May 30, 2003

Photo of the Day

May 30 – Parksville, BC

Looking for a larger boat? Today’s vessel
in the Photo of the Day might just be the answer.

She’s a 693-ft ex-aircraft carrier built
by the Brits in ’42, later loaned to Australia, and eventually
sold to Brazil. Her two steam turbines give her a shaft hp of
36,000 and speeds of 25 knots for 6,200 miles. Unfortunately,
she’s not particularly good on fuel economy, which is why she
has a fuel capacity of 3,200 tons. That’s right, tons. If that
doesn’t lighten one’s wallet enough, she also has room for 98,000
gallons of aviation fuel. French Creek Boat Sales in British
Columbia claim to have a listing. The price is just $4.5 million,
but there will be no demo trips without a deposit. Thanks to
Lu Abel for this item.

Great Americans Aboard Great America
II Break Ancient Record

May 28 – New York

Having sailed the 53-ft trimaran Great
American II 15,000 miles from Hong Kong to New York – by
way of Cape Horn – in just 72 days and 21 hours, Rich Wilson
of Rockport, MA, and Rich du Moulin of Larchmont, NY, have eclipsed
the previous record set by the 192-ft extreme clipper ship Sea
Witch way back in 1849. For their entire journey, the two
had been communicating with 360,000 school children who were
following a series of lesson plans linked to the voyage.

Largest Private Sailing Yacht to Launch
in One Year

May 30 – Holland

Speaking of clipper ships, the clipper
ship-inspired Athena – which at 295 feet will be the largest
private sailing yacht in the world – is expected to launch a
year from now at the Royal Huisman yard in Holland.

Her owner is Jim Clark, who as we recall
used to sail an Islander 36 and a Baltic 55 out of Northern California.
Clark, as most people know, made it very big in technology in
Silicon Valley during the boom years. The three-masted schooner
will displace 1,000 tons. With over 200 people working on the
boat, she is said to be “a ship with a yacht quality finish.”
Clark already has a 156-ft sloop.

Latitude
Looking for Help on the Delta

May 30 – Sacramento Delta

Every year about this time we encourage
Latitude 38 readers to consider taking a sailing trip
up to the vast Delta region. However, we’d be the first to admit
that we are not Delta experts. So, for our July issue, we’d like
to invite Delta aficionados to share their expertise by sending
in photos and short write-ups (300 words max) on their favorite
Delta attractions, be they anchorages, marinas, restaurants,
watering holes or secluded waterways. We’d also love to hear
your favorite Delta anecdotes (500 words max), especially the
humorous ones, i.e.: the time Grandma went water-skiing, your
most embarrassing grounding, skinny-dipping by moonlight, the
big fish that got away, whatever. Send submissions by email to
Andy; or by snail mail
to: Andy Turpin, Latitude 38, 15 Locust Ave., Mill Valley,
CA 94941

On Flying Dinghies and Philippe Cousteau

May 30 – Lisbon, Portugal

“I was sorry to see that ‘Lectronic
Latitude reported speculation that Philippe Cousteau was
killed in a flying dinghy,” writes Eric Artman of Tiburon.
“Actually, he was killed attempting to land a PBY-6A Catalina
flying boat in the vicinity of Lisbon, Portugal, in 1979. A gyrocopter
crash also caused a Cousteau family injury, but neither of these
was a flying dinghy. While amphibious flight has risks, so too
do all sports, and it’s unfair to tag flying dinghies or ultralights
with this tragedy. Ultralights, including their amphibious versions,
are indeed specialized craft that require inspection and attention,
but so does a J/105 headed out the Gate. Basically, when headed
up in an ultralight of any type, you want to be as sure of your
hardware as you would be when going up the mast. In either case,
if a fitting, cable or other structural part gives way (or comes
loose) you could be killed. You also want to be sure of the weather
for your flight – but since flights are relatively short, it’s
not like trying to forecast days in the future. Sailors take
risks, and the responsibility for those risks, every time they
go out on the water. I’m surprised that some readers of your
magazine would so stridently try to slam another sport that also
has some risks.”

We received a tremendous amount of mail
about flying dinghies and such, and how many of them are around
in Northern and Southern California. The most common sentiment
expressed – even by someone with 20 years experience in ultralights
and paragliding – is that we not get involved, as accidents happen,
and such an accident might affect the future of Latitude.

Bay Model Tour for New Boaters

May 30 – Sausalito

The San Francisco Bay Model Visitor Center
has a free ‘Boating the Bay and Delta’ tour of its 3D model of
the Bay and Delta areas coming up next weekend. The tour will
run from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 7, and is designed
specifically for sailors and powerboaters who are relative newcomers
to sailing our local inland waters. The Bay Model offers boaters
a rare opportunity to see the bottom of San Francisco Bay and
its entire shoreline, and to easily circumnavigate the Bay and river estuary system on foot in far
less time than it would take to drive around it by car.

Tour topics will include: Reading tide
books and nautical charts; using tides and currents to plan better
trips on the Bay and to the Delta; finding your location and
plotting your course; keeping your anchor on, and your boat off,
the bottom; and big ships – knowing where they are, where they
are headed, and staying out of their way. Space on this tour
is limited to 25 people and must be reserved in advance by calling
the Bay Model at (415) 332-3871. The Bay Model is located on
Marinship Way, which runs between Bridgeway and the waterfront,
in Sausalito.

Monterey Harbor Looking Like Pier 39

May 30 – Monterey

Greg Retkowski of Scirocco sent
us this news item from KPIX-TV: “The Monterey harbor has
been invaded by an estimated 600 sea lions. It is as large a
group or larger than the last big invasion about a half dozen
years ago.

Sea lions haul out on a dock at Pier 39 in San Francisco.
Photo Courtesy KPIX-TV

“They are occupying every available
space, and some spaces that are not available. The animals are
threatening to sink several Navy sailboats. The Coast Guard had
to put up plywood so they could get to
their rescue boats in an emergency. Sea lions are not endangered,
but they are protected under federal law.”

You can read reporter Tony Russomanno’s
full story at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=350&ncid=350&e=3&u=/kpix/20030529/lo_kpix/6744

PlayStation
off on Record Attempt

May 30 – Atlantic Ocean

Steve Fossett and crew are off the East
Coast taking a shot at reclaiming the 24-hour sailing record,
which they held twice before. The record is currently held by
Brian Thompson, one of Fossett’s former crew, with the maxi-cat
Maiden2. They covered just shy of 700 miles in 24 hours.

McKee Is Killer in Mini Transat Boats

May 30 – English Channel

Seattle 49er sailor Jonathan McKee has
just thrashed the best of the French and others in both legs
of the Mini Pavois off France. As such, he’s become one of the
favorites to win the Mini Transat – for boats no longer than
21 feet. Sailing the above mentioned Brian Thompson’s old boat,
McKee was in a class by himself. The one and only American to
win the Mini Transat was Mill Valley’s Norton Smith, who did
it in the late ’70s with the Wylie-designed American Express.

YOTREPS

May 30 – 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 30 – 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.