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Hi FReepers, I'm posting in order to locate FReepers who are living on board a sailboat in or around Florida. We are thinking about a retirement sailing around the Carribean on what's know as the 'Grand Tour' which would take us in a big loop down to Columbia and back. Should this part of the trip go by uneventably boring, we could transit the Panama Canal and run down the Pacific coast of S. America.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam reported that she had suffered a broken mast and had suspended racing on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, which began today in Alicante.Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, skippered by Ian Walker from the UK at the start of leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean race 2011-12 from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa. - PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race Navigator Jules Salter told Volvo Ocean Race control that all the crew were unhurt and were attempting to recover what they could.“There is no panic on board and we’re planning to motor back...

Fifteen-year-old Laura Dekker aims to become the youngest woman to sail around the world. Despite efforts by Dutch youth welfare officials to prevent the teen from making her record-breaking solo voyage, she is now underway on her yacht, the Guppy. Now her parents are plagued by remorse. The small dinghy hisses past the wooden pylons and out into the open sea. It's shortly after midnight. The girl at the helm is wearing flip-flops and denim shorts. The lights in the harbor of Kralendijk on the Caribbean island of Bonaire have already faded into the distance when there is a loud...

Queensland teenage sailor Jessica Watson has been named Young Australian of the Year for the bravery and tenacity she showed during her solo round-the-world trip. The then 16-year-old battled fierce storms and loneliness at sea to become the youngest person to sail non-stop and unassisted around the world in 210 days. She used her acceptance speech to urge her fellow young Australians to dream big. "You don't have to be anyone or anything to achieve something. You've just got to believe in it and work hard," she said. ~~~~ Watson's controversial journey at first attracted criticism and she faced calls...

Pooch in boat washes ashore in Pompano after owner swims to beach You've heard of dogs playing poker for fun, but what about boating? A pooch that became stranded at sea on a boat after his owner fell off the side made it safely to shore in Pompano Beach Tuesday. The dog's wild ride happened about a mile off shore, when owner James Land was thrown overboard. "The wave hit me and flipped me off the side of the boat," Land said. "I was just hoping the dog was still on the boat." The dog, Lucy, was left alone on...

A 14-year-old Dutch sailor departed in secrecy from Portugal Saturday on her quest to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, avoiding the media because her manager said she didn't want the attention. Laura Dekker said goodbye to her father and friends at an undisclosed Portuguese port enroute to Spain's Canary Islands or Portugal's Madeira Island despite almost windless conditions in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal, according to manager Peter Klarenbeek. (...) The attempt has been criticized by Dutch child protection authorities who questioned the wisdom of a child risking the world's oceans alone....

When engineer Carl Wiley brought solar sails to a wide audience in 1951, he envisioned a particular kind of sail. Wiley, who wrote under the byline Russell Saunders, published “Clipper Ships of Space” in the May issue of Astounding Science Fiction that year, seven years before the first technical paper on sails, Richard Garwin’s “Solar Sailing: A Practical Method of Propulsion within the Solar System,” appeared in the journal Jet Propulsion. As you can see in the illustration, which ran with the original essay in Astounding, Wiley envisioned the sail as taking a parachute shape, with the payload attached to...

This is rich… Rambo Deadfish mocks Tony Hayward’s tone deafness — at the same time the White House is announcing that Obama is hitting the links (for the 9th time during this crisis) at Andrews Air Force Base. Will Sen. Shelby feign outrage?

ADELAIDE, Australia – Countries involved in the rescue of an American teenager adrift in the southern Indian Ocean have brushed off questions about the rescue's cost and have no plans to seek compensation. They explain that rescues at sea are a no-cost agreement under global conventions regarding maritime search and rescue operations. "The Australian taxpayer at the end of the day makes a contribution," Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said. "But we have to put this in context. If there was an Australian lost at sea, we would want ... every effort to be made to save that person." On the...

THE United States' peak sailing body was so concerned about Abby Sunderland's solo record bid that it refused to sponsor her. As the young sailor blasted her critics, the American Sailing Association confirmed it had knocked back the teenager's appeal for help, fearing commercial endorsement might encourage her to take too many risks. "We chose not to be sponsors of Abigail because we did have concerns about the timing of her departure," said executive director Charlie Nobles. Abby's route placed her in the treacherous Indian Ocean during the notoriously tough winter months. "She had a lot of sponsors that were...

