Photo of the Day

February 26 -
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Today's Photo of the Day is of the paper waste when buying fuel in Mexico. These are the receipts we got for a single fill-up of Profligate and of the dinghy motor's tank. Incredible, no?

Photo Latitude/Annie

Puerto Vallarta Race

February 26 - Pacific Ocean

This year's 33-boat San Diego YC race to Paradise Resort & Marina in Puerto Vallarta is enjoying typical Mexican conditions - seven to 13 knots of wind, clear skies, and one to three foot seas. Making the most of it is Doug Baker's much traveled Andrews 70 turbo Magnitude, which covered 244 miles in the last 24 hours and is currently averaging 10.9 knots. She's almost halfway through the 1,000-mile race.

Other division leaders include James McDowell's Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion, averaging 9.1 knots; Dennis Conner's R/P 50 Stars & Stripes; John Garrison's Peterson 50 Checkmate; and Frank Easterbrook's Ladd 75 Ariadne. Most boats are expected to finish on Wednesday or Thursday. MEXORC follows.

The Whole Picture

February 26 - Isla Grande, Mexico

Yesterday we ran a rather comical photo of a man upside down mid-air, a boat, and a woman in the water. Here's the rest of the photo - as taken by Dustin Fox. It all happened at Isla Grande during a break of the Boat Parade at the recent Zihua Sail Fest.

Sea of Cortez Sailing Week April 20-27

February 26 - La Paz, BCS

The beach at Caleta Partida

Marta Sutton of the Club Cruceros de La Paz reports that Sea of Cortez Sailing Week is scheduled for April 20 through the 27th. What's it all about?
"It starts with the opening ceremonies at Estrella del Mar in La Paz on April 20. On April 22nd the fleet races - if they want - out to Caleta Partida. That evening the beach activities kick off with a get acquainted potluck, at which time the King and Queen will be crowned. Some of the other outstanding events of the week will include: chili cookoff, Race Week Olympics, dessert contest, dinghy races (motor and sail), volleyball competition, men's and women's bikini contests, dinghy-in movies, beer belly contests, over the line baseball, live music on the beach, progressive dinner from boat to boat, plenty of kid's activities, and much more. Oh yeah, there will also be some sailboat racing. But if you don't want to race, there's still plenty of reason to join us. Yes, the anchorage will be packed with raucous gringos primed to have a good time. Yes, there will be so many things to do that you'll have to plan your time carefully. But isn't this what you've all been waiting for - the ultimate cruiser party? If so please join us. Closing ceremonies will be held on April 27. "

For details, visit www.clubcruceros.org.

Maiden II

February 26 - La Ciotat, France

Yesterday we reported that Brit Tracy Edwards has purchased the maxi cat Club Med, and, among other things, will be making an attempt at the Jules Verne record with an all-woman crew. Today, we can report that she's named the boat Maiden II - pending getting a name sponsor. Edwards and an all-woman crew - which we believe included Dawn Riley, Emma Westmacott, and Amanda Swan - who is now married to John Neal - sailed the original Maiden to class honors in her Whitbread Around the World Race class.

When it comes time for The Race in 2004, Edwards says she'll go with a mixed crew as opposed to an all-woman crew, believing she'll have made her 'women are great sailors' point by then. Nobody should dismiss Edward's effort. Four years ago she and her all-woman crew were on a pace to break the around-the world-record when the mast came down in the Southern Ocean.

Fox in the henhouse? It was also announced that Brian Thompson will be the Yacht Manager. For years Brian was one of Steve Fossett's two permanent crew on Lakota - at which time he spent a lot of time in Northern California - and later on PlayStation. Thompson recently finished in the top ten in the Mini Transat.

Geronimo's Got the Slows

February 26 - Atlantic Ocean

After rocketing from France to almost the equator in record time, Olivier de Kersauson and the 110-ft trimaran Geronimo are having a hard time making the last few miles to that imaginary line. The problem is the doldrums, which means light and fluky winds, and severe lightning. At last report, Geronimo was struggling with only 10 knots of wind. Worse still, she'd fallen behind the pace of ENZA's round the world trip, when she was skippered by the late Peter Blake.

Mystery Photo

February 26 - South Pacific?

Thanks to various kinds of computer animation, we often find photos hiding in our hard drive, but have no idea how they got there or what they are of. We're pretty sure this photo is of Garth Wilcox and Wendy Hinman, and if we had to guess, we'd say this was probably a cave in Tonga or Niue. What we do know is that the couple sailed their Wylie 31 in the 2000 Ha-Ha, and last year sailed across the Pacific to New Zealand.

YOTREPS

February 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

February 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/. The National Weather Service site for San Francisco Bay has moved to www.wrh.noaa.gov/Monterey/.

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.