SV Camdeboo
SV Camdeboo
Welcome to the website of S/V Camdeboo of Victoria! We hope you enjoy reading about our cruising adventures (preceded by an intense year of preparation) and looking at some of our favourite photos.
We left our home port, Victoria, BC Canada on May 25, 2006 and set sail for the South Pacific. On board were Campbell and Jennifer, daughters Eleanor (15) and Rowan (14), Jennifer's brother Alastair, and two of his children, Alexandra (15) and Harrison (11). Alastair's wife Lorraine and daughter Katherine later spent a three week vacation with us in French Polynesia.
In our first six months of cruising, we travelled some 7,000+ nautical miles, arriving in Whangarei, New Zealand on November 16, 2006. Along the way, we visited French Polynesia (Marquesas, Tuamotus, Society Islands), the Cook Islands (Aitutaki, Rarotonga, Palmerston), Niue and the Kingdom of Tonga (Vava'u Group, Minerva Reef).
The adventure continued in 2007; from New Zealand we sailed back to the Cook Islands (Aitutaki, Rarotonga, Suwarrow), and then headed west to American Samoa and Samoa (Upolu and Savaii), Tonga (Niuatoputapu) and Fiji. Our 2007 crew included Campbell’s sister, Patricia, and another family from Victoria: Bob & Maureen and their daughters, Emily (20) and Lucy (17). We returned to Victoria in mid-August 07 and re-established ourselves (and our lives) on terra firma.
In summer 2008, as a result of changes to Fijian government policy re cruising yachts, Camdeboo was moved to Brisbane, AU via Vanuatu (Tanna Island). There she was put up for sale, but with the economic recession of 2008-09 we did not find a buyer, and finally decided to start moving her back to the Pacific Northwest.
With that, August - September 2009 saw us return to Brisbane and retrace our steps of the previous year (in reverse) with stops in New Caledonia (Noumea, Ile des Pins) and Vanuatu (Efate, Epi Maskelyn and Santo Islands) along the way. It was a tough slog going eastwards. Again we had great crew: Alastair, Alex and Harrison, and their friend Brent as far as Vanuatu, with Brent Patricia, and family friend Declan rounding out the crew for the final push to Fiji.
Oct 2010 we spent 5 weeks in and around Fiji with Bob & Maureen and fellow BCA cruisers Glen & Jill Wilson. This also included a short hop over to Futuna in order to reset the customs clock which was ticking loudly.
The stars finally aligned for us in 2011 and Camdeboo embarked on her homeward passage. After two weeks of prep in April, Campbell skippered the upwind leg from Fiji to Hawaii, arriving in Kona on Jun 17. A crew change took place in Honolulu with Alastair skippering the final passage to Victoria, arriving on Sun July 24.
Camdeboo now has approximately 25,000 nm under her keel in the Pacific. We are glad she is safely home!
Welcome to our Adventure
The Pilot Psalm
The Lord is my pilot. I shall not drift.
He lighteth me across the dark waters.
He steereth me in deep channels, he keepeth
my log.
He guideth me by the star of his holiness.
For his name’s sake.
Yea, though I sail mid the thunder and
tempest of life
I will dread no danger, for thou art near me.
Thy love and thy care they shelter me.
Thou preparest a harbour before me in the
homeland of eternity.
Thou anointest the waves with oil, my ship
rideth calmly.
Surely sunlight and starlight shall favour me
on the voyage I take.
And I will rest in the port of my God forever.
-by Captain John H. Roberts (1874)
Sailor’s Church, Ramsgate, UK
Update:
It’s time to find our beautiful ‘Boo new owners who want to pursue their dreams of going offshore. Camdeboo is listed with Yacht Sales West (Sidney)