This Spectra mainsail has seen 11 years of great service in California, Mexico and the Caribbean. Despite her age, she still has decent shape. Unfortunately, she’s not only got plenty of mold stains, but is also molting taffeta at such a disturbing rate that, while parts of her are fine, she’s absolutely useless as a mainsail. More »

The bizarre attack on this German cruising couple has shocked local Marquesan residents as much as French authorities and cruisers. Bayu
©2011 Latitude 38 Media, LLC We know this sounds too ridiculous and horrific to be true, but the mainstream media is reporting that Stefan Ramin, 40, a German cruiser and uber waterspsorts athlete from Hamburg, was murdered recently, and may have been eaten by a cannibal or cannibals on the Marquesan island of Nuku Hiva. More »

Readers may remember that Latitude contributors Ed and Sue Kelly of the Iowa-based Catalac 37 Angel Louise were on hand when Hemisphere, the humungous new 145-ft by 54-ft catamaran designed by Marc Van Peteghem & Vincent Lauriot-Prevost which was started at the Derektor yard in the Northeast and was completed at Pendennis in England, had her private launching party in Plymouth, England a while back. More »

Leading Lady’s ignominious departure from the dance floor. © Neil Weinberg Back in mid-August, Leading Lady, the old Peterson 40 that Bob Klein owned in the early ’80s, gave her last performance. More »

Many of the older restaurants along the beach at Barra were built on sand and had very substandard foundations. It’s no wonder many were damaged despite the fact the beach wasn’t hit by major storm surge or extremely large waves. More »

Here’s something you’re not likely to see again anytime soon — a hurricane/slash tropical storm passing to the east of Puerto Vallarta. In other words, inland of the coastal city. The threat of 50-knot winds has yet to materialize on Banderas Bay. More »

If onboard fires aren’t every boater’s biggest fear, they probably should be. Fiberglass boats are made up primarily of accelerant so once a fire starts, it’s frighteningly tough to put out. More »

Hurricane Jova is aimed right for Barra de Navidad. © 2011 StormPulse As of 8 a.m. this morning, Hurricane Jova, a powerful Category 3 hurricane, and Hurricane Irwin, now down to tropical storm force, threaten the coast of mainland Mexico. More »