Tony's UHURU – Ventura California to Brisbane Australia

[Bill]

Tony Benado writes:

I just happened to be on eBay looking at sailboats. I came across a Pearson Ariel and the site said if you want info, go the Pearson Ariel Association site. Well, I didn't know there was one, so I did a Google search and found it, then I just cruised around. It wasn't until I got to the Gallery forum that I discovered my beloved UHURU that I sailed from California to Australia in 3+ years.

I have a four-volume logbook that a few people have reviewed and said I should write a book. But I am not into that. The experience of this journey was just phenomenal. I said to myself, why should I wait until I retire and do something like this and do it now. I was 29 at the time I took off, so I called it an early sabbatical. I had my trusty sextant and a well found "beefed up" boat. I always had crew, one extra person, as I am not into going solo. Yep, some modifications were necessary before crossing all that water. My longest passage was from Acapulco, Mexico to the Marquesses Islands, which took 34 days.

Here are two photos that I scanned, just to prove I was the crazy person that sailed her to Australia

Tony Benado
Previous Owner of the "little red boat" that could. In Tahiti, this is what Uhuru was called.

[Bill]

UHURU in Tahiti

[Bill]

UHURU having a partry with Tahiti locals, etc.

[Tony G]

That's fantastic! The 'littleLady' isn't sold on the idea but I am. We've often wondered about, and would love to read about, how the little red boat got down under.

[c_amos]

UHURU having a partry with Tahiti locals, etc.

Man look at all those people aboard! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Bill]

would love to read about, how the little red boat got down under.

We are negotiating with Tony on that possibility.

[frank durant]

I too would be very interested in more pictures and stories about UHURU"s adventure...namely most memorable stops..best scenary..sail combination to conditions ( that many nm"s..you have to experiment LOTS ) and heavy weather tactics etc. I must say that I am confused by nearly every ones fasination with taking an ariel off shore.....and wether or not they ARE capable.........THEY ARE !!!!look at the similarities to a contessa 26 (folk boat) They have been sailed around the world twice by kids !! (ok..REAL young adults 18-19 ) AND an 50 something grand mother !!Very similar numbers and NO bridge deck!! The famous and highly praised pacific seacraft 25..... An ariel has a 30% BETTER "comfort motion factor " AND BETTER capsize screening ratio !!! Add NO bridge deck on the pc25 (real low companion way ) Add WAY less sail erea ( check the phrf-- 50 plus more seconds to the nm on thr pc25 ) an ariel should be both faster AND more comfortable...safer too!! Thank you Carl !! Come on guys ...these ARE great AND capable boats. After relatively minor interior changes (copying sirroco"s ice box arrangement) I will be off to the Bahamas...with NO concerns about the boats capability. Keep the off shore Pics coming....more cruise stories too Frank#50

[Tony B]

Hi Folks,
I will submit more photos, as I will need to dig them up. We didn't have digital cameras in those days, so they are not readily available on my computer. In fact, SatNav was in the planning stages when I took off. GPS, what's that? I had to shoot stars, planets and of course the sun with my trusty sextant to find all those wonderful places glittering like jewels in the South Pacific. I’ll include storm tactics “live”, how Uhuru just about did a 360 roll over just north of the Tasman Sea (storm try prevented a complete roll over) and how about the Chief of Urafara on Moorea (where they filmed the Mutiny of the Bounty) wanted me to stay there and marry his daughter.
Stay tuned.
Tony

[frank durant]

Thanks Tony. Any pics and advive would be appreciated! Any one else with adventures to share....cruising hints etc. please send in. thanks Frank #50

[frank durant]

hello Tony B Have you had any luck with more pics of your trip?? Any advice or interesting stories also appreciated. Merry Xmas Frank

[Tony B]

In the 3-½ years of sailing from California to Australia, we only encountered survival conditions on one occasion that but it lasted for three days. This was our sail from the Bay of Islands, New Zealand to Brisbane, Australia, via Norfolk Island. This course would put us on the periphery of the Tasman Sea, as opposed to going direct, so putting in a dogleg was the most prudent. We left at the appropriate time, in the spring (down under). In fact the New Caledonia to Auckland race was also going on. So there were lots of yachts sailing this area that time of the year. Little did we know, what was developing and neither did the meteorologists. It was going to be a choice of putting into practice one of four survival tactics, of “lying-a-hull”, “hove to”, “running before the seas” or a “sea drogue”.

