Photo of the Day

July 27 - San Francisco Bay

While doing the Silver Eagle Long Distance Race last Saturday, we came across this youngster having fun on the bow of a boat headed out toward the Central Bay. If you're young enough, everything is fun.

Photo Latitude/Richard

Whales, the Cockroaches of the Ocean?

July 27 - Japan

That's what the Japanese - who are interested in resuming the hunting of whales - are claiming. "We estimated the total volume of fish which are eaten by whales is approximately three to four times the world fisheries catch," said Mitsuyoshi Murakami, of Japan's Cetacean Research. "Humans are in the position of the highest rank of the ecosystem. If we leave some world species untouchable, they will increase" - thereby competing with humans for food.

Richard Page of Greenpeace said blaming the whales for the lack of fish is like "blaming woodpeckers for deforestation."

Looking for News from Tahirih

July 27 - Frankfurt, Germany

"For more than two months in 1997 and 1998, I crewed as a deckhand on the sailboat Tahirih while cruising Baja," writes Götz Schneider-Rothhaar of Frankfurt, Germany. "Then I left Tahirih and her super nice owners, Chris and Gerry Blomfield-Brown. Today, I was surfing the net and wanted to see how Chris and Gerry were coming with their circumnavigation. Checking Latitude's and other homepages, I was shocked to learn that Chris had to be evacuated from Tahirih because of a serious blood-coughing incident. Apparently Tahirih is still in the South Pacific, but I'd really like to email the couple to wish them the best and see how they are doing. Does anybody have their email address or know how to contact them?" Götz Schneider-Rothhaar can be reached by email or through www.entertainment-law.de.

Update from Mahina III

July 27 - Tromso, Norway

"We just got back to Tromso, Norway, after five weeks of outrageous sailing adventures," write John Neal and Amanda Swan-Neal from the far and frigid north on their Hallberg-Rassy 46 Mahina Tiare. We'll have a full report for you soon. We are finally started to head south again, for the first time since leaving Victoria, BC, on March 20 of last year - which was 14,000 miles ago. We plan on arriving in Hilo, Hawaii, on Valentine's Day next year."


Anchored at the historic balloon site of Virgohamna

Photos Courtesy Mahina Tiare

For more on Mahina Tiare's adventures, see www.mahina.com.


Glacier viewing from the deck of Mahia Tiare


Crew Sergio and Liz model survival suits

Felicity in the Tuamotus

July 27 - Tuamotus

Most folks know that the Marquesas, the first stop on the way from Mexico to Tahiti, are lush and mountainous. Not quite as many people know that the Tuamotus, the next stop, are very low and have little vegetation other than coco palms. These photos from K. Machtley & C. Siegismund of the Seattle-based Tashiba 31 Felicity prove the point. They've got lots of other great shots at www.svfelicity.com.

Photos Courtesy Felicity

Getting Set for a Record Run

July 27 - Sydney, Australia

Sean Langman's turbo-charged Open 60, Grundig Xena, is set to make its long awaited attempt on the world 24-hour sailing distance record for a monohull yacht - and it just happens to be in the Sydney to Gold Coast race that starts tomorrow. The forecast is for gale force southerly winds with gusts in excess of 40 knots, which is what Langman and his highly experienced team have been waiting months for. One problem: the course is only 380 miles, but the 24-hour record is 467.7 miles, set by Bernard Stamm's Open 60 Armor-Lux-Fois Gras while crossing the Atlantic last year. The solution: If on or close to a record pace, Langman and crew will just keep going. There's another slight problem. Skiff champ David Witt, the back-up helmsman, just broke his hand playing rugby and is having a cast put on. Langman said that Witt "would just take painkillers and drive the boat as well as ever."

YOTREPS

July 27 - 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/

Weather Updates

July 27 - 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 Winds and Pressure

We dropped in on our favorite University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page and found that it has resumed daily postings of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds map. We used to run this satellite map everyday, but discontinued using it when it stopped updating sometime in late December. You can find it at http://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/cgi-bin/satview.cgi?sat=g10&region=hus&channel=uI4&anim=no&size=large.

Pacific Sea State

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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