thanksgiving
⇑⇓ETYMOLOGY FOR SAILORS Just a tidbit of information that you are probably already aware of. You published a photo of the lovely harbor of Hoorn in the Netherlands in a recent 'Lectronic. Cape Horn is named after Hoorn. Randolf Klein Mountain View Randolf — Thanks for bringing it up, but we did know that. We also know that Harlem on Manhattan came from Haarlem, a Dutch city and province in the Netherlands, and that New Zealand came from the Zeeland, another province in the Netherlands. Those Dutch — why don't they call them Netherlanders? — got around. But here's a couple of new things we learned. Amsterdam is named after the dam on the Amstel River, the latter also the name of a Dutch beer that was aggressively promoted in the States a few decades ago. And that Borkum Reef is not Cape Horn was named after Hoorn, a just the name of a popular gorgeous harbor in the Netherlands. brand of pipe tobacco, but the name of the westernmost Frisian Island, on the border with the Netherlands, one that is popular with German jet-setters. We're not sure that learning stuff like that does anything for most people, but it gives the Wanderer a lot of pleasure. Like fitting a couple of more tiny parts in a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.
LATITUDE / RICHARD
ENJOY IT AT YOUR NEW MARINA
probably second to only Royal Huisman. We'd once done an 'around St. Barth' New Year's Race aboard Timoneer, a spectacular 155-ft ketch that had been built by Vitters. We were flabbergasted that she could have been built in such a remote and lightly-populated agricultural area of the Netherlands. There's more. When Sophie-Marie, the broker we dealt with, was driving us down another two-lane road to a train station a couple of days later, we passed another sign, this one pointing to Royal Huisman Yachts. It was hard to believe that boats such as Jim Clark's 156-ft Hyperion, then the largest sloop The 292-ft 'Athena' is one of the world's great in the world, his megayachts that was built in the farmland of the 295-ft schooner Netherlands. Athena, the second largest private sailboat in the world, and his 135-ft J Class yacht Hanuman had been built surrounded by contented cows. It's going to be interesting to see how this inland nautical adventure plays out, because we know nothing — nothing! — about canal boats in Europe. We're not worried about the locks or the handing of the boat or anything like that; the thing we've been warned about and fear are stifling French and European Union rules and regulations.
LATITUDE / RICHARD
happy
LETTERS
ALAMEDA, CA www.fortman.com
(510) 522-9080
best value on the bay Page 32 •
Latitude 38
• November, 2014
⇑⇓PAPERWORK FOR MEXICO We just came down the coast from Vancouver aboard the 76-ft motoryacht we are running. While in San Diego, I sent the following to ship's agent Victor Berrera in Cabo San Lucas: 1) our crew List; 2) copies of passports of all the crew; 3) our