Photo of the Day June 4 - Mill Valley If you're lucky, you spent the sunny weekend on the Delta Ditch Run or sailing the Bay under blues skies. We got to spend the weekend painting the decks. It could have been worse, because it could have been the 'old days', back when painting meant getting fumed out of your gourd. But thanks to the new respirators, such as the one in the photo, you can now paint without destroying half of your brain cells. When you've got as few as we do, it's a big improvement.

Photo Latitude/Annie

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Catnip Cup June 4 - San Francisco Bay This weekend is the no-host Catnip Cup overnighter to Vallejo for cruising multihulls. If you're one of the many folks who expressed interest in participating, here are the details: The fleet will gather in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Bridge and Yellow Bluff (on the Marin side) starting at about 11:15. The slower cats and tris - you determine if you are slower or not - should start heading directly toward Vallejo at 11:30. If you're a medium speed multihull, maybe you'll leave a half hour later. We aboard the 63-ft Profligate will be leaving about 12:30, and will be sailing from the Golden Gate to Fort Mason, then up to Vallejo, hoping to photograph as many other boats as possible. With the Catnip Cup, you sail any course you want. You can also motor as much or as little as you want. The finish line is off the Vallejo Marina, which should be able to accommodate just about everyone. Call Ken and his staff at (707) 648-4370 for berth reservations. It's possible that deeper draft cats may have to anchor out part or all of the time. In any event, after we get there, we'll be firing up a BBQ ashore and hoping to meet as many of you as possible. The start home the next day will commence sometime between 9 and noon - whenever you feel like it. If you're planning to participate, email Richard so we can get an idea of how many folks will show up.

Photos Latitude/Richard

Want to See the Catnip Fleet?

"Rainbow (ex Gone Troppo), my Crowther 10m Catamaran, wants to play with other cats," says Cliff Shaw. "Unfortunately, she's only about 70% through a complete refit, and isn't ready for more than short daysails yet. I thought I'd try to get out to see the Catnip fleet and say 'Hi' as you take off, so am wondering about what time you plan to gather? I'm also curious if Two Up, a similar boat will participate?"

Since it's just a short daysail to Vallejo, why not join the group?

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Cruising Santorini June 4 - Santorini, Greece "We just finished reading Hae Twen's well-written article on their passage from Italy to Turkey, with its favorable description of Santorini, Greece," write Dorothy Taylor and Larry Hirsch of the San Diego-based Shayna. "But we had a different experience. An unpredicted southeast gale came up suddenly, and lasted for three days. We were jammed against the crumbling concrete wall they call a dock. The marina entrance was closed due to surf so we couldn't leave. Fenders were useless. We used heavy rubber tires we scrounged for protection from the waves crashing over the breakwater. Even so, we damaged our heavy steel and wood rub rail. Plus, we had red dust overlaid with black lava dust. The floating pumice pebbles got into every hose and through-hole. The inner harbor's a bit better protected, but was full of fishing boats and mostly less than six feet deep. A local Greek gave good advice: leave your boat in the harbor at Ios and visit Thera by ferry. We are now in a great anchorage: Porto Heli in southern Peloponnese. It has good holding, calm water and a nice village. Many boats stay here at anchor all winter, being looked after by Frank's Yacht Service. P.S. Latitude keeps getting bigger and better!" Thanks for the kind words. When we had Big O in the Greek Islands about six years ago, we wanted to visit Santorini. We were told the harbor was crappy, so just as you were advised, we left our boat on the hook at Ios, and took this rumbling wreck of a Russian-built hydrofoil to Santorini. We thought we were going to die at any moment. It was a good way to go, but resulted in our spending less time there than we would have liked. Geez, we miss cruising in the Greek Islands. For those folks who don't remember, Dorothy and Larry are in their 70s, but just keep cruising. From California to the East Coast. From the East Coast to the Med. And now around the Med.

Santorini Little Port Thera Photos and Graphic Courtesy members.dencity.com/santorini/SantoriniPresent.htm

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Part of Team Phillips Here, Part of Team Phillips There

June 4 - Atlantic Ocean

Talk about doing the 'splits'. It's been almost six months since the maxi cat Team Phillips was abandoned in the North Atlantic. A couple of days ago, a section of one bow was found off the Irish coast. About the same time, a substantially larger section of the cat was found off southern Iceland. In other words, parts of the boats have been drifting apart at nearly five miles a day!

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YOTREPS

June 4 - 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/

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Weather Updates

June 4 - 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 Sea State

Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you might 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.