Dulcinea — our first yacht

Just 10 minutes to move the mast and find and
mount the wheel

Dulcinea was built in Kaoshung, Taiwan in 1977. She is a Formosa 46, in effect an extended Peterson 44. The design was obtained by the Formosa Boat Co and the first few yachts were built under the able eye of an Australian boatbuilder. We saw the first of many arrive in PNG and they were cheap.... real cheap so we had to have one and put down a deposit in mid 1977. Later in the year, Lyndall travelled to the boatyard to supervise construction where it was built in 6 weeks. We found out then why it was so cheap and repairs over the 9 years we owned her were to form the basis of our knowledge and provided the experience to build illywhacker

Slings are only just attached to the cradle

We were advised to ship Dulcinea to Hong Kong and prepare her for the passage home to Lae in PNG and spent 6 weeks in the RHKYC doing all we could. We were joined by our crew, Dave Gosden, Jenny and Gary Eiszele and our eldest son James. Sails were delivered from LeeSails in Hong Kong, who were very helpful, basic instrumentation installed and safety gear mounted. There was so much to do and we had to get back to work so we called it quits and departed early in December, straight into a typhoon!

Headsail as hanked on in those days

Our route was Hong Kong, Manila, Palau, Lae. From the moment of meeting the crew were incompatable, the skipper was green (experience and seasickness), the weather formidable and time was running out. In short all the ingredients were there for a disastrous crossing on the first leg from Hong Kong to Manila.  We were inexperienced sailors on an untried yacht in Asia for the first time. While we were struggling to come to grips with what seemed like overwhelming and insurmountable problems abroad, events at home where our 3 younger children were being minded, proved to have far-reaching consequences for our family.

A spanking NE en route to Palau, Lyndall steering - note the lack of protection!

The story of the delivery trip and the subsequent passages we made in Dulcinea will be told in this website.

The delivery journey was truly a learning experience and these pictures touch upon the moments of anxiety, joy and pride we felt.

James helmed for hours while his exhausted parents slept