Sail-World.com : EDITORIAL The 'Seventh Continent'
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EDITORIAL The 'Seventh Continent' |
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'Helen at the wheel of Helen Mary Gee not long before striking the whale'
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When I was a pure racing sailor around the traps in Sydney, although maybe not a very good one, they used to call it the 'Seventh Continent' – that watery grouping of sailors who had left landed life – maybe only for a weekend, but often for years – to go long range cruising. I used to dream about doing the same thing, and along with the dream came the nightmares – going onto rocks, hitting a whale, finding the perfect storm, losing the boat.
So stories like the two in this week's edition of the magazine are particularly agonising. One solo sailor lost his engine just when the wind failed and the current took him onto the rocks, a dream gone; and another dream was lost when a cruising couple hit a whale in the middle of their circumnavigation. Spare some thoughts of sympathy for these two – it could have been you or me or many another cruising sailor.
However the rescue officer who saved the solo sailor from the rocks and then took him took him, not to a hotel, but to his own home to stay and recover gets my vote as the star act for the week!
Up in those warm winter waters of the Whitsundays the Dent to Dunk Rally is underway with the participants having a great time by the story, and Australians Amanda Church and Mark Farrell continue their tales of sailing in Turkish waters.
Zac Sunderland is experiencing a dream downhill run with squalls as he gets closer and closer to his home port of Marina del Rey in Los Angeles, and the finish of his circumnavigation which will make him, for a time anyway, the youngest person to have ever circumnavigated. What I like about Zac, however, is his relaxed way and excellent seamanship, and I hope he keeps that record a long time.
Finally there's also much practical information – what do YOU think of string sails for cruising sailors? - See what Butch Ullmer thinks. There are nine rules for going up the mast after another death this week, and Des Ryan offers some smart advice about setting a second anchor – or not.
As ever, there is a wide selection of news and articles - skip through and choose what interests you.
Read on, enjoy, and...
Smooth Sailing
by Nancy Knudsen, Cruising Editor
9:38 PM Wed 17 Jun 2009 GMT
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