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Photos of the DayJuly 6 - Monte Carlo, Monaco A big difference between boating in Europe and the United States is the size of the big boats. In Europe, big boats are really big. While in Monte Carlo, for example, we came across the two yachts in the foreground, the 230-foot Golden Odyssey and the 220-foot Golden Shadow. Both are owned by Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, former Chief of the Joint Forces during the liberation of Kuwait. The Prince uses the Golden Odyssey as his personal yacht, and the slightly smaller Golden Shadow - which was built in San Diego - for his guests and various toys. Among the toys are a Cessna 208 amphibious plane and any number of small boats up to about 65-ft. Some of us Americans might bitch because we help pay for the two boats in higher gas prices, but it should be known that the Prince is dedicated to the preservation of the world's oceans, and has donated extensive use of his boats and crews for scientific research. |
  Photos Latitude/Richard |
July 6 - San Francisco Bay
We've fallen overboard twice, albeit in calm conditions in the warm waters of Mexico. On the night of the Fourth of July, it was the first time one of our crew went overboard. Fortunately, it turned out all right.
It all started near Yellow Bluff, when we spotted a fender drifting with the tide. We made a couple of half-hearted high-speed passes at it, which resulted in Robert Sutherland, standing on the aft step, getting a little wet. After several attempts, we got close enough for Robert to grab the fender. Unfortunately, he hung on too tight and got yanked into the water. The owner of the Mexico-based Wylie 34, Sutherland had made sure he'd attached a safety line before reaching for the fender. So before we knew it, Sutherland was planing behind the cat. On a beam reach, we had to head - dramatically increasing the hull speed - in order to slow down. Fortunately, Robert was able to hang on and scrambled back aboard. He'd been dragged behind the boat for 15 to 20 seconds. He was not wearing a PFD, and this is one case in which it was probably better that he wasn't. The drag created by his pants was almost enough to make him lose his grip, and the much greater drag that would have been caused by a PFD surely would have caused him to lose his grip.
Jacked up by adrenaline, Robert reported that the water "wasn't even that cold". Having nearly lost a crew to the fender, it now became our Moby Dick. We got it, too. But be careful out there folks, and stay aboard.
July 6 - North Bay and Carquinez Strait
Late Saturday afternoon is the start of the San Francisco YC's
Midnight Moonlight race to Vallejo and back. In our opinion, it's
one of the most fun races on the Bay. Slow boats start first and
try to hold their lead. Plus, it's nearly a full moon. If you
hurry, you can visit the San Francisco YC Web site at www.sfyc.org
and still sign up.
July 6 - Pacific Ocean
In the battle of the big boats, the Thursday night positions report
showed Bob McNulty's 74-foot Chance hanging on to a two-mile
lead over Philippe Kahn's 75-foot Pegasus, which regained
second place from Roy E. Disney's 73-foot Pyewacket by
a mile. If not quite in sight of one another, they are close enough
to continue their three-way tactical sparring. Winds had diminished
again, but farther back Bob Lane's Medicine Man from Long
Beach continued its recent surge with 293 miles in the previous
24 hours - the best day's run by any of the 32 boats remaining
in the race. Lane feels that his 61-foot boat - five feet longer
after a massive modification - is now in its element as it enters
the trades. "We have more sail area than the normal [ULDB
70] sleds and we weigh one-third less," he said.
DIVISION I (started July 1)
1. Chance (R/P 74), Bob McNulty, Corona del Mar, 266 miles
past 24 hours/1,200 miles to go.
2. Pegasus (R/P 75), Philippe Kahn, Santa Cruz, 263/1,202.
3. Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 73), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles,
269/1,203.
4. Merlin's Reata (Lee 68), Al Micallef, Ft. Worth, TX,
280/1,282.
DIVISION II (started July 1)
1. Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell, Haiku,
HI, 1,290.
2. J-Bird III (TransPac 52), David Janes, Newport Beach,
1,306.
3. Taxi Dancer (R/P 68), Brian W. Mock, Corona del Mar,
1,324.
4. Ragtime (Spencer 65), Hui Holokai Syndicate, Owen Minney/Trisha
Steele, Honolulu, 1,377.
5. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach, 1,373.
