Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The J Cruising Community Updates!

J cruising directions- roll the dice and go!  Sailing to anywhere, anytime!J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers.  Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.

* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand.  A recent update from Bill and Kathy- "Hello, all!  We have safely arrived in Opua, New Zealand from Tonga. It was a remarkably fast passage. Some statistics: Time: 6 days, 3 hours.  Total distance: 1023 miles.  Distance sailed: 1020 miles.  Distance motored: 3 miles.  Average speed: 7.0 knots.  Fuel used: 3 gallons (12 hours of engine idling for power generation).  Best memory: sailing into the Bay of Isles, hand steering in 25 knots of breeze, watching the sun rise behind us, lighting Cape Brett up in a warm red glow. Next is New Zealand!" Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/

* Prolific writers, Bill and Judy Stellin, sailed their J/42 JAYWALKER around the Mediterranean and Europe and back across the Atlantic for nearly three years.  Their blogs/journals can be found at- http://blog.mailasail.com/jaywalker.  The earlier journals have been compiled into two self published books which can be found at: http://www.blurb.com.  Search for "SEATREK: A Passion for Sailing" by Bill Stellin or William Stellin."  Fun reading when rocking back in a chair watching your storm-lashed windows take a beating in the gale roaring outside and listening to the crackle of a roaring fire.  It is winter "down under" you know.  The Argentineans are freezing.

J/130 sailing ARC Rally arrives Portugal- leave a message on the sea wall!* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary will have just finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.

* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between.  Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins??  Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).

J/160 land tender- 1944 vintage Willies Jeep!!SALACIA, the J/160 owned by Stephen and Cyndy Everett has an on-going blog describing some of their more amusing experiences (http://www.salacia1.blogspot.com).  
A recent excerpt- "Stephen and Ross were enthralled by Roger's "Willies 1942 WW2 American jeep". Both boys took it for a burn and one is now at the top of Stephen’s wish list. When Roger was restoring it he was delighted to find a genuine WW2 American Hard hat under the back seat...."

-  Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun).  Check out there recent travels- now past Fiji!  A recent excerpt- "Things Unplanned Run Amuck in Tahiti- Boats have feelings, don’t you know?  They do not like to be left alone, unattended and seemingly unloved.  This is a fact of which both The Captain and The First Mate are well aware, but given their lifestyle, they have no choice.  Avante must go it alone every once in a while, and they know they eventually will have to deal with nautical hurt feelings and the consequences which follow."  The rest of the thread is both humorous and quite educational- many lessons learned!