'Lectronic Index

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Photos of the Day

May 26 - San Francisco Bay Area and Cyberspace

The June mag hits Bay Area racks today, in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Today's Photo of the Day is of the June issue of Latitude 38, which at this very moment is being delivered to locations all over the state. Yes, it is earlier than normal, but we wanted all of you to have some good reading material for your Memorial Day sailing adventures. By the way, we think it's a terrific issue, with much better color photo reproduction than in previous months.

Are you in Papeete, St. Martin, South Africa, Topeka, Amsterdam - or any of a billion other places where Latitude isn't distributed? We've got great news for you. From now on, entire issues of Latitude 38, in magazine form, will be available the first week of each month online, and with spectacular reproduction of the color photos. It's mind-blowing stuff. The May issue is already up. For instructions on how to get it, go to www.latitude38.com/ebooks.html. It takes a few minutes to download the software, but once you've done that, you can access the entire magazine in a matter of seconds. It's really cool.

Now you can enjoy all the fabulous photos and read the entire magazine without even leaving your own cozy cubicle!
Photos Latitude/Annie

Software being software, and computers being computers, we can't guarantee this will work for everyone, particularly those with older computers. But so far the success rate of 'family and friends' has been very good.

The first four issues - May, June, July and August - will be free. Starting with the September issue, an annual subscription will cost $36, the same as a third class subscription for the printed version. If that sounds like a lot of money, remember that it's $36 for about 2,880 pages of sailing fun a year, by far the most of any sailing magazine in the English-speaking world. And if you're anchored on your boat somewhere with Internet access, you can download it without even leaving your boat!

Give it a try, and then please give us your reaction.

Are You the Owner of One of these Boats Heading Through the Miraflores Locks?

May 26 - Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal

If so, Martin Goldsmith of Long Beach would like to send you a copy of the photo. He was no doubt sitting in the bleachers at the Miraflores Visitors Center on April 14, when he took this shot. If you've ever been through the Canal, just looking at this photo will probably bring back vivid memories of the sweltering heat of Panama.

Photo Martin Goldsmith

Much of Santa Cruz Island Reopened to Visitors

May 26 - Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands

You may remember that lovely island off the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura was closed to visitors last year to conduct a program to eradicate the feral pigs. More than 85% of the pigs are believed to have been killed, and all of them on the east end of the island. So in late March, the Channel Islands National Park - home to all the campsites on the island - was reopened to the public. Overnight back country camping, however, will be limited to weekends until the eradication program is complete in June of next year. For details, visit www.nps.gov/chis.

It's a little bit of a different story on the majority of the island, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy. While mariners can anchor anywhere they want, the Conservancy always requires visitors ashore to get a permit. Even so, there are currently nine beaches which are still closed, including many of the most popular - Lady's Harbor, Diablo, Fry's, Platts Harbor, Twin Harbors, Pelican Beach, Tinker's Cove, Coches Prietos, and Albert's. For landing permits at the open beaches, visit www.nature.org.

The portion of Santa Cruz Island owned by the National Park Service is now open to the public.
Graphic Courtesy The Nature Conservancy

Bruce Schwab Hits 34 Knots on Sail from New York to Newport, Rhode Island

May 24 - New York, NY

But not aboard his Wylie 60 Ocean Planet.

Schwab, formerly from Alameda, and a veteran of two solo circumnavigations aboard Ocean Planet, was at Dennis Conner's North Cove Marina when he crossed paths with Bruno Peyron, owner of Orange, the 120-ft cat that the Frenchman used to set the around-the-world record. Peyron, who is getting Orange positioned for an assault on Steve Fossett's transatlantic record, asked Schwab to come along as crew for the delivery up to Newport. Here is an excerpt from Schwab's report:

"The overnight ride from NYC to Newport aboard Orange II was in great conditions - WNW at 20-30 knots, so despite using just double-reefed main and a trinquette - aka staysail - it turned out to be a really thrilling ride. The Orange operation never seems to lose the opportunity to get good pics, so we did a few zings up and down the river in front of Manhattan before heading out the Ambrose Channel. After clearing the Ambrose Channel, I went below to check out the nav station scene. Bruno was viewing the navscreen and communicating via radio to a loudspeaker in the cockpit(s). He instructed his crew to turn left up to a heading which brought us from nearly DDW up to nice broad reach that paralleled Long Island. The speed immediately skyrocketed - you literally had to hold onto something as the boat accelerated so fast. Bruno pointed out the small window towards the windward hull. I could see the hull semi-lifting out of the water, exposing the top of the rudder and shredding the water into mist as we settled into the 25-30 knot range. With a chuckle, Bruno commented that at this speed the ETA to the next waypoint off Block Island was about 4.5 hours!

"As it turned dark, I was allowed the opportunity to drive. Wahoo! The quartering wind was from 20 to 25 knots, and eventually gusted to 30. Make that a double wahoo! I would get to enjoy two hours of blissful sailing at the highest speeds I have ever seen. The monster machine sailed steadily in the mid to upper 20s. When the true wind speed did get up to 30 knots, and went forward to a true wind angle of 110 degrees, I saw 32.7 knots on the speedo! The sensation of speed, immense power, and the astronomical loadings being carried through the structure of the huge craft certainly had my attention. My friend Dennis said he saw 34 knots while I was driving. Keep in mind that at 34 knots of boat speed, with 30 knots of wind at 110, the true wind on your face is about 45 to 50 knots. It's like sticking your head out the window while driving down the freeway.

"I'm back in New York now, wondering if I'll ever go that fast on a boat again."

Schwab poses with his latest ride.
Photo Courtesy Bruce Schwab

Catnip Cup for Cruising Cats and Other Multihulls June 10-11

May 26 - San Francisco

A trimaran and catamaran enjoying a previous Catnip Cup
Photo Latitude/Richard

It's just a fun, semi-organized run from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Vallejo Marina for the night, and back the next day. It's a great time and a wonderful opportunity to meet others who have 'gone over to the dark side' by having more hulls than one.