Cruising

Somalia Piracy Out of Control

in

28 Aug

Puntland, Somalia - With as many as 100 mariners currently held captive inside the country, and ransoms reaching millions of dollars, piracy has become big business in Somalia. It's no longer only commercial ships at risk, as criminals have begun targeting private yachts in the hope of a ransom pay-off - the profit is not in the ship, but in the crew. The value of human life in war-torn Somalia is cheap, the piracy risks low, and the payout enormous. Without any form of real government, little industry, and a wrecked economy, it appears Somalia is becoming a pirate state.

Somalia Piracy Out of Control - Pirates in Somalia

Pirates Attack Yacht in Europe

in

25 Aug

Corsica, France - A luxury yacht was attacked by pirates on Sunday near Porto-Vecchio (Corse-du-Sud), off the French island of Corsica, according to the gendarmerie. The Tiara mega-yacht, which flies the flag of the Cayman Islands, had just sailed from Sardinia, and had only been anchored in the Bay of Santa Giulia, near Porto-Vecchio for a few hours when four masked men, armed with rifles and revolvers, approached the

Pirates Attack Yacht in the Mediterranean

Cruising Queensland Australia - Blogs

Posted August 22nd, 2008 by ARC

in

We saw the Lizard!
It is easy to get distracted when you are working hard and playing hard. But we realised that if we stayed much longer in Cairns, we would take root. So, and bearing in mind we are one of the slow-coaches, we left Cairns slightly ahead of the pack. To get back into the swing of it, so to speak, we had a short first day, spending the night at the little town of Port Douglas. It is a charming place, mainly given over to the tourist trade, but it is not until you leave it that you realise it's the most northerly real town on the East Coast of Queensland; after that you are on your own.

Roxy Jam - Sam Davies

Posted August 7th, 2008 by Sam Davies

in

Our adventures in the Pays Basque were VERY tiring, but LOTS of fun!

We set off three weeks ago, in a nice Bay of Biscay storm - Westerly wind 30-45 knots! That was another good training session, as we screamed down towards Biarritz at speeds of over 20 knots! 14 hours after leaving Lorient, we swapped our ski-masks and drysuits for shorts and T-shirt as the wind dropped off and the sun came out.

Kava on Espirito Santo in Vanuatu - Blog

Posted July 22nd, 2008 by ARC

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Vanuatu is an island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean, north of New Zealand and east of Australia. Vanuatu's main boat ports are Port Vila on the island of Efate and Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo, meaning 'Holy Spirit'. Espiritu Santo with a surface area of 3955.5 km, is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, which includes over 83 islands. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu, and belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia.

Cruising Blogs from Vanuatu

Posted July 16th, 2008 by ARC

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This one was rough! Big seas and 30+ knots of wind for 470-odd miles. Early on Monday morning the skipper was woken by a loud bang and a shout from Colin in the cockpit, "Martyn, Martyn, we've lost the rudder", "We're all going to die".