Full circle, and around again

Noel and Litara Barrott have fulfilled their dream to sail around the world - twice, reports ROBIN BAILEY.

It's dreamtime at the Viaduct Harbour as marine wannabes look over the latest and best in yachts, launches, motors and electronics.

Thousands of New Zealanders cherish the ambition, not always secretly, to cruise the world's oceans. Many live the dream. All could heed the example of Whangarei couple Noel and Litara Barrott. They have done 137,000 nautical miles offshore and survived many life-threatening experiences.

With two circumnavigations of the globe in their logbook, the Barrotts' seamanship was recognised this year with the award of the Cruising Yacht Club of America's Blue Water Medal at a celebrity dinner in New York.

Born in Waipu, Noel Barrott built his first oceangoing yacht while serving his apprenticeship at the Alan Orams boatyard in Whangarei.

The 38-foot cutter Masina was launched in 1973 as Barrott completed his apprenticeship. Shortly before the launch he met wife-to-be Litara, who also had a strong love of the sea.

Luxury and modern technology were not part of the Masina mix. She had two berths, a single Primus burner, a chart table and all-purpose bucket. There was no engine or self-steering.

Off the pair went on a six-week cruise to Litara's home in Samoa. After that it was on to Cape Horn and an early adventure.

They lost most of their rudder after hitting ice at latitude 60 degrees south. Repaired, the Masina sailed along the west coast of South America and on to Samoa, Japan, Alaska, Canada, Washington State, Hawaii and Tahiti.

Then it was round Cape Horn, a cruise along the south coast of Tierra del Fuego, the Falklands and the Caribbean and on to Britain. On the way to the Southern Ocean they called at the Channel Islands, Southern Ireland, Cape Verde, Ascension, St Helena and Cape Town. From there it was back into the Southern Ocean and on to Tasmania and Sydney.

In 1980, with 80,000 sea miles under the Masina's keel, they were back in New Zealand. The plan was to build another boat and bring up their young family, but the home-owning part of the plan took a little longer than they anticipated and the gap extended to 14 years.

The second Barrott yacht is the Sina, a 35-foot yawl named after their daughter. Launched in 1994, she sailed from Whangarei with Sina and son Walter aboard for a circumnavigation of Australia.

That completed, Walter left the yacht in Darwin and headed for Melbourne and university. The others sailed on.

What followed was a crossing of the Indian Ocean to South Africa and a trans-Atlantic passage to Salvador, plus a 500-mile trip up the Amazon.

The family then spent a couple of years working in boatyards with stopovers on the East Coast of the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Iceland, the Faroes and the Canaries.

Next long leg was 4000 miles to Buenos Aires using celestial navigation and old pilot charts, which added a degree of difficulty to the challenge.

From Buenos Aires they rounded Cape Horn against the prevailing wind. For that leg Australian sailor Peter Mosebrugger joined the yacht.

Noel recalls the experience after the yacht was laid "past her beam ends and with both masts submerged" by a big gust.

The near capsize threw the skipper and crewman into the water. Litara, with 19-year-old Sina at the helm, managed to gybe the boat and get both men back on board.

Once the sea flattened and the wind went down they sailed for a sheltered anchorage and repaired the storm damage, including the shattered main boom, before rounding Cape Horn again and heading north along the Chilean coast and across to Tahiti.

They ended their second circumnavigation in Western Samoa on the way back to New Zealand.

On all their voyages the Barrotts stand watches. Noel: "We can't and won't depend on electronic aids, autopilot or self-steering gear. Nothing can replace watch-keeping at sea. A modern freighter can go from lights down on the horizon to be on top of you in 20 minutes."

Sina the yacht is on the hard at Whangarei being prepared for sale. Sina the daughter is studying medicine at Otago University and Noel and Litara are planning their next yacht.