Let me digress that our sea/weather problems were caused by was a very deep low with very little rain associated with it. The winds were 50-60 knots blowing for 2+ days period, which really isn’t that bad. But what was terrible was the fetch. This low was so large and intense that there was approximately a 1000 (one-thousand) mile fetch. With this kind of fetch, you can just imagine the seas/waves that were formed. Multiply the fetch, the strength of the wind and of course the duration and you have severe seas, as bad as a hurricane. Upon reaching our destination, we had heard of the racing yachts falling off 30 foot waves, breaking their bulkheads and what not, besides loss of crew. We were in the same thing, but further west.

The three photos show us at the very beginning of this weather with only the storm try. One really needs to make a decision before things get really bad; otherwise you jeopardize the well being of the crew and yacht. The close up of the tang bolt at the spreaders show what prevented us from doing a 360 degree roll over as the storm try hit the water and tang bolt bent, when the 20 foot breaking wave that broke to our starboard. The other photo is yours truly, bloodied up. Why we did not lose the mast, must be attributed to the new 316 stainless steel tang bolt and the beefed up chain plates that I added to the rigging in preparation for offshore passage-making and the tremendous mast support that was added. (In Geoff’s pictures, I see this has been removed). I believe rigging and mast-support is probably the weakest link with the preparing of any yacht for passage making. All you Ariel owners know that the cockpit coaming probably doesn’t rise more that 12 inches, if that, above the deck. Well, when we were knocked down, this portion above the deck was busted like a match. Water did this, as nothing else was around to hit it. This will attest to the force of the 20 foot breaking wave that greeted us.

After the first knockdown, I removed a toggle at deck level (I had two to each lower and upper shrouds) that help stabilized the mast. Running rigging was also used to help shore up the mast. Two other subsequent knockdowns, but on day two and day three occurred, but to a much lesser degree.

I had some previous experience with mast problems out at sea. About 4 years prior to my taking “Uhuru” offshore, my company, Ocean Voyages was hired by A-1 International Marine Recovery to “resteal” a Bayfield 32, “Paloma” for Wells Fargo Bank. This sailboat was located in Tahiti. By restealing, is meant to imply that the pharmacist and nurse that took out a loan to buy this new sailboat and outfit it, set sail and thusly defaulted on the payments. Upon arrival in Tahiti, we contacted the Gendarme (French police) with our paper work from Wells Fargo Bank. They put the crew in jail for a day and told them to be prepared to give us the yacht the next morning. There was only one problem here; they also gave them back their passports. We just knew they were going to sail away that night, so we put together a surveillance plan to keep an eye of the boat overnight. (I should have walked a dog, because I fell asleep and the boat was gone). We then chartered a private plane with some French immigration folks and Gendarmes, while a Navy frigate was also dispatched. We located the yacht about 20 miles south of Tahiti so we flapped our wings as a signal to the Navy frigate on where they were. The frigate caught up to “Paloma” in no time and with a few rounds of live ammunition across “Paloma’s” bow, the yacht was boarded and sailed back to Papette. (This episode is just the tip of the iceberg, so let’s move on). Let me fast forward here. We sailed the boat back to Marina del Rey, CA from Tahiti with a layover in Hilo, Hawaii. Well, it was our sail from Hawaii to California near the latitude of San Francisco (we had to sail this far north to get above the Pacific high), that I was climbing the mast as I do at least once a week to check for any problems with fittings and what not. (I love mast-steps and this is why I added them on “Uhuru”). Well, it was pretty windy out there and dusk was on the horizon and we were under headsail alone, due to the amount of wind. On this occasion when I got to the lower spreaders, guess what beat me down to the deck. Yep, the lower shrouds and I was like a fish on a pole. The tang bolt that was not stainless, like what I added on “Uhuru” fell to the deck. I called down to my crew to help secure the mast with the rigging and douse the headsail. We got that squared away and found a bolt we could improvise as a tang bolt. That was the easy part. Getting the lower shrouds up their in those kind of seas under motor was a task. One does a lot of jury-rigging at sea and we had lot of experience on this particular passage. Like replacing the head gasket with the cover of a nautical almanac. (For those of you that only know what a GPS is, a nautical almanac is a series of tables you use to find your latitude and longitude with a sextant).

