April 29, 2003

New Cat on the Prowl

April 28 – San Francisco Bay

In the upcoming issue of Latitude
38 (look for it starting this Friday, May 2), we’ll have
a report on Adventure Charters’ new, bigger sister to Adventure
Cat, which has been taking passengers on Bay sailing tours
for the past 12 years. The new cat didn’t take her maiden voyage
on the Bay in time for us to get these pictures in the magazine,
but we can share them with you here thanks to the immediacy of
the Internet.

The larger capacity (99 passengers) AC
II is already planning whale watching and Farallones trips
and even forays out to the Cordell Bank (the latter are part
of an East Bay Regional Parks educational program). With her
large, insulated interior – and heaters – it’s also hoped she
will extend the company’s charter season (which has been April
through November) at least far enough into the winter for a few
Christmas parties.

For more on Adventure Cat Sailing Charters,
go to www.adventurecat.com
or call (800) 498-4228.

Nemesis
Down South

April 29 – Ensenada, Baja California

“We had a great Newport to Ensenada
race, correcting over Pyewacket and others to fourth place
in the impossible ULDB A division,” reports Paul Martson
of the Encinal YC-based Antrim 27 Nemesis.

Sailing to the isthmus

“A little background. . . I took the
week off to play with Simon Shortman’s (and my) Antrim 27. I
trailered down and the crew, Debi Cohn, Dean Daniels and
Alex Teodoro, showed up for a sail to Catalina, then to Newport
for the race (Johnathan Bruce took Dean’s place for the race).
We were hoping for a few days of warm, light air partying – uh,
I mean sailing. But it was howling when we left Oxnard. With
a double reefed main and a scrap of jib, we made Isthmus Cove
in 6.5 hours (averaging just under 10 knots). And it was cold.
Water: 58 degrees. Air: not a degree warmer! We sailed to Avalon,
where it was a touch warmer and we pretended to be teenagers
on Spring Break.

At Two Harbors

“On Thursday we crossed over to Newport
where the Equipment Inspector (the ever friendly “Sandy”)
was surprised to see cruising paraphernalia – including BBQ and
beach chairs – on this surf machine. The race committee left
us in the freak boat fleet, competing for the President of Mexico
Trophy in ULDB A, along with boats like Medicine Man, Yassou,
Pendragon, Pyewacket, and a lone Melges 24. We did well,
fourth in class, and 39th out of 461. The results have us sailing
as PSSA members, which we joined to satisfy the SoCal YC requirement
(which is goofy).”

The start in Newport

A powerboater seemed to think
sailors are in need of salvation.

The night shift

For a report on the front runners in the
record-fast race, see yesterday’s
‘Lectronic.

Might as Well Go Swimming

April 29 – Atlantic Ocean

Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group-Armor Lux,
the consistent leader in the Around Alone race, is now closing
in on the finish in Newport, RI. Stamm was 336 miles away at
last report, but those last few miles are ticking off slowly,
as the fleet has hit a dead zone. At the rate he’s going, about
5 to 6 knots or so, Stamm won’t finish until Thursday morning.
You can follow the crawl to Newport at www.aroundalone.com/raceviewer/archive.

Bruce Schwab [Ocean Planet] reports
from the middle of Class 1: “Yesterday the wind lightly
filled from the WNW just as it was supposed to, and slowly clocked
around so that I could tack and sail a good course on starboard.
A position report after going upwind for a while showed I was
gaining on Simone [Tiscali]. . . all according to plan.
The wind continued to clock a bit more and was scheduled to increase
late in the day according to THREE different weather models that
were in agreement, which is rare.

“But they were wrong of course. Things
changed, and instead of increasing the wind shut down completely.
I hoped it was a temporary glitch, but after several hours I
downloaded a new weather ‘grib’ file and surprise! Nice rotten,
pesky little weak low crept up from behind and sucked the wind
dry. I’m stuck! Brad [Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, the
Class 2 leader] is too, and we are both going insane. Or, more
insane, that is.

“Simone will stretch out (then he’ll
park, too), and of course Thierry [Solidaires] and Emma
[Pindar] are roaring up from behind while we all sit here.
Looks like the weather has a real sense of humor as it will likely
squish us all together then torture me with a reach to the finish
where I’ll get walloped by the wide boats. What to do?

“Go swimmin’, that’s what. While we
were drifting around this morning, I
took a few shots. . . “

Ocean Planet on glassy seas – taken from the sea! Photos Bruce Schwab

“Designated swimmer” Bruce appears to be about to go skinny-dipping.

YOTREPS

April 29 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht
tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.

Weather Updates

April 29 – 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/Maps/Southwest.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.