According to multiple international news sources, French cruiser Christian Colombo, 55, was killed and his body tossed overboard late last week during an altercation with pirates in the Gulf of Aden. His wife, Evelyne, was rescued from her Somali captors after a multinational effort tracked down the alleged assailants and overtook their vessel, aboard which Mrs. Colombo was being held captive.

The couple’s catamaran Tribal Kat was found adrift and unmanned Thursday in waters off of Yemen by a German warship which had responded to a mayday broadcast during the attack. The EU Atalanta Naval Command center activated additional international resources. On Saturday the French frigate Surcouf detected a suspect vessel and the Spanish warship SPS Galacia chased it down, disabled its engine and took seven alleged pirates captive. It was only after boarding the boat that they realized Mrs. Colombo was aboard. She was unharmed.

Longtime sailor Christian Colombo was a veteran of the French Navy and had set at least one catamaran speed record in years past. Unlike most cruisers who have been attacked while traveling westbound toward the Red Sea, the Colombos were heading east, from the Gulf into the Indian Ocean, intent on visiting Thailand.

According to the watchdog group Ecoterra, at least 50 vessels and 528 crew are being held captive by Somali pirates despite a substantial effort to patrol the region by international naval resources.

The good news for those of you who cut a fat hog or were otherwise able to take off early on a leisurely cruise down the California coast prior to sailing into Mexico is that it’s prime time in Southern California. We’re out at Catalina Island, laying to the hook on Harbor Reef, where yesterday’s weather was as nice as we’ve ever seen it. Temps in the high 70s, winds to 12 knots, pancake seas — and a moon that was either full or darn close to it. Even the lights of evil ‘Town’, 25 miles to the northeast, kind of made it look pretty. The one downside is the water temp, which is going to remain cold until such time as there is serious global warming.

For those of you headed south to join the few Baja Ha-Ha boats that are already here, we can’t recommend the Isthmus highly enough. If you’re on a budget, you can easily anchor for free on the backside in Cat Harbor, and a little less easily on the face. Or you can grab a mooring by just calling the friendly harbor staff. If you’re looking to get into cruising shape, there is terrific hiking all around the Isthmus area, with some spectacular vistas from the higher peaks. But it can be very hot and dry, so bring plenty of water. There is also plenty of flat water on both sides to practice SUP-ing.

Once you’ve gotten in all that exercise that feels so good, you can swing by the patio bar/restaurant for a cold beverage and/or food. The spinach salad is a delicious and healthy choice, while the Kobe burger is more of the former and less of the latter. And if there’s a game on, it will be on one of the flatscreens. If you spend all week on boat projects or catching up on sleep after a lifetime of work, you can look forward to live music and dancing on weekends. After all, it’s prime time.

Latitude editors aren’t out every weekend enjoying their boats on the water, though it may seem like it by reading our reports on the Big Boat Series or weekending at China Camp or cruising Southern California. So what do we do when we’re not out sailing? Why, work on boats, of course.

This editor spent this past weekend working on her parents’ Cascade 36 in lovely and temperate Toledo, Oregon (just up the Yaquina River from Newport). With temps in the high-70s, our Tyvek ‘zoot suits’ made for sauna-like conditions but the sacrifice was worth not being covered in bottom paint dust at the end of each day. In fact, we highly recommend that anyone working on their boat cover themselves head-to-toe in protective gear — Tyvek suit, goggles, respirator and gloves — not only to expedite clean-up but also to prevent potential reactions to the chemicals in boat products.

Since LaDonna (yes, it’s named after me and no, I wasn’t a spoiled brat growing up!) has an iron keel, special care had to be taken in prepping it correctly, including some intense grinding and fairing, and a special protective coating to prevent rust and corrosion. Unfortunately, my brother missed the lesson on protective gear and wound up with severely irritated eyes. He was better the next day, but he was just plain lucky he didn’t have to go to the hospital to have metal flakes removed from his corneas.

In the end, it took just two days to complete LaDonna‘s bottom job, mostly because at least four of us were working on her nonstop for both days. So for your next DIY haulout, take a tip from us: work around the schedules of family and friends who enjoy sailing on your boat so you can get as many as possible to help out. Then supply them with good protective gear, and plenty of food and cold drinks. It may cost a few more bucks than if you do it alone, but the work will go faster and you’ll have a lot more fun doing it.