When it comes to cruising, small and simple can be inexpensive and trouble free. Take the case of Tahoe residents Bob Bahlman and Margie Hughes, who just completed a most enjoyable eight-month cruise of Mexico aboard their Sausalito-based Catalina 30 No Name. They could have gone to the trouble and expense of installing an electric windlass on their humble cruising boat, but they decided to use Margie as the windlass instead. Sort of an inversion on the old ‘why be a dishwasher when you can buy one?’ advertising slogan.

No Name‘s windlass performed flawlessly through the cruising season, which saw the couple travel as far south as Huatulco, Mexico. We’re not suggesting that everyone revert to the human windlass solution for two reasons. First, the little Catalina didn’t need the heaviest anchor and rode in the world. And second, as you can see from the photo, Margie, who worked as a personal trainer at the Mill Valley Health Club and Spa, is in spectacular physical condition. Bob is no slouch either, having raced bicycles for over 20 years.

We’ll have more on Bob and Margie’s cruise in the September issue of Latitude, but as a preview, we can tell you that they thought their Catalina 30 was an "awesome" cruising boat, although they are going to go with a much larger boat for their much longer upcoming cruise.

Just about everywhere you look around San Francisco Bay, there are treasures of our rich maritime heritage. Some, though, are less obvious to the untrained eye than others.

Take, for example, Ron MacAnnan’s classic woodie Pursuit, which lies quietly in her berth at Sausalito Yacht Harbor year in and year out. Unless you read the small plaque on a handrail nearby, you might never know she is one of a proud fleet of 82-ft M-Class sloops that had a colorful racing history here on the West Coast during the ’40s and ’50s. In fact, she is one of the last — if not the last — of her breed that’s still seaworthy.

Why do we mention this now? Because Ron and a crew of ol’ salts plan to take her out of mothballs tomorrow morning for a rare spin around the Bay. How rare? If our memories serve us correctly, the last time she graced Bay waters was during the Sail San Francisco procession in 2005. And the time before that was 1978!

"It’s going to be a bit of a Chinese fire drill for sure," says Ron with a laugh, because none of his thrown-together crew has sailed her before. But we expect they’ll get it together. So if you’re out on the Bay tomorrow and see a tall, sexy classic blasting in under the Gate under a massive chute, take a good hard look, because you’ll be witnessing a rare gem from the Bay’s nautical treasure trove. And if you get some decent photos of her, we’d love to see them.

There may be heat waves in other parts of the world, but as we don’t have to tell you, the coast of California, from the Oregon border to the Mexican border, has been socked-in almost non-stop for months with fog the consistency of Miracle Whip. Even the folks who did the Pacific Cup didn’t see sun until Diamond Head was almost in sight.

In response to a request for a photo of a boat in actual sunshine, we give you a shot of Profligate taken at Isla Partida a few months ago. We don’t know about you, but it makes us hot in more ways that one. So, heck yeah, we’re going to Mexico again this winter, and so far 140 boats have signed up to join us in the Baja Ha-Ha. Don’t forget the sunblock and bimini, because you’ll need them!