Okay enough, now you have the reason why 316 stainless tang bolts must be used, why chain plates need to be modified and why I like mast steps.

[Bill]

Tony, your story will be mailed to Goeff . . .

[epiphany]

Thank you for the story and input, Tony B. Especially valuable to me as I plan to build #370 in a manner that will make her as offshore-worthy a cruiser as possible. :)

Looking forward to any more stories and photos you care to share about your long-distance journeys on "Uhuru"...

[Tony G]

Tony,

I've reread your postings for about the fifth time this morning. They're a great read every time. True adventures always outweigh fiction. Please, give us another page. It helps stave off the 40 below wind chill and 10 inches of snow.

Thanks, Tony G

[mrgnstrn]

Quick question:
from the picture of the trysail, it looks like it is flown on an "auxiliary" track, to the side of the regular mainsail track.....is this correct, or am I seeing things?
If so, how high up must the aux track go?

thanks....

[Bill]

Tony, the winter newsletter (mailed to all) includes Tony Benado's story of sailing form California to Australia, plus a short article on what he did to prepare the boat for the trip.

[Tony G]

Thanks Bill

That'll be great to read about. The newsletters are a super little publication in their own right. I always look forward to seeing one in the mailbox and they never go to the circular file.

I think the sequence of events surrounding this thread is just another testament to the outstanding quality of this association. This forum has wealth of good information contained in it's volumes. The level of activity and interaction among members here is honorable. The occational ribbing one gets, in good humor, is a far cry from the outright bickering you can find on some forums. Wether a member posts regularly or just drops in occationally to find an answere to a particular question, the response is always favorable.

I guess I'd just like to thank Bill and Gene and everyone else who makes this association work like it does. And hats off too to all of the association members. These are fine boats and we make a fine example of what a community should be.

[epiphany]

Speaking of the Association, I need to join, which I will do this week. A questions begs asking though -

Is there any way to get copies of the old newsletters? If that's not possible, maybe someone with a collection would consider a Lend/Lease program for a couple or 3 weeks while I read through their collection? I'd also consider scanning them and putting the back issues on a CD (for distribution by the Association), if that would get me the chance to read through them.

[Bill]

Dave, the Association tries to keep a copy of each newsletter, but please understand that some are much worse than others :rolleyes: The one's with substantial member input are good. The newsletters that depend on the editor are not so good.

Which is a way to remind viewers, that if you have a story about sailing, maintaining, repairing, customizing, etc., etc., an Ariel or Commander, please send it to us. We will help out by editing (with your approval) and then it will be published under your by-line. :D

Have to think about "lending" our copies, but it could be possible. Remind me at rphelon (a) juno . com.

[Tony B]

Yes, there was a separate storm trysail track. This is a must for going offshore. Can you imagine struggling with removing the mainsail or part of it and feeding the storm try when things are going from bad to worse? Yikes, I don't want to be there. The storm try lived in the foc'sle and when we knew we might need it, we bent it on the auxiliary track so it was just a quick hoist away. The storm try track went to just above the spreaders, if I remember correctly.

[c_amos]

In another thread Eric posted;


"starcrest was on the same dock as uhuru in the early 1980s.I knew tony b from just a few docks down.there was also a guy named dennis,(lived on some type of glass over wood hard chined boat)whose mother later purchased an ariel....
I was informed that dennis was lost---possible drowned ---fell overboard during some sort of illness.then on the same dock there was a guy named 'DJ' john overocker----lived on a converted life boat called chivas regal.all at ventura west marina,d dock..... ."
Pretty cool huh? (Uhuru and Starcrest in the same marina... not the part about the other guy)