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This old mansion house was the home of the first
Governor General of New Zealand. It is about two
miles from our place on Kawau Island. That is Lin
in her 1895 garb last month. |
Dear Friends:
A holiday maker stopped to chat after she walked past
where Larry was busy working on Thelma. "Tell me
about the lovely old yacht," she said. I gave her
the basics, saying Thelma was built 109 years ago, about
30 miles south of our home base, then added proudly,
"Larry bought her for me for my 60th birthday."
"Hasn't he heard of jewelry," the lady asked.
"To a sailor, Thelma is the ultimate piece of jewelry,"
I answered.
Though at times, as we both worked four six solid weeks
to get her ready for the two most important classic
yacht regattas of the summer season, we began to doubt
our sanity, once we actually set sail together and Thelma
was a reality, our work began to reap dividends. Everyone
who sees her; previous owners (Three of them were at
the International Classics Regatta,) those who sailed
on her at other times in her lives, people who have
never looked at a classic boat, are full of compliments
and encouragement.
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Dressing up like this for the old time festivities
made me wonder how Ladies actually went yachting
before the turn of the century |
We did not have her in racing/sailing condition until
2200 hours the night before the Mahurangi Regatta. So
the very first time I ever got to sail on her (Larry
sailed her from Auckland to our home base as a trial
sail before buying her, since then she has been undergoing
repairs and upgrades) was when we set off five hours
before the racing began. As she is 109 years old, and
we had not had time to go aloft and inspect the rigging,
we made an agreement not to race if winds were forecast
to be more than 25 knots. Though she has a little 10
horsepower Italian diesel engine (Arona, made by Lomborgini),
we felt it appropriate to make our inaugural voyage
under sail alone. In 15 knot northerly breezes, she
slide free of her berth and handled nicely under full
gaff mainsail (all 500 square feet of it on a 9000 pound
boat) plus staysail. Her big rudder gives her full control
at very low speed. But once outside our cove, the wind
began to build so we tucked in a reef. By the time we
reached the Mahurangi River 8 miles south, to join about
70 other classic boats, the wind was up to 25. I could
see Larry wavering, as others maneuvered for the start.
Then we located our friends Neil Beken and Mary Hancock
who had offered to crew with us. As they sailed in to
anchor I was pleased to hear Larry call out, "We've
decided to sail outside the start line and just promenade
around the course, haven't had time to test the gear
yet." So the four of us had a lovely sail together,
we didn't push hard but found Thelma showed a good turn
of speed alongside the boats we knew but also found
we had a lot to learn about moving around in her little
cockpit, getting the running backstays set on time and
moving around on deck as she has no lifelines nor handrails
to hold on to.
The evening ashore was wonderful - with a big tent set
up, a sausage sizzle and wine bar for quick, inexpensive
eating, a 16 piece Glen Miller type band (who often
broke into some grand Rock and Roll tunes) all in one
of the most beautiful rural settings you could imagine,
a 100 year old farm house on 5 acres of grass with huge
trees shading a long sand beach and a large contingent
of the most beautiful yachts in New Zealand anchored
along the shore.
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John Pryor, one of our neighbors, took this picture
of us getting ready to apply a coat of paint on
Thelma as she lay on our tidal grid |
This was in direct contrast to the big International
Classics Regatta we sailed to two weeks later when Thelma
was ready to be tested in winds up to what we have decided
is her limit, 30 knots. (Remember, she is probably the
oldest classic yacht in New Zealand to have over 97
percent of her hull and deck as originally built, so
she is a bit of a responsibility). We reached down to
Auckland the day before the regatta to sail into the
Viaduct Basin originally developed to house the America's
Cup contenders. There we were guests along with about
20 of the 55 boats entered in the event - right in the
center of the city, surrounded by grand restaurants,
strolling entertainers and, only 50 feet from our berth,
an outdoor cinema we could watch from the cockpit each
evening. Once again Neil and Mary joined us for the
first two days of racing. Race one was in 18 knots of
wind, hard work, as we learned new tricks about sailing
Thelma on each leg of the 14 mile course. Race two was
one of the hardest days of sailing I have ever had as
winds blew 25 to 28 knots and the course was 22 miles
long, 10 miles of it to windward against the strongest
tide of the year. But Thelma, with her new keel bolt
washers and the upgrades we made, only took a gallon
of water into bilges and actually was surfing at ten
knots on the eight foot seas we had during the run.
Exciting, hard work, half way through the day I turned
to Larry and said, "I don't think I like racing
at all." Three quarters of the way through the
race when we had to reef even more to tack through the
tide races I said, "I know I don't like doing this."
A hundred yards from the finish line when I looked astern
and saw a lot of other boats still behind us I said,
"I like racing sail boats, but sure and glad this
race is behind us, it made me wonder why we do this."
Mary had the only answer that makes sense, "you
do it to push yourself outside your comfort zone,"
she said. And the results, four mornings of eating gourmet
breakfasts at smart cafes, lots of camaraderie, three
fine evenings of meeting with folks who love their classics,
people who offered us ideas plus bits and pieces to
continue the upgrade of Thelma, a feeling of real connection
with our adapted homeland and a heart warming second
place for our class. Then there was a great sail home
to our Island, writing out the work list, but knowing
we had no pressing time limits to get things done.
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This is the very first sail I took on Thelma, reaching
out of our bay towards the Mahurangi River, 8 miles
south. Another neighor, Gabriel Wilson, took this
from her deck. (Her house is perched about 200 feet
up the hillside across the bay from us.) |
Back here, we have a Kettenberg 43 on the tidal grid
next to the shop. It was hit in a racing collision and
Larry will be spending the next two weeks fixing it.
When that is done, he will be making a new set of oars
to take back with us when winter approaches so we have
them to use on Taleisin as we explore northward from
Victoria in the Northern spring. Meanwhile I will be
working on edits and script for the two part DVD project
which will incorporate our VHS videos and is tentatively
called, Ideas for upgrading your Cruising Boat, and
Voyaging Tips. We were fortunate as the sailing editor
for TV New Zealand was out taking footage during the
regatta. So the DVD will have not only sailing shots
of our own true love, Taleisin, but of Thelma too. On
weekends we plan to do something we love, cruise under
sail to explore some of the local rivers.
Until next newsletter, remember to always keep to windward,
Lin and Larry
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