Photos of the Day

October 1 - Baja California Sur

What's left of Hurricane Juliette is but 25-knot winds in Arizona, but she leaves a trail of destruction in southern Baja. For sailors, the worst damage was to boats on the hard at Astilleros Marina - which is next to Marina Palmira in La Paz, but is an entirely different company. A combination of many hours of 90-knot winds and torrential rains resulted in approximately 23 boats being knocked over. According to reports we've received, these include Nimbus, Eclipse, Namaste, Crescendo, Spirit, Summerwind (which is still up but was damaged by another boat), Lady in Red, Gypsy Dolphin, J&M Liberty, Sandetti, Sea Clipper, Melarky, Light Wind, Wunderkind III and a number of others. Please remember, some boats have the same names. If you have a boat on the hard at Astilleros and haven't heard from them, there is a good reason: long distance calls aren't getting out of La Paz. The trimaran in the photo was being damaged in the area where Santa Cruz Bay Marina is being developed. Mary Shroyer of Marina de La Paz reports that boats in La Paz marinas and the marinas themselves suffered relatively little damage. Marina de La Paz had some minor damage to their new dock extension and lost the line that supplies their diesel, but is otherwise in good shape.

We still haven't got many reports from Cabo, other than that Cabo Isle Marina came out in good shape - except for damage to K Dock. Marinas de Baja, near the harbor entrance, was apparently very badly damaged, as were many of the big hotels, including the Hacienda and the Finnesterre. It's unclear what the situation is with water, electricity and other supplies. If anyone has more information, we'd appreciate hearing about it.

The Grand Poobah says the hurricane will not affect plans for the Ha-Ha. "It's not uncommon for there to be hurricanes and hurricane damage just prior to the start of a Ha-Ha, but so far they haven't adversely affected the event. In fact, Ha-Ha participants have brought much needed business and enthusiasm to the area, helping it get back on its feet. In '94, for example, we did the Long Beach YC's race to Cabo, and were held in Turtle Bay for a few hours because of tremendous damage to Cabo. Shortly thereafter, the fleet was told to continue. The only problem was that fresh water was in short supply.

Photos Tom Ireton

Spirit of Fleet Week

October 1 - San Francisco Bay

While official Fleet Week has been canceled, the Spirit of Fleet Week continues. Since nothing official has been set up for sailboats, we aboard Profligate will be parading from the Blackaller Buoy near Crissy Field down to the Embarcadero, then back again, starting at noon on Saturday. If you want to spontaneously join us, you're more than welcome. If there are enough boats on Saturday, we'll do it again on Sunday. So bring your boat, your friends, and your flags, and celebrate freedom.

At 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, the S.F. fireboats, the Jeremiah O'Brien, and the Potomac, will parade down the Cityfront, and may be joined by some other vessels.

Download a pdf flyer here. (44k)

Volvo Ocean Race

October 1 - Atlantic Ocean

More than a week into the Volvo Around the World Ocean Race, and the competition is tight. Very tight. Roy Heiner, skipper of Assa Abloy, explains:

"With the breaking of the day all the faint dots on the radar during the night have become reality. Five boats within visual range of each other. Five boats together after seven days of racing. I guess it does not get any better from a racing standpoint. There is definitely not any lack of focus and urgency onboard. The race is on for the trade winds south of the Canaries and my best guess is that we will also get there within sight of each other. Then a race to the doldrums; could it be possible that we will all still be together by then? I bet my bottom dollar that we will still be racing boat for boat getting into Cape Town. So I guess, as in basketball, the winning team will be the one that gets to play the last move, gets the last wind shift right."

Mystery Yacht Club

October 1 - Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

The correct answer to the Mystery Yacht Club Quiz is the Bahia Ballena YC in Costa Rica. It's more of a bar and restaurant, but what the heck.

Photo Daniel Bjorle

YOTREPS

October 1 - 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

October 1 - 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

The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.

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.