May 19, 2003

Photos of the Day

May 19 – Pacific Ocean

Newspapers have recently been carrying
stories that there are very few big fish left in the sea. Today’s
Photo of the Day proves there is one less. It’s of Graham Farrar
of the Santa Barbara-based Moody 46 Pau Hana, his crew,
and the 150-lb yellow tail tuna they caught recently while doing
the Puddle Jump from Mexico to the Marquesas. By the way, he
sent the photo from the middle of the Pacific via Winlink.

Photo Courtesy Hana
Pau

Most boats have completed their Puddle
Jumps. One of the smallest and slowest was Garry and Lisa Blackwood’s
Westsail 32 Scot Free from Vancouver. Friends of the newlyweds
became concerned when they stopped getting daily position reports
via Sat phone. There was no need to worry, as the couple were
fine. It did, however, take them 40 days to reach Nuku Hiva.
Last year’s fastest Puddle Jump boat was the Petty family’s Wylie
60 Roxanne, which did it in 13 days. Most boats take about
three weeks.

Challenge Mondial Assistance Racing Gets
More Exciting

May 19 – Mediterranean Sea

Géant, at the start
Photo Courtesy Challenge Mondial Assistance

The Mondial, a 2,800-mile race for crewed
60-ft trimarans from Cherbourg, France, to Rimini, Italy, remains
exciting, as with two days to go, eight of the 12 starters were
within 100 miles of the lead and four were within 50 miles. In
the 60-ft trimarans, it’s possible for a boat to gain 30 miles
in two hours – few leads are safe. So far two boats have dismasted,
one flipped, and another dropped out because of centerboard problems.

Simple Menu on a Small Boat across the
Atlantic

May 19 – Atlantic Ocean

You’d be hard pressed to find two more
remarkable twins than Emmanuel and Maximillien Berque, unusual
sailors from the Atlantic coast of France. Longtime surfers who
grew tired of waiting for waves, they were inspired by Laurent
Bourgnon’s crossing of the Atlantic on a Hobie 16. So they designed
a 15-ft Lugger with a centerboard, and immediately set sail from
France to Florida – and made it. Did we mention they are minimalists?
As such, they carried no raft, no distress signals, and no instruments
other than a Davis 3 sextant. Upon arrival in Florida, they simply
walked away from their little boat to find jobs.

If you suspect it was a once-in-a-lifetime
stunt, you’d be wrong. For the two then built a 21-ft Lugger
with a centerboard and outrigger, and again sailed her across
the Atlantic, arriving in Guadeloupe in late April after 27 days
– meaning they averaged better than 100 miles a day. So tuned
in to the stars, wind, clouds, currents, and a feeling for their
surroundings, they decided they didn’t even need a sextant –
let alone a radio, watch, books, or any of that stuff. It goes
without saying they didn’t have an engine. Taking the minimalist
thing to an extreme – particularly for Frenchmen – they ate only
one thing – gofio, a pre-cooked flour favored by fishermen in
the Canary Islands – many of whose boats don’t have engines either.
Apparently the stuff has everything they need – well, except
for the Tabasco sauce they brought along. To prove how minimalist
the two are, in 27 days the two of them drank a total of 16 gallons
of water, their total liquid intake.

Catnip Cup on June 14

May 19 – San Francisco Bay

The third annual Catnip Cup – a no-host
rally for mostly cruising cats but also other multihulls – from
San Francisco to Vallejo, and back the next day, will be held
on June 14 & 15. Yes, the ‘no hosts’ know it’s Father’s Day
Weekend. It’s a fun and relaxed event, with almost zero competitive
pressure, and provides a great opportunity to get a tour of a
variety of cruising cats. Profligate will be there, Glenn
Fagerlin’s Kronos 45 Perception will be there, and probably
about a dozen or so other cats. For full info, email Glenn.

YOTREPS

May 19 – 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

May 19 – 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.