Xarifa II is a fibreglass Martzcaft 35 (10.67m). Her name has a number of meanings in different languages, but the one that resonates best, for us, is “Child of the Sun”. She is a centre cockpit, cutter rigged yacht, and was built in 1989 by Brent Martz. Australian built yachts from this era are well regarded, and the Martzcraft is a good example. Xarifa is strong, well mannered and very capable, easily handled by just the two of us. She is not a fast yacht by today’s standards, but she is no slouch, cruising around 5-6kn in average winds, coming into her stride as the wind pipes up. Being cutter rigged she is very versatile in a range of winds. Xarifa weighs around 6t, has a 3/4 length keel, which is integral, with a skeg hung rudder. This makes her a very safe offshore vessel. Xarifa is Australian registered on the international shipping register.
Xarifa’s interior has been built with love, fully lined with teak and western red cedar, with a teak and holly cabin sole throughout. She has full headroom, a large capacity for storage, and a huge aft cabin with a queensize bed, something many yachts her size lack. There is a water maker (Rainman 12v), 400w of solar, two fridges, 600L of water storage and 170L of diesel giving her capacity to remain away from the “land sharks” for quite some time.
Follow us on our journey as we set sail for the adventure of a lifetime, something we have been planning for many years, working way to hard to achieve
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From the blog
- Lombok: Friendship, Community and Surfing
- Lombok: More Fun in the Sun, and some New Friends in Paradise
- Lombok: Villa Life, Surfing and Gratitude
- Lombok: On the Hard, and Covid in Paradise
- Diving Komodo Island, Sailing Sumbawa to Lombok: And Close Encounters
- Banda Islands, Wakatobi National Park, South Sulawesi and Komodo: Diving and Sea Gypsies!
- Back to Tual: and What We Miss the Most!
- Kai Besar Indonesia: In a Time Warp!
- Kai Islands Eastern Indonesia
- Horn Island to Indonesia!
- Port Douglas to Horn Island: Strong Winds and a Misadventure
- The Kingdom of Xarifa – Chapter 2
- The Ribbon Reef’s and Lizard Island: Fixing Things in Beautiful Places!
- Heading North! Cairns to…?
- Return to Cairns, Friendship, and Reflections on our Journey
- Mackay, more Island Time, and Back to Sunny Bowen!
- Brewing Aboard, Airlie Beach, and An Overnight Sail to The Duke Islands and Middle Percy Island
- Whitsunday’s Fun in the Sun; Strong Winds and Great Sailing
- Hinchinbrook Island to Cape Gloucester, the Whitsunday Islands!
- On Leaving Port Douglas; Heave Ho! Southbound We Go!
- Port Douglas Race Week!
- A Lazy Week at Low Isles
- Watch “Martzcraft 35 Boat Tour Xarifa” on YouTube
- Martzcraft 35 Xarifa II under sail
- Everybody needs a Jeffrey!
- Shakedown Cruise to Michaelmas Cay
- The beginning!
- Travel Tips
About Us
Hi, we are Chris and Claire. We are “40 something”, living in tropical North Queensland in Australia. Our home port is Cairns and we live on the Northern beaches. We are both health professionals, and are taking a break from our working lives to experience an adventure of our lifetime.
We met over two decades ago whilst surfing in Sydney. Chris grew up on the Northern Beaches and Claire in Cape Town, South Africa. We started out our sailing life some years ago with a Clansman 30, named La Paloma (“the dove”). We knew very little about sailing, but with love and deep respect for the ocean.
Chris worked on boats, in tourism, barges and freight, as a deckhand, mate and later a skipper. Claire was a scuba diving instructor, having completed her University studies. La Paloma was a lovely yacht, teaching us many lessons. We sailed her from Sydney to Cairns, enjoying local waters after basing ourselves here from 2004. Prior to this, we travelled around Australia in an old decked out Toyota Landcruiser “troopie” for 3 years, getting to know this great brown land of ours. We have travelled to many countries, enjoying Asia, snowboarding in Japan, almost yearly, a honeymoon safari in Africa, truffles in Italy, and the delights of many other places and people in between. We love travelling, freedom and self reliance.
Sailing Xarifa II 