(Info derived from linked article) Sunderland "reality" show was preplanned before Abby's misadventure: Adventures in Sunderland (Reality TV Show) Distribution Rights: Magnetic Entertainment Exec Producer: Magnetic Entertainment "A family oriented Adventure show, based on the Sunderland Family of Thousand Oaks, CA. We follow the family in their day-to-day lives as shipbuilder Laurence Sunderland and mother/teacher Marianne try to balance work and family." http://www.magneticent.com/html/projects.htm "Magnetic Entertainment" is the sponsor of the ill-fated voyage. (pdf list of sponsors) http://abbysunderland.com/images/sponsors/abby_sponsorship.pdf

A French fishing vessel rescued a California teenager Saturday from her crippled sailboat in the turbulent southern Indian Ocean, bringing relief to her family but ending her around-the-world sailing effort.

Californian teen sailor Abby Sunderland was rescued by French fishermen today after two days of battle with gale force winds and freezing temperatures while stranded on her stricken boat in the Indian Ocean. The 16-year-old was said to be in good health when the Ile de la Reunion, a French fishing vessel, reached her battered yacht Wild Eyes in heavy seas earlier today. Speaking outside the family home in Thousand Oaks, southern California, her father Laurence Sunderland said maritime authorities had contacted him to confirm the successful rescue operation, which took place at 7.45pm eastern Australian time (10.45 BST). An...

What were her parents thinking? Many people were asking that question as a 16-year-old girl sat adrift and alone in the frigid southern Indian Ocean, her ship's mast dashed along with her around-the-world sailing effort. Abby Sunderland's ship was rolling in 20- to 30-foot waves as she waited to be rescued by a boat that was expected to arrive early Saturday morning Pacific time. She set off a distress signal Thursday after rough seas disabled her ship and her satellite phone reception. There were 20 hours of tense silence before a search plane launched from Australia's west coast made brief...

CANBERRA, Australia -- A 16-year-old California girl who was feared lost at sea while sailing solo around the world has been found alive and well, adrift in the southern Indian Ocean with rescue boats headed toward her damaged yacht, officials said. After a tense 20 hours of silence, a Qantas Airbus A330 search plane launched from Australia's west coast made radio contact with Abby Sunderland on Friday in the frigid southern seas where her boat was repeatedly knocked down by huge waves and she lost satellite phone contact.

AUSTRALIA will to pay for its part in the search and rescue of teenage solo sailor Abby Sunderland who encountered extremely rough weather in the Indian Ocean. Australian Maritime Safety Authority chief executive Mick Kinley said searchers saw and made radio contact with Abby just after 4pm (AEST) on Friday. "She sounds like she's in good health, as far as we can tell, and she's going to hang in there,'' Mr Kinley told said in Canberra. Australian authorities commissioned a Qantas plane to search for Abby, who is about 3700km off the coast of Western Australia. Mr Kinley did not...

BREAKING NEWS: Abbey Sunderland has been found alive on her boat in the Indian Ocean. The signal from her boat was spotted by a chartered Airbus A330 aircraft. She was able to communicate with the aircraft via VHF radio. The boat is de-masted and unmaneuverable, but she has at least 30 days of food on board. A fishing ship is approximately 27-hrs, away from her and is currently en route to her location. This info was from a live news conference that was just broadcast on FOXX-11 News in LA.

Abby Sunderland, one of two 16-year-old girls on different quests to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted, has announced she will head to Cape Town, South Africa, to repair a faulty autopilot system. The high-school junior from Thousand Oaks, Calif., stressed on her blog that she will continue her journey after making repairs and seek to become simply the youngest person to solo-circumnavigate the planet in a sailboat. [...] Autopilots are supposed to hold a sailor's course but Sunderland's primary and backup units have been faulty. At one point recently, in rough seas and freezing temperatures, the...

A rescue effort has been launched in hope of finding Abby Sunderland, 16, who set off her emergency beacon locating devices from the southern Indian Ocean early this morning. Sunderland, who had been attempting to sail around the world alone, endured multiple knockdowns in 60-knot winds Thursday before conditions briefly abated. However, her parents lost satellite phone contact early this morning and an hour later were notified by the Australian Coast Guard that both of Sunderland's EPIRB satellite devices had been activated. One is apparently is attached to a survival suit or a life raft and meant to be...

Rescuers searched Thursday for a 16-year-old Southern California girl feared missing while attempting a solo sail around the world. Family spokesman Christian Pinkston said the search began for Abby Sunderland somewhere between Africa and Australia after emergency beacons were activated overnight and there was a loss of communication.