Photo of the Day

July 2 - Long Beach

Today's Photo of the Day comes from Rennie Wexlax and Anne Blunden of the Long Beach-based Swan 65 Cassiopeia, who want to remind everyone that any boat out sailing on the Fourth without a flag will look . . . well, undressed. By the way, the helmswoman in the photo - you did notice her, didn't you? - is Deb. During a four-couple cruise last weekend, Rennie asked if anybody wanted him to send their photo to Latitude. Deb reportedly jumped up and said, "Sure, I do!" In so doing, she will have brought a smile to the 3,000 or 4,000 folks who'll be reading 'Lectronic today. But we can't help but wonder how long it took before 'strategic coverage' was achieved.

Rennie also sent along the not-quite-so arresting photograph of Steve and Linda Dashew's 79-ft Beowulf, which was at anchor at the Isthmus. The Dashews were going to sail from the East Coast to Europe this summer, but used their cruiser prerogative to change their minds and come back to California. Given the speed of their boat under power and their offshore experience, they decided it wasn't unsafe to come north from Panama despite the fact it was hurricane season off Mexico.

America's Cup Museum In Sausalito?

July 2 - Sausalito

Get ready for an uproar! The IACCSF has unveiled its master plan to the City of Sausalito that includes a working America's Cup Museum in downtown Sausalito for the 10 IACC yachts that have committed to compete in a 2003 season on San Francisco Bay. The plan also calls for a permanent boatyard for the IACCSF fleet, with facilities to hold up to 20 dry sailed IACC yachts on the Sausalito waterfront. The IACCSF has one more regatta slated for this season - July 26-28 - in conjunction with the Sausalito YC.

Watermakers, the Good Side

July 2 - Pacific Ocean

In the current issue of Latitude 38, we warn people that cruising conveniences - such as watermakers and refrigeration systems - require careful installation and regular maintenance. Not everyone wants to go to the trouble. On the other hand, those that don't mind going to the trouble enjoy the benefits. Check out this photo of Ed and Daisy Marill's CSY 44 Siesta during last year's Ha-Ha. They had got so much fresh water from their watermaker they did things like wash their bicycle, and scrub the barnacles from the top of skulls.

All Boat Have Finished the Singlehanded TransPac

July 2 - Hanalei Bay, Kauai

Jim Kellam and the Port Roberts, Washington, based Spencer 35 Haulback finished yesterday.

Some Boats Moving in Vic-Maui

July 2 - Pacific Ocean

The Andrews 70 turbosled Renegade covered 291 miles in the last 24 hours, and the Class A boats are finally moving along at 10 to 12 knots. Boats further back in the fleet, such as Mojo Riding, a Beneteau 40.7 from the Richmond YC, are only moving at seven to eight knots. Still, it's better than the near drifting conditions in the start that resulted in nearly 20% of the fleet dropping out.

Fossett Sets Another Singlehanded Record

July 2 - The Playground Earth

Steve Fossett, the relentless 58-year-old record setter, bagged another one today as he became the first balloonist to singlehand around the world. It took him 13.5 days. His next project is to fly a glider into the stratosphere. There's also the unfinished business of Tracy Edward's Maiden II having wrested away the 24-hour sailing record from Fossett's maxi cat PlayStation.

Ellie Dowd

July 2 - Caribbean

Doris Klein reports that Ellie Dowd, a landmark sailor and former member of the Richmond YC, passed away in late June. In the early '60s, when hardly any women were members of yacht clubs, Ellie was not only a member of the Richmond YC, but won the Midget Ocean Racing Association championship with a Cal 20. The Cal dealer for Northern California, she later owned and raced Montgomery Street, the Cal 40 that under later ownership did more TransPacs than any other boat. In the '70s, she moved to the Caribbean where she did a lot of sailing, and reports having a hand in designing the interior of the Morgan Out-Island 41. She was later diagnosed with incurable cancer, but beat it for better than 30 years.

