The Photos of the Day are of Richard Bernard
and his crew Angela the Surf Queen of the Valiant 42 Surf
Ride, who took time off to surf Bahia Santa Maria during
the Ha-Ha.
“I just wanted to let you know that
I thought the Ha-Ha and all the parties were pretty dang fun,”
writes Angela. “After it was over, I helped Ricardo bring
the boat back to San Diego. On the way we stopped at Punta Hughes
and surfed for a couple days. It was a pretty mellow trip as
far as the weather goes. After we got back, Ricardo had me go
with him to look at a big cat in Newport Beach. I liked it, but
he thought it had too much fluff. Anyway, I’m already having
Mexico withdrawals and may go back in January.”
Photos Latitude/Richard
219 Boats Started ARC on Sunday
November 27 – Canary Islands
The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, the largest transoceanic sailboat
crossing in the world, departed Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on
Sunday, with a fleet of 219 yachts headed 2,750 miles southwest
for St. Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean. Andrew Bishop, general
manager of ARC organizers World Cruising Club commented: “The
start to this year’s ARC was absolutely fantastic, with a tremendous
atmosphere in the marina as the yachts were leaving. Despite
rain in the morning the weather held out for a sunny start with
northeasterly force 4-5 winds promising a good crossing for the
fleet.”
We’ll have more from the ARC as this year’s
event unfolds. We did it back in ’95 and had a great time.
Vacation from Cruising
November 27 – New Zealand
“After being part of the ’99 Ha-Ha, we cruised Mexican waters
until March 2001, when we joined the Pacific Puddle Jump,”
report Jerry and Barbara Phillips of the San Francisco-based
Pearson 424 Free Spirit. “We really enjoyed our wandering
through Marquesas, Tuamotus, Societies, Raratonga, Niue, Vavau
group of Tonga, and Fiji before dropping down to New Zealand.
We plan on leaving our boat on the hard for a year to do land
travels in the U.S. and Europe before returning to New Zealand
and continuing our sailing adventures. We love the retired lifestyle.”
Remember SatNavs? About 10 years ago, we
bought a SatNav from the owner of a San Francisco-based Pearson
424 named Free Spirit. We’re betting it’s the same boat.
Swan 61 In
Good Rut
November 27 – Mexico
“The San Francisco-based Swan 61 (Hull #1) Hasty Heart
will be headed down to Mexico in January – our ninth season!”
reports Captain Rick Pearce, who knows the food is as good as
the cruising in Mexico.
Photo Latitude/Richard
YOTREPS
November 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/
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
The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology
page posts a daily
map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.
