|
|
| |
 Why are cruising sailors still sailing in the Gulf of Aden?
 | | Danish cruising sailors the Johansen family -safe at last after payment of a hefty ransom to Somali pirates .. . |
I find it incredible, after all the publicity about kidnappings and murders of cruising sailors by Somali pirates, that some foolhardy adventurers are still risking death by entering their waters.
Just as the sailing world was rejoicing for the seven Danish sailors, including three young teenagers, who were released by pirates after the payment of a hefty ransom, another cruising sailor, a Frenchman, has been killed and thrown overboard and his wife abducted. The only good news was that she was rescued from the pirates before they reached shore.
We always knew it would be ratified, but nevertheless it's great news that Bruce Arms' recent circumnavigation of Australia non-stop and unassisted has been ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council as a world record for the route. 6536 miles through all those rock and coral nasty bits that stick out of Australia is much harder than across an ocean, and doing it single-handed in under 39 days is enough to weary me just thinking about it. Well done Bruce, congratulations from Sail-World!
No matter whether you sail our coastlines or circumnavigate the world, Australians cruising should be grateful for the existence of the AMVER organisation, which coordinates world-wide between rescue authorities and cooperating ships at sea. Again this week four sailors mid-Atlantic, far out-of-reach of helicopters and coastguard vessels, were speedily rescued by merchant ships. It can mean a long trip home via some unusual ports, as the ships resume their normal courses after the rescue, but it beats being stranded mid-ocean, or worse.
Back to practical matters, and this week John Jamieson(Captain John) talks about the magic of the riding sail – just another technique to make your nights at anchor safer. News too on how the miracle material Dyneema is making a real difference to the world of sailing. Reputed to be 15 times stronger than steel and up to 40 times stronger than Kevlar, it is the material used in our product of the week, the Infinite Loupe, replacing noisy shackles.
If you are anywhere near Melbourne, you just have time to plan to attend the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria's 'Apply First Aid with a Yachting Focus', on 25th September. Highly valuable for that longer cruise, when there almost certainly won't be a paramedic at hand if you have a need. Not long after that the Sandringham Yacht Club is opening its sailing season by celebrating the start of its second century - what a birthday, and a great day to plan for on 2nd October.
Good news for cruising sailors but bad news for the planet is that the North Sea Passage has just reached an all-time record low ice level. If you ever dream of making that crossing, it had better be soon, before it gets as crowded as the Caribbean!
Lots of other news and articles too, so browse away to find your interest.
Sweet sailing!
Nancy Knudsen, Editor
If you liked this newsletter, do nothing, we will send you another ..
Naa, please don't send me another. 
|
| |
Follow Sail-World on Twitter
Customised news feeds
Marine Industry companies, Clubs and Associations have asked can they received their own customised
version of our Sail-World news feed. The answer is yes; customised in content, news category, for example or region of the world and appearance.
CLICK HERE to view examples and get free news tickers for your site.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Change the frequency of newsletters, from once a week to a monthly newsletter. Change from html (graphics & pictures) newsletters to text only newsletter, (best for slow connections, mobile phones and PDA's etc. Change from Sail-World New Zealand Newsletters to Sail-World Cruising International Newsletters etc. Temporarily inactivate your subscription for a period, when you will be on holidays etc. or change to text for the same period. Or even (gasp) unsubscribe.
or take off list
If you are having difficulty with the above link, please copy and paste the link below into your browser
http://www.sail-world.com/subscription/index.cfm?sid=<:id:>&pwd=<:password:>&tbl=<:tableName:>&tmpid=<:templateID:>
| | |
|
