Skip to content
Archive for April 2008

Happy Birthday, Olin

Birthday boy – Olin Stephens turned 100 this past weekend. © 2008 Webb Logg We would like to join the rest of the sailing world in wishing happy birthday to Olin Stephens, who turned 100 yesterday (April 13). More »
Default Thumbnail

Were Those Masked Men Actually Mexican Navy?

"We read the April 9 ‘Lectronic item about Besame, the Southern California-based mini-megayacht that was approached by a panga full of armed and masked men off the coast of mainland Mexico recently," write Guy and Deborah Bunting, former residents of Vista who have been cruising their M&M 46 catamaran Elan in Mexico and Central America for years now. More »

Readers Write on the State of the AC

BMW Oracle Racing sailors go back to school for a multihull education courtesy of Franck Cammas and the Groupama team. They’ve been dialing up against Pascal Bidegorry’s Banque Populaire in some high-speed match racing scrimmages. More »
Default Thumbnail

The Pardeys to Speak in Sausalito

If you miss Lin and Larry Pardey’s talks at Strictly Sail next weekend (click here for details), you’ll have a chance to catch their "Sixteen Ways to Keep Your Lover" seminar at the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito on April 24 at 7 p.m. More »

“Angels Don’t Always Travel by Air”

Before Snickers could board Pride of Aloha, he had to have a flea bath and haircut. © 2008 Robby Coleman Robby Coleman forwarded us the following update from Mark Bult, the crewmember from NCL’s Pride of Aloha cruise ship that offered to give Snickers, the little cocker spaniel abandoned by his owners on Fanning Island when their boat wrecked on a reef in December, a lift to Hawaii. More »

Marina del Rey 16-Year-Old to Circumnavigate

At 16, Zac Sunderland hopes to become the youngest solo circumnavigator. © Marianne Sunderland Laurence and Marianne Sunderland of Marina del Rey report that their 16-year-old son Zac, who has 15,000 ocean miles to his credit, will set off next month from Southern California in an attempt to become the youngest person to circumnavigate singlehanded. More »
Default Thumbnail

Will It Turn into a Race?

Further to the above report, annoucing that Zac Sunderland, 16, hopes to set a record as the youngest solo circumnavigator, we should point out that another 16-year-old, Josh Clark of Panama City, Panama, may attempt the same feat. More »

2,965 Solo Miles in 20 Days for Moonduster

The six boats in the anchorage at Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas are dwarfed by the tall peaks. (Note to Jim Corenman of SailMail: we know that photos aren’t supposed to be sent on SailMail, so sorry about the 20 minutes even the reduced resolution version took on the system.) More »

The Buzz on Killer Bees in the Tropics

Using the first of two extinguishers, the courageous Wanderer drove away the bees. latitude/Doña ‘Unstung’ de Mallorca
©2008 Latitude 38 Media, LLC Thanks to the accidental release of 26 Tanzanian queen bees in Brazil in 1957, cruisers have had another thing to worry about — swarming ‘killer bees’. More »

Snickers Rescue is Imminent

After our March 24 ‘Lectronic Latitude story about the grim future for two pets abandoned by their American owners on Fanning Island after their boat wrecked on the atoll, we received a hopeful email from a dog and parrot lover in Nevada who wanted to save both animals. More »