6. Yassou (TransPac 52), Jim and Nancy Demetriades, Beverly
Hills, 1,394.
7. Mongoose (SC 70), Robert Saielli, La Jolla, 1,431.
8. DH--Étranger (Jutson 50), Howard Gordon, San
Luis Obispo, 1,480.
DIVISION III (started June 30)
1. Bengal II (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan,
1,023.
2. Cantata (Andrews 53), Brent Vaughan, Oceanside, 1,119.
3. Firebird (Nelson/Marek 55), Greg Sands, Long Beach,
1,136.
4. Rocket Science (Riptide 55), Nguyen Le, Amsterdam, 1,075.
5. Baronesa V (Open 40), Shuichi Ogasawara, Miyagi, Japan,
1,133.
DIVISION IV (started June 30)
1. Bull (Sydney 40 OD-T), Seth Radow, Marina del Rey, 1,193.
2. Sensation (1D35), Mike Thomas, Detroit, 1,232.
3. Ouch (J/120), Ted Mayes, San Juan Capistrano, 1,344.
4. DH--Watercolors (Sabre 402), Michael Abraham, Newport
Beach, 1,344.
5. Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, Santa Fe, NM,
1,317.
6. DH--Two Guys On the Edge (Sonoma 30), Dan Doyle, Honolulu,
1,404.
7. Mystere (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Laguna Niguel, 1,393.
WITHDRAWN -- LawnDart (Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo, BC,
2,175.
ALOHA DIVISION A (started June 25)
1. Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, 660.
2. Shanakee II (Pedrick 75), Jim Warmington, Balboa, 318.
3. Seda (Ericson 41), Josef Sedivec, Bonita, 766
4. Sea Dancer (Ericson 35), Al Wheatman, Marina del Rey,
858.
5. Gecko (Tartan 41), Jim Fabrick, Laguna Beach, 790.
6. Bonaire (Moody 65), Gil Jones and Associates, Newport
Beach, 691.
ALOHA DIVISION B (started June 25)
1. Stardust (Wylie 46), Peter and Patricia Anderson, Laguna
Beach, 535.
2. Axapac (Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, BC, 648.
For the latest TransPac coverage and great features, visit www.transpacificyc.org.
July 6 - Monte Carlo, Monaco
Check out the sequence of the nearly new Frers designed, Royal
Huisman built, 112-foot Unfurled as she arrived in the
harbor at Monte Carlo. From a distance, she doesn't look that
big, but when she gets close, you begin to appreciate her size.
And what about those fenders? They're bigger than the crew quarters
on most boats.
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In all fairness, Monte Carlo has some small boats (see the lefthand photo below), too, and they've got the front row seat for the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, the most prestigious Formula One race of them all. And, in the case of two small motoryachts (righthand photo below), Monte Carlo also has a couple of vessels that would be perfect homes for anchor-outs in Richardson Bay.
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July 6 - Redfish Lake, Idaho
At 6,000+ feet above sea level Redfish Lake
has a short but beautiful sailing season. On June 29 a Hobie cat
was the only other sailboat on the lake. A few powerboats zoomed
around and an occasional personal watercraft buzzed by. While
the PWCs weren't too numerous to be annoying they do take away
from the pristine peace of high altitude lakes. However, that
didn't prevent us from rescuing one hapless, out-of-gas, teenage
jetskier. A couple of powerboats had sped past the object we saw
ahead so we didn't think much of it until we sailed closer and
found the guy attempting to kick his craft the quarter mile to
shore. We took him in tow for the one mile sail back to his gas
can, dropped him off and sailed away without even getting a thanks
(oh well, maybe he knew we preferred the silence to the noise
of his craft).
 We had headed inland for a break from the sea, but still couldn't stay away from the water. We spent a gorgeous day at Redfish Lake in Idaho aboard the Doughdish Angelina with the 10,000 ft. peaks of the Sawtooth Mountains in the background. |
 Sailing Angelina from the beach, we were able to swap out kids and adults for easy afternoon loops around Redfish Lake. Here Sarah Arndt steers the gaff-rigged Herreschoff design up the middle of Redfish with her friend Charlie Sudbay and her uncle Bob. |
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July 6 - 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/
July 6 - 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.
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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