Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

World Cruise In Small Boat

pETER KLOKKER, a 33A year-old Danish mariner, who has been a professional seal and polar bear hunter in the Arctic and is also a talented artist, has built a 23ft sail boat at Redcliffs in which he plans a 15,000-mile cruise back to his seaport home town of Kerteminde in Denmark. He is a wild life enthusiast and on the way he intends to hunt game in a number of countries and plans to take about four years on the voyage. “Built like a battleship.” of exceptionally heavy timbers, his boat has a draught of only about four feet with a massive steel centreboard. This is because he plans several months' crocodile shooting in the shallow estuaries of northern Queensland, his first place of call. Sailing is in his blood. His grandfather was an officer on square-rigged sailing ships for many years. As early as he can remember, he has liked to sail in small boats, and after he completed his training as a carpenter in Denmark he took employment on seal chasers in the Antarctic for a num-

■ ber of years. He also later . went seal hunting and cod - fishing off the coast ol r Greenland, gaining consids erable experience in navigas tion and handling small - craft in rugged conditions. i He is sailing home to Den- > mark because he has loved [ the sea since a child and has a temperamental liking for travel which prevents him from remaining long in the ( same district. He has been I in New Zealand four years . in business as a builder and has constructed a number of , houses. Apart from the tiny ports ' and the obviously very " strongly-built decking and t coachtop, the craft presents ' no outward suggestion that it may be destined for one i of the most notable small ! ship cruises in sea history. The craft will be gaffi rigged, so that the single : mast will not be too high to Overbalance the centrei board keel. There is an ■ eight-foot beam which will : add to the seaworthiness of ; the design. . But not long before he deI eided to come to New Zea- ■ land he was engaged in a ■ job which was to have his- : toric associations with this i country. He made the sledges ■ (38 in all) some of which

were used by the Fuchs-Hil-lary expedition on their world famous trans-Antarc-tic trek. Skilled in working in timber, he has taken about two years to construct the hull The design is based on a well-proven Danish type of craft. Mr Klokker has already built one of these ships in Denmark and is satisfied that it is both an excellent sea boat as well as having solid sailing performance in a variety of conditions.

Main feature in the cabin is a massive single-cylinder Olsen marine diesel which can give about six knots wiih a fuel consumption of about a gallon an hour. The engine will be used as an auxiliary mostly for coastwise cruising. The voyage will be mainly under sail. Mr Kiokker still has some building commitments to complete in Christchurch to make enough money to complete the equipment such as navigation aids including a compass, and food storage for the voyage. First New Zealand destination will be the Picton area, where he intends to give the craft a thorough series of sea trials. Then the voyage will begin.

The New Zealand legal position, he says, is that once outside the three-mile limit the New Zealand authorities have no jurisdiction to stop him from proceeding further. But Kiokker, a man of inflexible purpose, says, "But if they try, I wall go just the same."

Arrival Present plans are that a Danish friend may arrive here soon to accompany him on the trip. "But," says Peter, “if he is held up or esn’t come, then I go alone just the same.” The craft is designed to be self-righting if overturned. “If the weather is bad enough to turn me over then it can turn me back again,’’ is his philosophy. Unusual talent as an artist will give Kiokker additional interest on the voyage because he intends to sketch wild life as well as hunt game during the trip. He has made a number of holiday hunting expeditions while in New Zeeland and is a keen student of New Zealand native game and plants. Later he was a Government deer culler.

His strikingly beautiful drawings, which are full of vitality and realism, are in the possession of a number of friends he has made in Christchurch during his stay here.

He is recognised as an artist in Denmark and his name is on the register of artists at the Royal Art Gallery at Copenhagen.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19610429.2.45

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
786

World Cruise In Small Boat Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 5

World Cruise In Small Boat Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 5

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert