CUULJ
/UNDERWAYjune/july 2016cruisingworld.com18
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Pure Bahamas
The islands of the
Bahamas are a cruis-
er’s playground. Take
a virtual cruise to the
Abacos, Berry Islands,
Eleuthera and the
Exumas at cruising
world.com/ 1606
bahamas.
New Tricks for
Salty Dawgs
The popular Salty
Dawg rally will host
three events this sum-
mer, including a new
cruise from Virginia
to Maine. Find the
details at cruising
world.com/1606dawg.
Gam Down East
The 26th Annual
Seven Seas Cruising
Association’s Penob-
scot Bay Gam has
been set for July 29-
in Rockland, Maine.
The event will include
a dinghy raft-up,
potluck and presenta-
tion. For information,
visit cruisingworld
.com/1606gam.
Knot Guide
Cruising World’s new
knot-tying guide,
featuring step-by-step
videos, will have you
whipping and tying like
a pro. Check out all
the videos at cruising
world.com/1606knots. DAVID GILLESPIE (FAR LEFT); DAVID COLLER (TOP); JOHN HENRY (CENTER); ERNIE GODSHALK
HEY, THAT’S RENEGADE!
I got a voicemail a couple of weeks ago from
Bill Clapp down at Dutch Wharf Boat Yard
in Branford, Connecticut, saying, “You’re
famous!” What he was talking about was
the photo in the story “Heeding the Call”
(March 2016). It’s a picture of my boat,
the schooner Renegade, as we were headed
south through Bras d’Or Lake on the way
home from Newfoundland and the French
islands. It was a fabulous trip, and by the
time we were done we had logged 2,752 sea
miles and been at sea three months and
nine days. As for Renegade, she was built of
wood in 1972 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. I purchased her 11 years ago in St. John, New
Brunswick, and sailed her home with a motley crew of friends and relations, and have
been working myself to death on her since. Such is the fate of all wooden-boat owners.
This year’s plans are more modest: hopping around Long Island Sound, possibly Martha’s
Vineyard, and then the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race in October. Maybe. It all
depends on how the wind blows. — David Coller, Branford, Connecticut
A SORE SIGHT IS A BLIGHT
Regarding Robert Beringer’s
excellent April 2016 article, “Flor-
ida Anchoring Angst,” I agree
that it is unfortunate that anchor-
ing restrictions are increasingly
being imposed by lawmakers and
regulators. However, as an avid
sailor in the San Francisco Bay
Area, I can attest that a prolif-
eration of squatters on derelict
boats is a real problem and a major
factor behind what drives these
new restrictions. To take just one
example, more than 200 such der-
elict craft sit across from Sausalito
in environmentally sensitive Rich-
ardson Bay. Few if any of these
boats are anchored in preparation
for any sort of ocean cruise, and
many regularly discharge e ffl uent
and trash directly into the tidal
waters that fl ow into the adja-
cent Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary.
Moreover, they often break free
and drift into navigation channels
or even other boats. When land-
lubbers in power from Florida to
California look out from the shore
and are outraged at what they
see (just read the local newspaper
editorials), they will eventually act
by passing laws designed to deter
a small minority of irresponsible
individuals who unfortunately
impact all boaters.
John Henry
San Francisco
LET’S TALK SAFETY
I applaud your excellent Editor’s
Log entitled “Take It or Leave
It?” in the April issue. Fellow
Cruising Club of America mem-
ber Chuck Hawley seems to have
gotten his safety messages across.
You nicely summarize in one
page the major topics of a full-
day safety seminar. I invite your
readers to the extensive safety
section on the CCA’s site at
cruising club .org/safety-sea. Open
to the public, these pages contain
many articles by CCA members,
including Chuck, on a range of
safety and seamanship topics.
You recommended attending a
safety seminar (and CW is a gen-
erous sponsor of US Sailing SAS
seminars). Newport Bermuda
Race years (even- numbered
years, like 2016) present an
excellent opportunity for learn-
ing, refreshing or practicing
safety procedures. For example,
the CCA recently hosted 275 rac-
ers and cruisers at its biennial
Newport, Rhode Island, safety
seminar, which included in-the-
pool life-raft training, hands-on
fl ooding control and “live fi re”
aerial fl ares. It will be held again in
June (details at cruisingclub .org,
or follow us @cca_sas). Support is
also given to local yacht clubs uti-
lizing our workbook, and exten-
sive course materials are provided
at no charge to host the CCA’s
Safety for Cruising Couples sem-
inars, which this spring are being
held in various locations in the
U.S., Canada and Australia.
Ernie Godshalk, Chair
CCA Safety & Seamanship
Committee
Derelict boats are a problem
on both coasts.
Live fl are demos are part of
the Safety at Sea seminars.