Roz Savage was living in London with a good job, a husband, and a little red sports car, but she one day realized that she just was not happy. She sat down and wrote two versions of her obituary. The one she wanted and the one that would be if she continued on the same path. She realized that she wanted it to read that she was a great adventurer and risk taker. At the same time she says she had an environmental epiphany in which she “developed a burning need to challenge people to think about the way we are treating the planet.” And so she changed the path of her life.
Over the course of a few years, Savage left her job and husband and sold her little red sports car. And she picked up her oars to become the first woman to row across three oceans, the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, in an effort to draw attention to her environmental cause. Continue reading →
This is a great opportunity to nominate someone you know who has made a real difference in the sailing community. Old Pulteney and US Sailing have teamed up to introduce the Old Pulteney Maritime Heroes Award, which recognizes not the fastest sailor but the person who has made a noteworthy contribution to the sailing community. Individuals are asked to nominate someone who’s made a difference such as helping train a disabled sailor, introducing sailing to beginners or sailing to raise funds for a charity. Nominations are being accepted now through August 31. The public will then have the opportunity to vote for the finalists until December 14. The winner together with a guest will be flown to an award ceremony during US Sailing’s 2013 National Sailing Programs Symposium in Clearwater Beach, FL. Go to www.maritimeheroes.com for complete rules and entry form and to nominate your maritime hero.
This easy classic brunch dish is sure to give you strength for a full day of sailing or prep it when you’ve got fellow cruisers coming aboard for breakfast.
Ingredients:
2 muffins, cut in half and toasted
4 eggs, poached
8 slices round bacon rashers, fried or grilled until crispy
For the hollandaise:
3 egg yolks
3½ oz butter, cubed
Pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vinegar
Salt Continue reading →
Where is this mystery cruising spot?
Hint: Check out the May issue of BWS.
Send your answers to cruisingcompass@bwsailing.com. A winner, who will receive a Blue Water Sailing hat, will be selected at random from the correct answers.
Congratulations to Brian Graefe of Miami, FL who correctly answered that when a WNW wind meets a NW wind, it causes a natural divergence within 1-2 miles of the shoreline creating a low pressure system.
After a three week passage from the Galapagos, the two Norwegian boats Villvind and Vagabond Virgin arrived in this beautiful bay of the Marquesian island Fatu Hiva. Submitted by Sverre Erik Henriksen, s/v Vagabond Virgin of Stavanger, Norway.
Got a cool cruising shot to share? Send it to us at cruisingcompass@bwsailing.com.
We were horrified to hear of another deadly accident off California’s coast during a yacht race last week. While initial reports thought that the yacht had collided with a large ship in the middle of the night, tracking information has been released that may prove otherwise. We may never know what really happened, but we’re sure this incident won’t soon be forgotten and our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the crew who lost their lives.
A website that tracks boats by GPS says an American yacht that was mysteriously destroyed during a Pacific Ocean race ended up on the rocky shore of an island off Mexico’s northern coast.
Investigators have yet to determine what happened to the 37-foot Aegean, but the GPS tracking potentially undercuts the theory that it collided with a large ship.
Coast Guard investigators have not recovered the GPS device but will consider the coordinates as they try to determine what caused the crash that killed three sailors and left one missing, said Lt. Bill Burwell, an agency spokesman. Continue reading →
More information has been released after the announcement that Luhrs Marine has filed for bankruptcy. Owners of Hunter boats are going to want to keep a close eye on these proceedings.
Morgan Industries Corp., the parent company of Hunter Marine and the Luhrs Marine Group, said in its bankruptcy filing that it has between $10 million and $50 million in assets and the same amount in liabilities.
The parent company filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey.
Entities listed in the filing were: Hunter Composite Technologies Corp.; Hunter Marine Corp.; Luhrs Corp.; Mainship Corp.; Ovation Yachts Corp.; Salisbury 10 Acres LLC; Salisbury 20 Acres LLC; and Silverton Marine Corp. Continue reading →
Safety first! After the two recent deadly boating accidents in offshore races along the California coast, the Coast Guard has determined they need to further examine race courses and safety measures before allowing further racing. While we’re not exactly sure that this measure is necessary, all sailors know that safety has to be of the utmost importance.
The Coast Guard is working with offshore racing organizers to amend their courses for the next offshore sailing races pending a review of safety plans and procedures in the San Francisco Bay area. The Coast Guard is working closely with race organizers of upcoming events to implement alternative courses for the impacted races. All other races that stay within the demarcation line that runs from Point Bonita to Land’s End are not impacted. Recent offshore accidents have highlighted the need to assess offshore race organizers’ safety plans and procedures. Races inside the bay are still being permitted per the current procedures. Continue reading →
While it may not have been the most exciting race for this duo, a win is still a win.
