October 2009 eBook all pages (free PDF, 36.6 - Latitude 38

CHANGES
McGeorge of the Virgin Islands-based
Hylas 47 Gallivanter. “After five months
in French Polynesia, we’ve made it back
to Tahiti for one last provisioning while
anchored at Marina Taina in preparation
to begin back-tracking to the Marquesas
via the northern Tuamotus,” the family
reports. “We were going to set sail this
morning, but last night we were raked
by savage winds gusting to 56 knots. It
caused our anchor to drag — and our
home right along with it! The savage
winds came in three waves of intense
squalls, and during the seven hour period
we never had less than 20 knots.
At least four vessels were driven onto
the bricks, and I saw two genoas unfurl
and get shredded in a matter of minutes.
If you haven’t been in such conditions,
here’s how to get an idea of what it was
like — stand in the back of a pick-up
doing 65 mph offroad at night in the
rain, then try to lasso a rhino. We had
to pick up 300 feet of chain and a 65-lb
anchor, re-position out in the channel,
reset the hook, then stay up all night
making sure we were holding fast. I’m
talking about full throttle maneuvering
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Page 162 • Latitude 38 • October, 2009
Making landfall in Hawaii will complete a circumnavigation
for Kirk McGeorge, but not his
wife Cath or his son Stuart.
in a very tight space! We were inside a
lagoon, so thankfully we had only wind
waves to deal with. Unlike some boats,
ours came through undamaged, but we
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were exhausted. Provided the weather
settles, we’ll head off tomorrow on the
200-mile leg to the Tuamotus, the 550mile
leg to the Marquesas, and finally the
2,200-mile leg to Hilo. Somewhere along
the way we’ll celebrate our son’s 6th
birthday. When we arrive in Honolulu,
we’ll be able to connect the dots on our
globe and cross our outbound path that
began 15 years ago on the Islander 37
pilothouse I bought from ex-San Diegan
Carol Post in Honolulu."
Last year Gary Burgin and his dad
Larry did the Ha-Ha aboard their Santa
Cruz-based Marples 55 catamaran Crystal
Blue Persuasion, as the first step in
going to Mahahual, which is 180 miles
south of Cancun on the Caribbean coast
of Mexico, to set up a charter business.
They made it to Mahahual before Christmas,
which means they really jammed.
That was all well and good, but starting
a charter business hasn’t worked out as
they had hoped. “Business in Mexico is
not what it’s played up to be,” says Gary,
noting that just about everybody had
their hand out for a cut of the action.
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