Photos of the Day

September 26 - Mexico

If you're headed to Mexico this winter, you've got a lot to look forward to. Not much gets written about the Rincon de Guayabitos/Chacala area to the north of Banderas Bay, but it's terrific - and there aren't as many tourists as in the big cities. The accompanying photos are from that region.

What's Going on in Baja?

September 26 - La Paz, BCS

"We just had our trip to Baja canceled by The Moorings," writes Jeff Olson, "and it was not hurricane-related. They claim that they 'have personnel problems', but gave no further explanation. We had made reservations for one of their 45-ft cats some six months ago. Anybody down in La Paz have any further info?"

illbruck Takes the Lead in Volvo

September 26 - Atlantic Ocean

Northern Californian John Kostecki's illbruck, the pre-race favorite in the Volvo Around the World Race, has finally taken over first place. It's very early going, of course, and the fleet is bunched in two groups, neither of them with much of a lead:

1. illbruck, 6,838 miles to finish; 2. Tyco, 1 mile behind leader; 3. Amer Sports One, 6 mbl; 4. Assa Abloy, 10 mbl; 5. News Corp, 20 mbl; 6. SEB, 23 mbl; 7. Amer Sports Two, 33 mbl; 8. djuice dragons, 34 mbl.

illbruck Challenge skipper John Kostecki
and navigator Juan Vila consider their options.
Photo illbruck Challenge Courtesy www.volvooceanrace.com

Mark 'Crusty' Christensen, Watch Captain aboard illbruck, explains how things are going: "We are now a few days into the trip and things have settled down. The three-day seasickness patches wore off last night just as we got into the 25kts+ upwind and big seas. A couple of the crew lost their lunch, but sleep was the biggest loser. It was almost impossible, the boat dropping off every second wave and freefalling for what seemed an eternity but was probably only a few seconds. The wind and sea state have calmed down a bit but are forecast to build again tonight. Our afterguard of John Kostecki, 'one armed' Juan Vila and Ian 'Soapy' Moore have been doing a great job of positioning us to take advantage of each shift and this morning we moved into first place. The boat seems good, not so downwind and better upwind but more than anything else is staying in one piece.

"Personally the trip did not start so well for me. Each crewmember was bought a silk sleeping bag liner to use in the tropics. We were told it had been placed on our hook. After the boat left the dock I went down to claim mine. Not there. Small dilemma, but I was assured it would be on board; maybe it was buried under some of the gear. So I looked under the gear. This is no small task: there are 3 med kits, 17 food bags, storm sails, spares, etc., probably about 30 bags in all, each weighing 15 kg. Could not find it anywhere. As a last resort, I went aft and checked my personal bag; maybe in a blond moment I had put it away and forgotten it. No. By now I wasn't too happy and as I walked forward I forgot to duck under the winch base and smashed the lenses on my new sunglasses. We still hadn't even started. That night I climbed into my bunk and stood on the plastic latch of my new 'bum bag', 'fanny pack' whatever they are called and broke that as well. We use these to keep our safety gear in so no matter what you are wearing you can have your strobe light, etc., with you. I guess that was three and it couldn't get any worse. Since then it hasn't. My silk liner turned up in none other than 'Hoo' Ray Davies' collection. He was telling us about trying to climb into his new liner and I remembered his new liner was still hanging on his hook. He could have saved me some stress looking for it. I stole his glasses as payment for using my liner. I am on deck in 15 minutes so all for now. Regards to all."

Ha-Ha Entries, Cont'd

September 26 - Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters

When we last left off, we had listed paid up Ha-Ha entries through number 100. Here are entries 101 through 110:

101) Palahna Rosa / Forbes-Cooper 62 / Stephen & Lois Strib / Pahrump, NV
102) Synergy / CT-35 / James Shiets / Pearl City, HI
103) Sorina / Columbia 45 / Ed & Jamie Hoff / San Francisco
104) Sabbatical / Catalina 36 / Larry Pascoe / Del Mar
105) Relax / Crealock 57 / Ron Jordan / San Diego
106) Amakhaya / Ferro 65 / Joseph Stephens / Bronx, NY
107) Doggone / Brown Searunner Tri / Greig & Leslie Olson / Napa
108) Fearless / Morgan Out-Island 41 / Bruce Hildebrand / Rancho Cordova
109) Blacksilver / Farr 58 / Robert Koll & Carl Reinhart / Long Beach
110) Long Islander / Islander 37 / Steve Pulaski / San Francisco

The complete list of Ha-Ha entries appears in the October issue of Latitude 38. See www.baja-haha.com for more information on the event.

YOTREPS

September 26 - 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

Hurricane Juliette Eases off Slightly

September 26 - Eastern Pacific Ocean

Hurricane Juliette, about 250 miles due west of Puerto Vallarta, lost about 15 knots of steam and is now blowing at about 110 knots. She's generating huge surf for the Mexican coast as well as torrential rains in some areas, but as long as she stays offshore, everyone has reason to be thankful.

Hurricane Juliette
Graphic Courtesy Unisys Weather

September 26 - 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.