Photo of the Day

October 23 - Steamboat Slough

"This photo isn't current because I just got it developed, but I thought that everyone might get a kick out of it," writes Dave Wilson of the Hidden Harbor-based Hunter (Cherubini) 30 Moonglow. "The family who had recently purchased this cat - I didn't get their name - were visiting the Delta a few months ago, when they anchored for the night in Steamboat Slough across from Hidden Harbor Marina. Alas, they didn't take into account the reverse current we get here, and floated over their anchor and onto the beach. You can see what happened when the tide went out. They were philosophical about the whole thing, and sat back and waited for high tide to see if they could get off. I told them they should have the kids cleaning the bottom as it was fully exposed, but the kids were teenagers so you can imagine how much of the bottom got cleaned. They didn't mind that I took the photo of their boat for publication in Latitude - but they were glad they hadn't put the name on yet. There was a very high tide that evening, and they were able to back off without any problem."

Photo Dave Wilson

The cat owners have a great attitude, and seem to know that "if you haven't run aground, you haven't really seen the Delta."

Yankee Cup

October 23 - San Francisco Bay

The HDA Champion of Champions, a three-race PHRF contest for all class winners and runner-ups, was held off the Golden Gate YC on Saturday, October 20. The race attracted just eight entries, spread out over too large a rating band (66 all the way up to 186) to make for very interesting racing - but that's only our opinion.

John Clauser and his Bodacious bunch (wife Bobbi Tosse, Bob Novy, Robin Easton, John Acomb, Justin Oberbauer, 'Julie', Pete Roberts, Terry Dobell, Conrad Dobell, Mark van Seltz, and Rich Bennallack) put together a 1,1,3 series to narrowly beat Ixxis (2,2,1) on the tiebreaker. Tosse, Bodacious's chief tactician, attributed the victory to "our democratic, but sometimes noisy, method of decision making."

1) Bodacious, Farr One Ton, John Clauser, 5 points; 2) Ixxis, OIson 911-S, Ed Durbin, 5; 3) Jeannette, Tartan 10, Henry King, 10; 4) Jammin' Too, Catalina 36, Mike Lamb, 14; 5) Windwalker, Islander 36, Richard Schoenhair, 17; 6) Run Wild, Olson 30, Dale Irving, 18; 7) Two Scoops, Express 34, Goodwin/Longaker, 19; 8) Allegro, Herreshoff 33, Dave Berntsen, 20. (8 boats)

Jammin' Too

More News from Marina Mazatlan

October 23 - Mazatlan, Mexico

"This is information about the actual state of the marinas in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico," reports Lic. Eduardo Olivares, Harbormaster at Marina Isla Mazatlan. The only marina that is closed is Marina Mazatlan, and we hope that it will soon open and continue operations. Beyond that, we can confirm that Marina El Cid and Marina Isla Mazatlan are still working normally and have berths available. We invite all cruisers to be our guests and spend a nice time in Mazatlan with their boats."

That's great news. He can be reached by email.

New Profligate Record . . . by Delivery Crew

October 23 - Hamilton Harbor, Bermuda

For a long time, the Profligate speed record was 22.5 knots, set on the Bay while broad reaching from Alcatraz to Angel Island under a reefed main and a tiny jib. It's been broken. When delivery skipper Ken Fairchild and three others headed south Sunday night to position the boat for the start of next week's Ha-Ha, we told him to take it easy, and suggested that he just carry the little screecher and no main at all. That's what they did - and they still hit 23 knots. "It was only blowing about 20 knots, but the waves were just perfect for surfing," he said.

Mike Miller in New York City

October 23 - New York, NY

"I've just returned from New York City, where I went to volunteer for one long week," reports Mike Miller of Ventura, who did last year's Ha-Ha aboard the Vanguard 32 Uhuru. "I've sent you some photos so that you can see how devastating things are at 'ground zero' - as though you haven't seen enough. I just want everyone to know how grateful I am to be able to cruise and live life as an American! I know you feel the same. The picture of the guy with the hardhat is a longtime friend from the city and quite influential in the financial scene there. He was able to take me inside the barriers of the World Trade Center, which is where I took the shots from. I am dedicating my cruising this year for the thousands whose dreams were cut far too short.

"I am heading back to Uhuru, which is in San Carlos, on Thursday. I will slowly head down the Sea toward P.V., where I have a reservation for Thanksgiving. P.S.: While in New York, I swore I saw Wayne Meretsky - who crewed with you last year - who seemed to have a new gig. Did he change his name to Cowboy?"

Photos Mike Miller

Racing News

October 23 - Atlantic Ocean

John Kostecki and illbruck have cut deeply into Grant Dalton and Amer Sports One's lead in the first leg of the Volvo Race to Capetown. Only 20 miles separates the two boats, who have left all the others in the dust.

Brian Thompson, known to many Northern California sailors, continues to pull away in the Mini Transat.

YOTREPS

October 23 - 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 23 - 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: This page seems to be working correctly again.)

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.