Photo of the Day

August 3 - Mystery Location

Geography quiz: Where is this shipshape house located, and what's the story behind it?


Photo Latitude/Andy

See below for the answer!


Skandia Life Cowes Week

August 3 - Cowes, UK

At least 995 boats are set to take part in this year's Skandia Life Cowes Week - making the 2001 event the largest regatta ever seen at Cowes. With entries still coming in, the organizers at Cowes Combined Clubs (a group of ten yacht clubs) are expecting the record entry to reach 1,000 boats before the first gun on Saturday morning. The entry number for 2001 beats last year's total of 890 by more than 100 boats.

Cowes is located on the north coast of the Isle of Wight, which is bounded by the Solent on the north and the English Channel on the south, along the southern coast of England. Cowes Week runs Saturday the 4th through Saturday the 11th.

Racing kicks off tomorrow morning at 10:00 with a special race for six Thames Barges. Built to carry hay up the narrow, winding rivers and inland waterways of Britain, the 82-ft Barges sound a little like our own hay scow, Alma.

Half an hour later, the serious racing boats of IRC Classes 0 & 1 get underway. They'll be competing on Saturday for the prestigious Queen's Cup and will probably be led away from the start line by Mike Slade's Reichel Pugh 90 Skandia Life Leopard, which also plans to compete in the Fastnet before starting the Volvo Ocean Race on September 23.

For more see www.cowesweek.co.uk.


The Charm of Les Saintes

August 3 - Les Saintes, FWI

Answer to the above pop quiz: On the bay of Anse du Bourg on the French West Indian island of Terre-de-Haut in Les Saintes. It is actually not constructed from a wrecked ship, but from concrete blocks. Lying just at the water's edge, it was conceived by a local doctor, who, we assume, is just a wee bit eccentric.

Just a few miles off the southwest tip of Guadeloupe, the tiny cluster of hilly islands called Les Saintes are like something out of an Impressionist painter's dream. Quaint, open-air restaurants line the bay of Anse du Bourg on Terre-de-Haut, the principal island, behind lines of brightly-colored fishing boats. Narrow, windy streets climb the steep, volcanic hillsides where every home has a million-dollar view.


Photo Latitude/Andy

Settled centuries ago by Breton fisherfolk, Les Saintes have maintained a simple, low key lifestyle centered around the sea, and while dependent on Guadeloupe and mother France for support, the inhabitants pride themselves on their own unique identity. Read more about our recent visit there in the August issue of Latitude 38, now available in yacht clubs, marine stores and all the other usual places.

 


YOTREPS

August 3 - The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS - 'yacht reports' - at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/


Weather Updates

August 3 - Gulf of Mexico

Tropical Storm Barry

Barry began life yesterday off the west coast of Florida and is tracking toward Louisiana at 6 knots. A tropical storm watch has been issued for portions of Southeast Louisiana from the mouth of the Pearl River to Morgan City. Maximum winds so far have been 40 knots with gusts to 45 and 12-ft seas. You can keep an eye on Barry over the weekend at http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2001/index.html


Graphic Courtesy Unisys Weather

August 3 - Pacific Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

To see what the winds are like on the Bay and just outside the Gate right now, check out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/.

California Coast Weather

Looking for current as well as recent wind and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena and the Mexican border? Here's the place - which has further links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/stuff/southwest/swstmap.shtml.

Pacific Winds and Pressure

The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.

Pacific Sea State

Check out the Pacific Ocean sea states at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.


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