WORLD CRUISE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 601, 4 August 1933, Page 7

WORLD CRUISE

NEiW ZEALANDER'S TRIP IN HOME-MADE BOAT. CIRCULAR SAW AS KEEL. World cruises are the thing to-day, per Franconias or Malolos, if funds and inclination run that way, per Southern Crosses or Winnie Maes if

mcimations and money run in a different direction, per Snarks, Tilicums, Monsut-nens, or Firecrests, if the determination is theye but not the means. A young New Zealander, Mr. Stanley Ward, a. Woodville boy, who until recently liv-ed at Hastings and Motu, decided a few months ago that he would cruise the world as well, but lacking means for regular travel, set to work to provide his own. W-orking with' practically no- jassistance, and from an initial knowledge of boatbuilding which was almost nil, and, moreover, with very slender means, he built from heart of yellow pine grown in the district, the Dauntless, 30 feet' long and with a beam of 11ft 2in. The ribs -are spaced at six inches and the planking is |in thinck. Provision is made for a fresh water capacity of 200 gallons, and for 80 gallons of oil for use in oil bags in case of emergency. Built Inland. For an amateur to fight his way past the many real diffieulties -of boatbuilding is remarkable, but the Dauntless is more remarkable than that, for she was built in the hill country well back from the sea iand had to be transported over heavy roads and through the Waioeka Gorge to Opotiki.. Here there was almost a tragedy, for the pin bolt between trailer and lorry al- . most failed. A second lorry wias necessary to pull the trailer up the steep hill, and near the summit the tow rope hecame entangled, and again disaster was narrowly averted. In getting the trailer round ia bad b'end at the bottom of the gorge minor damage was done

to the hoat, but after a tryin-g journey of eleven hours Opotiki was safely reached. Mr. Ward inbends to sjail ditect from Opotiki. A stay will be made at Great Barrier Island, where the craft will he tested in the first -stiff -ga-le that springs up. If everything is satisfactory the yacht will then go north', and the first call will be- at Norfolk Island. Bassage to England will be made by way of Suez Camal. Mr. Ward hopes to spend several months in England before starting on -his return voyage, which will • be made by way of the Atlantic Coast of Canada and the Banama Canal. "I do not intend to take any foolish risks, but to play safe at all times," said Mr. Ward. "I hope to reeeive weather foreoasts by wireless and to sail as much as possible only when thex weather cohditions are suitable." There will be a crew of four, of whom one ig still to he- selected and he is to be an experienced yachtsman for though Mr, Ward has taken a course in navigation h'e has so far done no ocean -sailing. One of the crew is a wirelesfe operator. The three men so far selected are all of six feet or more, Mr. Ward b'eing the shortest of the three, a bare six feet. There is still another remarkable feature of the Dauntless, and that is the keel, for nothing suitable was a-vailable, but finally an -outsize in circular saws was found, unwanted, at a timber mill in th'e Motu district, and, all going well, it will next year work a passage back to England, surely a most unusual job for a bush circular siaw to be put to.