Cruising

Sailing ship project pushes bill

(Pro-Jo) PROVIDENCE — A bill to allow a state agency to insure the mortgages of sailing vessels, and most immediately, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, has won the unanimous endorsement of a key Senate committee. Now headed to the full Senate for a vote, the bill sponsored by Sen. Louis DiPalma, D-Middletown, would allow the Rhode Island Industrial Recreational Building Authority, for the first time, to insure the payment of mortgage loans secured for “sailing vessel(s),” such as the Oliver Hazard Perry, which are at least 150 feet long, and have their hailing port in Rhode Island.

Sailor loses sails, found adrift in Cape Cod Bay

(Cape Cod Times) BARNSTABLE — It was a long three-day trip for one sailor who endured torn sails and rough seas only to end up becalmed in thick fog in Cape Cod Bay on Monday afternoon, with no fuel remaining to power his auxiliary motor.

After the man used a cell phone to call for help, a boat from the Barnstable Fire Department and the harbor master's office found the 25-foot sailboat Sea Salsa off Barnstable Harbor. The U.S. Coast Guard also sent a vessel from Station Cape Cod Canal to help escort the vessel into the harbor. READ MORE

Orkney yacht rescue team brave volcanic ash cloud

(BBC) A helicopter rescue crew from Shetland has braved the volcanic ash cloud to come to the aid of a stricken yacht 25 miles off the coast of Orkney.

The emergency happened after the 25ft (7.6m) yacht - the Black Sheep - got into difficulty in 50mph winds and high seas in the early hours of Tuesday.

A personal locator used by the yacht's skipper was picked up by Shetland Coastguard at about 0400 BST. READ MORE

Coast Guard aircrew rescues two 120 miles off Nantucket

(USCG) The Coast Guard rescued two people May 10, 120 miles southeast of Nantucket, Mass., after their sailboat lost its mast and began taking on water. The two-man crew of the sailing vessel Eva contacted the Coast Guard Command Center in Boston via satellite telephone at 1:45 p.m. stating that their 45-foot sailboat had lost its mast and was taking on water. READ MORE

Sailor, 85, crosses Atlantic on raft with friends

(MSNBC) An 85-year-old British sailor who dreamed of crossing the Atlantic on a raft as a young boy has completed the journey in 66 days with three friends. The 2,800-mile crossing to this Caribbean island, led by Anthony Smith of London, took about two months and was generally smooth except for damage to two rudders on the large, sail-powered raft."Some people say it was mad," he told The Associated Press when he arrived in St. Maarten Wednesday. "But it wasn't mad. What else do you do when you get on in years?" READ MORE

Worried about a radioactive ocean? A reality check

(Boston.com) This week, workers at the stricken Japanese nuclear plant dumped radioactive water into the ocean to make room for storing even more highly contaminated water on the site. The water dumping came after earlier leaks of radioactive water that had already raised concerns about its effects in the ocean, raising questions about health and safety. Here are answers to some of those questions. READ MORE

Coast Guard Issues Piracy Warning to U.S. Registered Yachts and Sailing Vessels

(USCG) The U.S. Coast Guard strongly advises against all operation of and travel by U.S. yachts and sailing craft, or by U.S. citizens on foreign registered yachts and sailing craft, on the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Somali Basin and the western parts of the Indian Ocean. A U.S. registered sailing vessel was hijacked by pirates in February 2011 off the southern coast of Oman in the northern Arabian Sea and all of its crew were tragically killed. This case is a stark reminder of the grave dangers of operating in these high risk waters, especially by recreational vessels.

Pictured all smiles on their yachting holiday, the family of five Somali pirates are now threatening to kill

(Daily Mail) A Somali pirate has warned that if any attempt is made to rescue seven Danish hostages then the gang responsible for their capture will kill them. The family have been named as Jan Quist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie Johansen, their sons Rune and Hjalte and their daughter Naja. They are from Kalundborg, 75 miles west of Copenhagen. The pirate who made the threat, Abdullahi Mohamed, said that he has ties with those holding the Danish crew, which also includes two other adults.

Pirates hijack Danish yacht with three teens aboard

(CNN) A Danish family, including three children ages 13, 15 and 17, was hijacked by Somali pirates last week, according to a report in the Copenhagen Post. The teens, along with their parents and two deckhands, were sailing from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea as part of an around-the-world voyage when they were abducted, the post reported, citing Denmark's Foreign Ministry. READ MORE

Preventing piracy begins on land

(Boston.com) THE TRAGIC deaths of four American yachters at the hands of Somali pirates should reinvigorate the world’s attempt to quench piracy off the shores of East Africa. Fortunately, tried and true methods for thwarting pirates are available, despite the vast 2.5 million-square-mile Indian Ocean basin across which the intrepid pirates act and allied naval vessels attempt to patrol. READ MORE
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