Today’s photos of the day are of the January 1 National Enquirer,
which along with normal rubbish about celebrities, features a
“Bloodthirsty Pirates Slit My Throat and Left Me for Dead”
story about 53-year old Canadian Bob Medd of the Aloha 34 TLC.
The only problem is that much of the story would seem to be about
as true as the photo of the bogus Sea of Cortez ‘pirates’ that
accompanied the article.
Readers of Latitude 38 will recall
that as time went on, Medd’s story became increasingly inconsistent
and riddled with glaring factual errors. Ultimately, four sailors
who crewed for Medd reported that he’d told them that he had
a terminal illness and that one day would kill himself and let
the boat sail on. We hope the Enquirer didn’t pay too
much for the story.
Photos Latitude/Annie
Cayard Back to Volvo Ocean Race
January 15 – Auckland, NZ
The big news to be announced later today is that Northern Californian
Paul Cayard will replace Northern Californian Dee Smith aboard
Grant Dalton’s Amer Sports One in the Volvo Around the
World Race. This is big news for several reasons. First, Cayard
won the last Whitbread – which became the Volvo – aboard EF
Language. Second, everyone has been speculating what Cayard
would do since Larry Ellison of Oracle Racing declined to bring
Cayard to Auckland with the rest of the America’s Cup team. Finally,
it will pit Cayard against Northern Californian John Kostecki
and illbruck. Kostecki was Cayard’s navigator/tactician
for the last America’s Cup. Dee Smith is only off the boat because
he needs shoulder surgery, and will rejoin Amer Sports One
for the remainder of the Volvo.
Cruiser Shrine?
January 15 – Sea of Cortez
“We came across the ‘cruiser shrine’ at beautiful Caleta
San Juanico in the Sea of Cortez,” report Dave and Angie
of the Seattle-based Magic Carpet Ride. “We had the
whole place to ourselves. Someone told us the tree in the background
is the sailors shrine, and cruisers leave rocks, shells and other
things as evidence of their visit. However, I did not leave Dave
there as a sign of my visit. Can we have a T-shirt for the photo,
as I have not seen any guys willing to show their stuff for a
shirt. Do you know anything about the shrine?”
Photo Courtesy Magic
Carpet Ride
Dave and Angie – The cruiser shrine at
San Juanico has been around for as long as we’ve been sailing
there, which is since the late ’70s. Personally, we don’t think
it’s the coolest thing in the world, but to each their own. As
for getting a T-shirt for the photo, we don’t even give women
shirts for ‘skinny’ photos, so why would we even dream of giving
one to a guy? You must have missed the Seinfeld episode about
the difference between men’s and women’s bodies.
Z-Fest to Happen
January 15 – Zihuatanejo, Mexico
It appears as though a first-ever Z-Fest will take place in Z-town
between the 31st of January and the 3rd of February. This will
be a totally ‘nothing serious’ event, so it’s still unclear if
it will be a two or three day event. It’s expected there will
be a fund raiser race early between Profligate and Capricorn
Cat, then a day of fleet racing, then a day of beach games
and such. Rick’s Bar will be the headquarters. We’ll provide
more details as they become clear.
We have a minor problem in that Profligate
is currently in P.V., and we may need a couple of crew for a
quick trip down to Z-town. If you’re interested, email Richard.
Fun Photo
January 15 – Fatu Hiva, Marquesas
Here’s a lovely photo of Hana Vava Bay at Fatu Hiva taken by
Jeff and Debbie Hartjoy of the Baba 40 ketch Heartjoy.
The couple thinks that Fatu Hiva is the most beautiful of the
islands in the Marquesas.
Photo Courtesy Heartjoy
Jeff and the energetic Debbie became Ha-Ha
legends a few years back, when Jeff had to drive Heartjoy
for hours on end because the wind was blowing so hard. The problem,
as Debbie later told the awards ceremony audience, is that after
a couple of hours Jeff had to take a pee real bad. Since he was
unable to leave the helm, Debbie did what she had to do. She
unzipped the helmsman, placed his spigot into a plastic bottle,
and ‘relieved the watch’, so to speak. The couple later did the
Puddle Jump from P.V., and found Latitude’s Puddle Jump
Party “to be a wealth of shared information and a great
help in preparing a diverse group of sailors for a safe and interesting
passage through French Polynesia.” The couple plan a 15-year
circumnavigation.
Kahn Is Big and Thinks Big
January 15 – Key West, FL
Philippe Kahn of Santa Cruz made it big
in the software business, and has a tremendous fleet of sailboats
to show for it. In fact, he set tongues a-wagging at Key West
when he entered two Melges 24s in the combination Melges 24 Worlds
and Key West Race Week that starts on the 20th. Kahn will be
skippering one entry with Mark Reynolds, three time Olympic medalist
as tactician. Kahn’s son Shark, all of 12 years old, will sail
on the other boat. Kahn is sailing small boats in order to become
more skilled at competing in his Farr 40 and Pegasus,
the maxi sled he sailed to victory in the last TransPac. Call
it wretched excess with a noble goal.
YOTREPS
January 15 – 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.
