Wintermeeting 1979
Mr. and Mrs. Broekens have again invited all our members and their crews for the wintermeeting in their hospitable house, Konijnenwal nr. 25, Tiel. The meeting will be held on Saturday the 13th of January 1979 and we are expected between 5 o’clock and 5.30 in the afternoon.
Those who have a film or colour slides of their last sailing cruises are kindly invited to bring these with them. Mr. Wil Valentijn will arrange the showing of them, as far as possible.
We shall have a drink and a simple dinner and then we shall start with the films and the colour slides. The costs will be apportioned among those present.
Please note the above-mentioned date for our meeting and inform Mr. Bolte (telephone 020-413714) or Mr. van Marle (tel. 020-738198) if you intend to be present. We also should like to know the number of your crew you have invited.
Rally 1978
The 1978 rally had a better attendance than ever a former rally. Eighteen ships together and seventy-nine persons around the dinner table. A happy crowd.
Anyone can organize a rally, but the ships and their crew members make the rally. The organization team is therefore very grateful to all those who came to Muiden and Monnickendam achieving this real success.
Friday night sixteen ships arrived in Muiden harbour. The next day “Puffin” with a brand new mast, and “Geertruida’ joined us in Monnickendam. The latter probably so hungry? that they forgot all about Muiden and sailed directly to Monnickendam.
Saturday morning the famous palaver was held at a captains’ table in the restaurant of the Royal Netherlands Sailing Club. Meanwhile, the crew was filled with coffee. The arrangement was made to sail as close together as possible to Monnickendam.
Aeolus, the father of Alcyone, was very helpful to prevent a race. A weak southerly wind brought us, still well in time to our destination. We were very favourably moored, right in front of the hotel. Everybody enjoyed the dinner, we all joined in a birthday song for one of the “Geertruida” children, Mr. Ralph Rogers thanked the organizers for their work and rather late we found our way back to the ships.
Sunday morning at the palaver the “Helena Anna” was requested to act as a pathfinder and to look for a suitable anchorage near Volendam for the traditional sherry party. Again with a weak southerly wind we drifted to our new destination. Halfway we met a motorboat, chartered by a certain, notorious ? newspaper. On board a lady who, with tears in her eyes, was looking at the “Banckert”. Later she came alongside.) For our Dutch members who read the “Waterkampioen”: “Carolientje” van K.E.L.Z.).
Another feature of this rally: we saw the Valentijns sail their “own” Cormorant.
At 15.30 the only rainshower in the neighborhood came so near, that we decided to lift anchors. Neither the gay playing band on the passing old-time freighter, nor that shower were arranged, but they came both in time.
Hope to see you all in good health at the next rally!
P.S. Julie Wyn Harris, who was not able to come to the rally, asked me to give her regards to everyone. For our new members: Julie was the wife of the creator of our wonderful ships: Max Gunning.
Participating ships were:
Alcyone I, Banckert, Bonnathure, Aton II, Festina Lente, Majella, Marie Theresia, Vita Nova, Bothnia, Frank Justin, Geertruida, Jacquan, Jonge Boer Jaep, Margaretha, Marmara, Puffin, Vrouwezand, and Helena Anna.
Ships and Owners
The “Eti Fürstin über Punt” has won the first prize in group Vb in the so-called “24 Stunden Rennen von Kiel”. Our congratulations Mr. Hackstein!
And it is rather late, but we heard the “Avalon” has won in 1977 the Lowlands Cup at the Colne Smack race and Sailing Barge Match for Dutch Barges. Also congratulated Mr. Woolrych!
We just heard that Mr. Woolrych has sold the “Avalon” to Mr. A. Twigt. Welcome to our circle Mr. Twigt.
The “Van Linschoten”, the “Banckert” and the “Majella” went this year to the Baltic. The “Banckert” and the “Majella” happened to meet in Denmark.
The “Caecilia” and the “Sesame” of Mr. John Shedd happened to meet in the harbour of Paxos in the Ionian Sea.
The “Caecilia” went up to the Adriatic Sea along the coast of Yugoslavia and visited Venice.
The “Sesame” made a fine voyage to Athens, We enclose the story we received from Mr. John Shedd about his cruise of this summer.
The “Kind Wind has changed her name and is now called “Carapace”, the name this ship had earlier. The owner, Mr. Michael Jacobs sailed in her from Lake Champlain in July and headed south to the Bahamas and West Indies. From there he intended to sail to Bermuda and France.
The “Phoca” is sold to Mr. CAP Groenman. Very welcome to our circle Mr. Groenman. We heard about your plans to sail in the “Phoca” to the West Indies and wish you a very happy and good voyage!
Thanks to the fact that our ships are so shallow-draft, the “Vita Nova” succeeded in visiting this summer all the German islands in the North Sea.
Lloyds Register of Yachts
We saw that some of the yachts of our circle are not mentioned in the Lloyds Register of Yachts. In this annual are registered yachts from all over the world. It does not cost anything to be registered. So we advise our members, who are not yet mentioned in the register to request Lloyds Register of Yachts, to have their yacht also noted in the register. The address of Lloyds Register of Yachts is 71 Frenchurch Street, London E.C. 3M4 BS England.
