CA members Paul and Rachel Chandler held a capacity audience in silent awe at CA House on Wednesday 5 October when they spoke about their cruise in the Indian Ocean and its abrupt curtailment by Somali gangsters in the Seychelles.
Their experience of captivity and eventual release is a gripping tale, sometimes harrowing to hear and at times clearly difficult to relate. It was all the more incredible delivered with (mostly) good humour and frankly un-natural levelheadedness. Even 291 breakfasts of goat’s liver left them unphased.
This information has been updated. Please find attached a brief note (Piracy Flyer V3) just published by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) in conjunction with the Maritime Security Centre - Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) and the UK Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO) a more detailed note (Piracy Warning V3) and an update (Piracy Update V4) also just published by ISAF, MSCHOA & UKMTO.
The documents strongly recommend that yachts avoid entirely the western Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Somali Basin and Gulf of Aden.
The CruiseAbility forum has now opened within the member’s section of the CA website. Its aim is to ensure that the objects of the Cruising Association are inclusive of members with disabilities or impairments, and assist these keen people to sail yachts.
Those even slower on the uptake than I am may be interested in the zyGrib wind/weather sequence facility. On a zyGrib chart, select a location with the mouse pointer, right click, choose Meteotable. The result will be as the attached picture. Very useful.
Hearty congratulations to CA member Jeanne Socrates who arrived in Cape Town (Royal Cape Y.C.) on Wednesday, 11th May at 5.10 p.m. local time at the successful conclusion of her third attempt to circumnavigate single-handed via Cape Horn. Her journey, via New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada/USA, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands took 14 months. At the age of 68, Jeanne is the oldest woman to complete a single-handed round-world voyage via Cape Horn and one of fewer than twenty women to have done so.
GFS GRIB data on the 1/2 degree resoulution Have been available from Saildocs for some months now. Newly introduved on zyGrib, if you ask for 7 days you will get 8. Presumably, they will amend the menu in time. The app from Weather 4D also has 8 day GFS GRIBs. See http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Grib-Files-Apps
For those into hand-held technology, iGrib is a GRIB file viewer for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. It is being developed by a CA member (S/V Mojo) and is low cost at £2.99.
The entire membership of the Cruising Association is shocked to learn that Scott and Jean Adam and their crew Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle on board their sailing yacht Quest have been fatally shot by their captors following the hijacking by Somali pirates off the coast of Oman.
Scott Adam was a member of the Cruising Association and the yacht had been taking part in the round-the-world Blue Water Rally but had left the rally before the attack.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those who died.
The Cruising Association Information Centre is pleased to announce the acquisition of a complete set of up-to-date Imray Digital Charts for use by members on the PC in the Information Centre. The charts cover the following areas:
Hearty congratulations to CA member Jeanne Socrates who arrived in Cape Town (Royal Cape Y.C.) on Wednesday, 11th May at 5.10 p.m. local time at the successful conclusion of her third attempt to circumnavigate single-handed via Cape Horn. Her journey, via New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada/USA, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands took 14 months. At the age of 68, Jeanne is the oldest woman to complete a single-handed round-world voyage via Cape Horn and one of fewer than twenty women to have done so.