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Old 6th December 2017, 09:52 PM   #481
William Parcher
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BTW, I think that onboard death, murder or drug running are not hypotheses in the running. But I do think that they may have left Hawaii with an orangutan, hyena, zebra and a tiger.
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Old 7th December 2017, 12:48 PM   #482
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I think they were high as **** for at least half the voyage, and probably while they were planning it too. That's my simple theory, and I'm sticking to it.
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Old 7th December 2017, 01:34 PM   #483
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Originally Posted by varwoche View Post
In some ways, blue water sailing is safer because most accidents occur where water meets land. But that doesn't offset the wise words from theprestige and ddt.

As for sailing conditions... Get a bad weather report close to shore, head for harbor. (More likely, you don't even go sailing that day.) Sailing blue water, you've got to deal with whatever comes. Being in a major storm in the middle of an ocean is an awesome and humbling experience.
Exactly. As said upthread, near shore you have more time to head into a safe harbor if the weather begins to turn bad. And you are within range of VHF radio and a variety of rescue possibilities (good Samaritans, commercial salvage, Coast Guard), many of which are simply not available or much delayed mid ocean (e.g. helicopter rescues). But most important of all, in blue water you are completely dependent on your own resources for days or weeks on end when something breaks or goes wrong- no quick ducking into a harbor to buy a new line or to have a boat yard fix your bent spreader. And after days in the ocean- something will go wrong! I owned a small sailboat that I used in San Francisco Bay- probably half my time with it was fixing things that went wrong the other half of the time I was actually sailing it. And that is typical of sailboats; mine was modern and well-built.

And I enthusiastically second your last line: I've had only a minimal experience off the coast with fairly mild gales (not even technically a storm)- 32-35 knot winds with gusts just over 40 knots in a 27 foot boat. Man- that was one of the most scary things I've ever been through. I still remember it vividly- the up and down howling of the wind, cold waves washing over us constantly, the boat heeling and straightening up and the sails flogging and filling with a boom as the helmsman tried to steer around the biggest waves, the lines rattling, being unable to hear what the skipper was shouting at me to do if more than 5 feet from him, etc. All while being seasick and expecting to die. I honestly never, ever want to be in a boat in an actual storm- I can't even imagine it.
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Old 7th December 2017, 01:41 PM   #484
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Originally Posted by isissxn View Post
I think they were high as **** for at least half the voyage, and probably while they were planning it too. That's my simple theory, and I'm sticking to it.
Got munchies?
Check!
Good to go, then!
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Old 7th December 2017, 01:57 PM   #485
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Originally Posted by isissxn View Post
I think they were high as **** for at least half the voyage, and probably while they were planning it too. That's my simple theory, and I'm sticking to it.
That could explain a lot, especially if they don't realize how high they were.
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Old 7th December 2017, 01:58 PM   #486
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It would be an unusual event for anyone to agree to get on a boat with Appel for 5 months straight. Her personality is one with many loose screws in the head and I don't know how that could go unnoticed.
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Old 7th December 2017, 02:20 PM   #487
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Originally Posted by dasmiller View Post
That could explain a lot, especially if they don't realize how high they were.
That's pretty damn high though, I don't think so

They were probably high but I don't think any amount of drugs could make a person this stupid. This wild story isn't a result of drugs. This is beyond drugs.

Every theory I come up with is smashed by the fact (or is it a fact) that her passenger seems fine and okay with everything. Like I thought maybe she was coerced into the trip because Appel was attracted to her, and perhaps they were both attracted to each other.

I can't bring myself to follow this story anymore, but has the other woman said anything at all? Has she complained or said a word?

This Appel woman is a nutjob. Nobody is going to hire her to smuggle drugs on that boat. And she took along a woman she'd met what, the day before? Not exactly someone I'd trust with my cocaine.

Simplest explanation: she wanted to have a nice romantic ride with her new girlfriend (or hopeful new girlfriend), screwed up every step of the way and is now lying to get attention, and to cover her ineptness as a sailor. Maybe she told the girl it would be a short trip and lied and she meant to "get lost"... maybe not.

The fact that she is half-nuts is why the story got so big and senseless. Someone that crazy and/or stupid might think it a great idea to tell a tale and maybe get on TV. Seems like the most likely scenario, partly because it's boring - it doesn't involve murder or drug smuggling and answers all questions.
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Old 7th December 2017, 02:37 PM   #488
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Originally Posted by mgidm86 View Post
This Appel woman is a nutjob. Nobody is going to hire her to smuggle drugs on that boat. And she took along a woman she'd met what, the day before? Not exactly someone I'd trust with my cocaine.
Certainly no experienced drug lord would do such a thing. But some overconfident and perhaps slightly desperate kid . . . yeah, I could see it.

