WHALE POINT

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M A R I N E & H A R dwA R E C O.

A FAmily mily Owned & OperA perAted Ated Business FOr three GenerA enerAti AtiOns Marine parts & accessories, pLUs a coMpLete hardware store

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SS 6 gal • #406011 • NOw SS 11 gal • #411011 • NOw

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Tru Plug Sta-Plug

$26999 $33999

gill Marina Jacket Light weight foolweather jacket, vivid blue.

Foam Emergency Plug

FG-11J Reg $9950 • NOw

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SeASTOw Step Stool FOrePSAr M.O.B. Pole USCG Approved Folding step stool in black, blue or white

Model 202018

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Lifetime warranty

Twin-eye Fender 5” x 18”.......$1399 6” x 22”.......$1999 8” x 26”.......$2999

Hole-thru-middle Fender 99 6.5” x 15”....$29 15” 8” x 20”.......$4999 10” x 26”.....$7499

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Page 18 •

Latitude 38

• June, 2015

water tank and was able to measure the salinity. According to my PUR watermaker manual, any product water over 1,500 parts per million should be discarded. My meter read 1,480 parts per million, meaning the water from the tank was still drinkable, but just barely. So I'm drinking coffee with extra sugar for as long as the water in the tank lasts. I'm much relieved to have this additional water, but will have to see how long it lasts. I'm sailing along nicely now, picking up what is most likely the outer edge of the Humboldt Current. I can see the tradewinds getting closer, and should be into them within 24 hours. Once I pass through the transitional area, where I will be slowed for at least 12 hours, I can get moving again. Debbie contacted me from Bahia Caraquez, Ecuador, where I started and where I will finish my trip. Many people know that Ecuador was hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on April 16, which killed at least 659 people and injured over 27,000. Much of Bahia Caraquez was damaged or destroyed, so Debbie is sleeping inside a three-person tent in the yard of a friend's house. She reports that many people who lost their homes are sleeping in tents on the streets of Bahia. The big Tia store was opened, but had to close immediately because of looting. There are lots of soldiers on the streets now, however, making things safer. My running very low on water and the post-earthquake situation in Ecuador reminds me that a while back I mentioned that while hunger is the strongest driving force of humans, few of us have food to last more than a few days. Without food, we humans get desperate and will run just about any risk to get some. I think we should all learn from this and have some basic food on hand. I know it's hard to do when you've never needed to do it and when there has always been a fully stocked store a few blocks away. But when there is a severe natural disaster, be it an earthquake, flood, hurricane or what have you, the food in the local store will be an illusion after just a few days. I provisioned my Sailors Run with approximately seven months' worth of food for my nonstop circumnavigation. When all the boat lockers were jammed to the top with food, it seemed like a ridiculous amount. But with still over 1,000 miles to go, I have about the same amount of provisions as do the unfortunate people in Ecuador who are trying to recover from the earthquake. It's sobering. Fortunately for me, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. With so little fresh water I may be getting saltier by the day, but I'm watching the light grow larger and brighter. Jeff Hartjoy Sailors Run, Baba 40 South Pacific Ocean Readers — To remind everyone, after 167 days at sea — and having had to repair his genoa nearly 50 times — Jeff completed a fantastic nonstop solo circumnavigation via the Five Great Capes. He crossed his outbound track just two days short of his 70th birthday, making him the oldest American to accomplish such a feat. And he did it with a Baba 40, a rather ordinary cruising ketch with which he and his wife Debbie had previously done three Baja Ha-Ha's and a lot of cruising. Before making landfall at his starting point, Ecuador's Bahia Caraquez, Jeff ran very low on food and water, and was presented with a final obstacle: Timing his arrival with the tide so he could sail across the bar that protects the bay's anchorage. Not only that, but the entire area was still recovering from a powerful April 16 earthquake that was followed in late May by two smaller, yet still damaging, quakes.