Flight Level Zero · video

What this video covers

A Beneteau 57 owner in Southern California fulfills a promise made to Sue, the widow of the boat's previous owner Gary Criddle, by installing a memorial plaque aboard the vessel.4:38 Steve, a longtime friend of Criddle's from their Royal Australian Navy days, visits the boat in Newport Beach and sees the plaque for the first time.5:14 The visit prompts a detailed account of Criddle's career: he served as a navigator and weapons officer, commanded a patrol boat, trained on the Grumman S2 tracker, and later flew as an airline pilot with Qantas before dying in an aircraft accident roughly a year before the visit.6:05 The boat itself has a documented racing history — original owner Bill Wheeler raced it in the Sydney to Hobart, finishing sixth in class, and also entered the Sydney to Gold Coast race.12:17 Steve previously owned a Beneteau 461 and a Beneteau 473, the latter purchased in Italy and kept in Croatia and Sicily for twelve years combined.10:36 Separately, Chris and Karmen are mid-refit, cutting carpet templates for the salon, hallway, and master stateroom of the 57 and offering to share those templates with other Beneteau 57 owners.1:46 Their planned cruising route runs from Southern California to La Paz, down the Mexican coast, through the Sea of Cortez, and across to French Polynesia, with a long-term goal of returning the boat to Brisbane.11:08

Boats in this video

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