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An escape plan is a natural temptation in a political climate that’s as rancorous and divisive as ours has lately become (not that I’ve ever needed any kind of excuse). Some people buy chest freezers and stockpile canned goods in a subterranean lair that’s ready for anything. Others invest in mountain cabins or foreign bolt-holes. I prefer to imagine pushing off on my own self-contained island. Even if I never choose to cross the U.S. territorial boundary, there’s peace of mind in having options — or, at least, fantasies. Don’t get me wrong: I’m as bound to hearth and home as most. I love my old house — it’s full of family, books, art and happy times. But I do sometimes miss the cozy simplicity of a gimbaled stove, with…
My wife and I own a 1969 Chris-Craft Commander 38, and we enjoyed Jim Ewing’s exquisite image of this classic in the July 2016 issue. We have also enjoyed Ewing’s other renderings of such craft in prior issues. Thank you for sharing these with your readership. Fred Delavan Annapolis, Maryland DON’T FAULT THE JETTY The December article regarding the boating accident death of Jose Fernandez and two others was, in my opinion, misguided. It describes alleged issues with the visibility of the Government Cut jetty at night, implying that that was the primary cause of the accident. But it also states that “the baseball player’s [boat] crashed into the jetty at a high rate of speed about 3:15 a.m.” Though not stated in the article, maximum moonlight that night was only…
NEWS, EVENTS, PEOPLE PERFECTLY PRESERVED The Swedish warship Vasa was built over three years, beginning in 1625. On her much-anticipated launch in 1628, she sailed 1,500 yards through Stockholm’s harbor and sank. Raised in 1961, the massive ship had been remarkably wellpreserved in the icy Baltic Sea. Vasa is now in her own museum in Stockholm, and more than 35 million people have visited the elaborately carved and decorated vessel. vasamuseet.se A legendary center console just got better. The Ocean Master 31 is faster and more fuel-efficient than earlier models, says Mark Hauptner, the company’s founder and president. Hauptner built the first 31 in 1975 for a customer who wanted a big outboard center console for a 2,200-mile journey through the Caribbean, and he has been making improvements to the…
The National Transportation Safety Board has released a report of what its investigators heard on El Faro’s voyage data recorder: The captain expressed concern about conflicting weather reports as the container ship approached Hurricane Joaquin’s eye and twice rejected his mates’ advice to alter the ship’s course. NTSB chairman Christopher Hart stressed in a Dec. 13 videoconference that the report — actually five of them, on the ship’s electronics, Hurricane Joaquin’s meteorology, the search for survivors and survival equipment aboard the ship, its engineering systems, and the voyage data recorder — is factual and offers no analysis, conclusions or recommendations. El Faro, a 790-foot roll-on/roll-off container ship, was on a weekly run from Jacksonville, Florida, to Puerto Rico on Oct. 1, 2015, when it sank at 7:40 a.m., 36 nautical…
TRENDS, ANALYSIS, PERSPECTIVE Kidnapped by Somali pirates eight years ago, a German cruising couple was abducted again in November, this time by Muslim militants in the southern Philippines who shot, killed and possibly raped the skipper’s wife, a Philippine army spokesman says. On Nov. 6, villagers reported finding the naked and bruised body of 59-year-old Sabine Merz lying beside a shotgun aboard the German-flagged 53-foot sailboat Rockall off Laparan Island in the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines. Delfin Lorenzana, the Philippine defense secretary, confirmed the body was that of Merz, who is married to Jurgen Kantner, 70, according to the International Business Times. Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan Jr. says she may have been sexually assaulted. Abu Sayyaf, a Philippines-based militant Islamic group, circulated a video online showing…
Brad Read, the executive director of Sail Newport, started sailing as a kid and went on to win championships in several One designs, as well as three J/24 Worlds. A college All American, he was also the 1986 College Sailor of the Year. So it’s no wonder Read understands the role that sailing can play in a youth’s life. He has dedicated his career to it at Sail Newport, where he developed a nationally recognized sail education program and a world-class regatta management organization. Read lead the team that won the city and state bid to bring the Volvo Ocean Race to Newport, Rhode Island, the global race’s only North American stop in 2015. Thanks to the event’s resounding success, the VOR will return to Newport during the 2017-18 race.…
