April 4, 2001

Photo of the Day

April 4 – Gulf of the Farallones

The lovely shot here is of Stan Honey and Sally Lindsay’s Cal
40 Illusion during last weekend’s windy Lightship Race.
Stan, as many of you recall, is the navigator on Steve Fossett’s
125-foot catamaran PlayStation, and he’s also the guy
behind SailMail. The photo was taken by Jim Puckett from Charles
Breed’s boat. Charles, along with his wife and kids, imported
the Elliott 46 Bravado into the Bay Area. Just for fun,
we ‘faceted’ the photo in Photoshop.

Photo Jim Puckett

Read all about the Lightship Race in the
May issue of Latitude
38.

Strange Business In Turtle Bay

April 4 – Turtle Bay, Mexico

Bruce Ladd, captain of Profligate
for the Puerto Vallarta to San Diego delivery, reports a funny
occurence while in Turtle Bay. After fueling up, he and the rest
of the crew climbed onto the pier – seen in this photograph –
and walked to town for a few minor supplies. When they returned
to the pier an hour or so later, an eight-ft plywood wall had
been erected two thirds of the way down the pier! There was no
door through the wall, nor was there any way to climb over or
around it. Due to language problems it wasn’t clear, but apparently
there’s a stink between the guys who have jurisdiction over the
pier and the guys who run the fuel dock at the end of the pier.
Whatever. Bruce had earlier paid $282 U.S. for 610 liters – about
150 gallons – of diesel.

Photo Susan Stromsland

At 11 a.m. this morning, Profligate
was 20 miles north of Cedros motoring under complete overcast
at 7.5 knots. There’s a double swell that isn’t particularly
steep or high, but is making the going a little lumpy. So far
this is Profligate’s best ‘Baja Bash’ in four tries. At
this juncture last year, it was blowing 35 to 40 knots in nasty
seas. Think the Pacific Coast of Baja is warm in the spring?
It’s not.

Is the Coast Guard About to Once Again
Commit Public Relations Suicide?

April 4 – Pacific Ocean

On March 20, Jim and Kyoko Bandy of the San Francisco-based Passport
42 Also II, left Banderas Bay, Mexico, for French Polynesia.
After sailing 150 miles to the southwest, they were shocked to
be stopped – and eventually boarded – by the U.S. Coast Guard.

“Once the boarding party – which consisted
of three Coasties, while three others were at the ready in a
RIB – were onboard, they started what turned out to be a two-hour
‘safety inspection’. Most of the time was spent filling out paperwork.
We received a warning for three things: 1) PFDs not being accessible
enough. I had to move two of them on the spot as they told us
our Stearns inflatable PFDs were not Coast Guard approved. 2)
Out of date flares. The ones I’d bought before leaving California
in November of ’99 were out of date already. I carry all the
flares I’ve purchased since 1985, so I’m sure one of them would
have worked. One of the Coasties remarked that he thought 90%
of the flares would still work.

“At this point, they told us they
were doing us a favor because we were in violation on two other
counts that they ‘lined out’. 1) Not having a trash placard posted!
They gave me one and I put it up. 2) Not having a ‘waste management
plan at the ready’. I had one that I’d made several years before,
but could not produce it in the time allowed. They even wanted
to see our copy of the ‘Navigation Rules’. Fortunately, I was
able to produce that! They told us that if you have three violations,
they write a citation that comes with a fine and possible jail
time! All this when we were in international waters on our way
from Puerto Vallarta to the Gambier Islands in the South Pacific.
And all this information had been established over the radio
before they boarded. The long arm of U.S. law still got us!”

The Bandys were profiled in the March
23 edition of ‘Lectronic Latitude as part of our series on
the Pacific Puddle Jump Class of 2001 (see more profiles below).
Photo Latitude/Andy

The Coast Guard created a public relations disaster for themselves
in the late ’80s and early ’90s through hostile boardings of
obviously innocent recreational boats. It took years for them
to recover most of that reputation. We love the Coast Guard,
and dearly hope this incident isn’t a sign of a return to the
bad old days when recreational mariners were treated as the enemy
rather than friends.

Big First Step

April 4 – Hiva Oa

The photo you see here of the rainbow’s end is also of Paul and
Terry Weiner’s Ventura-based St. Francis 43 catamaran Catofun,
anchored off Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. When you start ocean cruising,
you’re supposed to ease into it. Not Paul and Terry. They flew
to the St. Francis factory in South Africa in ’96 where they
picked up their new boat. Their first ocean sail? Six thousand
miles from Cape Town to Miami. It must have worked for them,
for they are still at it, having crossed the Pacific to New Zealand
last fall. In fact, you can read more about their Tonga to New
Zealand crossing in the May Latitude.

Pacific Puddle Jump

April 4 – Nuevo Vallarta

The most popular way to get to the South
Pacific is to leave from Mexico and sail to the Marquesas. That’s
what the Pacific Puddle Jump Class of 2001 are doing. We’re introducing
them to you in a continuing series of profiles. Check back for
more in tomorrow’s ‘Lectronic, and you’ll find all of them in
the pages of the April issue of Latitude
38, which came out on March 30.

Four Winds
– Tayana 37
Greg Nickols, Sausalito

Sometimes life just
isn’t fair. There are probably thousands of West Coast sailors
who would give their eye teeth to jump on a boat bound for Tahiti.
Yet here was a likeable young guy with a sleek 37-footer ready
to shove off, but in need of crew. We were tempted to sign on
ourselves.

In a few years he’ll head back to the Bay Area, as he’s “not
really retired, just temporarily unemployed.”

Free Spirit – Pearson
424
Jerry & Barbara Philips, San Francisco

“We’ve fallen in love with Mexico
and its people,” says Barbara. After coming south with the
’99 Ha-Ha, she and Jerry took Spanish lessons to help them assimilate,
then balanced their time in coastal anchorages with trips to
remote mountain villages.

This
will be the couple’s first trip across the Pacific, but they
are certainly no strangers to cruising. “Even back in the
’70s, when our daughter was only three, we took the boat down
the Mississippi and up the eastern seaboard to Maine.” Both
retired teachers, they used their precious summers to travel
under sail. Twice they went from San Francisco up to British
Columbia and back, exploring outlying destinations like the Queen
Charlottes and Princess Louisa Inlet.

Realizing that most working stiffs don’t
have that kind of flexibility, they advise, “Build up your
experience over a long period of time. Sail outside the Golden
Gate and get some practice in real sea conditions.”

Photos Latitude/Andy