Wanderer III

Painting – Oil on Board
91.5 x 61 cm

The painting depicts the Hiscock’s jib-headed sloop Wanderer III, with Eric and Susan in the cockpit, sailing in the sheltered waters of Moorea, Papeete in 1960 during their round the world circumnavigation which commenced in July 1959 at Yarmouth where they returned in August 1961 after covering 30,189 sea miles.

The voyage is described in Eric Hiscock’s book Beyond the West Horizon which includes the comment, “During our two circumnavigations we have visited many islands in the three great oceans, and we still regard Moorea, Tahiti’s near neighbour, as the most beautiful of all.”

Specifications and details for Wanderer III:

Built in 1952 by Messrs. William King Ltd of Burnham-on Crouch, Essex Design by Laurent Giles & Partners Ltd. – Lymington, Hampshire.
Length overall 30ft 3in
Length waterline 26ft 5in
Design draft 5ft
Thames tonnage – 8t
Auxillary motor – Stuart Turner 8HP – two stroke petrol
Rig – jib headed sloop
Sail Area – maximum – 600sq ft

Additional information on yacht:

The sails are made of terylene and machine sewn, but each seam had an additional row of hand-made stitches to help prevent chafe. This resulted in a distinctive puckering of the material along all the seams which shows in the painting detail.

There is a figure head in the form of a Globe on the bow rail with the sea shown in black and the land in gold leaf. This was designed by artists, David and Jean Cobb, who according to Eric also did a “lovely picture of Wanderer III running in NE trades”.