August 28, 2000

By Grzegorz | August 28, 2000

Photo of the Day

Reference Not Available

August 28 – Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters

Jared DeWitt is looking for a berth on the Baja Ha-Ha, and
in fact has already bought tickets to arrive in San Diego on October
27 so that if he hasn’t gotten a berth by then, he can work the
docks. “I have attached a photo of me on the last boat I
crewed for,” he says, hopefully in jest. “Unfortunately,
they are not available for references.”

Photo Courtesy Jared DeWitt

Weather Updates

August 28 – Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

Tropical Weather

It’s all quiet on the tropical storm front for both the Eastern
Pacific (Mexico) as well as the Atlantic-Caribbean. But the biggest
hurricane month in both areas has arrived, so keep your fingers
crossed. It’s not a matter of if there will be tropical storms,
but if they will approach land and how strong they will be.

San Francisco Bay Weather

To see what the winds are like on the Bay right now, check
out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/.
It’s a great time of year to be sailing the Bay.

California Coast Weather

Looking for current as well as recent wind and sea readings
from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena and the Mexican border?
Here’s the place – which has further links to weather buoys and
stations all over the U.S.
www.ndbc.noaa.gov/stuff/southwest/swstmap.shtml

Pacific Ocean Weather

Click here to see today’s weather
map from the University of Hawaii Meteorology Department.

Pacific Sea State

Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you might check at:
http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.

For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.

Cruising

My Wife and Kids Rock!

August 28 – Pt. Loma

The folks in the accompanying photograph are Monte and Shari
Cottrell, and their daughters Haley and Daphne. They live at
Pt. Loma aboard the Kennex 445 cat ‘See Life’. Monte wants to
use the ‘Lectronic Latitude forum to publicly thank his wife
and kids “for sticking with our goal of going cruising and
participating in the 2000 Ha-Ha.” He says it hasn’t always
been easy, and explains why: “About three years ago, my
wife Shari agreed to sell our very comfortable house in San Diego,
along with most everything in it, to finance the purchase of
our dream cruising boat. This was our plan: Fly to Martinique,
take delivery of our used catamaran, and sail her down to the
Panama Canal, where we would turn her over to a delivery crew
that would bring her up to Ensenada. We leased a small duplex
to live in until ‘our ship came in’. That was the plan.

“The reality was that Shari and the kids had to fly home
from Martinique empty-handed, as it were, since it turned out
the boat really wasn’t ready to make such a passage. Six long
months later, we lost the lease on the dumpy duplex, and were
collectively couch surfing at the in-laws’. All the while, Daphne,
our four-year-old, was asking for her house back. How embarrassing
it was for me.

“Meanwhile, the boat’s rebuilt engine packed it in somewhere
around Acapulco, and limped into Puerto Vallarta. The boat spent
the next few months luxuriating in that marina while we continued
commuting back and forth to work and school from the couch.

“In a final effort to repower our boat in Mexico, Shari
and our friend David Schuell headed south from San Diego with
a used engine block in the back of his Ford Explorer hoping to
rendezvous with the new delivery crew in Cabo San Lucas. Thankfully,
David had the presence of mind to buy all the Mexican insurance
he could before crossing the border, because he, Shari and the
engine block were run off the road by some Americans towing jet-skies.
The Explorer David and Shari were riding in was rolled and totaled,
leaving the engine block lying in the high desert! By the grace
of God, they made it to Cabo and assisted with the installation
of the engine. As our entry in the Ha-Ha suggests, the story
had a happy ending.

“I feel fortunate indeed to have a wife who has been
willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill the cruising dream
– including schlepping (rowing) the kids, laundry, groceries
and ice in all kinds of weather, at all hours of the day and
night, out to our mooring. By the way, we’ve lived without hot
water or refrigeration for most of the past two years. Shari
has been fantastic!

Photo Courtesy the Cottrells

“So I just want to publicly thank Shari, Haley and Daphne.
I love you and am so proud of you, as you never gave up. You
kept the dream alive when others were telling us we were crazy
– and I was beginning to believe them, too. But I wouldn’t trade
any of you for all the bad-ass, winch-grinding, salt-encrusted
sled gods in California. My wife and kids rock!”

YOTREPS

August 28 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of
weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS – ‘yacht reports’ –
at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/

Racing

‘PlayStation’ Experiencing Unsuitable Weather Conditions

August 28 – Northern Atlantic

As of 1000 GMT today, Steve Fossett’s 105′ maxi
cat ‘PlayStation’ was approximately 111 hours and 2,250 miles
into their New York to England Transatlantic voyage, aiming to
beat the 10-year old record of 6 days, 13, hours, 3 mins, 32
secs held by ‘Jet Services V’. With 700 miles to go and 46 hours
left to reach the finish line at Lizard Point, Cornwall, ‘PlayStation’
skipper Steve Fossett and his 11-man crew were still slightly
ahead of record pace, but appeared to be experiencing unsuitable
weather conditions.

“Now that we have lost our beautiful Transatlantic weather
pattern, we’ve had to come up with another plan that provides
hope of finishing in time. Meteorologist Bob Rice considered
the possibilities and we’ve decide to aim straight at the Low
and follow it until it decays in the Bay of Biscay then beat
up to the English Channel entrance in very light east winds.
Light air at the finish has been the bane of many Transatlantic
record attempts. Conditions are tough: gale force winds and rough
seas as we stay tucked in behind the Low. We are reefed to the
maximum with no headsail.”

Over the weekend, Stan Honey, the Northern California based navigator,
was struck by lightning while disconnecting the instruments during
a storm. The instruments were knocked out, but Honey, a vet of
countless TransPacs, crewed, singlehanded and doublehanded, is
made of tougher stuff and was not seriously hurt. Last night,
Damian Foxall sprained an ankle when he was hit by a wave while
crossing the nets between the hulls. The crew wear harnesses
and stay clipped in when crossing so a wave doesn’t pop them
over the stern, but the impact of the wave while at speed is
still enormous.

Photo Courtesy Steve Fossett Ocean Challenge

See www.fossettchallenge.com
for updates and details.

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