I'm not claiming it's the most likely explanation, but at this point, none of the explanations seem very satisfying to me.
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Old 9th December 2017, 01:33 PM   #489
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Originally Posted by dasmiller View Post
Certainly no experienced drug lord would do such a thing. But some overconfident and perhaps slightly desperate kid . . . yeah, I could see it.

I'm not claiming it's the most likely explanation, but at this point, none of the explanations seem very satisfying to me.
It's difficult to guess what a crazy woman might do, her actual reasons for the trip are a mystery. Then again, it's just a boat trip. There probably was no mystery. She's probably just an idiot and nothing more.

Anyone with enough drugs to require a boat should have enough sense and cash not to let it onto a piece o' crap boat with a dingbat unarmed crew haha. Even a stuffed Ziploc bag of coke is worth more than her boat in the shape it was in. Maybe. But ya, it's possible.

Occam tells me (if I'm hearing him correctly) she's a loopy broad with a new girlfriend and, long story short, she's lying about it for attention.

It is fun trying to guess, but the lack of new information - eh, I guess it's played out. Until the TV movie.
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Old 9th December 2017, 05:26 PM   #490
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I figure they went somewhere, were denied entry to wherever they went due to the dogs and went somewhere else and didn't bother entering the country illegally. They probably cooked up this plot over a few bottles of wine and figured they might make some money if they could sell a "tale of survival".

There might have been money owing on the boat, Fuiava's job as a security guard was a dead end wna....who knows...they might just get themselves on a reality TV series.
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Old 11th December 2017, 11:44 AM   #491
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After laughing my way through this thread, I realized I was facebook friends with these people.

Joke is on me....welcome to Hawaii
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Old 11th December 2017, 03:36 PM   #492
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I think some of you need to check out other sections of the forum if you think this story is outlandish. We have threads in which people claim they have seen and captured bigfoot, that they are telepathic and everyone in the world can hear their thoughts, we have threads which claim people have produced compounds with a new form of hydrogen that has anti-gravity properties. And that's all without stepping into the R&P section.

People make up the most astonishing stories all the time, at least in this case oceans and boats actually exist so it's got more credibility than spirits telling someone the winning lottery numbers so they can buy a printer!
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Old 11th December 2017, 04:08 PM   #493
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Originally Posted by Stout View Post
I figure they went somewhere, were denied entry to wherever they went due to the dogs and went somewhere else and didn't bother entering the country illegally.
Unlikely. Almost every country in the South Pacific will simply make you quarantine a pet in a cage on board if you don't have a medical certificate (some even with a certificate). And at any rate, there would be a record of interaction. If these people actually went anywhere, there's an official record - whether they were allowed in, or turned away, or whatever.

They will also certainly have been spotted by other cruisers. While in theory a blue-water cruiser can go anywhere the ocean is, the practical reality is that trans-oceanic cruisers all tend to go to the same relatively narrow set of places using the same set of common routes. Wherever she went, she would've been seen or heard by others of the cruising community.
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Old 11th December 2017, 04:22 PM   #494
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Originally Posted by Darat View Post
I think some of you need to check out other sections of the forum if you think this story is outlandish. We have threads in which people claim they have seen and captured bigfoot, that they are telepathic and everyone in the world can hear their thoughts, we have threads which claim people have produced compounds with a new form of hydrogen that has anti-gravity properties. And that's all without stepping into the R&P section.

People make up the most astonishing stories all the time, at least in this case oceans and boats actually exist so it's got more credibility than spirits telling someone the winning lottery numbers so they can buy a printer!
Thanks for the sermon, padre.
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Old 11th December 2017, 05:54 PM   #495
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Old 11th December 2017, 06:13 PM   #496
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Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
<snip>

They will also certainly have been spotted by other cruisers. While in theory a blue-water cruiser can go anywhere the ocean is, the practical reality is that trans-oceanic cruisers all tend to go to the same relatively narrow set of places using the same set of common routes. Wherever she went, she would've been seen or heard by others of the cruising community.

According to her they were helplessly adrift, at the mercy of the currents and the winds.

No common routes for that.
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Old 11th December 2017, 06:32 PM   #497
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Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
Unlikely. Almost every country in the South Pacific will simply make you quarantine a pet in a cage on board if you don't have a medical certificate (some even with a certificate). And at any rate, there would be a record of interaction. If these people actually went anywhere, there's an official record - whether they were allowed in, or turned away, or whatever.
That's not my experience. We snuck in and out of a couple of countries with ease and with stealth.

Quote:
They will also certainly have been spotted by other cruisers.
Not always. See above. But even if spotted, it's not exactly feasible to discover what every cruiser may have seen hither and yon.