In your request you should mention:
1. Name and address of the owner and name of the yacht
2. The material of which the yacht is built, being steel, that she has an auxiliary engine, a centre-board and that she is gaff-sloop rigged or gaff-cutter rigged.
3. Port of registry and home port.
4. The following data: Alcyone I & II (A) Cormorants (C)
tons A-8 C-6,28
regd net and gross A-8 C-6,80
Thames measurement A-14 C-8.-
5. Dimensions of the yacht in feet and tenths of a foot
these are for: Alcyone I & II Cormorants
Length thames meas. A-35,8 ft C-28,9 ft
Overall length A-35,8 C-29,4
Waterline length A-29,0 C-25,0
Extreme breadth A-9,1 C-8,9
Depth A-6,8 C-4,6
Draft A-2,9 C-2,2
Sail area in sq. ft. A-525,- C-375,-
6. The name of the sailmaker
7. Year of build, yard (JW Valentijn and sons, Langeraar, Z.H.) and the name of the designer (MF Gunning, M.R.I.N.A.)
8. Engine particulars. So in our yachts an internal combustion engine. Further type (oil or petrol), number of cylinders, the brake horsepower and the name of the company which built it (Perkins, Mercedes, etc.).
Subscriptions
We indeed need some money. So we kindly request our members to remit their 1979 subscriptions into Postgiro account no. 3721241 of the Alcyone Circle, Amsterdam. (£ 2.-., DM 10.-, US$4.00, or Dfl. 10.–)
“Sesame” Summer cruise of 1978 [Ed. – Yugoslavia to the Sardonic Gulf] Arriving at the Dubrovnik Marina in mid May, we found our boat in reasonably good shape, launched. After rigging and fitting out, we sailed down the Yugoslav coast to the Kotor gorges, mooring at the old city. As the city was built, immediately under a steep mountain, the town walls climb the hill, thus preventing hostile hillfolk, from rolling stones into the town.
Departing Yugoslavia, we made an overnight sail to Brindisi, where on entering the harbour, in rapid succession we were inspected by two coast guard helicopters and greeted at the quay by a port official who referred us to the port captain. This gentleman demanded American papers (without which we had cruised for 5 years) and would not accept the boat’s Bill of Sale. This encounter with red tape and small minds produced a hasty air trip to Amsterdam, the Valentijn yard, US consulate Rotterdam, pleasant reunions, a brilliantly beribboned and sealed US document, and return to he “Sesame”, all within 26 hours. It is my impression that local bureaucracy was reacting to “high season” kidnappings and murders, aggravated by our inability to speak the local tongue. This stay cost us 5 days.
We had a fine daylight sail across to Corfu, keeping carefully away from the Albanian coast. Incidentally, this summer, with favouring winds we sailed 95% of the time; the previous summer, Italy and the Dalmation Islands, we MOTORED 90% of the time. Corfu is a pleasant city with excellent repair and supply services. We had been plagued by a fractured exhaust pipe, which they efficiently replaced.
From Corfu we sailed down to Paxos port, pleasantly hidden behind its own little island. Soon after docking I chanced to notice a blue hulled Dutch boat approaching, the “Caecilia” – Michael van Marle with his charming crew – on their way north to the Adriatic. Michael’s help, plus that of a professional diver, was unavailing in freeing our centerboard, which had been jammed in Italy. The constant reaching and running winds, fortunately did not demand a centerboard.
In succession we passed thru the Levkas canal, Meganisi, Ithaca, Zante, then to Katcolon to visit Olympia. Why don’t the Greeks restore several of Olympia’s magnificent ruins? All the stones lie neatly where the earthquake and man toppled them centuries ago. On to Patras and the lovely walled harbour of Navpaktos. While lying in this old port we heard a loud shout – “Hey there’s Shedd’s boat!” It was the chance arrival of a fellow Nyack Boat Club member, who sailed his sloop “Quasar” across in 1977. Being American, his first request was for ice.
On to Troisin, Galaxidi, Itea (and Delphi) and then on a roaring reach/run down to the Corinth canal. This is a fascinating lee-shore approach.
Easily spotted from a distance, the canal men were leisurely in dropping the red flag and running up the blue (go) flag, but in time for us to sail directly in under our jib.
Luckily, no ship was coming west thru the canal.
We sampled a few of the Aegean ports: Sofikon, Epidauros, Poros, before going to Piraeus.
Our feeling is that the Ionian islands and the west coast of Greece are more pleasant cruising grounds than the Aegean, where 95% of the natives’ activities seem oriented to tourism – big, small, fast, slow, and multitudinous ferries, many tourists, as indeed we too were.
Vignette: start over, Shedd!
On Paxos, a waterfront diner, ill advisedly feeding fish heads to a cat, and soon surrounded by more than 18 patient, scrawny, scavenger cats. In other ports dogs would dominate, but no free animal there receives his proper proteins.
A great cruising ground, indeed. We hope that the Aegean and Turkish coast live up to their press notices.
