YACHT INSURANCE Blue Water Yacht Insurance covers more active cruising boats than any other marine agency in the Western Hemisphere.

Our Insurance Programs Provide: Crew of two anywhere • Worldwide Navigation Charter Boats • Multihulls • Liveaboards • Racing Boats Quality Rated Insurance Companies Boats aged 1 to 40 years • "Agreed Value" "All Risks" • "New for Old" replacement partial losses Hulls valued $50,000 to $25,000,000 Worldwide Health Insurance International and USA health insurance plans at affordable prices.

Call Toll Free (866) 463-0167 Fax (866) 795-3707 sales@bluewaterinsurance.com Quote requests Visit our website

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• No Pump

KEEL COOLER SYSTEM

• No Fan • No Noise

Arguably the world's most efficient, dependable refrigeration. The keel cooler and super efficient compressor make for a quiet, highly efficient 12V refrigeration system.

We have three caveats. First, buy your system from a reputable retailer. There are a lot of flakes in the fledgling industry. We ended up having ours put together by Jeremey at DSLR in Culver City. Although he didn't sell us our main components, he did us right by putting it all together when we were in a semidesperate situation about to catch a plane to the Caribbean. He's now our go-to expert. Second, these units are subject to failures and 'flyaways'. Kurt Roll, who did the Ha-Ha video, lost his first unit to the waters of San Diego Bay because of some sort of power failure. He bounced back with a Phantom 2 and took spectacular footage of leopard sharks off San Diego's Black's Beach. And our friend Rick Todd, a longtime 737 and Citation 10 pilot, lost his to a 'flyaway' the second time he used it. Finally, it would have been illegal for most people to take our February cover shot in the United States and sell it to Latitude or anyone else. That's because the Federal Aviation Administration says that, while hobbyists can take such photos and video, only licensed pilots can sell the photos. We're not making this up. ⇑⇓SAILING IN A SWIM MASK

Wearing a swim mask at the helm of a sailboat — as the Wanderer was seen doing in the photo in the February 10 'Lectronic — is unusual, but I put one on when I was sailing in Tonga in 1990. I couldn't see a thing without the The Wanderer donned a snorkel mask to mask, and I rememprotect his eyes from stinging rain. ber how badly the wind-driven rain stung. I didn't know it could rain so hard. A couple of boats dragged anchor and got on the radio and asked for help. You might remember that Sally Andrew and Foster Goodfellow of the Alameda-based Yamaha 33 Fellowship were cruising Tonga at the same time. Dave Fullerton Mudshark, Express 37 San Francisco

DEVAN MULLINS

BLUE WATER

LETTERS

Dave — Speaking of Foster and Sally, we're still in contact with them. As you may know, about 15 years ago Foster came down with an inner ear problem that made it impossible for him to sail the ocean anymore. So they bought a canal boat in Europe and have been living that life ever since. But they still miss sailing the South Pacific.

More than 12,000 Keel Cooler systems sold in the last 10 years. Designed for hot, tropical conditions. Dealer Inquiries Welcome

1150 BRICKYARD COVE RD., SUITE B6 PT. RICHMOND, CA 94801 (510) 234-9566 Page 44 •

Latitude 38

• March, 2014

⇑⇓WE WISHED WE HAD SWIM MASKS I wished I had a swim mask to wear while delivering Coronado 25 Enfin from Ventura to Port San Luis on California's Central Coast. We planned to motor up to Santa Barbara, having a nice dinner and drinks, then continue on around Conception and up to Port San Luis. But the weather report that afternoon for Point Conception called for 35 knots. My friend, unfortunately, had to get his boat to Port San Luis and we were short of time, so the three of us set out that evening. As the sun went down, the oil platforms became good navigation aids, as we were dead reckoning. Once we passed them, the full moon illuminated our way. Rounding Conception wasn't too bad. The wind was light, although the swells were medium to large, causing the out-