SAILING TO ROMANTIC ISLES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 666, 18 May 1929, Page 1

SAILING TO ROMANTIC ISLES

Auckland Adventurers’ Plans

CRUISE IN 44-TON YACHT

BOUND on a 6,000-mile voyage through the romantic islands of the South Seas, the 44-ton auxiliary schooner Valkyrie will leave Auckland on Monday evening and plunge < into the combers of the Pacific Ocean with a crew of ten.'

One of the longest voyages ever attempted by New Zealanders, the cruise of the Valkyrie, will be the most romantic. So much has it appealed to the world at large that an American journal has specially commissioned a representative to join the craft at Suva. The adventures of the Valkyrie will be recorded serially in America, and will later be given to the world in the form of a book. The Valkyrie will be under the command of Captain Ernest Gilling, an expert mariner, and a first-class photographer. He will carry a ■ movie” camera, by means of which the wanderings of the craft will be chronicled. Later the film will be released for world distribution by a well-known American film corporation. Captain Ernest Gilling is owner and master of the Valkyrie. He has spent many years at sea. and has always carried in his mind the intention to build a schooner for island cruising. The Valkyrie was specially built to his own design from plans drawn by him on brown paper while at sea, when he was financially unable to buy such a boat. Captain Gilling was for 10 years engaged in newspaper photographic work, and carries his own movie camera, the vessel being built with a special dark-room for the development of the films, which would otherwise deteriorate owing to climatic conditions. When Captain Gilling returns to New Zealand it is his intention to cruise round the West Coast sounds of the South Island. He has been a member of the Akarana Yachting Club for many years, and last evening the builder of the craft, C. Bailey, Junr.. presented the vessel with a silver tea-set.

Accompanying Captain Gilling will be Captain Townsend, who is well known for his great feat in 1926 when he navigated the 10-ton yacht Psyche across the Tasman Sea from Wellington to Sydney in spite of heavy seas which hampered other shipping. Two women will he included in the crew. It is proposed to visit the most inaccessible of the islands in the various groups. Two months will be spent In the Fiji and Tongan groups and a course will be set for the Society and Cook Islands, before proceeding to the Marquesas, midway between the United States and New Zealand. Samoa will also he visited and if time permits a call will be made at Pa-peete. This is' considered the best time of the year to make the trip. The island monsoon season is said to finish at the end of March and after a month is supposed to be free from monsoons up till the beginning of the New Zealand summer. Also, the heat is less severe. A radio set will make up for the absence of a gramophone, as the little craft will be within the reach of Australasian wireless stations. At Suva, in addition to the American journalist, a black boy will be picked up who is conversant with the Tongan and Fiji groups. The captain’s quarters are aft on the vessel and the crew’s for’rad. Off the main saloon, which is amidships, opens three cabins. And so on Monday evening the Valkyrie will clear Auckland for Kawau, where two and a-half tons of fresh water will be picked up before she heads northward on her long voyage into the charmed and romantic waters of the South Seas.