Mexico’s Cummins Cup Hosts Hobie 16s for 25 Years
Most sailors are drawn to Mexico for its magnificent cruising, and amazing people and culture. But there’s much more to sailing in Mexico. Charity Palmatier sent us a few shots from the recently sailed Hobie 16 Cummins Cup on the Yucatan coast. Hobie Alter launched the Hobie phenomenon in Southern California, and, though smaller, the Hobie 16 fleets continue to compete and enjoy their Hobie days. The Cummins Cup keeps the fun going in Mexico.
Charity reports, “This was such a well-run regatta. Their safety protocols were excellent, and having barely survived a Hobie crash or two of my own, I appreciate how important that is. Also, it’s about the friendliest regatta imaginable. The family that started it and continues to run it is so proud of the fact that they’ve been doing it for 25 years, and they were beyond welcoming and cool to a foreign photographer. It would be awesome if they got a little bit of attention in Latitude 38. I was entirely charmed by them and by the event and area.” So here’s some attention for an event newly on our Mexico sailing radar.
From the Cummins Cup website: “The event was first run in 1997 and over the years, the Cummins Cup has become a tradition, supporting the development of competitors from Mexico and other countries, and being a springboard for the Central American and Pan American Games. The competitive level and the internationalization of the event have made the Cummins Cup considered the best regatta of the Hobie Cat 16 class in the country and in America; for this reason, a large part of the competitors take it as preparation for their participation in international competitions or World Championships.”
It’s always great to see the Hobie world connecting sailors across the globe. The Cummins Cup website just went into redesign, but you can see more on their Facebook page here.
Good Jibes Is Back on Deck With Episode #152: An Unexpected Adventure With Ryan Foland, Nigel Silva-Dallenbach, and Lawrence Charles
The Good Jibes team is back from vacation and on deck, ready to serve up the best of sailing with stories and tips about cruising, racing, adventure, exploration or just plain sailing.
This week’s host, Ryan Foland, is joined by Nigel Silva-Dallenbach and Lawrence Charles to chat about their recent unexpected adventure en route to Catalina Island. The three amigos endured a smoking engine, a melted impeller, and — somehow — a case of the endless smiles.
Hear how to troubleshoot engine problems on the water, how to stay calm (and only panic a little bit), and about their charismatic new friend who helped save the day, business and entrepreneurship lessons from problem solving at sea, and a victory cameo by some dolphins.
This episode covers everything from engine problems to smooth sailing. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear:
- How much sailing experience did Nigel and Lawrence have?
- What was the first scare with the engine?
- How heeled-over were they?
- Did they ever panic on the boat?
- What did the impeller look like?
- How was Big Geiger Cove?
- What are some entrepreneurship lessons from this sailing adventure?
- Had Lawrence seen dolphins like that before?
Learn more about Ryan at Ryan.Online, Nigel on LinkedIn, and Lawrence at CnCTea.com, on LinkedIn, and on Instagram @IAmLawrenceCharles.
Visit Annapolis in the Fall for the Sailboat Show
October might seem a ways away, but it’s never too early to start planning your trip to the Annapolis Sailboat Show. This year’s show is shaping up to be a doozy with over 200 sailboats and more than 550 exhibitors expected to file into downtown Annapolis on October 10-14. Tickets and show info.
Finding a Weird, Unknown Creature Living Inside My Fuel Tank
While I was sailing singlehanded from Channel Islands Harbor to Santa Cruz Island aboard my Bristol 299 sailboat, my trusty Yanmar diesel sputtered and died two miles from Scorpion Anchorage. “No problem,” I thought, while jumping to the engine room in moderately rough sea conditions to check filters and other possible obvious causes of the problem.
It soon became evident that the fuel line from the tank to the engine was plugged. It was getting late in the afternoon, and sailing back to CI Harbor and crossing shipping lanes in my exhausted state seemed a bad idea. So I took a tow back to my harbor.
The next day, I went for the jugular to trace my plumbing from the poly tank. Unfortunately, the tank’s fuel pickup tube proved impossible to remove without destroying the plastic fuel exit nipple on top, so I dropped that idea. Next, I started to remove the fuel hose that was connected to an elbow on the tank, and this move revealed something extremely shocking.
