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Personal letter from Harold Nossiter to Jack and Nan Maclean

Author Harold Nossiter Junior (Born 1908)

DateSeptember 1936

Object number00028673

NameLetter

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 178 x 227 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Mrs Nancy Mclean

Terms

DescriptionThis letter was written by Harold Nossiter to Jack and Nan Maclean in September 1936 to say they are on their way back to Sydney from their world cruise.HistoryHarold Nossiter (Snr) was a noted Sydney sailor in the 1920s and 30s who became the first Australian to skipper a yacht around the world under an Australian flag from 1935 - 1937. Nossiter was a Sydney based businessman and Vice-President of the Wine and Spirit Association of New South Wales. Harold ordered the construction of a 53-foot staysail schooner in order to fulfil a lifelong dream of sailing around the globe. He named his new schooner SIRIUS and on 14 July 1935, two days after his retirement, left Sydney Harbour with the two eldest of his four sons, Harold Junior and Richard (Dick). Clive Russell, the son of a friend, also sailed on the voyage for part of the way, leaving the schooner in New Guinea. Harold Senior was skipper, Harold Junior the cook and Dick was the navigator, having undertaken a course in ocean navigation in preparation for the trip. The voyage took them to New Guinea, Bali, Singapore, Langkawi, Colombo, through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean and thence to Plymouth, England where they arrived on 2 June 1936. During a three month stint in the UK, Harold Nossiter wrote Northward Ho, his first book documenting the voyage north from Australia. He wrote his second book, Southward Ho, on the voyage home. The crew sailed out of Cowes, England on 17 September 1936 for the return trip to Australia. This voyage took them through the North Atlantic and the Panama Canal into the Pacific Ocean. They sailed to Cocos Island, the Galapagos Archipelago, the Marquesas, the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, Bora Bora, the Cook and Tongan Islands en route. On 20 May 1937 they arriving back in Sydney after nearly two years away, most of it at sea.SignificanceThis letter provides insight and information about the activities of the crew and ports of call during the first world cruise by an Australian yacht - Harold Nossiter in his yacht Sirius. relates to the world cruise undertaken by Harold Nossiter and two of his sons on his yacht SIRIUS between 1935 and 1937. It provides important information