CHANGES with stops at the American, English, Russian, Chilean and Argentine scientific outposts. Their circumnavigation of Antarctica, the first by a pleasure yacht, took 111 days — 84 of them under sail — and roughly followed the course of Captain James Cook. The Griffiths were awarded the Blue Water Medal of the Cruising Club of America in 1972, and after 200,000 ocean miles under sail wrote Blue Water, A Guide to Self-Reliant Sailboat Cruising. It's remarkable what the Griffiths accomplished given their relatively primitive boats and equipment. Want to crew across the South Atlantic — usually one of the most pleasant long ocean passages in the world — with a very experienced sailor? Then Kirk McGeorge of the Hylas 49 Gallivanter might be your man. He did a circumnavigation on an Islander 37, and has done half a circumnavigation with Gallivanter. After he and his wife and child took up residence in Australia for a few years, they've decided to move back to the Virgin Islands, so he's delivering the boat. "Having repaired the broken watermaker and propeller shaft coupling, changed the engine oil, filled the fuel and
One thing that's guaranteed when sailing with Kirk McGeorge is that he'll keep you entertained with amusing cruising tales.
propane tanks, and ordered new saloon seat covers here in Bali, we're pretty much ready for sea," writes McGeorge. "I was counting on three old friends to join me for the upcoming voyage to South Africa, but it seems other priorities are suddenly getting in their way. I'm capable and prepared to do this voyage alone, but would much prefer to have some company. Wanna come along?
Then drop me a line and book a flight to Bali without delay." It's likely McGeorge will have left Bali before you read this, but it's also likely he'll still be needing crew for the rest of the way across the Indian Ocean and across the South Atlantic. Hint to novice ocean cruisers: the sail across the Indian Ocean is one of the nastier ones in the world. The sail across the South Atlantic is generally one of the most lovely. McGeorge, who has frequently contributed to Latitude, can be reached at svgallivanter@yahoo.com. At least there is some semi-good news following the Norwegian-owned Fountaine-Pajot 46 catamaran Blue Marble's grounding on the jagged coral of the remote South Pacific island of Niue in September. The cat went onto the coral after the recommended "commercial mooring" failed. Erlend Hovland, the young owner, reports that an insurance settlement was reached. "It all came together in one day," he wrote, "the insurance paid, the wreck sold, and we got a ride on the 40-footer Red Sky Night with our friend Felice." We suspect that
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Latitude 38
• November, 2013
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