February 16, 2001
Good News Flash!
February 16 – Mexico City
Remember the surprise port fees instituted
in Mexico on
January 1? They’re not gone, but thanks to several meetings between
members
of the Mexican marine industry and the Secretary of Commerce and
Transportation, you now only need to pay fees when entering or
leaving a
port captain’s region, not just the port itself. This is a huge
improvement
over the recent situations, and in many cases, a huge improvement
over how
things used to be. More on Monday.
Photos of the DayFebruary 16 – Bay of Plenty, New Zealand “We know it’s February already and “Santa – Kiwi cruiser Allen of Jenny “1999 Puddle Jumpers who just couldn’t “Tony Arnold, Tauranga Bridge Marina |
 Left to right: Beda & Fred of Billikan; Bonnie & Tom of Toujours; Alan & Patsy of Sedona; Kathleen & Wally of Tatanka; and Brenda & Rod of Glory Days Photo Courtesy Sedona    Photos Courtesy Tauranga Bridge Marina |
Idiocy and Incompetence!
February 16 – Cyberspace
Yesterday we ran a short item saying that Quokka Sports and QuokkaSailing.com
had called it quits. This was wrong, wrong, wrong, and we apologize.
QuokkaSailing.com – which had done such a great job with the Whitbread
and America’s Cup – has unfortunately shut down. It will be missed.
Quokka Sports, despite having suffered massive losses, is merely
restructuring. Our sincere apologies to everyone involved for
having bungled that report.
Del
Rey to Puerto Vallarta Race
February 16 – Pacific Ocean
The early divisions in the 1,125-mile race
from Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta have been tortured by light
winds. Yesterday’s report showed the smaller and slower boats
already underway averaging an agonizing one to three knots in
24 hours. How long before people start jumping overboard? Fortunately,
offshore winds are supposed to pick up to 10 knots, then 10 to
20 knots tomorrow. This will favor the four big sleds and Jake
Wood’s 83-foot Sorcery that start today. For the latest
reports, check out the www.dryc.org.
The Race UpdateFebruary 16 – Atlantic and Southern Oceans “We are moving at eight knots, and “The last 24 hours have been hell. Club Med |
 Green Innovation Explorer Orange Team Adventure Yellow Warta Polpharma Magenta Team Legato  Graphics Courtesy Club Med http://www.catamaran.clubmed.fr/ Ranking of 16 Feb 2001 15:00:00 GMT 1. Club Med / dtf 5,031.9 miles |
Trivial Pursuit?
February 16 – Pacific Ocean
Yesterday we ran the following item:
“I had lunch yesterday with some cruiser
friends of mine who told me a story of a cruising yacht that sank
en route from 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, having playing a game of Trivial Pursuit over the radio.
What luck!”
When we asked if anybody could confirm the
story, Keith of Scanmar replied:
“After delivering a 46′ steel sloop
to Hawaii, I spent the month at the Hawaii YC. During that time
I did a lot of reading, and I specifically remember reading an
article with photos of the incident described. I can’t recall
for the life of me however, what publication it was in.”
Where Are They Now?February 16 – Somewhere on Planet Earth A few days ago we asked if anybody knew where Tom Vance of the We’ve always liked this photo of Sirius |
 Photo Courtesy of Sirius Endeavour |
YOTREPS
February 16 – 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 16 – 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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