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Photo of the DayJanuary 16 - Richmond St. Barts is an island of sailors, so when you go out to dinner,
groups from various tables tend to meld together and the sailing
stories start flying through the air. Thus it was that while
eating at La Gemelle, we were introduced to Dave "who used
to run 'Escapade'." We asked if this was the 74-ft 'Escapade'
that was designed by S&S and built back in 1938. It was.
As 'Latitude 38' readers probably know, that's the same 'Escapade'
that hit an unlit buoy off the coast of Southern California last
year, and is now at KKMI being put back together. |
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January 16 - Almeria, Spain
Yesterday, our 'photo of
the day' had the strange caption, "What the . . .?"
In just a couple of hours we got the correct answer - from Almeria,
Spain! Fred Reynolds of the C&C 34 'Sarah' wrote, "A
gaily painted bulbous bow!"
We'll have more on this interesting boat in a future 'Lectronic.
January 16 - St. Barts
Based on information provided by Hunter White, one of our old
captains, a month or so ago we lamented in 'Lectronic about the
passing of another of our old captains, Antonio 'the Basque terrorist'
dos Muertos. While in St. Barts, Antonio's old stomping grounds,
we passed the news along to some of his friends. It was very painful.
But on the second to last night we were there, Dave, who used
to run the S&S 74 'Escapade' in the Caribbean a long time
ago, said: "No way. I see Antonio all the time in St. Martin.
Furthermore, he looks much healthier than he has in years - and
he's got his Tartan 41 looking really good, too."After informing
Hunter of this development, we received the following email from
him: "I got the news from a friend of mine in Florida who
does some skippering in the Virgins. He and his wife have known
Antonio and Manuela for years, and I am happy to report that I
was misinformed about Antonio." So are we!
As for Hunter, who used to build Freya 39s for Gannon Yachts many
years ago, he's been running an Irwin 65 between the Northeast
and the Caribbean for the last dozen or so years. He's still married
to Cathy, they have a son - maybe even two - and live in Houston.
Yes, it's possible to live in Houston and be the captain of a
boat in the Northeast and the Caribbean.
Not all the news about old friends in St. Barts was good, however.
A guy we've known for years, and who we spent a lot of time with,
is someone we apparently won't be seeing again soon. Based on
a consensus of reports, he and a couple of other guys circumvented
two hurricanes to sail across the Atlantic to England - at which
point they were apprehended in what was described as England's
biggest drug bust ever. When you're 50 and you get a 30-year sentence,
it's as good as life. There was a time when St. Barts was home
to any number of smugglers. Older now, most wouldn't even dream
of putting their freedom at risk. As for ourselves, we couldn't
ever do the time, so we never, ever considered doing the crime.
Cruising in the 70sJanuary 16 - The Mediterranean |
 Greece Photo Jim Drake For the full report from Larry and Dorothy, check out the
February 'Latitude'. It's also a mystery to us why more American
boats don't cruise the Med. We suppose everyone wants to go to
the South Pacific, and by the time they get that far around the
world, many of them are a little cruised out. Personally speaking,
if we could instantly have 'Profligate' transported to anywhere
in the world in May, it would be to the Balearic Islands. After
cruising Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, we'd continue on to Barcelona.
With the boat in a marina, we'd take a short inland trip - say
the overnight train to Paris and maybe continue on to Amsterdam.
Then we'd be back on the boat for the French and Italian Rivieras.
No, the sailing conditions aren't great, but no, it's nowhere
near as expensive as you think if you use a little common sense.
From anywhere along the Riviera - Nice or Genoa - for instance
- there are easy train connections to great cities such as Florence,
Rome, and Venice. Heck, it's less than a day by train to Vienna
and Prague. After the Rivieras, we'd head down to Sicily and
then over to Greece and Turkey, both of which are terrific. When
we had 'Big O' in Europe, we only made one mistake - she was
only there for a season! |
January 16 - 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 www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/
Key West Race WeekJanuary 16 - Key West, Florida |
 Melges 24 Action at Key West Race Week 2000 Photo Walter Cooper www.waltercooperphoto.com
In a case of nobody knows the boat better, Harry Melges, who
runs the Melges 24 factory in Zenda, Wisconsin, took bullets
in the first two races in the extremely competitive 59-boat Melges
fleet. Sailmaker Dave Ullman of Newport Beach was in third in
this class, with Peter Stoneberg of San Francisco in fourth.
Doug Baker's Andrews 70 'Magnitude' was in third overall in Division
B, having taken a bullet in the second race. |
January 16 - Pacific Ocean
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/.
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.
You can view the University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology satellite picture by clicking here.
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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