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 From The Coastal Passage, issue #30

Frank Holden sails in the one of the wildest places on earth.
Frank says:

“Escudo', Breakfast of Champions.... Conrad = Canadian = Crazy..... he is a birdman who works in far northern British Columbia for the guvment counting birds... has spent two seasons in Antarctica counting penguins... came with me for a holiday..... brought his skis.... and got to use them. Big piccy...Stevo is Australian second time in the south...and me. Seno Pia, South coast Tierra del Fuego late last winter.. Sept.”

Frank, you call the Canadian crazy? You’re the one with your yacht parked next to a glacier! Seriously, thanks for the very interesting pics! Now where are my UGG’s?

Barbara and Ulrich (Uli pronounced Oolie to his mates), have sailed their 45' Dufour all the way from Florida, USA and are currently in Cairns. They are originally from Switzerland and have owned 'Antares Royale' for 12 years. Their next stop is South Africa via Darwin; not bad for a retired printer.

photo and words by Wendy, ... SY Absolutely Knot

Mike Waller sent TCP an email from work.. oil rig off the west coast of Africa. Sounds like an interesting place; “When in Transit from the Rig to the Airport, we keep a watchful eye for the Bogart's of this world, when frequenting the likes of The Hotel de France and places such ,….. where “ life is cheap and the whisky is even cheaper”.
However, in our quest for the TRUTH we have so far failed to locate , neither “Sam” nor “The African Queen”, although there are many questionable alternatives.”
Making cruising bickies to go back and start all over again. The boat seems ready. She is a 10 metre Lidgard ½ ton alloy boat with quite a history. Starting in NZ and then taking up residence in Rabaul until the troubles with a volcano and stuff. Now an Aussie.

John & Susie, along with adopted in Dampier moggie Indi, bought Bedar in Fremantle WA about 3 years ago. A 43' Prout catamaran, she is a bit different to the monos Susie used to race up & down the Swan River in Perth. They have sailed her around the top and are currently in Bluewater marina, Cairns. Bedar is heading for the Whitsundays and as Johnno is always quick off the mark with a beer, drop in for a sundowner if you spot them.

picture & words by Wendy, SY Absolutely Knot

“Camper & Nicholson’s 58 ketch. What you see is “initial euphoria”. Extensive re-fit required on a hurricane damaged and neglected boat. Our names are Lynn and Mark Hoenke of Grand Rapids Michigan. The trucker blew 15 tires moving this thing from Ft Lauderdale Florida.”
For those that don’t know US geography, that's about the equivalent of trucking a boat from Melbourne to Darwin. They have a big job ahead but a very worthy one. Mark says they would like to sail to Australia when done but hope we fix customs by then. Thanks for the pics guys!

Sheryl (back to camera) and Gil Waller (at the tiller) have a great boat and sail her!! See below for a sample. Crew above is Elizibeth (blonde hair) and Penny (red suit) and Reece. Harry was taking the pic. They all were on board during the Whitsunday storm. This photo taken at Cid Harbour. Photo at left from Tonga.
“Natsumi was built by a professional boat builder for himself and his wife in Port Lincoln and launched in 1985, the name is Japanese and means 'endless summer' or beautiful summer'. We bought her in 1995 in Cairns and sailed her down to the Whitsundays before taking her back to Fremantle. We have done a few Darwin trips, including a number of times in Shark Bay, Monte Bellos and the Kimberleys, a Freo Lombok race, one to Geraldton and a Sydney Hobart in '04 which we won by default when all the other cruisers pulled out. We last left Freo in '02 with the Variety Splash to Darwin and decided not to hurry back, so with gaps of a few months here and there have gone on to Cairns, Louisiades, Mackay, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, before the Sydney Hobart and on to South Australia for a year or so before reversing course back up towards Queensland where we are now, on route to Townsville from Bowen with a 25k SE up our backside - glad we're not going the other way.”
I was just stopping by to ask about the boat next door.... and first thing I knew I was aboard with a beer in my hand.... ‘this is OK’. Turns out that Bob (at left in group pic and right) had just bought the boat. He said he lived in Thailand and had a bar there but came off badly in a financial separation and came back to OZ with the shirt on the back. So, it’s more than just a boat.
Thanks for the welcome aboard. I had a great time!
Above from left: Bob the new skipper, Elizabeth, Judy, Jude, Rog, Tim and Damian...I think!
Don has been slowly sailing around Australia since the sixties. Starting with the little “Cimba” then “Nomad” and now “Aspro II”. Stopping here and there to work for a while and maybe join the local sailing club. There are sure stories to tell but this little space won’t do it. Don started in WA but must be a citizen of the sea by now. A sailor and his small boat.