Rob Robertson recently motored his classic 1939 wooden cruiser up to a dock on Charleston’s wind-swept Cooper River and donated the $145,000 vessel to the South Carolina Maritime Foundation.
It’s the third vessel that the foundation that operates the tall ship Spirit of South Carolina has accepted in recent months, and four more donations are pending. And that success bucks the usual trend of boat donations tapering off in a sluggish economy.
Robertson’s boat, The Frolic, which would cost $748,000 if built today, will help the foundation’s mission of providing education programs on the water for students.
“We had to come up with creative ways to generate cash,” in a tight economy,… Details
Reporting from Popotla, Mexico — Nallely and Heriberto Salgado boarded the Mexican fishing skiff bobbing off the Baja California coast last week and watched warily in the moonlight as 19 other people squeezed onto the vessel designed to carry no more than a dozen.
A smuggler piloting the 25-foot boat promised a short ride before landing on a beach in San Diego.
But 12 hours later, the Salgados were still being lashed with sea spray. The thick fog had burned off, leaving a panorama of brilliant blue, with no land in sight.
“We saw only ocean all around us,” said Nallely Salgado. “And we were running out of gas.”
With tougher enforcement and new barriers rising on land along the U.S.-Mexico border, many would-be immigrants like the ones crowded aboard the Tiburon are taking to the sea…. Details
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While on water Australian sailors Simon McKeon and Tim Daddo have just broken the speed barrier of 50 knots in their sailing boat Macquarie Innovation, a British engineer has become the fastest human on earth powered by the wind alone, in a land sailing boat.
Richard Jenkins clocked 109.57 knots in his Ecotricity ‘Greenbird’ powered only by 25 knot winds. He eclipsed the previous record of 100.8 knots, set by American Bob Schumacher ten years ago… Details
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Organizers of the Maverick’s Surf Contest may soon have their own version of spring’s most popular rhyme:
April showers bring … monster waves?
The window for the big wave contest is scheduled to close Tuesday, putting one of the flattest years in recent history in the books. Yet, Maverick’s organizers aren’t quite ready to let go. According to Keir Beadling, CEO of Mavericks Surf Ventures, which organizes the contest held near Half Moon Bay, the company is considering extending the window into April.
“We’re taking a look at it,” Beadling said. “There are a lot of different steps that have to be taken and a lot of people who have to be consulted with. Even if they wanted to do it, it’s not a slam dunk. But this isn’t a desperate attempt. The reality is we’ve had contestable conditions delivered to Mav’s in Aprils past.”… Details