A rare sailing machine

A rare sailing machine

In 2005 Harley and Jennifer Earl were sailing around the world in their Hans Christian 41T, Manu Kai, when they stopped at Cocos (Keeling) Island in the Indian Ocean. While there they saw a voyaging sailboat at anchor that Harley said “looked fast just sitting still.” It was a Deerfoot 62 named Emma, one of the series of light displacement boats designed by Steve Dashew. For the Earls, the die was cast. When they returned to Sausalito, Calif., they sold Manu Kai and began a search for their own Deerfoot. According to Harley, there were only about 14 Deerfoots in…
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Useful diesel buying guide

Useful diesel buying guide

The next issue of Ocean Navigator will have a special section on diesel engines for voyagers. These marine engines are essential workhorses that few mariners could do without, both for propulsion use but also for generating the electrical power modern vessels require to power their many systems. It turns out that Diesel Pro Power, which is a marine diesel parts and supplies provider, has a useful diesel engine guide on its website called Marine Diesel Engine Comparisons, that can assist mariners in making buying decisions. The guide is designed to assist mariners with info that will allow them to keep…
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ON contributing editor wins writing award

ON contributing editor wins writing award

Ocean Navigator contributing editor Ann Hoffner has won an award from Boating Writers International at the group's annual conclave at the Miami International Boat Show. Hoffner's piece, "Big Mama the Cruising Spider," which ran in the September/October 2022 issue, won first prize in the Boating Lifestyles category.  The article chronicles a boating season aboard Hoffner and husband and photographer Tom Bailey's Sabre 30 Ora Kali as a spider made a series of webs in the corner of the Bimini as the couple cruise through the summer and into the fall. As BWI writing awards judge Kevin Flakey said, "'Big Mama the Cruising…
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Rescue recognized with Rob Stephens Seamanship Trophy

Rescue recognized with Rob Stephens Seamanship Trophy

The Cruising Club of America (CCA) recently awarded its 2022 Rob Stephens Seamanship Trophy to Golden Globe Race sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer, of South Africa. Neuschäfer was recognized for her at-sea rescue of fellow Golden Globe racer Tapio Lehtinen, whose boat Asteria sank on Nov. 18, 2022 while he was 460 miles southeast of South Africa's Port Elizabeth (which happens to be Neuschäfer's home town!). Neuschäfer rescued Lehtinen and brought him aboard her 36-footer Minnehaha. Here is the CCA website post on the award from CCA communications director John Burnham : The Cruising Club of America (CCA) annually awards the Rod Stephens…
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Coast Guard rescues three, 96 miles off Florida

Coast Guard rescues three, 96 miles off Florida

The Coast Guard rescued three people, Sunday, after their 25-foot sailboat became disabled 96 miles offshore of Anclote Island, Florida. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg command center received a channel 16 distress alert via VHF-FM radio from the vessel’s owner who reported the need for assistance. The vessel had become disabled and with worsening weather conditions, a passenger was requesting rescue for herself and her 12-year-old and 3-year-old children.  A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew hoisted the woman and two children without medical concerns and returned them to the air station where family greeted them.  "This…
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Rescue off Hatteras

Rescue off Hatteras

The Coast Guard rescued three adults and a 15-year-old from a sinking sailing vessel Thursday approximately 98 miles from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The 41-foot sailboat Rojodan crew contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina at approximately 6 p.m. Wednesday, stating that they had lost the use of both their engines and jib. The Coast Guard was unable to tow the vessel because of the distance from shore and weather conditions with wind gusts up to 40 knots and sea swells up to 8 feet. A Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew responded and hoisted the four…
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Classic ketch goes electric

Classic ketch goes electric

Sometimes a classic yacht is updated to current technology while still retaining its timeless good looks. The ketch Talisman, is a good example of that approach. The 75-foot yacht was built by Abeking & Rasmussen at its yard in Lemwerder, Germany in 1920 — reportedly the first steel-hulled yacht built by the yard. After an eventful life, which included lightning strikes and also a damaging fire, Talisman fell on hard times. In 2019 Talisman's new owner brought the boat to HCC Badeverft in Denmark for a complete refit that would include converting it to electric propulsion using a Torqueedo system. From Torqeedo's…
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The Ocean Race launches Generation Ocean

The Ocean Race launches Generation Ocean

The Ocean Race, a team-based, around-the-world race that begins January 15, 2023 in Alicante, Spain and ends six stops later in Genoa, Italy in July, has announced Generation Ocean, an educational program for students to teach about the world’s oceans, their biodiversity and threats to their health. From the press release: “The Ocean Race is launching Generation Ocean, Join the race to protect our incredible blue planet, a new secondary school learning program. The engaging materials equip teachers and parents with all they need to help learners understand the crucial role the ocean plays in sustaining life on Earth, the threats that are…
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Voyaging is fixing things

Voyaging is fixing things

Liveaboard voyagers usually like to point out that one of the constant aspects of voyaging is fixing things that break, and that things break all the time. Here is a video from Rebecca Childress aboard her boat Brick House that demonstrates the point. Rebecca and her sailing partner Michael Hayward work on rebuilding their wind generator, which stopped turning and required some major repair. https://youtu.be/UAkoKvG8wbI
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SSCA shares unique cruising videos

SSCA shares unique cruising videos

To commemorate the Seven Seas Cruising Association 70th Anniversary, each month, SSCA is making complementary (public) one of our popular interviews in the SSCA's Circumnavigators and Easier & Safer Cruising Summits! Watch & share. In this interview, we speak with two celebrity members Bruce and Joan Kessler, who were one of the first, if not the first, to circumnavigate in a personal cruising motor vessel, Zopilote, on a 3 year voyage ending in 1993. Bruce is a former Formula 1 race car driver, TV and Movie Director, and Deep Sea Fishing boat Captain, and Joan, better known as Joan Freeman…
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