The Kiwi-Australian duo of Conrad Colman and Scott Cavanough took first place in Leg 4 of the Global Ocean Race from Punta del Este, Uruguay, to Charleston, South Carolina with Akilaria RC2 Class40 Cessna Citation, crossing the finish line off Charleston at 05:45:00 GMT on Tuesday morning. Colman and Cavanough took 28 days 11 hours and 45 minutes to complete the 5,700 miles from Uruguay to Charleston.
Crossing the finish line at #13 buoy to seaward of Charleston’s twin, offshore breakwaters, 28-year-old Colman and 30-year-old Cavanough lit orange flares in celebration as their Class40 ghosted north in minimal breeze on a long, oily swell beneath a half-moon and cloudless sky with the loom of Charleston’s city lights as a backdrop. Engaging their engine, the victorious duo motored down the clearly-marked channel towards Charleston Harbor, passing between Morris Island and Sullivans Island, then through the 1.25-mile-wide gap with Fort Sumter to port and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island and into the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina. Continue reading →
After damaged boats and men overboard on the first day of racing (luckily none resulting in casualty), Antigua Sailing Week has settled down a bit, but is still providing an ample amount of exciting racing.
After two days of big breeze, day three of Antigua Sailing Week saw similar conditions for the competitors. However the Ocean mark laid for Tuesday’s big boats was a new addition. It took over 300 feet of line to lay the mark four miles off the leeward coast of Antigua. The sizeable yachts in CSA 1 were an awesome sight, smashing through the start line to windward through the Caribbean surf and after coming off the wind at the Ocean mark, the yachts speared off downwind, bow up, accelerating off big waves to surf at speeds of 20 knots plus. Continue reading →
Our readers had passionate, although mixed opinions on whether or not Dennis Holland should have to remove his boat restoration project from his yard. Many of you are sure to be quite happy to hear of this settlement.
The city of Newport Beach and boat builder Dennis Holland have agreed to settle their long-running dispute over the 72-foot ketch Shawnee in a way that will allow Holland to complete his restoration of the historic craft.
The boat has been under restoration since 2006 at Holland’s home on Holiday Road just off Irvine Avenue. The city passed an ordinance in 2010 and then filed a lawsuit this year to get Holland to remove the boat. The suit was set to go to trial on Monday in Orange County Superior Court. 
Continue reading →
Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race is proving to be an exciting race, but can PUMA hang onto their lead?
Telefónica are poised to pounce on any mistakes by Leg 6 leaders PUMA and CAMPER as the top three power towards the Miami finish line in close formation, while behind them a second great battle develops.
At 1300 UTC on Wednesday PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG held a lead of three nautical miles over CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand with around 1,900 nm to go.
Overall leaders Team Telefónica were less than four nm further back in third and navigator Andrew Cape said the Spanish team were enjoying the trade wind sailing and “smoking along at 20 knots”.
“It’s lovely sailing here,” Cape said. “We’re right into the trades, we’ve got 18 knots of breeze and we’re all in sight of each other.”
Cape said the Telefónica crew would do everything they could to close down PUMA and CAMPER over the next 24 hours of fast straight line sailing before the weather scenario got more complicated. Continue reading →
While this accident happened nearly two years ago, the video footage (below) is new and alarming. With the increase in texting and cell phone use that has taken place for people of all generations, it offers an important lesson in just how important it is to always keep an eye on what’s going on around you, even when you are in calm and uncrowded waters.
Attorneys for the victims of Philadelphia’s deadly Duck boat accident released new, dramatic video of the crash. Their wrongful death case goes to trial in Federal court on Monday. Lawyers for the families of the two victims who drowned, say this new video shows the deckhand on the Duck boat, texting shortly before the accident.
Two students from Hungary died in the crash — Dora Schwendtner, 16 and Szabolcs Prem, 20. Continue reading →
What do you do when you have so much money, you don’t know what to do with it? Apparently, you build a replica of the Titanic. However we wonder if the saying “If you build it, they will come” will ring true for this project.
An Australian billionaire said Monday he’ll build a high-tech replica of the Titanic at a Chinese shipyard and its maiden voyage in late 2016 will be from England to New York, just like its namesake planned.
Weeks after the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the original Titanic, Clive Palmer announced Monday he has signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to build the Titanic II.
“It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic, but will have state-of-the-art 21st-century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems,” Palmer said in a statement. He called the project “a tribute to the spirit of the men and women who worked on the original Titanic.”
More than 1,500 people died after the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its first voyage. It was the world’s largest and most luxurious ocean liner at the time.
