SIGHTINGS the rise and return of sv prism In our February issue, Marissa Neely wrote about the refit of her and her husband Chris's Cheoy Lee 41 Avocet. It runs in the family. Chris's older brother Jon is also out cruising. They grew up sailing together on their family's Mason 43 based out of Berkeley Marina. Jon and his partner Shannon, who grew up going to Catalina Island every weekend on her family's trawler to scuba dive, bought their first boat in 2010 and have been cruising ever since. — ed. Since 2013, Jon and Shannon have been sailing the world aboard their Hans Christian 33 Prism and were one of the first cruising couples to launch a YouTube channel. Prior to Prism, the couple had lived aboard a Caliber 28 named Tara that they had initially planned to cruise on, but they learned pretty quickly that their plan needed to change. "One of the main lessons we have learned while cruising is to make all plans in pencil," Shannon says. "Plans are always changing. If it is not the weather, then it is something breaking." Just because Tara was not 'the one' didn't mean that she failed to provide the crew with any life lessons or stories to share around the bonfire. In fact, continued on outside column of next sightings page
pacific puddle jump For several decades, April 1 has served as an ideal departure target for cruisers heading west into the South Pacific, either independently or as members of the Pacific Puddle Jump rally. But not this year. Although French Polynesia's fight against COVID is going well, with the majority of the population now vaccinated, travel regulations for this French overseas territory are tied to France, where COVID cases are surging once again. Prior to the current lockdown of French possessions, there were strong indications that both air and sea tourism to Tahiti would open on May 1. But now would-be visitors are in limbo once again, including dozens of sailors in Mexico and Panama who have been waiting to jump for a year. (And the Pacific Puddle Jump rally has
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY PRISM
Clockwise from top left: Jon and Shannon; tropic life is the good life aboard 'Prism' a starry, starry night 'Prism' hauled out for her refit Shannon and Jon sailing offshore aboard the Hans Christian 33.
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Latitude 38
• April, 2021
