Latitude 38 - July 2016-2017

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A PRIME LOCATION MARINA LOCATED IN THE HEART OF PUERTO VALLARTA, MÉXICO.

352 vessel capacity (up to 160 feet), electricity, water, pump out, 88-ton travelift, dry dock, prime location, restaurants, shops, hotels, airport

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coordinates: Lat: 20º 39’ N Long: 105º 15’ W

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LETTERS

sia in its failed attempt to colonize America, the IL'mena went aground at Cape Barro de Arena, now Manchester Beach State Park, approximately 100 miles north of San Francisco. The brig's intended passage from Alaska to Fort Ross was supposed to have been her last anyway. She was abandoned in the surf, the first recorded shipwreck at Point Arena.

IL'mena is believed to have been built of teak, and was similar in design to Pilgrim, the 86-ft brig on which Henry Dana sailed in Two Years Before the Mast.

In 1998, Jim Allan, an archaeologist from Berkeley, mounted a scientific expedition to try to find and recover the IL'mena. He didn't find her. In 2012, on the 200-year anniversary of the founding of Fort Ross, Russian and American historians and archaeologists convened in Santa Rosa to discuss the history of that era. A video documentary on the search for the IL'mena was shown.

According to the last known sighting, the IL'mena sank in the surf an estimated 150 feet from the beach: "At this time, the keel was buried five feet in the sand according to the depth markers on the stern post," recorded an agent for the Russian-American Company on June 28, 1820.

The latest strategy to locate the exact spot where she rests involves strapping a magnetometer on a drone to scan the beach for signatures of the wreck. Magnetometers can detect objects through sand up to a certain point, although after 200 years, it is not known how deep the IL'mena might have sunk into the sand. It is known that her masts were knocked down during the grounding, and most of her cargo was salvaged. But as she was carrying a load of pig iron for the shipyard in Fort Ross, that pig iron might well still be covering — and protecting — the hull from further deterioration.

Rich Sequest Jewel, Ka Shing 37 Trawler

Benicia

Rich — A day after we got your letter, the Wanderer received a letter from an aging relative in Germany who has long had an obsession with trying to find the remains of the German sailing vessel Bremen, which was lost on the Farallon Islands in 1858. He reports that they have a highly qualified search team, and that the BV-Bremen Bank has agreed to put up $100,000 for the search. After more than 150 years on the bottom of that often-riled-up patch of ocean, how much could be left?

⇑⇓ HIN NUMBERS AND MEXICO

We want to join this year's Baja Ha-Ha, but have heard that there were problems with Mexico and Hull Identification Numbers (HIN) a couple of years ago. We have a Beneteau 473, and her HIN number has been painted over and is no longer visible. We have the hull number on the inside of the boat, but not on the stern. How important is it to have it on the stern of the boat?

Carol Kratz Soiree, Beneteau 473

Redondo Beach

Carol — It was two years ago that AGACE, a tax assessing and collection agency of the Mexican government, went a little crazy. Actually, they went stark-raving nuts and created a public relations disaster for Mexico.

Six marinas were raided in a most heavy-handed way by AGACE officials and marines armed with machine guns. Over 300 boats were impounded, sort of, for various perceived paperwork shortcomings or offenses. We say 'sort of impounded' because many boatowners were never informed their boats

Page 28 • Latitude 38 • July, 2016

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