What is that wormlike “creature?” With limited study so far, including a reply from a UC biology department, I have not found a definitive, authoritative ID.
As a longtime cruiser, I know the importance of keeping fuel clean and free of contamination from critters that can live in diesel fuel and other petroleum products. For example, I have learned that small nematode worms are being used to digest and clean up petroleum spills — and to digest waste at treatment plants.
Very surprising. Could it be a nematode?
I routinely use diesel fuel conditioner, and I pump out fuel from the bottom of my tank to check for cloudiness, dirt and water. Result: crystal-clear fuel.
What is this creature/organism? And how could it survive to reach the size it had? Checking with fuel dock staff at CI Harbor, I’m told all fuel goes through a 5 micron filter. If you can assist with this ID process, I’m sure that many sailors and other boaters would be very interested.
I checked my ship’s logbook and found that I’d replaced the old aluminum fuel tank 30 years ago, after we returned from a voyage from S.F. to the Caribbean and the US East Coast. So whatever “it” is, it wasn’t picked up from fuel we got in travels through nine countries.
Let’s see if together we can come to some conclusions that might help us all to avoid this potential clog-up problem.
Islander 36 ‘Geja’ Preparing to Welcome New Torch Bearer in Med.
In a March 2023 episode of Good Jibes, we chatted with San Francisco sailor Andrew Vik about his sailing life aboard the Islander 36 Geja (pronounced “Gaya”).
“When I bought her sight unseen through the pages of Latitude in 2008, I promised to pass the “Geja torch” to another reader after a season or two.” Well, Andrew blew past two seasons and is now closing on 16 summers in the Med, during which he has sailed around 13,000 miles to nine countries and two continents. He’s been joined by more than 90 friends, family members, and acquaintances as crew. Now, his era of ownership is drawing to a close as he prepares to pass the torch to the next adventure-loving sailor, or sailors.
We’ve published many stories about Geja over the years, starting with those shared by Dick and Shirley Sandys of Palo Alto, who cruised the Islander most of the way around the world over a 15-year period. After Dick’s passing in 2006, Geja was bought by San Francisco sailors Eli and Sara Bottrell, for just $10,000, sight unseen in Spain. Seven years later, the Bottrells sold the boat to Andrew, again, sight unseen, though this time in Italy.
Andrew’s stories of life aboard Geja, while a little more spicy than those shared by previous owners, have graced the pages of Latitude 38 on numerous occasions. After his first summer aboard Geja in 2008, Andrew shared a few details of “the most amazing dream tour.” He covered 1,700 miles from June to early September, and stopped at 50 different places in 90 days. He had 21 different friends help sail the boat.
“Owning her has been life-changing,” he tells us now, “but the time has come. She’s absolutely cruise-ready. In fact, I’m currently moored in magical little Giovinazzo along Italy’s southeast coast, halfway through this summer’s smooth voyage from Sicily back to my beloved Croatia.”
Could you be the next Latitude reader to pick up the Geja torch and explore Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast before heading down to Greece, Turkey, Sicily, Malta …?
Tune in to Good Jibes to hear some of Andrew’s stories about life aboard Geja.
Tropical Storm Ernesto Becomes Hurricane Ernesto
Like most of us in life, hurricanes take time to organize themselves. What starts off as a loosely organized low-pressure area off the coast of Africa slowly tries to organize itself into a hurricane before it strikes civilization to the west. The latest is Tropical Storm Ernesto, which became Hurricane Ernesto, threatening sailing interests while passing by the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Tropical Storm Ernesto first passed by Antigua and Guadeloupe with heavy rains and strong winds causing some damage before becoming a Category 1 hurricane and moving on to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Here it has knocked out power and caused some flash flooding.
The seasonally warm waters of the Caribbean allow these storms to intensify quickly. At present Ernesto continues to batter Puerto Rico and surrounding islands before its predicted move offshore and north, missing the Bahamas and East Coast.
The island of Bermuda looks as if it’s the next to be threatened, and, as sometimes happens, the hurricane might make its way north to finish off Nova Scotia.
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