IN LATITUDES 32 berthed in Sausalito's Pelican Harbor. "SUNAT (the taxing authority in Peru) illegally seized my yacht almost three years ago when I stopped for emergency repairs in Ancón," wrote Dave Smith in a mid-July email. Smith, formerly of Sausalito, did not identify the type or name of his boat. He went on to say that he won every court case (including appeals), only to have SUNAT repeatedly refuse to return the boat. However, on the day he wrote, he said, "It's looking like they are going to release the boat today . . . I'm running fast now, trying to leave before they find another excuse to … retain possession of the boat." We reached out to him several times for more information but at this writing have not heard back. When Jeff and Marie Brandt decided it was time for a bluewater cruiser a couple of years ago, they went 'retro', so to speak. Rather than building on their multihull experiences (their first two boats were a Prout catamaran and an F-27 trimaran), they chose a Pacific Seacraft TINY DANCER
company that once made catamarans. 'Caravans' — what we call trailers — have to be extra-tough Down Under because most roads in the Outback are unpaved. Alan and Laura Dwan's Herreshoff Nereia ketch Rhapsody got a bit part in the movie Adrift. The veterans of the 2012 Baja Ha-Ha and 2014 Puddle Jump were in Fiji when the opportunity to take part arose. Neither we nor the Dwans have seen the movie yet, but apparently there's a part where "there is an impromptu race and Rhapsody is the blue-hulled ketch." At this writing, Alan and Laura are getting ready to head back to the States. Another circumnavigation got added to our 'West Coast Circumnavigators' list (which also includes Hawaii) last month. Gershon II, a 50-ft custom steel cutter owned by Steve and Cheryl Kornberg, left Kona, Hawaii, in 2012 and returned there in 2017. Interestingly, the boat was built in Hawaii in 1991 and served as the escort boat for the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokulea on the New Zealand-toHawaii leg of her Malama Honua World Voyage. The Kornbergs' first sail to Hawaii was aboard the first Gershon Gershon,, a Lapworth
Size counts, which is why many people favor pocket cruisers like 'Tiny Dancer'. She's not as fast as the Brandts' previous boats, but, they say, "We're not in a hurry."
Dana 24. And they haven't been disappointed. The Bay Area couple found and prepped Tiny Dancer in Port Townsend, but couldn't quite make it to San Diego in time for last year's Ha-Ha. So they took their time meandering down the coast, eventually ending up in Cabo, where they spent Christmas before heading into the Sea of Cortez. The boat is currently on the hard in San Carlos and Jeff and Marie are eagerly awaiting the end of hurricane season to continue the journey south. After a winter cruising Mexico aboard
Sunday, November 18 (2018 Baja Ha-Ha participants.) Door prizes and much more!
September, 2018 •
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