Palmer built a fortune on real estate on Australia’s Gold Coast tourist strip before becoming a coal mining magnate. BRW magazine reported he was Australia’s fifth-richest person last year with more than $5.2 billion. Continue reading →
Posted in Dock Talk
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Tagged Titanic II
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We’re curious as to whether you’d like to see this feature on all of your NOAA POD charts or if you would prefer to keep using whatever your current method is for gathering information. Let us know in the comments section below.
OceanGrafix, the exclusive provider of NOAA print-on-demand (POD) nautical charts for U.S. waters, announced today that QR codes are now available on eight NOAA charts for the Tampa Bay, FL, area. The NOAA added the QR codes in an effort to test their effectiveness in providing valuable and timely information to mariners.
“While consumers have been somewhat slow to adapt to QR codes in other applications, this is the perfect scenario for how they should be used, and I hope mariners will take advantage of this unique feature,” says OceanGrafix president Ron Walz. “Having real-time navigational information at your fingertips will not only be convenient, but could also be a critical safety tool.” Continue reading →
It’s not often that you hear the words sailing and broadcast innovation in the same sentence, but the new technology developed by the America’s Cup is sure to change the way we watch the sport via television for good.
America’s Cup groundbreaking use of LiveLine, the technology that makes competitive sailing accessible to home viewers worldwide, has been awarded an Emmy for extraordinary technical innovation. LiveLine technology, which is used for American football and NASCAR car racing broadcasts, is being recognized for making the sport welcoming to new fans and providing precise data for race management.
“We’re honored by this award. At the core, this team’s efforts are driven by a passion for sports and connecting people to sports they otherwise might not have the opportunity to view,” said Stephen Barclay, interim CEO, America’s Cup Event Authority. “Stan Honey (America’s Cup Director of Technology) and the rest of the team are to be commended for their role in developing this technology that is assisting America’s Cup to be broadcast internationally. This Emmy recognizes that this technology helps new fans and veteran racers to enjoy a spectacular visual experience in a way never before imagined.” Continue reading →
Before heading out to sea, it is essential that you are able to navigate even when your electronics go awry. Captain John of www.skippertips.com offers us tips on how to use magnetic variation to ensure you find your way efficiently and safely.
Boost your sailing navigation safety when you know two little-known ways to calculate a magnetic compass course anywhere in the world. That way, if your chart plotter or nautical GPS goes “on the blink”, you’ll be ready to take command with confidence. Follow these sailing tips to keep safe and sound wherever you sail!
True North and True Course Direction
Imagine that you point one arm toward the North Pole and another in the direction you want to go. If you could measure the angle from one arm to the other, and you would have true direction.
On the nautical chart, you use a protractor or course plotter to plot courses. Draw a line on the chart from your position to where you want to go. Measure the angle between any vertical line to the course to find true direction to your destination. Continue reading →
The Dufour 405 Grand Large combines a sweet performance hull and rig with a classic yacht-style interior. The old adage says that whenever you have two boats sailing in the same direction, you have a race. While casual cruisers may deny this, many of us love to see just how well our boats sail in comparison to others. It’s just human nature.
So it was a pleasure to see several other mid-size sloops tacking down Narragansett Bay one afternoon last July when we were out sail-testing the new Dufour 405 Grand Large. We had motored out of the marina at New England Boatworks, rolled out the in-mast furling mainsail and the genoa, and set off to see how the new design sails. The 405 does not come standard with a roller furling mainsail, but this boat had been spec’d out with one by the local dealer Northstar Yacht Sales, so launching the mainsail was a snap.
With twin wheels in the cockpit, I was able to sit to leeward, where I could see the genoa telltales and keep an eye on the mainsail trim. While you can’t see anything to windward from the leeward steering position, I did have a great view of everything to leeward and for me this is the place to sit when sailing upwind.
We threw the 405 through a few tacks to see how she performed and were pleased to see that the boat tacks comfortably inside 85 degrees and makes very little leeway when hard on the wind, even with the optional shoal draft keel. The afternoon sea breeze was building, so we had a pleasant 10 to 12 knots of wind. The 405 sailed comfortably at 7 knots hard on the wind in this breeze. Continue reading →
Whether you are a novice or an experienced skipper, this event is just for the ladies!
On Saturday, June 4, the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) will hold the 11th Annual Women’s Sailing Conference Saturday at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The perennially sold-out event gives women a chance to learn or enhance their skills in recreational sailing through seminars on the water, on the dock and in the classroom. Topics include introduction to sailing, sail trim, spinnakers, crew overboard, operating a motorboat, knots, charting, suddenly single-handed, diesel engine troubleshooting, understanding wind and more.
“Sailing teaches leadership and teamwork, adds skills that can bring a lifetime of enjoyment and creates memorable experiences,” said BoatUS Manager of Sponsorships Claire Wyngaard. “Attending this event will increase your confidence while learning and networking with others who share your love for the outdoors and active lifestyle.” Continue reading →
