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We
are the People that are FREE! |
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From
The Coastal Passage, issue # 16 |
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John Hitch is notoriously laid back,
and bride Wanda is, well... notoriously not! It’s hard to
find a harbour that doesn’t have one of Johns “HitchHiker”
design cats moored there. It all started years ago, with a mate
building a Warram cat that needed a little modifying, John finally
gave up and started from scratch.
“X - IT” is a fusion of performance and lazy cruiser.
There is no main sail to have to work at.. there are three head
sails though, all on furlers of course! The structure is an enclosed
version of the fabulous “WIRED.” But where that boat
was bucket and chuck it, this is more like a new unit but furnished
with whicker couch, bean bags, colourful sarongs and other groovy
stuff. John is part of the mulithull revolution that put Australia
in the lead we now enjoy and is still making a very individual
statement. |
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The Harper family! David was an IT guy
with a drug company and Allison, a psychologist originally from
South Africa. David thought it might be good to go sailing and
Allison was keen as well, so.. lucky Natasha and Mathew now call
the lovely CT 41 home and mum and dad are teachers as the main
cabin converts to a school room daily. All think it is a good
idea. The kids learn well and the parents have a life. These
two young ones are typical of boat kids which means they are
smart, independent and great fun to be around. There are surely
many people that dream of doing this but many wait too long or
don’t ever do it at all. Kids grow up so fast...... |
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Don and Vicki are not new to boat building.
The Bowen couple have launched two Bob Oram design boats. Their
retirement home is the new one and is done very comfy with reclining
chairs and other thoughtful touches. The wishbone boom is unusual
but it is hoped it will reduce mainsheet load. Don is the sailor
boy so he likes to keep it simple and singlehandable (my spell
check hates that one!). They will be up and down the coast visiting
family before heading off to the Kimberleys next season. I think
they will have good company as a lot of cruisers we know are
heading that way. Congratulations on the recent launch! |
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Jeff Bowers and Christie Weiser left
America quite a few years ago and don’t seem in a hurry
to return though the Aussie officials seem to have been encouraging
them to move along. They were singled out at an anchorage for
“on the spot fines” because some of their safety gear
didn’t match local standards. With that subject raised and
with the radical changes occurring in Australian laws, Jeff came
up with a cute story called the “Boiled frog syndrome.”
He said if you want to boil a frog you don’t throw him into
boiling water cause he will just jump out right away. But if
you put a frog into cold water and start raising the temperature
slowly..... the frog just sits there until he is dead boiled!
....... anyone feeling warm yet?! |
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Robert left Europe in 1979 aboard his
Prout Cat and is now on his third circumnavigation. Must be the
Dutch heritage! He is an Aussie now and has been here for awhile
but the feet are getting itchy again. With twenty five years
of world cruising under his belt he should know a few things
so I asked a question that had been a matter of contention lately...
guns aboard? His answer? He had guns a long time ago but when
cruising Europe at the time they were just too much trouble to
deal with at every border. He had read the pirate story though
(TCP # 14) and reckoned that for that part of the world... he
agreed, a shot gun would be reassuring. Robert writes a bit about
his adventures, he should take my job, he’s surely better
qualified but I don’t know if he would work cheap enough! |
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