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.