Circumnavigation

Thieves who scuttled an unusual Jet Ski trip around the United States by stealing the skier's escort boat probably had a sinking feeling Friday. Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies recovered the $10,000 Zodiac speedboat, arrested one suspect and were seeking others after a newspaper reader spotted the missing craft at an industrial center near Carson. A story in Friday's Times detailed how the speedboat's theft from Marina del Rey had halted the attempt by Gary Frick, 34, of Ocean City, Md.

Round About the Earth Circumnavigation From Magellan to Orbit Joyce E. Chaplin Simon & Schuster: 560 pp., $35 A trip on a 140-foot sailboat helped inspire Harvard professor Joyce E. Chaplin to write "Round About the Earth: Circumnavigation From Magellan to Orbit" - and that may explain the enthusiasm she brings to the many-stranded narrative. At the very least, it underlies her sympathy for sailors on small boats heading into rough, unknown seas. This history, the first of its kind, is a lively charge through 500 years of worldwide exploration (and beyond)

Three adventurers trying to make the first nonstop around-the-world flight in a balloon abandoned their quest Friday, ditching in the shark-infested waters off Honolulu a little more than halfway through their journey. Coast Guard helicopters hoisted the crew from the water in good condition and high spirits. The men--British mogul Richard Branson, U.S.

Abby Sunderland is sitting barefoot aboard her brother's boat in Marina del Rey on a recent morning, her blond hair fluttering in the light breeze. The only physical evidence of the five months she traveled by herself at sea before her sailboat rolled over, ripping off her mast and soaking everything on board, is a simple rope bracelet. The knotted white band on her left wrist was a gift from one of the French fishermen who found her last summer, officially ending her attempt to become the world's youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe nonstop.

When the yacht with the Kuwaiti flag first docked in the quiet waters of Dana Point Harbor three months ago, the locals eyed the 46-foot vessel with curiosity. "We didn't know what to make of it," said Norma D'Alessandro, 68, of San Clemente, whose craft is docked feet away. But it wasn't long before D'Alessandro and the close-knit cadre of local boaters came to befriend--and admire--the ship's captain.

Zac Sunderland is wedged in his small bunk, reading, as his 36-foot sailboat ascends and careens down mountainous, shifting peaks. Just ahead on this late June morning is Mexico's first seasonal tropical depression, whose winds have roiled the Pacific. To the south, churning up the coast: a larger storm building into a hurricane. Sunderland, 17, is more than 100 miles offshore on the final leg of a 13-month, around-the-world odyssey.

Australian yachtswoman Kay Cottee sailed into the record books when she completed the first non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe by a woman at Sydney Harbor. It took her in 190 days to complete the trip.

Two pilots landed their Piper Malibu plane in Paris to complete the first pole-to-pole circumnavigation of the Earth in a single-engine airplane. Calvin Rosetti, of West Germany, and Richard Norton of Philadelphia started their 38,000-mile Paris-to-Paris journey Jan. 21, intending to reach their goal by February, but the flight was delayed 450 miles short of the North Pole crossing due to mechanical problems caused by freezing weather.

Titouan Lamazou crossed the finish line in almost no wind shortly after midnight today, completing a circumnavigation in 109 days and winning the Globe Challenge solo sailing race. In so doing, Lamazou broke every record for sailing circumnavigation, solo or otherwise. He broke the solo record of 150 days, Bermuda to Bermuda, set by Dodge Morgan in 1986. He also broke the 136-day mark set by Philippe Jeantot in the 1987 BOC Challenge solo around-the-world race. That race has three stops.

"I guess," remarks Dick Rutan, in the drowsy manner of the test pilot, "I guess we can't come home without at least one roll." Oh. "See, you just pull the nose up a little and she just goes right over. . . nice and . . . easy." Ugh. The horizon clocks around. Through the bubble canopy, the blue of the sky disappears and the brown of the California desert emerges underhead. Then sky crawls around from beneath again. Momentarily, the stomach catches up. "Another?" he asks.