Quote:
While in theory a blue-water cruiser can go anywhere the ocean is, the practical reality is that trans-oceanic cruisers all tend to go to the same relatively narrow set of places using the same set of common routes. Wherever she went, she would've been seen or heard by others of the cruising community.
How do you know this? I don't see how such a thing is knowable, never mind my own experiences cruising into remote harbors.
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Old 11th December 2017, 07:31 PM   #498
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Originally Posted by quadraginta View Post
According to her they were helplessly adrift, at the mercy of the currents and the winds.
The neat weed line on the hull makes that unlikely

https://i2.wp.com/media.globalnews.c...y=70&strip=all
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Old 11th December 2017, 09:17 PM   #499
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Originally Posted by varwoche View Post
That's not my experience. We snuck in and out of a couple of countries with ease and with stealth.
Fortunately most people don't think like you (is my experience). But yes fair enough, there's a possibility that this person who for some reason was so incompetent she couldn't reach her intended destination or even provision properly was nevertheless able to sneak into all kinds of countries without getting caught.
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Old 11th December 2017, 09:40 PM   #500
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Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
Fortunately most people don't think like you (is my experience).
As if you know my thoughts, and as if you know the circumstances.

Quote:
But yes fair enough, there's a possibility that this person who for some reason was so incompetent she couldn't reach her intended destination or even provision properly was nevertheless able to sneak into all kinds of countries without getting caught.
No, not fair enough. I didn't propose that's what occurred. I'm simply pointing out your misconceptions about cruising.
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Old 12th December 2017, 12:45 AM   #501
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Originally Posted by theprestige View Post
Thanks for the sermon, padre.


Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
Fortunately most people don't think like you........
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Old 12th December 2017, 07:27 AM   #502
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Originally Posted by quadraginta View Post
According to her they were helplessly adrift, at the mercy of the currents and the winds.

No common routes for that.
Recently on that sailing forum she has said that they weren't adrift at all. Some part of the rigging was damaged but they were still able to use sails and steer. The motor didn't work which could make harbor situations challenging. She says they only drifted when there was no wind.

Appel was in control of where they went for those 5 months. She did say that there were occasions when Fuiava was in control and went the wrong way.
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Old 12th December 2017, 07:53 AM   #503
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Originally Posted by MikeG View Post
What? Orcas? They're bloody great black and white things. Hard to mistake them for a tiger shark, even at night. They're a completely different shape, even if you can't make out the colouring. What utter nonsense.
Recently she has said that they may have been orcas because of the behavior. She is convinced that animals were cooperating to create large waves to sink the boat or knock them off the boat. She subsequently learned that orcas sometimes do that when hunting seals on ice floes. I think she was already familiar with that and that's why she at first made up the animals-created-waves story.
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Old 12th December 2017, 01:26 PM   #504
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
Recently on that sailing forum she has said that they weren't adrift at all. Some part of the rigging was damaged but they were still able to use sails and steer. The motor didn't work which could make harbor situations challenging. She says they only drifted when there was no wind.

Yeah.. I know. That was Revision # ???. I just went with the original for my comment. It was more fun that way.

Quote:

Appel was in control of where they went for those 5 months. She did say that there were occasions when Fuiava was in control and went the wrong way.
Yeah. That doesn't bear close scrutiny either.
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Old 12th December 2017, 02:19 PM   #505
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
Recently on that sailing forum she has said that they weren't adrift at all. Some part of the rigging was damaged but they were still able to use sails and steer. The motor didn't work which could make harbor situations challenging. She says they only drifted when there was no wind.

Appel was in control of where they went for those 5 months. She did say that there were occasions when Fuiava was in control and went the wrong way.
When the inevitable B (or made for TV) movie comes out it will have to be a comedy.
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Old 12th December 2017, 02:38 PM   #506
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Originally Posted by Steve View Post
When the inevitable B (or made for TV) movie comes out it will have to be a comedy.
I'm imagining Leslie Nielson in drag
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Old 15th December 2017, 10:30 AM   #507
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Originally Posted by varwoche View Post
As if you know my thoughts, and as if you know the circumstances.
True; I imagine there must be all kinds of legitimate and reasonable circumstances for a pleasure boater to "sneak in to and out of countries with ease and with stealth" and I definitely shouldn't be so judgmental.
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Old 15th December 2017, 07:11 PM   #508
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Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
True; I imagine there must be all kinds of legitimate and reasonable circumstances for a pleasure boater to "sneak in to and out of countries with ease and with stealth" and I definitely shouldn't be so judgmental.
Indeed there are! Not the least of which, I was lowly crew and had no say.

