SIGHTINGS moonduster — cont’d strobes and other safety gear. At about 0830, the first 50-knot gusts were felt. "We could hear the roar before they struck, and once they were upon us, the boat would both veer wildly and heel heavily. . . the noise, once an unsettling din, had built to a cacophony of sounds best described as howling." Then one strong gust hit and the "veering motion was accompanied by a deafening bang. I knew immediately that the snubber line on the chain rode had parted." Wayne clawed his way to the foredeck with a replacement snubber, and was shocked to see that the 5/8" nylon line hadn't chafed, but had "parted cleanly" by the sheer force pulling against it. "Seeing that, my stomach clenched and my heart
SPREAD: NERIA BREWERTON; INSET: LATITUDE / ANDY
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Latitude 38
• January, 2010
solo girls homebase of Marina del Rey. Though she has a team of supporters getting Wild Eyes ready for a post-Christmas start, the Sunderland family has accepted that the trip may not happen this year. “I will be leaving as soon as we are both ready, not a moment sooner or later,” Abby wrote on her blog (www.abbysunderland.com). Meanwhile, halfway around the world, it looks as if Laura Dekker, 14, sabotaged any chance of her own record bid when she fled the Netherlands last month and