Plucked from a disabled sailboat in the Indian Ocean, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland is now steaming away from her epic goal of circling the globe, but drawing slowly closer to a family eager to embrace her. On Saturday, the Thousand Oaks solo sailor climbed aboard the French fishing vessel Ile de la Reunion — much to the relief of her parents, who had backed her expedition every step of the way. In 2009, Abby's older brother Zac briefly became...

Invaders have long stormed Britain's shores from ships. Now, increasing numbers are storming ashore -- waving wallets instead of swords -- from cruise ships. Some of the world's largest cruise lines have developed niche sailings this year for those who might want an ocean cruise with a visit to some of the most popular and, at the same time, some of the most undiscovered parts of the British Isles. Three years ago, travelers could find only a limited number of vessels making this journey, but this summer they'll find more than 5,000 berths offered by well-known lines such as Cunard, P&O, Fred.

"We'll go to Starbucks when you get back!" a friend yelled from a yacht full of well-wishers, as it pulled away from Abby Sunderland's sailboat and began the short trip back to port. That might have been the last statement issued to the 16-year-old Thousand Oaks mariner, who, at about noon on a sun-drenched Saturday atop a rolling sea, waved goodbye to family and friends for a final time and began to pursue the horizon by herself. The words seemed to float across the water like a stark reminder of what an otherwise jubilant Marina del Rey send-off was really about.

Abby Sunderland is bundled in foul-weather gear at the tiller of the 40-foot racing yacht Wild Eyes as it grudgingly navigates chaotic swells on a northward trudge against a bone-chilling head wind along the Baja California coast. But as long hours pass into even worse conditions, there are no complaints from the 16-year-old from Thousand Oaks, who knows this is paradise compared with what she'll soon face much farther from home and in far more turbulent seas. If this has a familiar tone, it's understandable.

Re "Teen sailor sees the world, sets course for home," Column One, July 6 Zac Sunderland should receive every accolade for his voyage and record-setting, but the litany of problems he had should not be taken as typical of a circumnavigation. The bad weather he encountered was likely a result of his having to sail to meet a schedule. When my family and I completed our almost seven-year circumnavigation, we did so without encountering sustained winds at sea of more than 35 knots.

Zac Sunderland is wedged in his small bunk, reading, as his 36-foot sailboat ascends and careens down mountainous, shifting peaks. Just ahead on this late June morning is Mexico's first seasonal tropical depression, whose winds have roiled the Pacific. To the south, churning up the coast: a larger storm building into a hurricane. Sunderland, 17, is more than 100 miles offshore on the final leg of a 13-month, around-the-world odyssey.

Re "Teen sailor sees the world, sets course for home," Column One, July 6 Zac Sunderland should receive every accolade for his voyage and record-setting, but the litany of problems he had should not be taken as typical of a circumnavigation. The bad weather he encountered was likely a result of his having to sail to meet a schedule. When my family and I completed our almost seven-year circumnavigation, we did so without encountering sustained winds at sea of more than 35 knots.

A United Airlines 747-SP, pushed hard in a 200-m.p.h. jet stream, landed at Boeing Field here Saturday after circling the world in record time. The jetliner, a long-range variation on the conventional Boeing 747, made the circumnavigation in 36 hours and 54 minutes at an average speed of 624 m.p.h., officials said. "The flight itself was pretty much routine," said Clay Lacy of Van Nuys, Calif., the United captain who was commander of the flight.

Zac Sunderland is alone on a sailboat off Indonesia, five months into a journey around the world, when he senses the worst kind of danger. Pirates! A large wooden vessel in the distance, rising and falling over the swells, is clearly on intercept course. It does not show on the radar. It flies no flags. Its crew doesn't respond to radio calls. Zac alters course, the pursuers do likewise. What's a 16-year-old to do? Zac isn't sure, so, with his heart racing, he dials home on the satellite phone.

Zac Sunderland sits alone on his 36-foot sailboat, three days out of Majuro in the Marshall Islands, pointed toward Darwin, Australia, but with nary a breeze to fill his sails. Such doldrums have become part of his existence since he embarked from Marina del Rey two months ago, intent on becoming the youngest sailor to solo-circumnavigate the planet.