16
LCCR
II
WWWWWWOOOOOOOOLLLL
DDD
D
MMMEECCCC
(^11022) R
16
WHY WE DO IT
David Gillespie’s story in your
September issue (“Tangier, By
Accident”) put a smile on my face.
My wife, Beth, and I stopped on
Tangier Island in September 2013
and stayed at Parks Marina. We
are delighted to hear that Milton
is still doing well. In those days
he drove up and down the docks
on a blue moped with his feet
out like kickstands on both sides.
We thought for sure he would go
swimming every time.
He also told us a great story
when we were there. It started
with our boat name, Elizabeth
Anne. I told him the boat was
named after my wife, who made
me buy the boat. He said, “Oh,” in
a very knowing way, and said that
on the island they named their
boats after their daughters. When
asked why, he replied, “Because
she’s always your daughter!” I
also recall him fl irting with Beth
and telling her to look him up if
she dumped me. Thank you for
reminding us why we cruise.
John and Beth Pohle
Fleming 55, Elizabeth Anne
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
Upon opening the October issue,
I’m struck by the size of the
“cruising” boats your magazine
is promoting through articles
and advertising. They are beauti-
ful and impressive. But is this the
direction we want to go? I’m sure
that for builders, designers, and
the people who maintain these
50-, 60- and 70-plus-footers,
that’s where the money is. But for
the rest of us — that’s most of us,
I suspect — what we see are boats
taking up too much dock and
anchorage space. I also suspect
that these boats have too much
waterline and too much windage
to be easily single- or even double-
handed under most conditions.
Joe Bishop
Covington, Louisiana
UNDERWAY
A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW
OF TANGIER
I enjoyed “Tangier, By Accident” in the September
Underway. As a sailor and a pilot, I’ve loved my time on
Tangier Island (see below photo, taken from the air).
The island is a popular place for general aviation pilots
to pop in for lunch and take a lovely stroll. Although I
haven’t met Milton, I will try to do so on our next visit!
Kim Stevens, Publisher
State Aviation Journal, Arizona Aviation Journal
-
- •••••••••
- •
- •••
- •••••••••
-
MAIL`
CCCRRRR
UUUIS
INGGWWWOOOOOORRLD
ED
MMEEC
(^66102) REB
MARCO SCHULENBURG/BARBA (TOP LEFT); MATT RUTHERFORD (BOTTOM LEFT); KIM STEVENS (RIGHT)
northern route through Europe.
The balance tipped again in
2009, when pirate attacks of
Somalia compelled Lloyd’s
of London and other marine
insurers to declare a war zone
and withdraw yacht-insurance
coverage for large stretches of
the northwestern Indian Ocean.
Since then, round-the-world
rallies and greater numbers of
individual voyagers have chosen
the southern route.
The payof here is undeniable.
Sure, the weather can get big
of South Africa’s Wild Coast,
but seasoned sailors learn to
pick their windows, hopping
southward down the coast
between blows. The South
African Weather Service
(weathersa.co.za/home/marine)
provides excellent forecasting,
and Durban-based Cruising
Connections (cruisingconnec
tions.co.za/index.php/weather)
compiles daily synoptic charts.
In Cape Town, the highlights
span from the mundane to the
magical. World-class marine
services are available here,
and provisioning is relatively
inexpensive and abundant.
At press time, U.S. dollars
go further than ever before,
with an exchange rate near 15
rand to the dollar. Cape Town
is a cosmopolitan city, with
restaurants and shopping that
hold their own with Paris and
New York.
And you don’t need to go
far outside of town to fi nd the
magic. It’s there at the top of
Table Mountain, and through-
out the whole Table Mountain
National Park (sanparks.org/
parks/table_mountain), stretch-
ing over 100 square miles down
to the Cape of Good Hope, a
destination that deserves a place
on every sailor’s bucket list.
Home to 8,200 distinct plant
species, the park includes the
Cape Floral Region, designated
a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. Penguin colonies, chacma
baboon families, great white
sharks and orcas — all these
inhabit the cape.
Yes, there’s something about
Cape Town, something that
deserves a long, deep look.
— Tim Murphy
Crew Wanted
for a Whale of a
Time
This fall, join an
intrepid band of
adventurers sailing
Barba to northern
Norway, above the
Arctic Circle, to
spend a season doc-
umenting the orcas.
The crew plans to
study whales through
February, then spend
March and April
skiing and exploring
the remote northern
wilderness. Find out
how to join the fun
for a short or long
leg at cruisingworld
.com/1611barba.
Video: Ocean
Research Project
Matt Rutherford and
the crew of Ault are
surveying ice, tem-
perature and salinity
for NASA in the j ords
of Greenland. “If
you were to melt the
Greenland ice cap,
you would add 21 feet
to sea-level rise glob-
ally,” says Rutherford.
“We are horribly un-
prepared.” Watch the
video at cruisingworld
.com/1611rutherford.
november/december 2016
cruisingworld.com