday |
August 3 |
Shotley SC |
11.21 |
11.00 |
|
Sunday |
August 17 |
Harwich Town |
10.23 |
11.00 |
|
Sunday |
August 31 |
Shotley SC |
09.50 |
10.00 |
Harwich Town and Shotley operate a combined programme with standard courses printed on a course card. All courses should allow craft to retain visual contact throughout the race. In bad weather racing is kept within the rivers.
Racing will be under standard IYRU and Club Safety Rules. Handicapping will initially be by agreement, based upon Portsmouth Yardstick and will he modified by results and discussion. Series winner will be determined by the most favourable score from any four races. Trophies under loan from Multihullls Offshore Cruising and Racing Association (MOCRA).
At this time there will be NO ENTRY FEE. For the purpose of this series the clubs are extending their hospitality and basic ‘secretarial’ costs are being jointly covered by Derek Harvey, Pat Webb, and MOCRA. Race entrants should be aware of this as offers of assistance will always be appreciated.
Not posted here - Webmaster
Please join us, and remember, socialisinq, crew exchanging, assistance, advice, help and carrying ‘family’ crews, all are considered important qualities.
As Reg White now has the moulds back again he has produced Iroquois number 319 SECOND FIDDLE. This is a perfectly standard boat, apart from the fact that it has an extra 5" in height built into the hulls, topsides, roller reefing, main and genoa, special curved lifting rudders, special high form after hull deck and hatch covers and a 60 h.p. engine in each hull, each with a lifting propeller giving a top speed under power of 20 (twenty) knots; and all this with full cruising sailing rig up. The interior is luxuriously fitted out with fridge-freezer, built-in generator, hot and cold shower and a deck-side shower off-take and a two-burner cooker with oven. For further details of this burner-upper, including the undisclosed price, contact Reg White Ltd., 52 Seaview Road, Brightlingsea. Colchester (0206) 302724.
Membership fees for 1986 are "at least" £5 per annum, and all members are very earnestly urged to send a note of their cruises, mods, meetings, or of interesting happenings with their boats, to the Editor for inclusion in the Newsletter.
A Multihull design and discussion symposium will be held on the East Coast at IPSWICH on the weekend of October 25th. Please write to the MOCRA Cruising Secretary, (address notposted here - Webmaster) for information or to offer to talk or help.
This will take place, as publicized, on the weekend of July 26th & 27th on Ryde Sands. Please anchor to the WEST of the pier, more or less opposite the white house (about 250 metres off the pier and about half way along its length). This will put us all well clear of the fairway and the outfall buoy, but about right for rather more than half tides aground. The bottom is firm flat sand, shelving gently. Looking forward to seeing you all there on the day. S.D.
IROQUOIS OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION & SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL
BELOW PLEASE FIND A HANDY TEAR-OFF MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM FOR USE AT SEA OR AT MOORINGS. PLEASE DETACH AND COMPLETE IN EMERGENCY WHEN POTENTIAL NEW MEMBER IS MET BUT NO ENROLMENT FACILITY IS AVAILABLE.
The Iroquois Owners’ Association is open to all people who own, have owned or wish to own; build, have built or wish to build; sail, have sailed or wish to sail craft designed by Roderick Macalpine-Downie. As the Iroquois has reached about 320 craft, this craft represents the bulk of our membership. However, Apaches, Cherokees and Comanches qualify and are warmly welcomed.
The object of the Association is to keep members in touch with each other, to provide technical information where possible, and provide help and experience of repairs, modifications, adjustments and sailing techniques.
The Association produces two newsletters and a membership list each year and is currently. putting together a compendium of all past modifications and repair techniques which have been recorded in Association Newsletters over the past 15 years or so.
