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Photos of the Day

December 16 - South Bay


Photo Dudley Gaman

Today's lovely Photo of the Day, by Dudley Gaman of the Coyote Point Marina-based Kia Orana, proves that you can have some fun off-season cruising even if you can't break away to the tropics.

"It was Thanksgiving weekend, and I snuck out early in the dink to take this photo of Double Play and Kia Orana snuggled together in the calm of Smith Slough in the South Bay. It doesn't get much better than a Thanksgiving feast with friends and family, followed by a weekend cruise to the South Bay Sloughs. Even the boats were in good moods, as they didn't bicker about who had the best number of hulls. But while sailing into Redwood Creek, we saw a large sailboat stuck in the mud. Apparently the skipper had made the common mistake of straying outside the shipping channel. When you're inside the channel, there is 30 feet of water and you'll have a great time. When you get outside the channel, you can run aground."

We love photos of winter cruising in Northern California, Southern California, and the Pacific Northwest. So if you're brave enough - particularly on Christmas or New Year's Eve - don't forget to send us some shots.


Babes in Bikinis in a New York City Blizzard

December 16 - New York, NY

If you were walking the frigid streets of New York City recently, you may have noticed some girls in bikinis who, as odd as it seems, were standing on a sand 'beach' next to some (faux) palm trees. How was it they weren't freezing their tushes off? Because they were inside special glass-enclosed buses with the heaters turned on high.

Scoff all you want, but it was for a good cause - trying to let potential tourists know that the resorts on the Caribbean coast of Mexico have recovered enough from Hurricane Wilma to put the welcome mat back out. We're not sure how much they're really recovered, but with the huge January to April tourist season about to begin, Cancun and all those other places are desperate for rebuilding dollars.

Right now a lot of the folks who ordinarily would have headed to the Caribbean coast of Mexico have been going to resorts on the Pacific side. Puerto Vallarta, for example, has been jammed. One waiter at a restaurant in the shopping center at Paradise Resort told us that 60% of his business was from people who had originally planned to go to Cancun.

If you are going anywhere in Mexico, get your plane reservations now.


Cruiser's Chili Cook-off Raises $3,000 for Hurricane Victims

December 16 - Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico


Photo Rafael Alcantara, Vallarta YC Club Manager

For the last six years the cruisers of Banderas Bay, with the help of the Vallarta YC and Paradise Resort, have held a Chili Cook-Off to raise money for various good causes. We made a special effort to attend, but were thwarted this year when the dates were unexpectedly switched from December 3 to the 10th. Nonetheless, a good crowd showed up in the parking lot next door to the Vallarta YC, and raised $3,000 by eating chili created by cruisers and local merchants.
It was, as they say, a gas!

There was no word, however, if Paradise Marina Harbormaster Dick Markie showed up with Lola, the baby mountain lion he's been keeping under his desk in his office.


Taken at just the Right Moment

December 16 - Turtle Bay, Baja California


Photo Rod Lambert

If you've tried, you know how hard it is to get the 'perfect' photo of a dolphin jumping through the air. Well, Rod Lambert, who crewed in the last Ha-Ha with his wife Liz, managed to get just such a shot - and at sunset - on Leg One to Turtle Bay.

"The photo hasn't been modified in Photoshop or anything, it's just straight out of my Nikon Cool Pix. We were just watching this amazing sunset when a big bunch of dolphins started this jumping thing. I usually don't even try to capture that kind of stuff because it's over as soon as it starts, but this time there was a whole lot of jumping going on. So I started clicking non-stop hoping to capture some of it. I must have taken 20 shots, and this one is the best of the group. I was lucky."


Photo Latitude/Richard

The other photo is of the couple dressed up in their Fidel and Che outfits for the Ha-Ha Kick-Off costume party in San Diego.


Mystery Photo

December 16 - Honduras

We know who these girl are and have the Changes their photo goes with. But there's just one problem, the person who sent them to us didn't identify himself. And thanks for the Changes, we haven't got one from the Pacific Coast of Honduras - most people don't know they have one - for a long time.


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