sage of SailMail has no such restrictions. To publish that "SailMail is essentially the like service for SSB with the exception that there is a small annual charge to use the planetary system." is technically not a correct statement.Yes they share many similarities, but they are not basically the like service. I love reading The Cruising Compass.Keep up the right work. John Procter, Dedham, MA."Largest-ever ARC Europe fleet start from Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVIs
In the largest-ever ARC Europe rally, 28 yachts from 12 different countries, crossed the first line off Tortola, British Virgin Islands yesterday (Thursday May 7) at 1200 local time. This is the largest ever pass to have office in Earth Cruising Club's ARC Europe rally as many of the yachts are on their homeward back to Europe leg following participating in the World ARC and others having a winter season in the Caribbean. Four other yachts will be joining the cod in Bermuda, having started from several ports on the southeast coast of America. In blustery east-south-easterly conditions, the fleet started their 840 nautical mile passage to Bermuda, heading to the westward of Tortola, leaving Little Thatch and Great Thatch Islands and Jost Van Dam to starboard. A bunch of spectator boats bid them a safe farewell for the first leg of the rally, which will last at Lagos in Portugal towards the end of June, having cruised Bermuda and the Azores Archipelago en route. Rally "met-man", the Australian meteorologist Bruce Buckley, who will be sending daily forecasts to the fleet, has predicted, that once off from the Islands, winds should check in the east-south-east sector around 20 knots; perfect weather for the 5-7 day passage. This class is the start sentence the ride has started from Nanny Cay, and the Marina gave the fleet a terrific send off, hosting a company and dinner for all the crews. Many will be bad to leave 'Nature's little secret' (as the Islands are billed by the Tourist Board), having enjoyed exploring the BVIs as a final component of their Caribbean cruising. MORE: www.worldcruising.com/New Fees in St. Martin and St. Vincent and the Grenadines The French St. Martin Ports Authority implemented new anchorage fees in Marigot Bay as of January 1. An initial administrative fee is due on arrival, which includes the inaugural day's anchoring charge. Based on length, the fee ranges from $25 for yachts 26 to 43 feet and goes up to $190 for vessels more than 240 feet. Non-resident yachts also pay $0.30 per meter (three feet) for the back and third day, and $0.45 per meter the 4th day and thereafter. Lastly, there is an extra level of $6.40 to make out. As of now, the daily anchoring charge is just in force in Marigot Bay, however, there are discussions about extending it to Grand Case Bay. Traveling south to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, you'll now pay a flat monthly fee of $13 per person per month for entry and sailing the nation's waters. This simplifies the other per person entry fee of $1.90 per day for up to 7 days, after which there were no charges.Off the Cruising Forums "We just posted a new Panama City Cruiser's Guide - May 2009 in the files part of this site. We promise you get this information useful." Posted by S/V Windsong on the Yahoo Southbound Group.Cape sailor's yacht found abandoned mid-ocean Cape Town yachtsman Nick Robinson, 47, has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean 450 nautical miles south of the island of St Helena, where his yacht, Sea Jade, has been found adrift. The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town said yesterday they had been alerted by Robinson's family that he was 3 years' later in arriving in Walvis Bay. He had plotted to put into Walvis, weather permitting, en route home from St Helena. He was sailing the 54-ft schooner single-handed. The MRCC asked another vessel in the area, a bulk carrier called Friendly Seas, to steam towards the yacht in the promise that by the clock it arrived the conditions would receive improved. The majority carrier arrived at the yacht on Sunday morning. The crew boarded the yacht but found it deserted. The life raft was still connected to the yacht and there appeared to be no damage. Sarene Kloren, spokesperson for the MRCC, said yesterday that the crowd were unable to establish what had happened to Robinson. Lionel Dyck, commodore of False Bay Yacht Club, who has sailed back from St Helena on his own, said he had gone overboard twice on the voyage. "It could have happened to him. I never took my harness off, I was clipped on all the time. But still with a rule on it is not slow to get back into the yacht on your own," he said. From Cape Times.