Current News
Fill Your Tanks Before Heading to Avalon
Most of us know that mainland California is suffering from a serious drought. Then there is Avalon, "26 miles across the sea," where the situation is even worse. Southern California Edison recently told the city council that this is the driest year on the island in the last 123. More »
Solo Sailor’s Death a Mystery
Sacramento-based singlehander Andrew Henry Ewing, 31, was found dead on Angel Island yesterday, ending an extensive, multi-agency search. According to US Coast Guard sources, he had departed Alameda’s Grand Marina aboard his Cal 2-29 sloop Alma shortly after 6 p.m. More »
Amanda Whips In Hurricane Season
Amanda got off the 2014 Eastern Pacific hurricane season with a powerful start, as her winds to 135 knots made her one of the most powerful May hurricanes on record. Fortunately, she was like most Mexican hurricanes in that she started and matured far out to sea. More »
Seaquel’s Final Chapter
When Seaquel’s owner, John Berg, explained to a state agency that he didn’t have the means to salvage her, they organized contractors to pull her off the reef and destroy her yesterday
© 2014 John Dour
After the Ventura-based Nordic 40 Seaquel was driven onto the Kona coast late Sunday night, there was initial hope — at least among some observers — that she might be salvageable. More »
Epic F–k Up at Expedition Yacht Launching
There have been a number of blundered yacht and ship launchings over the years, as evidenced from compilations on YouTube. Thanks to the botched launching of the 90-ft expedition yacht Boden in Anacortes on May 20, the compilations are now going to be one incident longer. More »
Search For Cheeki Rafiki Crew To Be Called Off Again Tonight
The U.S. Coast Guard search for the four Brit crew — Andrew Bridge 22, James Male 24, Steve Warren 52, and Paul Goslin 56, — of the Beneteau 40.7 Cheeki Rafiki, which apparently sank on a trip from Antigua to England, will be called off for a second time if nothing is found by tonight. More »
Tragedy in the Night
By Monday morning the big southern swells had lain down substantially along the Kona coast. But the night before, 8-foot rollers drove the Ventura-based Nordic 40 Seaquel onto a rocky shelf of reef. More »
The New Rambler
Hugo Boss‘ dismasting and subsequent repairs in Newport, Rhode Island may have grabbed the headlines, but there’s a lot more going on in the nation’s smallest state right now. Just down the river in Portsmouth, RI, the new Rambler has come out of the molds at New England Boatworks. More »
A Bad End to a Good Weekend
One of the best parts of cruising is meeting new people — or, as is often the case, reconnecting with old friends. Anchored in uncharacteristically warm and placid Half Moon Bay last Friday, this writer and her husband watched as several boats anchored nearby. More »
And Away He Goes
Some people like nothing better than to be alone on a vast ocean in a small boat. Webb Chiles is definitely one of those sailors.
© Steve Earley
"Unless you hear from me otherwise before 9 a.m. More »
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