I wonder, does it hurt when your knee hits your chin like that?
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Old 15th December 2017, 08:01 PM   #509
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Originally Posted by varwoche View Post
Indeed there are! Not the least of which, I was lowly crew and had no say.
If that were the case then there's no need for you to be getting defensive over a judgment; and nor does your solitary experience "as a lowly crew with no say" (Were you a child? Because that sounds a rather bizarre state of affairs otherwise for cruising) gift you the expertise to declare that I'm wrong about how things work in the cruising community generally. My experience is that very very few people do what you describe; although plenty of people do complain about the increasingly harsh permits, fees, and conditions on visiting cruisers that such behavior inevitably give rise to.
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Old 15th December 2017, 08:14 PM   #510
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Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
If that were the case then there's no need for you to be getting defensive over a judgment; [...]
Why are you so quick to become defensive? Don't be so judgmentally defensive. Stop calling others defensive all the time. Everyone can see that you're the one being defensive. You're being defensive right now. What do you have to be so defensive about? It makes people wonder why you're so defensive.

Did I say "defensive" enough?
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Old 15th December 2017, 11:57 PM   #511
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Originally Posted by John Jones View Post
Why are you so quick to become defensive? Don't be so judgmentally defensive. Stop calling others defensive all the time. Everyone can see that you're the one being defensive. You're being defensive right now. What do you have to be so defensive about? It makes people wonder why you're so defensive.

Did I say "defensive" enough?
I find this post offensive.
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Old 16th December 2017, 01:36 AM   #512
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Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
Fortunately most people don't think like you (is my experience). But yes fair enough, there's a possibility that this person who for some reason was so incompetent she couldn't reach her intended destination or even provision properly was nevertheless able to sneak into all kinds of countries without getting caught.
Ignorance can do it too.
My wife and I walked straight through international arrivals at Heathrow from Italy without once showing any ID. We had come via southern Ireland (transit, so no passport checks) but on arrival in London we were directed through to Northern Ireland (i.e., UK) arrivals. They then must have assumed we were UK citizens, so just waved us through.

I had a similar experience Australia to Houston via LAX. On arrival at Houston, I was directed through domestic arrivals. No passport control.

Marine entries would, I imagine, be even simpler to dodge, even accidentally.
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Old 16th December 2017, 02:43 AM   #513
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Originally Posted by varwoche View Post
Indeed there are! Not the least of which, I was lowly crew and had no say.

I wonder, does it hurt when your knee hits your chin like that?
I'll accept reasonable circumstances but might I ask you elaborate on what "legitimate" reasons there are to "sneak in to and out of countries with ease and with stealth" as a cruiser?
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Old 16th December 2017, 08:16 AM   #514
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Originally Posted by bluesjnr View Post
I'll accept reasonable circumstances but might I ask you elaborate on what "legitimate" reasons there are to "sneak in to and out of countries with ease and with stealth" as a cruiser?
I'd gladly convey the details of the three times I recall when I entered ports illegally, but if I start telling sea tales it might lead to a massive derail. Suffice it to say that **** happens on extended cruises, sometimes mundane, sometimes not.

On top of which, what I consider legit might not be the same as what you consider legit. There's a strong libertopian streak among many people who venture out to sea for extended periods.
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Old 16th December 2017, 09:01 AM   #515
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Originally Posted by EHocking View Post
Ignorance can do it too.
My wife and I walked straight through international arrivals at Heathrow from Italy without once showing any ID. We had come via southern Ireland (transit, so no passport checks) but on arrival in London we were directed through to Northern Ireland (i.e., UK) arrivals. They then must have assumed we were UK citizens, so just waved us through.

I had a similar experience Australia to Houston via LAX. On arrival at Houston, I was directed through domestic arrivals. No passport control.

Marine entries would, I imagine, be even simpler to dodge, even accidentally.
Indeed. For instance, you pull into a sleepy backwater port, and there's nobody manning the immigration and customs office.
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Old 16th December 2017, 09:36 AM   #516
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It's probably difficult to slip in and out of an island when you have no motor and your only helper onboard has zero experience.
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Old 16th December 2017, 01:04 PM   #517
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Even harder if you make landfall on the leeward side of an island, then find that the customs check point is on the windward side. Phuegue it, spend a couple days there before moving on.
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Old 16th December 2017, 04:06 PM   #518
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Originally Posted by casebro View Post
Even harder if you make landfall on the leeward side of an island, then find that the customs check point is on the windward side. Phuegue it, spend a couple days there before moving on.
I don't think Prague is on the coast?
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Old 16th December 2017, 04:24 PM   #519
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Originally Posted by EHocking View Post
I don't think Prague is on the coast?
It's amazing how far an imaginary Pacific storm can blow your boat.

I understand that at least one of the ladies had ruby slippers.
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Old 16th December 2017, 05:30 PM   #520
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That's a euphemism I'm not aware of...
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