Photo of the Day

October 12 - Alameda

Photo Latitude/Richard

The Photo of the Day actually comes from Wednesday night's Mexico Crew List and Ha-Ha Kick-Off Party at the Encinal YC in Alameda, when a couple of the gals who showed up looking to crew inflated a six-man Switlik liferaft. The fact that 350 people showed up for the event - despite many boats having already gone south - bodes well for participation in October 30's Ha-Ha. It was also obvious that these people came not just for a party, but because they were very seriously looking for crew, or to crew, to Mexico.

What are they hoping to enjoy? Feast your eyes on some shots from last year's Baja Ha-Ha, in which 126 boats participated.

Need a Lift?

October 12 - San Francisco Bay

Weather conditions for Saturday and Sunday are expected to be outstanding for sailing, with unusually warm weather to the 80s and 90s. Grab the last of Indian Summer on your boat.

Hurricane Damage in Belize

October 12 - Belize

As many as 20 Americans were killed earlier this week when Hurricane Iris - which had up to 150 knot winds - flipped a liveaboard scuba boat on her side in Belize. Although currently not a major bareboat base, both TMM and The Moorings operate catamaran fleets in Belize. Barney Crook, owner of TMM, reports that despite the intensity of Hurricane Iris, his all-catamaran bareboat fleet suffered minimal damage - other than one boat being dismasted. We'll be getting a report from The Moorings next week.

Kostecki and illbruck Remain in Volvo Lead

October 12 - Atlantic Ocean

Northern Californian John Kostecki and illbruck passed the equator and halfway marks in the first leg - England to South Africa - of the Volvo Around the World Race. The good news is that they are slowly extending their lead . . . and it appears they won't run out of food.

West Marine Pacific Cup Filling Up

October 12 - San Francisco

Next July's West Marine Pacific Cup Race from San Francisco to Hawaii is once again attracting lots of entries early. In fact, they are up to 73, which means they'll only take 14 more entries before starting the waiting list. Heading the list are nine Santa Cruz 50s and seven Santa Cruz 52s.

Mini Transat Second Start

October 12 - Atlantic Ocean

The Fifth Time Around Could Be a Charm

October 12 - Around the World

Having sailed around the world four times singlehanded, and tried a couple of other times, Frenchman Jean-Luc Van den Heede is going to do it again. This time he'll be taking the 'man's route', meaning westabout and into the wind and seas as opposed to with them. During his last failed attempt, his Open 60 Algimouss started to come apart halfway between New Zealand and Cape Horn, so this time he's going with an aluminum boat designed by Gilles Vaton.

YOTREPS

October 12 - 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

October 12 - 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/. (Note: Service on this site has been interrupted, and they hope to have it repaired soon. We'll keep an eye on it and let you know.)

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.