December 4, 2000

Cruising

We Stand Corrected

Remember Your Friends and Loved
Ones

December 4 – Anywhere You Are

About 10 days after the Ha-Ha, the U.S. Coast Guard contacted
the Wanderer/Poobah asking for the information about the location
of the Catalina 42 ‘Reunion’. The San Diego based boat had done
the Ha-Ha, was reported to have headed back north, but hadn’t
been heard from in much longer than folks and relatives had expected.
We directed the Coast Guard to Downwind Marine, which has excellent
Ham contacts throughout Mexico. Two days later we got the following
email from the Coast Guard:

“Thank you for your prompt response to our email. It was
helpful in determining where the S/V ‘Reunion’; was not. We appreciate
your advice regarding the Downwind Marine Net. We have activated
the Manana, Picante, Baja, and Southbound Nets through a CG Auxiliarist
named Bill Seeber. From Mr. Patrick Malone, another Ham operator,
we learned that ‘Reunion’ left Cabo San Lucas on 15 Nov. Mr. Malone
talked to another sailing vessel who saw the ‘Reunion’ on 16th
headed straight through to San Diego. He was northbound at seven
knots.”

So sailors, always try to keep your friends up to date. And friends,
have patience, sailors are almost always behind schedule.

Morgan’s Run

December 4 – Colombia

Always fancied yourself as something of a pirate? If so, the La
Ruta de Morgan – or Morgan’s Run – sponsored by the Club de Pesca
of Cartagena, Colombia, on June 16 might be just for you. The
400-mile “friendly regatta” will start in Cartagena,
which has remained a cruiser favorite despite Colombia’s many
problems, to Isla Providencia, the old pirate hangout some 150
miles off the east coast of Costa Rica. Be forewarned, there’s
not much of anything at Providencia. Sailors will also be able
to start from Seaport Marina in Aruba. The event will provide
a great opportunity for cruisers and others to sail in semi company
from either Aruba or Cartagena in the direction of Belize and
the Rio Dulce of Guatemala. The timing for weather couldn’t be
much better, as by June the trades have died down and hurricanes
in June are quite rare. This will be the third running of this
almost always off the wind event. The fleet should arrive at Providencia
in time for the Festival of Old Providence – part of which will
be Old Providence Rendevouz 2001, which will include an around
the island race, horseracing on the beach, catboat races, music,
and plenty of partying.

For you historical buffs, Providencia was colonized by the same
Londoners who had taken the Mayflower to Massachusetts. When these
Puritans arrived in 1631, Dutch smugglers and privateers were
already calling the island home. After the colonists were captured
by the Spanish and sent to Spain as prisoners, the island was
retaken by Edward Morgan and his Port Royal Privateers – which
was not a rock ‘n roll band. Morgan viewed the island’s central
location between Vera Cruz, Porto Belo and Havana as “a loaded
pistol perpetually directed at the breast of Colonial Spain”.
As the years and cultures have mixed, Providence is said to have
become an interesting place. “It is the Eastern Caribbean
50 years ago,” say some.

For more info, email lee miles at :[email protected].

YOTREPS

December 4 – 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/

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Racing

America’s Cup

December 4 – Auckland, New Zealand

America’s Cup. You win some and you lose some. Team Dennis
Conner, the New York YC challenge for the 2003 America’s Cup in
Auckland are delighted to have signed on Computer Associates as
a $10 million platinum sponsor. They’re also glad to have helmsman
Ken Read and most of the old crew back to race the two boats that
are to be designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by New England Boat
Works. On the debit side, the word is that Peter Holmberg, a Virgin
Islander who was a key member of the Team DC afterguard, is heading
for Larry Ellison’s Oracle Racing Syndicate for the St. Francis
YC. The America’s Cup world is a small one, and it’s common for
rivals to become teammates and then back to rivals again. Rarely
are there any hard feelings, particularly since the money has
gotten so much better.

Crystal Cup December 4 – Bahamas There’s lots of racing news, but you won’t get it from us today, as ‘Lectronic’s editor is cruising in Mexico and ‘Lectronic’s racing editor is sailing aboard Doug Baker’s Andrews 70+ ‘Magnitude’ in the first ever Crystal Cup at Paradise Island, Nassau, the Bahamas. For the first year, there are only a dozen or so boats, but most are big and some are important. We’ll have a full report when it’s over. Until then, visit www.crystalcupatatlantis.com.

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Weather Updates

December 4 – Pacific Oceans

Tropical Weather

The Atlantic/Caribbean region hurricane season is almost over,
and it looks as though there will no be any more tropical storms
or hurricanes.

San Francisco Bay Weather

To see what the winds are like on the Bay and just outside
the Gate right now, check out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/.

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

You can view the University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology
satellite picture by clicking
here.

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.