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Horrific Attack on Cruiser Bob Medd in the Sea of CortezAugust 18 - Sea of Cortez Bob Medd, third from left, had his throat slashed while sailing in the Sea of Cortez. Photo Deb Castellana According to Willmann, he and Medd - who is a vet of the Canadian Navy, who served on the British Royal Yacht Brittania, and who drove his own barge in the North Pacific for 12 years - met in Banderas Bay last December and had been buddy-boating more often than not since then. They'd gone as far south as Barra de Navidad, and then sailed into the Sea of Cortez. Their plan was to sail further south this year. On Sunday, August 12, the two left Santa Rosalia for Isla San Francisquito, expecting to complete the voyage by dawn on Monday. Medd needed to charge his boat's batteries, so he took a rhumbline course, motoring at four knots. Willmann went further offshore for better wind and a better sailing angle. The two kept in touch via VHF until about 6 pm, at which point they were out of radio range. Wellmann and Viva arrived at San Francisquito at 7 am on Monday, and waited 24 hours without hearing any word from TLC. He assumed that Medd had been a victim of his boat's mysterious electrical glitches, and had returned to Santa Rosalia for repair. "Bob Medd is a very experienced, competent, resourceful sailor," says Wellmann, "and TLC is a well-found yacht, so I wasn't at all worried." With the only alternative being another rolly day and night at anchor, Viva left for Bahia de Los Angeles on Tuesday. The above are facts provided to us by Bob Wellmann. What follows is believed to be what happened, but, we emphasize, has not been confirmed. Around 6 pm on Sunday, two fishermen came alongside TLC - something not uncommon in the Sea of Cortez. Medd gave them some water. Then one of the guys came aboard and hit Medd in the face with a rock he'd brought along, and Medd lost consciousness. When he awoke, he found that his throat had been slit from ear to ear - with his own bread knife - cutting lots of tendons, and he had been left to die. As he drifted in and out of consciousness, TLC smashed into some rocks. Eventually, Medd was able to get to the beach and fire off a flare. Some fishermen saw the flare and made their way over to him. When they saw him, they got the Mexican Navy involved, and Bob was taken to the hospital in Santa Rosalia on Tuesday evening. The hospital had to twice use paddles to restart his heart. On August 14, the doctor declared it was Medd's 'new birthday'. We emphasize, the above facts are unconfirmed. Medd is currently in a hospital in San Diego, where he is being kept until doctors can control the infections he got while lying on the beach for two days. He'll eventually be taken to Calgary, where he will undergo extensive surgery to reconnect tendons and reconstruct damage to his face. The doctors are guardedly positive about his recovery. TLC was found "sunk and beyond repair." Stories about attacks on cruisers often get blown all out of proportion, so Wellmann cautions nobody should jump to any conclusions until he can get an "accurate and unbiased report" from Medd himself. He'll do that as soon as Medd is comfortable talking about it. Wellmann adds, "Both Bob and I have nothing but respect for all the locals we've met in Mexico during the last nine months, and in fact have had conversations about cruisers who are quick to focus on any negatives." Attacks on cruisers while they are on their boats in Mexico are rare, but not unheard of. A couple of years ago, Blair Grinols' Capricorn Cat was boarded and they were robbed in the middle of the night off Bufadero. Nobody was injured. And about 20 years ago, a couple from Redding were attacked on their boat in Turtle Bay. The husband was cut countless times as a robber tried to encourage him to come up with more money. The woman jumped overboard and got help. The victim was taken to the hospital and thought to be in good condition, but suddenly died as a result of all the tiny cuts, which hadn't previously been noticed. We'll have more on this story. Until then, please don't start going crazy with rumors. The photo at the top was taken by Deb Castellana of Drumbeat, who explains the circumstances. "We had a cruisers' potluck aboard Drumbeat at Caleta Partida this summer, and everyone who showed up was named Bob. I unofficially became 'Bobette' for the evening. We were going to send the photo to Latitude as "4Bobs" but couldn't think of good copy to go with it. From left to right, Bob Mullen of Apophyge, Bob Jones of Drumbeat, 'Back-Up Bob' Medd of TLC, and Bob Wellmann of Viva." |
Update on MeddAugust 20 - San Diego |
America's Cup Jubilee off to Stormy StartAugust 20 - Cowes, UK The three J Class boats (from left to right), Endeavour, Velsheda and Shamrock V at the starting line In Monday's second race, Cambria and the wooden J Class Shamrock took the start off Cowes on port tack, while Endeavour and Velsheda started in the middle on starboard. Endeavour's superior stability and speed however, had her rolling over Shamrock, and she quickly took the lead in the 40-mile race, which hasn't finished yet. All the other yachts are still racing. Belvedere's Tom Perkins 136-ft Herreshoff gaff schooner is one of the headliner boats in the event, but went aground a mile east of Yarmouth in the tricky Solent. Despite having gone up on a falling tide during one of the highest tides of the year, her crew got her off. A foul weather day aboard Velsheda What kind of people own these yachts? Endeavour is owned by Dennis Kozlowski, head of Tyco International. The son of a cop, Kozlowski started at the bottom of Tyco and worked his way to the top. When we raced on Endeavour two years ago, we mistook him for the cook. He laughed instead of bristled, so he's all right in our book. Endeavour with her kite up All Photos James Boyd/Courtesy www.madforsailing.com Tomorrow's race will be a re-enactment of the original America's Cup in 1851 when the yacht America defeated the British fleet in an east about race around the Isle of Wight. Unlike the first day of racing, it was blowing a warm southwesterly at eight knots. For more details and updates, see www.americascupjubilee.com/main.asp?dir=news. For more of James Boyd's great photos of the J Class action, see www.madforsailing.com. |
YOTREPSAugust 20 - The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS - 'yacht reports' - at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/ |
Weather UpdatesAugust 20 - Pacific Ocean San Francisco Bay WeatherTo see what the winds are like on the Bay and just outside the Gate right now, check out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/. California Coast WeatherLooking for current as well as recent wind and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena and the Mexican border? Here's the place - which has further links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/stuff/southwest/swstmap.shtml. Pacific Winds and PressureThe University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds. Pacific Sea StateCheck out the Pacific Ocean sea states
at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
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Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc.