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Archive for January 2008

Joyon Nurses IDEC Toward Home

January 11, 2008
Francis Joyon’s trip up the Atlantic Ocean so far has been anything but an easy home stretch for his non-stop solo round-the-world record attempt. After battling the South Atlantic high, which whittled his pace down to as little as 139 miles one day, Joyon once again seemed to be reeling in the miles toward the finish off Brest, France. More »
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Hope for the Best

"I just returned from Ecuador after answering a Crew Wanted ad posted by a woman skipper," Dave Hohman wrote to us in an email. "It turns out that the gal is, in my opinion, a nut job and a drunk. More »

A Life Lost, A Life Saved

January 9, 2008
The West Coast-based Bug Trap was found bobbing off Kauai, Hawaii, on Sunday with no sign of her owner. USCG
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC The West Coast-based Catalina 30 Bug Trap was found dismasted and crewless about 19 miles off Kauai on Sunday. More »

To Dangle or Not to Dangle

“Help! I’m trapped by my safety device!” latitude/Andy
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC While idling in the cockpit of Tom Lilienthal’s Beneteau 411 Dreamseeker last fall en route to Cabo San Lucas, we got into a friendly debate about the use of inflatable lifejackets. More »

The Elusive ‘Long-Stay Visa’

It’s the time of year when dozens of cruisers are currently preparing to embark on the so-called Pacific Puddle Jump from the Americas to French Polynesia. A hot topic of conversation among them is how to get a ‘long-stay’ (six month) visa, since most American cruisers are only granted a three-month visa upon arrival. More »

Anybody Up for a Swim?

You think it’s been cold lately sailing on San Francisco Bay? Try swimming in it — without a wetsuit! Sound impossible? Not really. Believe it or not, there is an elite group of swimmers who regularly swim in Bay waters wearing only normal bathing suits and swimming caps. More »
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More on Darla Jean

January 7, 2008
When we receive reports of boats washing up on distant shores, we do our best to verify as many facts as possible but often must rely on eyewitness reports. Unfortunately, we are sometimes given inaccurate or incomplete information, as was apparently the case with Darla Jean. More »

Mighty Storms Ravage Bay Area

Looking south towards Angel Island from the Corinthian YC race deck: At high tide the storm surge could barely be contained. latitude/John A.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC The full force of Mother Nature’s fury was felt throughout the San Francisco Bay Area last Friday and Saturday as torrential rains and hurricane-force winds lashed the region. More »

Coville Out, Joyon Gaining Pace

Just minutes after setting a new 24-hour solo record, an encounter with an unidentified floating object forced Thomas Coville’s 105-ft trimaran Sodeb’O to retire from its singlehanded round-the-world attempt. After covering 619 miles at an average speed of 25.8 knots, Coville reports he was down below when he felt the boat slow dramatically — no doubt from the drag resulting from the absence of the starboard ama’s sacrificial ‘crash box’. More »