Shark attacks dinghy, Roaring Forties to disappear, overboard 28 hours

by Nancy Knudsen, Editor on 15 May 2014 For sheer shock value, the top story in this week's Cruising News Magazine is the video of the Great White shark attacking a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) - in other words just the kind of boat that most cruising sailors use as dinghy tenders for our sailing boats. I have a friend with a similar story a couple of years ago in the Northern Territory. A shark attacked his dinghy from behind, luckily just as he was re-boarding his boat. Back in Darwin we were shocked when he showed us the remains of his dinghy, but this video says it all.

The most astonishing, but enlightening news of the week is a side effect of global warming. The Roaring Forties, that reliable jetstream of wind that has carried sailors south of us around the globe for hundreds of years, may soon be a thing of the past. A group of scientists have discovered that while these winds are getting stronger, they are moving south. Not only will the changes have a negative effect on Australia's rainfall in the south of the continent, it will also mean that sailors might have to dip further south to find the winds, and when they do they'll be more like the Furious Fifties.

Many sailors confess that they have nightmares about falling overboard and watching their boat sail away. This week you can read one personal story of a man who fell overboard to spend 28 hours treading water before he was rescued (by Australian yacht Barrenjoey) and what it means to him, one year later.

There's also a huge variety of other articles: Tasmania-based Laurence Bergin has some great advice about which are the best weather sites for sailing the Australian coastline; delightful discoveries can be made up rivers by sailing boats, so the RYA has some hot tips about 'creek crawling'; read about the crew who are about to sail a Polynesian sailing canoe around the world, and yes, they'll be visiting New Zealand this year and Australia next year during the journey.

It was very sad news that the three German sailors missing off New Zealand are now assumed to have drowned owing to debris found from their yacht; and finally two pieces of good news in that one Australian sailor and one New Zealander in the last week have successfully swum to shore after falling from their boats. Some good lessons to think about from these incidents too.

Read on, enjoy, and...

Sweet sailing!