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Wednesday September 16, 2015

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@thepacket

Newsdesk: 01326 213341 Email: [email protected]

In Port Sixty years since trans-Atlantic trip

with David Barnicoat

Shipping movements TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 Marshall Islands tanker Kirstin (30,006/09) arrived from Loch Long, Scotland for bunkers in Falmouth Bay and sailed for Nova Scotia, Canada. Marshall Islands tanker STI Battery (29,785/14) arrived from Milford Haven for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Amsterdam. British research vessel Severn Guardian (22/12) sailed from the Port Pendennis Marina to Newlyn.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Antiguan tanker Sloman Hermes (11,298/12) arrived from Terneuzen, Netherlands for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Milford Haven. Panamanian landing craft Arromanches (290/87) arrived from the Isles of Scilly to County Wharf to load building materials.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Norwegian vehicle carrier Verona ( 37,237/00) sailed from No. 2 dry-dock for Le Havre, France. Dutch salvage tug Bluster (2,311/88) arrived from Brittany, France to County Wharf and sailed later to take up salvage station in Falmouth bay. Liberian tanker Pacific Onyx (28,426/13) arrived from Brazil for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Pembroke. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Belgian general cargo vessel Fast Sam (1,983/94) arrived from the River Thames to load glass at the County Wharf and sailed for Gunness, Humber River. Panamanian bulker Frontier Lodestar (92,752/11) arrived from the North Sea Canal, Netherlands for bunkers in Falmouth Bay and sailed for Quebec, Canada. Bluster (2,311/88) sailed from Falmouth Bay for Ijmuiden, Netherlands. Curacao reefer Sierra Loba (5,100/97) sailed from Falmouth Bay for Amsterdam, Netherlands SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 Antiguan general cargo vessel Nordana Emma (9,611/05) arrived from Emden, River Ems, Germany for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Port Colbourne, Labrador, Canada. Faeroese tanker Fure Fladen (11,377/03) arrived from Teesport to Crossroads for bunkers and sailed for Bethiaou, Algeria. Dutch general cargo vessel Stellaprima (6,902/91) arrived from Alabama, USA to Falmouth Bay to await orders. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 Liberian bulker Belo Horizonte (42,951/12) arrived from Salvador, Brazil, to Falmouth Bay. British tanker Sarnia Cherie (GIB/tco 3,043/07) arrived from Port Jerome, River Seine, France for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Milford Haven. Irish general cargo vessel Arklow Rebel (2,999/05) arrived from Bordeaux, France for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Hull, River Humber. Liberian lpg tanker Navigator Neptune (17,840/00) arrived from Le Havre, France for bunkers in the Carrick Roads. Marshall Islands bulker Besiktas (94,145/11) arrived from Puerto Nuevo, Columbia for bunkers in Falmouth Bay MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14 Navigator Neptune (17,840/00) sailed from Falmouth Bay to sea in a south westerly direction and slow steaming to wait for orders in the Atlantic. Bahamian passenger ferry Commodore Clipper (14,000/99) arrived from Portsmouth into No. 3 dry-dock. Panamanian bulker Ocean Cygnus (89.603/06) arrived from Mount’s Bay for bunkers in the bay and sailed for Port Cartier, Canada. Besiktas (94,145/11) sailed from Falmouth Bay for Europoort, Rotterdam.

