Photo of the Day

October 2 - San Francisco Bay

Today's photo is of David Crowe's Morrelli & Melvin designed 70-foot cat Humu-Humu. Crowe sailed his cat in the Ha-Ha last year and had a great time - even though one of his crew was temporarily thrown overboard in the middle of the night while they were doing 10 knots. He's not able to take his boat in the Ha-Ha this year, but would love to crew with anybody else sailing south with a cat. If you'd be interested in taking him, email him.

Photo Steve Dinger

Looking for Seamanship Nominations

October 2 - The Planet Earth

The Cruising Club of America is looking for nominations for their Rod Stephens Award, which is awarded for "an exceptional act of seamanship." If you have a good nominee, contact Richard and he'll forward it.

San Diego Police Dock Gets Reprieve

October 2 - San Diego

The San Diego Harbor Police has a 22-berth Visitor's Dock at the tip of Pt. Loma, and come Ha-Ha time it's nearly always full. So Ha-Ha entries and San Diego Marine businesses were concerned that plans were made to tear the dock down in October in preparation for rebuilding. According to Downwind Marine of San Diego, the Harbor Police have decided to keep the dock operational until well into the winter. The folks at Downwind are working hard to find slips for all visiting cruisers, so if you're heading south, give them a call for the latest information at (619) 224-2733, or email them. At the very least, there will be plenty of room for Ha-Ha and other southbound boats to anchor. See the October issue of Latitude 38 for details and how to fax for an anchoring permit.

More on Damage in La Paz

October 2 - La Paz, BCS

Tom Ireton reports, "The boats on the hard in Abaroas and at Berkovich are all just fine, however at Austeros Marina next to Marina Palmira, there were about 20 boats that have so far tipped over due to the spongy soil. If we have more rain, others may go over. It's very sad. Ed Vargas fought bravely to try to save the new docks at Santa Cruz Bay Marina, but ended up losing all of them. Thankfully the docks are mostly tied to various places, so he'll no doubt be able to retrieve most of them. There are boats on the beach at the Magote, but I haven't been over to see them. There isn't much electricity in La Paz, however the phone lines seem to be intact. We checked Wooden Shoe and she rode just great on the 66 lb. bruce and 150 feet of 3/8-inch chain."

The bad news from Mexico is that another tropical storm, Lorena, is forming off the mainland coast. For whatever reason, the forecast is for her to move northeast - in the general direction of the Sea of Cortez - as opposed to the normal northwest. It's still a weak storm, but bears watching.

New Island for Tonga?

October 2 - South Pacific

"The other night on the Pacific Seafarer's Net it was reported by Tony Babich ZL2ATE - who runs Tony's Net out of New Zealand - that a new volcanic island has appeared in the Tonga group. The new island has appeared as a small volcano 25 miles northwest of Hunga Island. The island is about 2 meters high above the ocean surface. The position of the island is 18 degrees 19.48 minutes South by 174 degrees 21.92 minutes West. Cruisers should maintain a watch for this island while sailing in the area." - Robert Reed, The Pacific Seafarer's Net, Amateur Radio Station N6HGG, Humboldt Bay, California.

Boatowner Assaulted by Anchor-Out

October 2 - Sausalito

As if tensions between anchor-outs and the tenants at Schoonmaker Marina in Sausalito haven't been turning sour enough, an assault following a dispute between an anchor-out and a marina boatowner in the parking lot left one man in the hospital and another in jail. According to reports, Mark Cenac, owner of the gaff-ketch Pandora, took exception to the way 'Tall Tim', a Richardson Bay anchor-out, was driving through the Schoonmaker Marina parking lot. Cenac swung his gym bag at the vehicle, breaking a small window. 'Tall Tim' got out of the vehicle and reportedly broke Cenac's nose, two ribs and gave him a collapsed lung. Cenac was taken to the hospital while 'Tall Tim' was taken to jail.

YOTREPS

October 2 - 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 2 - 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.