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As of January 7th, 2006, Kit is in Seattle, Washington living in a small house on the water one mile from the marina.
On September 15, 2005, Admiral Nelson passed away suddenly from a heart attack. A memorial for the Admiral can be found here.
As of August 20, 2005, Kit is in Seattle, Washington endeavoring to update this Website.
On May 30, 2005 Bear Downing passed away following complications of brain surgery to remove 2 sites of metastatic leiomyosarcoma. He actually died of a blood clot in the lungs. A memorial for Bear can be found here.
As of May 18, 2005, Volant was in Seattle, Washington. Her captains have just returned from a South Pacific Cruise aboard a cruise ship to view a Total Eclipse of the Sun on April 8, the 25th anniversary of the day they met. While dealing with Bear's metastatic leiomyosarcoma (LMS, a very rare form of cancer), they are still on course for a cruise aboard Volant to the Pacific Northwest.
Many segments of their adventures are appropriate for their various programs (Captained Charter, Learn to Sail, Learn to Cruise, Coastal Passagemaking, Bluewater Voyaging and Taste of Cruising). To learn more about these programs, click here.
They really enjoy hearing from people and can be reached by email at the following:
They will be having irregular access to the Internet during their cruises, so don't expect an immediate response. Because access time is expensive for them while they're cruising, use text format only for your messages, please don't send any attachments, and please don't forward any jokes. Thanks for your consideration.
Kit and Bear can also be reached by snail mail at the following:
Kit Hitchcock & Bear Downing
3790 El Camino Real, #366
Palo Alto, CA 94306