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A 300-ft oil barge carrying more than 2.6 million gallons of heavy black oil struck the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge last night around 6 p.m.
Francis Joyon’s trip up the Atlantic Ocean so far has been anything but an easy home stretch for his non-stop solo round-the-world record attempt.
"I just returned from Ecuador after answering a Crew Wanted ad posted by a woman skipper," Dave Hohman wrote to us in an email.
Jerry Eaton of the Belvedere-based Hallberg rassy 43 Blue Heron, the only West Coast boat to participate in the last Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, reported in January’s Changes that he, along with crew Wyman Harris and Walter Sanford, had a great time in the ARC.
“Help! I’m trapped by my safety device!” latitude/Andy
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC While idling in the cockpit of Tom Lilienthal’s Beneteau 411 Dreamseeker last fall en route to Cabo San Lucas, we got into a friendly debate about the use of inflatable lifejackets.
The West Coast-based Bug Trap was found bobbing off Kauai, Hawaii, on Sunday with no sign of her owner.
It’s the time of year when dozens of cruisers are currently preparing to embark on the so-called Pacific Puddle Jump from the Americas to French Polynesia.
You think it’s been cold lately sailing on San Francisco Bay? Try swimming in it — without a wetsuit!
Looking south towards Angel Island from the Corinthian YC race deck: At high tide the storm surge could barely be contained.
Just minutes after setting a new 24-hour solo record, an encounter with an unidentified floating object forced Thomas Coville’s 105-ft trimaran Sodeb’O to retire from its singlehanded round-the-world attempt.
When we receive reports of boats washing up on distant shores, we do our best to verify as many facts as possible but often must rely on eyewitness reports.
Thomas Coville, who had a rough start to his own assault on Ellen MacArthur’s solo circumnavigation record and who was thought by some to be out of the running, has made a tremendous comeback in the last few days aboard his 105-ft trimaran Sodebo.
It’s never good when your ‘high water’ alarm sounds. And especially not good when it sounds while you’re singlehanding 500 miles south of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
"Frosty and Patti of Angel Fish organized a Christmas potluck for about 75 of us cruisers at the Barra Country Club Golf Course, and then Bill Lloy and Moira Taft of Fancy Free put together a New Year’s Brunch," reports Charles Lane of the San Francisco-based Tayana 37 Shamari.
The magic of St. Barth – one day you don’t know anybody, the next day you’re sailing to windward in 30 knots aboard a yacht like Altair, a spectacularly restored 130-ft gaff ketch designed and built by Fife in 1911.
With the recent court ruling establishing BMW Oracle as the Challenger of Record for the next America’s Cup, Oracle sent off 2007 with a promise of a Deed of Gift challenge for October, 2008.
With the last of the 79 entries having finished or dropped out of the 605-mile Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Roger Sturgeon’s new Farr STP65 Rosebud was declared the corrected time winner. 
Even though the weather has been warmer the last couple days, don’t forget we’re still in the grip of winter.
French sailing dynamo, Francis Joyon, just keeps cracking off the miles on his quest for the fastest singlehanded circumnavigation world record.
Former Northern California computer whiz — Vallejo, Berkeley, the Peninsula —  Roger Sturgeon and his nearly new and first-ever STP 65 Rosebud have put in an impressive performance, having finished fourth and being the corrected time leader in the 605-mile Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
The last several days have seen brilliant French singlehander Francis Joyon and his 97-ft trimaran IDEC face the worst conditions to date in his quest for the singlehanded around the world record.
. . . individuals can fund — or partially fund — America’s Cup campaigns that cost $150 million, and still have enough left to own 450-ft giga motoryachts?
When Heather sees something she wants, she makes sure she gets it. Capricorn Cat
©2007 Latitude 38 Media, LLC Heather ‘I’ll never do retail again, not even at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’ Cosario sort of looks like she’s dumpster diving.
Javier de Muns, our man in Brittany with his finger on the pulse of solo around the world racers, filed this report: "Last Monday’s weather window, with 40 to 50 knots wind, big seas, and an air temperature of 30 degrees seemed to have done the trick for Thomas Coville  and his 105-ft trimaran Sodebo, as they are already in the warmer latitudes of the Canary Islands, having averaged 20 knots since the start.
The day after Christmas (December 26) means the shopping is a faint memory, the presents are opened, the house is a mess and you’re ready for a little sailing ‘content’ in your life.
Doña de Mallorca and a new acquaintance sitting in front of Hilda’s Taco Stand in Turtle Bay.
In an effort to allow our staff to finish (and, in some cases, start) their Christmas shopping, and then to recover from the Big Day itself, ‘Lectronic Latitude will be on vacation until December 28.
Not having a lot of money didn’t stop Northern Californians Eli and Sara from enjoying a summer of cruising their own 36-footer in the Med.
The harbor at Gustavia is perfect for blockading. latitude/Richard
©2007 Latitude 38 Media, LLC Bonnie Russell of San Diego alerts us to the fact that the fishermen — and there are not many of them — on the chic island of St.
With the ideal weather window for crossing from Mexico to French Polynesia just a few months away, there’s lots of chatter — both on the docks and via email — between those who will soon join the ranks of Pacific Puddle Jumpers, as we like to call them.
"I do my job as a sailor, that’s all." So Francis Joyon said modestly after he and his 97-ft trimaran IDEC left the Indian Ocean and sailed into the deep South Pacific.
"Who was that guy?" That’s the question Baja Ha-Ha Rally Committee members were asking themselves shortly after the awards ceremony.
The ‘Freedom 32’ raft designed by Fidel Castro. © 2007 Rod Williams Today’s Photo of the Day, of a 10-person Cuban refugee raft that washed up on San Pedro Reef in Belize, should be a reminder to everyone just how good we’ve got it in the United States — and just how bad people have had it in Cuba under the tyrant Fidel Castro for more than 40 years.
The day after setting a 24-hour singlehanded record of 616 miles with his 97-ft trimaran IDEC, Frenchman Francis Joyon followed it up with a near 600-mile day yesterday.
The America’s Cup inaction has been moving along at a furious pace. After BMW Oracle won their court case against Ernesto Bertarelli and Alinghi on November 27 —  which meant the default became BMW Oracle racing the next America’s Cup in 90-ft (presumably) multihulls against Alinghi — BMW Oracle suggested a meeting with Alinghi to negotiate a more traditional America’s Cup, with as many participants as possible.
Tragedy has struck this year’s Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. On December 7, John Thompson, 54, of the Great Britain-based Oyster 41 Avocet was hit in the head by the boom during a broach and was severely injured.
Several readers thinking about doing next year’s Ha-Ha wondered what kind of experiences people had doing the Bash back north right after this year’s event.