DEVORAN-based designer of catamarans, yachtsman, explorer and marine archaeologist 87-yearold James Wharram will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of his first trans-Atlantic crossing from Falmouth to the West Indies later this month. On September 27, 1955 James along with his two women crew set sail from Falmouth aboard Tangaroa, a self-built 23 ft. long flat-bottomed double canoe, which in modern yachting parlance is now called a catamaran. Thor Heyerdahl had crossed the Pacific in 1948 from Peru to Polynesia to prove that the inhabitants of the central Pacific islands had migrated from South America by sailing raft. A theory now questioned by eminent anthropologists. The Western world and Heyerdahl at this time concluded that the Polynesian craft were not seaworthy enough to complete any long ocean voyages. In 1953 at the age of 25, having extensively researched and studied Polynesian and Pacific craft, James embarked on a mission to prove that these were in fact extremely capable vessels. He designed and built the first British ocean-going double-canoe/catamaran, the Tangaroa. James said: “My quest was to sail the Atlantic to prove the double canoe was a seaworthy vessel. An ambitious project to prove Thor Heyerdahl was wrong.” With two German girls Jutta Schultze-Rohnhof and Ruth Merseburger as crew he set sail from Falmouth for Las Palmas and then onto Trinidad. “From that voyage, with a greater understanding of ocean sailing double canoes I built a 40ft, V-eed hull catamaran in Trinidad named Rongo and sailed it 1,500 miles north to New York. Then I made the first ever multi-hull voyage from west to east across the stormy North Atlantic in 1959. This led me to become a designer of catamarans,” said James. His inspiration for his first voyage came from reading The Voyage of the Kaimiloa by Frenchman Eric De Bisschop. He said the book is probably the most influential book in his extensive library. De Bisschop built a 38ft junk rigged, Pacific-inspired, double canoe in Hawaii in 1938 and sailed it with a companion across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans (via Cape of Good Hope) to

James Wharram and his two German women crew aboard catamaran Tanagaroa moored alongside the south side of Customs House Quay prior to sailing the Atlantic in 1955

James Wharram Toulon in France, thereby proving that the Pacific double canoe was a seaworthy craft, capable of making long ocean voyages. James, who describes himself as a “disciple” of De Bisschop, said this was probably the reason he found himself in Falmouth 60 years ago ready to embark on a thrilling voyage of discovery. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, James Wharram is often described as the “father” of multi-hulls. Internationally acclaimed for his sterling work, here in the UK he has not had the recognition he so rightly deserves. His voyages of exploration, designs and adventures warrant a place in our maritime history both locally and nationwide. Since these first pioneering voy-

ages, James, from 1973 assisted by his co-designer Hanneke Boon, has been designing Polynesianstyle catamarans for people to build themselves, to bring the concept of seaworthy, ocean-going double canoes to the Western yachting public, meeting a lot of resistance from the British yachting establishment on the way. “Particularly in the early years, when people still could not accept that a ‘native’ boat could be as good or better a sailing ship than a Western-type yacht, especially when such a craft was self-built by an ‘amateur’,” he said. In 1987-92 James and his partners built a new flagship, the 63ft catamaran Spirit of Gaia, which they sailed into the Pacific and round the world, to study IndoPacific canoe-craft. In 2008-09 James and Hanneke conceived the Lapita Voyage expedition, sailing two double canoes based on traditional Polynesian hull form, from the Philippines to Tikopia and Anuta in the Solomon Islands. The ‘Lapita Voyage’ was a major expedition in experimental marine archaeology. It was the first exploration of one possible migration route into the Central Pacific by ethnic sailing craft. The two boats were donated to the remote Polynesian islands for future transport use. Today, James continues to fol-

low his passion for designing catamarans with his life having come full circle again with a brand new design, the same length as Tangaroa, a lightweight trailer sailer/coastal trek catamaran, the MANA 24. He said: “She has modern features and influences, but essentially the design philosophy that inspired me as a young man still motivates me now.” “I think that modern sailing boats are being priced out of the market. Not just by 20 per cent VAT but by the price of moorings and marinas. The best solution to this is to self-build your boat and to trail it home. “Assisted by a team of Cornish enthusiasts, local designer and CAD expert Simon Holman, the computer cutting firm Fibrefusion and the Cornwall Marine Network, we have tied all our sailing, design and building knowledge into this new 24ft car trailersailer design to be sold as an easy to assemble ‘Ikea’ style kit boat using state of the art CNC machines, 3D graphics and a design concept we hope will appeal to an audience of adventurous, free spirited people. “ In a Pathé newsreel clip filmed in Falmouth see the Tangaroa moored at the quay ( h t t p s : / / w w w. yo u t u b e. c o m / watch?v=t72lKIpb3VY).