News & Views

POPHAM BEACH PILING REMOVAL: The Politics of Beach Erosion

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Category: News & Views

Created: Tuesday, 22 August 2017 22:34

Written by Charles Doane

So, about that arrogant CEO I mentioned in my last post: this would be Jackson Parker, who runs a heavy construction company called Reed & Reed, based in Woolwich, Maine. About five years ago Mr. Parker built himself a McMansion on Popham Beach--he calls it a “cottage,” in the best tradition of the old Newport elite down in Rhode Island--just down the beach from a small house owned by my aunt. WaveTrain riders with long memories may recall this is the house where my mom died over seven years ago.

Since buying his property and building his cottage Mr. Parker has decided he does not like a collection of old steamboat pier pilings (see photo up top) that jut up out of the water just off the beach, almost directly in front of my aunt’s house and just a short distance down from his. He may not like the look of them, or he may (as some contend) want to build a dock of his own, or, most likely I think, he may, as he claims he does, sincerely believe the pilings are causing the beach to erode.

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EDWARD ALLCARD (1914-2017): A Life Well Lived

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Category: News & Views

Created: Wednesday, 02 August 2017 16:01

Written by Charles Doane

Sad news from the mountain fastness of Andorra: Edward Cecil Allcard, born October 31, 1914, died last week on Friday, July 28, at age 102, of complications related to a broken leg he suffered on July 3. He was the very last of what some have termed the “Ulysses generation” of bluewater sailors, which included such notables as William Robinson, Miles and Beryl Smeeton, Bill Tilman, John Caldwell, and Ernle Bradford, among others, who took up the sport in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Edward, who I had the honor of visiting with last year, was himself quite notable. He was the first to sail across the Atlantic singlehanded in both directions, the first to race across the Atlantic singlehanded (against Peter Tangvald in 1957), and was, I believe, the last of his generation to swallow the anchor, as he didn’t give up his last boat, Johanne Regina, an old Baltic trader, until 2006, when he was 91 years old.

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AMERICA'S CUP TAKE 35: In Defense of Larry Ellison

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Category: News & Views

Created: Thursday, 06 July 2017 17:50

Written by Charles Doane

No, I was not rooting for Oracle Team USA in this just-concluded edition of the America’s Cup. And yes, like many others, I am quite happy to see the Cup go back to Auckland with Emirates Team New Zealand, and I am looking forward to seeing a new chapter open in the ever-evolving story of the oldest competition in sports. But I do not understand why everyone is now trashing Larry Ellison. Most of the post-event commentary I’ve seen would have it that Ellison is almost the devil incarnate, and that but for ETNZ he would have destroyed modern-day Cup competition.

How ungrateful can we be? I’ve never been a huge fan of Ellison’s, as loyal WaveTrain riders will attest, but I do think we need to give credit where credit is due.

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AMERICA'S CUP 2017: Catching Some Live Action in Bermuda

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Category: News & Views

Created: Sunday, 11 June 2017 17:25

Written by Charles Doane

It’s only a coincidence that I happen to be here while AC35 is going down, but it is a happy one. Yesterday I took full advantage of it and hopped on the special weekend ferry ($10 round trip) that runs direct from Ordinance Island in St. Georges out to the America’s Cup race village in the Dockyard. It’s a 45-minute run, all the way from the eastern to the western tip of the island. As we were pulling into the race village I could see the Defender Oracle’s boat was out on Great Sound, running through her paces in a light 8-knot breeze, and soon after I actually stepped ashore I saw she’d been quickly hoisted out on to the hard.

One of the impressive, and I assume expensive, features of these boats is that enormous cranes must be deployed every time you want to go for a sail in one.

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LADDER BAY: Eater of Yachts!

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Category: News & Views

Created: Thursday, 30 March 2017 14:24

Written by Charles Doane

Late-breaking news from the W’Indies! Not one but two yachts have broken off moorings on the west coast of Saba in the past several days and both have ground ashore in Ladder Bay, a most inhospitable shore. The first was a sailboat, a French RM 1350, which reportedly was left on a mooring unattended while the family crew went ashore for a three-day holiday. The boat was refloated and towed to St. Martin, where it was hauled for repairs (see photo up top). An ugly bit of damage for sure.

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THE SEA IS NOT FULL: Preorder Your Copy on Amazon Right Now!

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Category: News & Views

Created: Wednesday, 29 March 2017 16:14

Written by Charles Doane

Ahoy all loyal WaveTrain riders and any other persons interested in ocean sailing and marine subjects generally. This is not a drill! You really do need to BUY THIS BOOK. By yours truly. Can now be preordered at Amazon at a price much lower than I personally would like to see it selling for. (But that’s Amazon for you.) One size fits all, and it is guaranteed to open your eyes to aspects of ocean sailing you never really considered before.

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LONGUE ROUTE 2018: A 50th Anniversary Tribute to Bernard Moitessier's Great Voyage

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Category: News & Views

Created: Monday, 20 March 2017 19:04

Written by Charles Doane

So now, as the 50th anniversary of the Golden Globe Race of 1968-69 draws on nigh, the battle lines have been clearly drawn. We have on the one hand a highly organized tribute event: the previously discussed Golden Globe Race 2018, put together by ex-BOC racer Don McIntyre, with a fixed starting time and location and all kinds of strict rules and limitations as to boats to be sailed and equipment to be used. And now we also have an utterly disorganized anti-matter tribute event: Longue Route 2018, being put together by another ex-BOC racer, Guy Bernardin, in recognition of Bernard Moitessier’s role in the original race.

Moitessier, on his 40-foot steel ketch Joshua (see photo up top), of course became a legend when he blew off his chance to win the Golden Globe, the first-ever solo non-stop round-the-world competition, and kept on sailing around the world again so as to “save his soul.” The book he wrote about his voyage, La longe route (in the original French, or The Long Way, in the English translation), has since inspired all sailors with a spiritual bent and most particularly French sailors, who (ironically) have dominated long-distance singlehanded ocean racing ever since.

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JURGEN KANTNER: German Cruiser Beheaded in Philippines, Body Recovered

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Category: News & Views

Created: Monday, 06 March 2017 22:18

Written by Charles Doane

We have some very grim news here. That Jurgen Kanter, taken hostage by the Filipino terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf, late last year, was beheaded last week after a ransom demand of $600K was not met. Just yesterday there came follow-up reports that Kantner’s remains have been recovered by the Philippine military. Reportedly, Philippine armed forces suffered fatal casualties during operations conducted in an effort to rescue Kantner and other hostages held by Abu Sayyaf. Evidently, no details on these casualties are available.

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