February 15, 2001
Photo of the Day
February 15 – Key West, Florida
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There’s nothing exceptional about a boat “By Northern California standards, |
 Photo Michael Beattie “We saw several houseboats chocked |
Del Rey to Puerto Vallarta Race
February 15 – Pacific Ocean
Yesterday two PHRF divisions left on the 1,000-mile Marina del
Rey to Puerto Vallarta Race. Today the 50s take off and tomorrow
it’s the big guys such as Phillipe Kahn’s Andrews 70 Pegasus
and Jake Wood’s Mull 83 Sorcery. Including the cruising
fleet – which started right after a rare Southern California hail
storm back on February 9 – there’s a total of 36 boats. For a
guide to the race, check out February’s
Latitude 38. For daily standings, check out www.dryc.org.
Saved by Mid-Ocean Trivia
February 15 – Pacific Ocean
“I had lunch yesterday with some cruiser
friends of mine who told me a story of a cruising yacht that sank
en route from the Galapagos to the Marquesas,” writes George
Backhus of the Deerfoot 62 Moonshadow currently in Australia.
“They told me the boat that sank was Italian, and carried
no liferaft, no EPIRB and no SSB radio. The story was that she
developed a sudden crack in the hull and took on more water than
could be pumped out. The crew were rescued by two nearby yachts.
. . that happened to be listening on VHF 16 because they were,
get this, playing a game of Trivial Pursuit over the radio. What
luck! We’re off cruising the New South Wales coast from Pittwater
to Jarvis Bay.”
Can anybody confirm the basis of this story
and/or know the boats involved?
Perhaps the Whale Thought She Was Ahab’s
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 |
Hyperbole
February 15 – Treasure Island
A year or two ago, an overenthusiastic spokesperson
for the city of Oakland suggested that Oakland was fast approaching
the cultural equivalent of Paris. Having grown up in Oakland,
we know that much of the city is actually quite nice, but let’s
get real. Broadway is hardly the Champs Élysées,
and Rockridge is no St. Germain de Prés.
And now Navillus Associates and Treasure
Island Community Development are guilty of yet another case of
hyperbole, seemingly inspired by feelings of Euro inferiority.
For while presenting their vision for Treasure Island, they suggested
it would end up similar to Monaco. Could they have come up with
two places more dissimilar? Monaco has extremely steep hillsides
covered with high rises full of wealthy tax evaders who overlook
the Med. It’s also very warm in the summer. Treasure Island, on
the other hand, is flat as a pancake, currently home to people
who have no money, and has a 360° view of urbanity. Plus it’s
cold as hell in the summer. Based on their analogy alone, we would
deny them the right to develop the island.
The Race UpdateFebruary 15 – Atlantic and Southern Oceans With a lead of more than 1,000 miles over “We’ve had to slow it right down. |
 Repairing broken bits and drying out Photo Courtesy Club Med “Next up for us, situated on the top Ranking of Feb. 15, 2001, 15:00:00 GMT 1. Club Med / dtf 5,279.3 miles |
YOTREPS
February 15 – 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 www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/
Weather Updates
February 15 – Pacific Ocean
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 Sea State
Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you
might check out the Pacific Ocean sea states at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.
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