'Lectronic Index Previous 'Lectronic Edition

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Photos of the Day November 15 - Cabo San Lucas, BCS "The dumbest thing I've ever done in my life," is the photo caption Janet Zander suggests for our two Photos of the Day. Janet, a United Airlines flight attendant, was fooling around on one of the Baja Ha-Ha boats in Cabo San Lucas Bay after the Ha-Ha, when she was goaded into going up to the spreaders of a Morgan 38 and jumping into the water. Such thrill-seeking isn't the best idea, particularly for folks without that kind of expertise. After all, wet feet can be very slippery on top of spreaders, which normally don't have non-skid. In addition, if the boat were to lurch the wrong way at the moment of jumping, the person could land on the deck, which would very likely kill them. Zander escaped both of these fates, but in her eagerness to get as far away from the boat as possible, she ended up striking the water laid out on her side. Both her legs sported massive bruises a few days later, but fortunately she wasn't too badly hurt. Photos Latitude/Richard The same can't be said for a couple of Aussie guys one Christmas Eve in Antigua a couple of years ago. Having had some drinks, they snuck aboard a large yacht, climbed to the very top of the tall mast, and simultaneously jumped to the water. As memory serves us, the force of impact drove their knees into their chins, crushing their skulls. It was a mighty sad holiday season on that island. We don't want to sound like old fuddy-duddies, but please folks, be careful out there.

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The Cat's Meow Is Relaunched in La Paz November 15 - La Paz, BCS Photo Courtesy The Cat's Meow The photo of Martin and Robin Hardy standing in front of their just relaunched 52-ft trawler The Cat's Meow is going to bring smiles to a lot of faces. The trawler is beloved in the cruising community of Mexico, because the trawler and her owners worked relentlessly to save nearly a dozen cruising sailboats that had been driven high aground near Puerto Escondido by Hurricane Marty two summers ago. In May of this year, a navigation mistake at night resulted in The Cat's Meow going on the rocks, suffering a hole in her hull, and sinking. Thanks to incredible efforts by cruisers, folks on land, the Mexican Navy, and many others, the trawler was refloated and eventually taken to La Paz. Read all about it in the December issue of Latitude 38.

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Fresh Fish! November 15 - Pacific Ocean Photo Barbara Marshall It may be cool and grayish in Northern California, but the sun is bright and warm in Mexico - and the fish are biting. During Profligate's crossing from Cabo to Puerto Vallarta a week ago, Adam and Chris Conner hooked this mahi, which they claimed was 58 inches long. We don't know about that because we were asleep, but we do know that it was delicious. Oddly enough, Cabo seemed a little cooler than normal this year. It was still T-shirts at midnight, but just not as warm as usual. But about four hours after we left Cabo for P.V., it suddenly seemed to become much warmer - and it was late at night. During our first surf session at Punta de Mita in Banderas Bay, the water temperature had to be 84 degrees. It was very pleasant.

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You Lost the Keys to My Handcuffs?! November 15 - Cabo San Lucas, BCS Photo Barbara Marshall We've forgotten the names of the two amiable surfer dudes in the accompanying photograph, but they pretty much shadowed the Baja Ha-Ha fleet along the Baja coast aboard the sloop Johnny Rook. Which, of course, was fine with the Grand Poobah. When we got to Cabo, they showed up at the beach party at Mangos on the Beach, and provided the kind of entertainment that only slightly inebriated young men can provide. They danced with all the girls, flirted with the plastic-breasted women from Texas whose husbands were out dirt-biking, and in the case of the one who has a career as a jet-ski stuntman, did countless semi-successful back-flips off the dance floor and onto the sand. The Johnny Rooks were popular with the Texas wives, who also enjoyed playing 'squeeze the silicon'. Photo Latitude/Richard As often happens with inebriated young men, as the party wore on the duo started getting just a little out of hand, knocking over chairs and bumping into people. They also started to bother a wedding party - what were they thinking? - that was sharing Mangos with the Ha-Ha group. When the Poobah pleasantly asked the duo to leave, they did a couple of more backflips, and complied without an argument. Like we said, they're pretty good guys. Unfortunately, the one with the frizzy hair had left his shirt behind, and when he went to retrieve it the members of the adjacent wedding party got angry and called security. The next thing 'Frizzy' Rook knew, he was handcuffed, arrested, and taken to the Cabo jail. When we saw him the next day, we asked him how jail was. "Not bad at all," he laughed. "I paid $20 and was out in 20 minutes. The only problem was that the police lost the keys to my handcuffs! I had to wait around until some kid locksmith could pick them." Ah, Mexico!

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Baja Ha-Ha Preview at Catalina's Two Harbors Next August November 15 - Two Harbors "During this year's Baja Ha-Ha, many of the skippers said it would have been great if there had been a Ha-Ha Preview, where the skippers could get together with various experts on things like SSB radios, SailMail, watermakers, refrigeration, windvanes, downwind sails and such a couple of months before the start of the Ha-Ha," reports Ha-Ha Honcho Lauren Spindler. So acting on her direction, the Grand Poobah has secured the bandstand at Two Harbors, Catalina, for the weekend of August 13 for a Ha-Ha Preview. "I think a Ha-Ha preview is a great idea, as it will give everyone a chance to do a little shakedown, perhaps with their Ha-Ha crew. We hope to have as many sponsors as possible there, because there will still be more than two months before the start of the Ha-Ha for boatowners to add new gear or find out exactly how to work the stuff they're already got. In addition, the Grand Poobah will be giving a slide show on the Ha-Ha and Mexico, and there'll be a big potluck barbecue and live music. Mark your calendars." "We'll have more details after the start of the year," said Ms. Spindler, "but we also plan to have a Ha-Ha Preview in Northern California."