Photo of the Day

February 22 - Sea of Cortez, Mexico

Today's Photo of the Day is of Craig and Sheron Tuttle's Utah-based sloop Sundagger sailing in the Sea of Cortez. "In response to Latitude's suggestion of a Sea of Cortez Cruiser Clean-Up this spring, we regret that we won't be able to participate this year as we have to return home in March. This is unfortunate for us, because we're always looking for ways to give something back to the Sea in return for all it has given us. Hopefully others will answer the call. Maybe it will become an annual event and we could participate next year. In the meantime, we'll continue to do our own little bit by keeping it clean."

Based on lack of response - or more likely an inadequate amount of time for the idea to percolate - we're going to have to postpone a Cruiser Clean-Up for this year. If we're able to put it together for the fall, you two will be the first we're going to invite on Profligate to help out. No matter who puts something like this together, it's a great idea, as it would go a long way to bettering the image of cruisers in Baja.

"You also requested a report on winter weather in the Sea of Cortez," Craig and Sheron continue. "Our winter in the southern Sea of Cortez has been very enjoyable - although there has been lots of strong wind from the north and boisterous seas. We've had plenty of spirited sailing, especially when headed north, and we've had to spend a lot of time hunkered down in protected anchorages waiting for the Northers to blow themselves out. These, however, provided great opportunities to meet with cruising neighbors over a glass of wine or tea.

"In the process of logging many miles and hiking the hills, we saw a good side to the aftermath of Hurricane Juliet - the islands were incredibly lush, green, and vibrant - with lots of wildflowers. We truly love the Sea of Cortez, the people and culture of Mexico, and the wonderful community of cruisers. Sadly, we have to return home early this year, but we're already eagerly anticipating our return in the fall."

Dangerous Sailing on San Diego Bay?

February 22 - San Diego Bay

"I'm not sure if you heard about it," writes a reader named Miles, "but a couple of days ago the Santana 23 Dog Meat capsized and sank in San Diego Bay. She had 17 - yes, 17! - people aboard. Apparently everyone was okay."

We hadn't heard about it, and would love details if anyone could provide them. We suppose the next step is that the owner and some of the crew will sue the manufacturer for a defective product.

Geronimo Still on the Go

February 22 - Atlantic Ocean

Olivier de Kersauson's 110-ft catamaran Geronimo is still burning up the miles in the Jules Verne, having covered 1,811 miles in a little over 80 hours. This is an average of around 22.6 knots, about the same as doing a TransPac in four days. An excellent start to be sure, but we think everyone is being premature about figuring on a 61-day trip around the world. After all, the boat is only a 15th of the way around the course, and they got to pick the ideal conditions in which to start. A couple of days of being becalmed, and the average could drop like crazy. It's been a great start for what looks like a great boat, but there's a long, long, long way to go, and unfavorable weather conditions to be dealt with.

San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race

February 22 - San Diego

The San Diego Yacht Club reports, "With a Santa Ana wind lurking, the three beautiful entries in the 50-foot and over Performance Cruise 1 class strolled off toward Mexico. Boats leaving yesterday are well down the track - 140-ish miles. As of 0800, Checkmate was leading everyone, with Windswept and Sensation a little behind and 20 miles further out to sea. About even and inland a bit were the rest of the PH C and Performance Cruise 2 boats clustered together. There was no motoring time reported by the Performance Cruise boats indicating that everyone got offshore in yesterday's ideal conditions and the breeze held up last night. Sensation reported 0800 breeze at 12 kts from 000°, skies cloudy with some fog and lumpy seas."

Today's start will feature Division IV PHRF boats and 70s. Tomorrow will be the maxi sled start. For a complete entry list and current standings, visit www.sdyc.org/raceinfo/Puerto%20Vallarta.htm

Headed for the Red Sea

February 22 - Salalah, Oman

"The September 11th attack on the World Trade Center made us think about delaying our voyage up the Red Sea this year. Some yachts opted for South Africa instead. But now that we are in Salalah, Oman, and we have met the local people, the Red Sea appears to be a politically safe option. At present, there are 40 yachts in Salalah preparing to make the Red Sea passage this year. Most will be skipping Yemen and heading directly to Djibouti or Eritrea. There are three British, one German, two French, and an undisclosed number of American warships off the Yemen/Somalia coast. The British have been quite hospitable, inviting us yachties to their ship for cocktails. In a dry country like Oman, their invites are very appreciated.

"We get daily reports about pirate attacks on vessels off the Yemen coast. Some yachties are plotting the attack locations hoping to realize a pattern and then plan their routes accordingly. Yachts that have already left have left in 'pods' of four. For some unknown reason we yachties believe we will not be attacked by pirates if we travel in groups of four.

"The local people of Oman have been open-minded and friendly. While here, we toured the country and visited the smaller mountain villages. By accident we came upon a group of Oman women without veils covering their faces. They quickly covered their faces with their sleeves, but after awhile, realizing we were a family - my father stayed away - we were able to talk with them and see their faces. They were very beautiful with high cheek bones and olive-colored skin. All wore lipstick, colorful gowns, and gold earrings. The people of Salalah seemed indifferent about our nationality."

Kate Rakelly (8 years old), Voyager, Cascade 36, Portland, OR, at Salalah
Photo Courtesy the Rakellys

YOTREPS

February 22 - 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

February 22 - 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/. The National Weather Service site for San Francisco Bay has moved to www.wrh.noaa.gov/Monterey/.

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.