Maritime History
‘Chubby Girl’ Returns for Repairs
Wil Spaul is headed back to the Bay. The intrepid 70-year-old sailor who is attempting to sail the smallest boat ever to Hawaii — Chubby Girl is only 9 feet long — knew it was going to be a long, rough ride when he left a week ago.
Latitude’s Boat of the Month
In October 1983, we published a 'Boat of the Month' story on the already well-established Santa Cruz 27.
Lia Ditton Smashes Transpacific Rowing Record
After rowing 2083 miles in 86 days, 10 hours, 05 minutes and 56 seconds, Lia Ditton landed at the Waikiki Yacht Club, Hawaii in record time.
The Weird Weather Phenomena and Piercing Prose of ‘Moby-Dick’
Has your compass ever gone 180 degrees in the wrong direction, or been generally flummoxed, in the wake of an electric storm? This scenario played out in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
No More Happy Days
Nobody wanted an old cement boat. Not even for free. The only option was to give her a sea funeral.
Sailing’s Brain Trust Identifies Unknown Sabot
Recently we brought you the story of Ben McGinty's new sailboat and invited readers to help identify whether the little ship was indeed a Naples Sabot, as Ben suspected. Read on to discover the verdict.
Return of Historic Sailing Vessel ‘Vega’
You may recall the story in the April, 2019, issue about the shipyard accident involving the historic working brigantine Vega. In a nutshell, during a routine haulout at a shipyard in Thailand, the carriage wheels on the marine railway collapsed and the 128-year-old wooden ship (built in 1892 in Norway as a Baltic and North Sea trader) rolled off and onto her port side.
Crash Boat ‘Intrepid’ Comes Home to the Bay
The San Francisco Bay area has many historic and treasured vessels of the World War II era: 'Jeremiah O'Brien' and 'Red Oak Victory', Potomac, and the submarine Pampanito. So when we received this story about the 1944 vessel 'Intrepid', we felt it was worth sharing with our sail-centric audience.
Fijian Drua Homecoming Journey
Na Lesu Tale, which translates to The Homecoming, will be the first time that a Fijian Drua has sailed back to the Lau Group of islands in modern history.
Marvin Creamer, Sailor Who Shunned Technology, Dies at 104
Marvin Charles Creamer, believed to be the only person to complete a circumnavigation without the aid of navigation instruments, died on August 12 in Raleigh, NC. He was 104 years old.
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