Warm water, blue skies, great sailing, and tons of fun is
being reported from the Ha-Ha ‘Profligate’ crew. With the help
of Qualcomm/Globalstar Satellite Systems, we will continue to
bring you updates on what they are doing – and we are missing!
Maybe next year it could be you…
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.
Also check out http://facs.scripps.edu/surf/buoylist.html
(but note that the Java Applet is still not working with some
browsers on Macs – including your Webmistress’s Netscape Communicator!)
Pacific Ocean Weather
You can view the University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology
satellite picture by clicking
here.
While the Baja Ha-Ha is underway, our cruising section will
be on hiatus, but we’d still love to hear from you…so keep your
pictures and stories coming!
Baja Ha-Ha Coverage
Qualcomm/Globalstar Satellite Systems Baja Ha-Ha VII Update
November 2, 2000
330 miles southeast of San Diego, 30 miles from Turtle Bay.
The 430 crew on the 112 boats in the seventh annual Baja Ha-Ha
San Diego to Cabo San Lucas Rally for cruisers enjoyed pleasant
sailing in typical Mexican conditions for a second straight day.
Ten to 12 knots of wind from the northwest accompanied by a gentle
swell on the beam saw many boats setting chutes under bright
sunshine and blue skies. It was barefoot and shorts weather,
which became all the more pleasant when phone calls over the
Qualcomm satellite phone to San Francisco brought reports of
cool and grey weather. Boats were also starting to catch dorado,
tuna and bonita.
With so many boats sailing the same course, it was common
to have five to 10 boats in sight at one time. Aboard ‘Profligate’,
we started to reel in the Andrews/Perry 72 ‘Elysium’ – sailed
by John and Marilyn Folvig – but late in the afternoon the wind
dropped and they pulled away again sailing both faster and lower.
Many other boats staged impromptu boat for boat battles for a
couple of hours.
After a sunset in which ‘Profligate’ crewmembers Barbara Marrett
and Michelle Slade claimed to have seen normally elusive green
flash – “We did! We absolutely did!” – the winds piped
up to 12 to 18 knots. Sailing a little on the hot side, the ‘Profligate’
crew hit the low teens, with Banjo Andy Turpin turning in the
top burst of 14.5 knots. It was wonderful sailing under a bright
and starry sky – until an 0200 when the cat’s best chute terminally
wrapped itself around the headstay. Crewman Wayne Meretsky went
aloft, but was nearly wrapped around the headstay himself. It
was then decided to sail under full main and bits of chute until
dawn.
The 0730 roll call indicated that boats furthest south were
Jan and Signe Twardowski’s Sundeer 64 ‘Raven’; John and Mariln
Folvig’s Andrews/Perry 72 ‘Elysium’; Tom Petty’s ‘Roxanne’; and
Chuck and Pam Cook’s Andrew’s 50 ‘Outta Bounds’. This could be
deceptive, as several other fast boats hadn’t reported in, and
motoring is allowed. We’ll sort it out later.
After a light overcast, the sun broke out at 0900. Michelle
the Kiwi took another swim – I reckon it was 75 degrees”
– and ‘Profligate’ reset with a lesser chute. We expect to be
in Turtle Bay in two hours with the other early arrivals – and
the beginnings of sunburns – and expect many more boats tonight
and tomorrow afternoon. Wish you were here!
Tomorrow we’ll have tales and photos from the rest of the
fleet.
– The Grand Poobah reporting from aboard ‘Profligate’.
Ha-Ha Note: We plan to bring you almost-daily coverage of the
rally – time and technology permitting. Check our website for
our progress in receiving the much anticipated (by us too!) pictures
of the Ha-Ha as it’s happening. (To get your fix on the days we
are unable to update our site, peruse our archives.)
YOTREPS
November 2 – 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
Racing News
November 2 – New England
Okay, we lied – there’s nothing particularly interesting happening
today in the world of yacht racing. Instead, we’ll use this allotted
space for a ‘pop quiz’ on cruising destinations.
Our racing editor went for a fall cruise – gasp! – in
New England in early October, and claimed to actually enjoy it.
(What’s next – golf?) Showers, moorings and restaurants were
found in every port, and the two cell phones aboard his friend’s
Baltic 39 were in constant use. “It wasn’t exactly a hardship
cruise,” he admits. The weather was dicey, however, alternating
between Indian Summer and the first cold, rainy days of the approaching
winter.
We won’t bore you with all the details. Rather, as a test to
see if anyone out there is paying attention, we’re offering a
‘Latitude 38’ t-shirt to the first reader who correctly identifies
all three ports in the accompanying pictures. In the unlikely
event of multiple correct responses, the tie will naturally be
broken in favor of the most humorous email. Send your guesses
to: [email protected].