We knew Ellie long before we got into sailing, as we dated her daughter Toby while in high school. Despite the fact she had a fetching daughter that we were chasing around, and despite the fact she was nicknamed 'World War III', she and we got on like a house on fire. We last saw her and her daughters about four years ago in San Diego during her 70th, and she was the same old Ellie. We'll miss her.

If anyone knows how to get in contact with Toby, who lives in Portland, or her sister Lindsey, who lives in the North Bay, we'd appreciate it. Email [email protected].

Berthing on the Caribbean Side of Panama

July 2 - Bocas del Toro, Panama

"There's a good marina here in the Bocas del Toro, Panama," report Curt and Leigh Ingram of the Newport Beach based Cheoy Lee Pedrick 36 First Star. "The slip fees are reasonable and it's only about a mile to a good surf spot. The town of Bocas del Toro has friendly people, and provisioning isn't too bad. It's hot and humid, however, with moderate mosquito/noseeums."

Internet Access by Cell Phone

July 2 - California

"I noted in 'Lectronic Latitude you wondered aloud about people using Verizon cell phone service to get email," writes Michael Fitzgerald and Sylvia Fox of Sabbatical. "We've been doing just that on Sabbatical for several months now all over Southern California. It even works at Catalina, where Verizon installed some new equipment last winter."

"We use Verizon wireless for email and slow Web surfing aboard our Roberts 44 ketch Ballena," reports Fred Sharples. "It works well pretty much all around the Bay and in LA. The dialup is instantaneous, which means no waiting for the modem to pick up. It's completely OK for surfing the weather pages, getting news, and so forth. Not all phones have this capability. We use a StarTac flip phone with the mobile office kit, which consists of a cable with some software. We also did the same thing using Sprint, but gave up on it because the coverage was lousy. Verizon also has the new Express Network now, which is much faster - they claim up to 144 kbps. It costs a minimum of $35/month and only works around big cities. I haven't tried it."

Has anybody used the Express Network at Catalina? Email Richard.

Baja Birthday

July 2 - Sea of Cortez

"While going through some photographs, I came across one taken on my birthday last July, and wanted to pass it along," write Donna Maloney and Howard Biolos, who are again spending another summer aboard Nintai in the Sea of Cortez. "I'm the one wearing the pink hat and the very stylish blue and white pajama top - hey, it's doesn't matter if people laugh as long as it keeps me from getting sunburned. The photo was taken in July of last year at Puerto Escondido near Loreto. For those of you who haven't been there, it's like a sunken volcano, which offers great protection from the wind and swell. Two summers ago, there were hardly any boats there. But in the summer of 2001, there were a bunch of boats. Within the Puerto Escondido there are a bunch of coves, and some bored cruisers named one of them 'Cocktail Cove'. To improve on Nature, they put a concrete block on the bottom to which they attached a line to a floating 'table' made from a 2 by 3-foot piece of Styrofoam. They used other concrete blocks for 'seats' at the table and to tie the dinghies up.

"The weather in the Sea was very hot, so almost every afternoon at 6 p.m., some of the cruisers would meet in the cove for drinks and snacks. When we sat on the concrete blocks, our bodies were submerged up to our necks while we ate and drank. The snacks were placed on the floating table, which was pushed around so everybody could get some. That way nobody had to get out of the refreshing water to get something to eat or drink.

"On this day in particular, Howard really surprised me. Earlier in the day he'd made the 40-minute - each way - trip to Loreto, where he bought me a birthday cake. Boy, was I surprised when someone drove up to Cocktail Cove in a dinghy, took out a large cake for me, and everybody started singing Happy Birthday. How often does a gal get a surprise pink and white birthday cake while having a drink and sitting up to her boobs in very warm water with little colored fish swimming between her legs while friends sing Happy Birthday?"

Photo Courtesy Nintai

YOTREPS

July 2 - 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 2 - 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 is at 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 views of sea states anywhere in the world, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/.