OK, so who's going to be the first to sail an F16 to Mexico?! Let's get a flotilla together and a support boat with food and water and have at it!

Hey, I was watching the Tampa news last night, there are two guys from Tampa who are going to attempt to cross the Atlantic on something that looked like a bass boat!

Looked like about a 20' bass boat, flat deck, no type of shelter at all, an outboard motor, etc. They said they are going after the record! (for what, stupidity?)

So where are they getting the fuel from? I don't think a 20' foot bass boat could cary enough 50 gallon drums to make it! They are projecting a 48 day crossing. Stay tuned. Robi, you ready for another Search and Rescue? Better get the Chopper started.

I've met and helped the guy who did it on a 5'6" sailboat, Hugo Vihlen. It was actaully his second trip across the Atlantic in a very small boat. He first did it in 1968 on a 6' homebuilt plywood sailboat. Then some crazy (or should I say -crazier-) Britt did it on a 5'10" boat, so Hugo had a custom boat built, fiberglass and foam, but only 5'6" and did it again!

Hugo is a former Marine and retired Delta Captain who flew out of Miami. I went through Air Force Pilot Training with his son Dana, that's how I got involved with his second attempt.

We had to do some "fine tuning" in my driveway when I lived up in NH because his boat's CG was way off. We had to find some lead bird shot at a hunting supply store, drill a hole in the upper, hollow part of his keel, and dump in about 250lbs. more lead using a hose and funnel.

We then took the boat back to a local marina and test floated it again, then they loaded up and took it up to Nova Scotia to launch it because the US Coast Guard FORBID him to depart from any US port and threatened to impound his boat if they caught him trying. Called it an "Unseaworthy Vessel".

He wrote books about both crossings, "April Fool" was the first one and "The Stormy Voyage of Father's Day" was the second book.

Hugo's boats were both basically round balls with a mast and sail and a cabin so he could get in out of the storms. He said it was like being inside a 50 gallon drum with people beating it with sticks, the noise and motion made sleep impossible. He installed a seatbelt and he padded the entire inside with foam to keep from getting his brains bashed out, a lesson he learned from the first crossing.

It's a good story and available in paper back if you are looking for something different.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Hugo+Vihlen&x=11&y=20