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Friday Is Dry Sail Day

As you’ve been reading on ‘Lectronic Latitude and in the pages of Latitude 38 magazine, recent developments have put the future of the Alameda Marina at serious risk. Plans are in the works to redevelop the site with up to 389 housing units. Details of the proposal are available here at www.alamedamarina.com and www.baywestdevelopment.com/current.php.

On March 1, the Alameda City Council discussed a petition to consider revising 2012’s change of zoning to Mixed Use. Some who attended that meeting called it "grueling. It started at 7 p.m., the Alameda Marina Zoning issue was not discussed until about 11 p.m., and there were 25 speakers on the issue who were each given three minutes to speak." If you’re feeling especially masochistic, you can watch the entire meeting at alameda.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=6&clip_id=1720

"From the tone of the City Council’s discussion that followed, I believe that there is support to try and retain the marine and other types of businesses within the complex," reports our source, who wishes to remain anonymous. "However, what was not mentioned was the important water access that the dry-storage area provides. To the contrary, I believe that the City Council sees the dry storage as an RV storage yard for boats. As such, it is critical that we educate them that the dry storage is actually a land-based marina, and not just a storage yard."

Boats such as these (and some much bigger) are dry-sailed out of Alameda Marina and actively raced and sailed on the Estuary, on San Francisco Bay, and beyond.

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"We were told that on Friday, March 11, City Council members and staff will be touring several northern waterfront properties, with their first stop being Alameda Marina, at about 9 a.m. This provides a critical opportunity to demonstrate to the City Council how the dry storage is utilized and the vital access to the water that it provides."

We realize that most sailors have jobs and work on Fridays, but if you have a boat in the Alameda Marina yard and can play hooky on Friday morning, we encourage you to launch your boat to show the Alameda City Council how the process works. "If we do not take advantage of this rare opportunity, then we will have nobody to blame but ourselves when the dry storage goes away."

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Forty-six boatloads of westbound cruisers attended the free Tahiti Bon Voyage seminar and party Sunday at Panama’s Shelter Bay Marina, which lies near the Caribbean entrance to the world-famous Canal.