Photos of the Day

January 15 - Sea of Cortez

Today's photos of the day are of the January 1 National Enquirer, which along with normal rubbish about celebrities, features a "Bloodthirsty Pirates Slit My Throat and Left Me for Dead" story about 53-year old Canadian Bob Medd of the Aloha 34 TLC. The only problem is that much of the story would seem to be about as true as the photo of the bogus Sea of Cortez 'pirates' that accompanied the article.

Readers of Latitude 38 will recall that as time went on, Medd's story became increasingly inconsistent and riddled with glaring factual errors. Ultimately, four sailors who crewed for Medd reported that he'd told them that he had a terminal illness and that one day would kill himself and let the boat sail on. We hope the Enquirer didn't pay too much for the story.

Cayard Back to Volvo Ocean Race

January 15 - Auckland, NZ

The big news to be announced later today is that Northern Californian Paul Cayard will replace Northern Californian Dee Smith aboard Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One in the Volvo Around the World Race. This is big news for several reasons. First, Cayard won the last Whitbread - which became the Volvo - aboard EF Language. Second, everyone has been speculating what Cayard would do since Larry Ellison of Oracle Racing declined to bring Cayard to Auckland with the rest of the America's Cup team. Finally, it will pit Cayard against Northern Californian John Kostecki and illbruck. Kostecki was Cayard's navigator/tactician for the last America's Cup. Dee Smith is only off the boat because he needs shoulder surgery, and will rejoin Amer Sports One for the remainder of the Volvo.

Cruiser Shrine?

January 15 - Sea of Cortez

"We came across the 'cruiser shrine' at beautiful Caleta San Juanico in the Sea of Cortez," report Dave and Angie of the Seattle-based Magic Carpet Ride. "We had the whole place to ourselves. Someone told us the tree in the background is the sailors shrine, and cruisers leave rocks, shells and other things as evidence of their visit. However, I did not leave Dave there as a sign of my visit. Can we have a T-shirt for the photo, as I have not seen any guys willing to show their stuff for a shirt. Do you know anything about the shrine?"

Photo Courtesy Magic Carpet Ride

Dave and Angie - The cruiser shrine at San Juanico has been around for as long as we've been sailing there, which is since the late '70s. Personally, we don't think it's the coolest thing in the world, but to each their own. As for getting a T-shirt for the photo, we don't even give women shirts for 'skinny' photos, so why would we even dream of giving one to a guy? You must have missed the Seinfeld episode about the difference between men's and women's bodies.

Z-Fest to Happen

January 15 - Zihuatanejo, Mexico

It appears as though a first-ever Z-Fest will take place in Z-town between the 31st of January and the 3rd of February. This will be a totally 'nothing serious' event, so it's still unclear if it will be a two or three day event. It's expected there will be a fund raiser race early between Profligate and Capricorn Cat, then a day of fleet racing, then a day of beach games and such. Rick's Bar will be the headquarters. We'll provide more details as they become clear.

We have a minor problem in that Profligate is currently in P.V., and we may need a couple of crew for a quick trip down to Z-town. If you're interested, email Richard.

Fun Photo

January 15 - Fatu Hiva, Marquesas

Here's a lovely photo of Hana Vava Bay at Fatu Hiva taken by Jeff and Debbie Hartjoy of the Baba 40 ketch Heartjoy. The couple thinks that Fatu Hiva is the most beautiful of the islands in the Marquesas.

Photo Courtesy Heartjoy

Jeff and the energetic Debbie became Ha-Ha legends a few years back, when Jeff had to drive Heartjoy for hours on end because the wind was blowing so hard. The problem, as Debbie later told the awards ceremony audience, is that after a couple of hours Jeff had to take a pee real bad. Since he was unable to leave the helm, Debbie did what she had to do. She unzipped the helmsman, placed his spigot into a plastic bottle, and 'relieved the watch', so to speak. The couple later did the Puddle Jump from P.V., and found Latitude's Puddle Jump Party "to be a wealth of shared information and a great help in preparing a diverse group of sailors for a safe and interesting passage through French Polynesia." The couple plan a 15-year circumnavigation.

Kahn Is Big and Thinks Big

January 15 - Key West, FL

Philippe Kahn of Santa Cruz made it big in the software business, and has a tremendous fleet of sailboats to show for it. In fact, he set tongues a-wagging at Key West when he entered two Melges 24s in the combination Melges 24 Worlds and Key West Race Week that starts on the 20th. Kahn will be skippering one entry with Mark Reynolds, three time Olympic medalist as tactician. Kahn's son Shark, all of 12 years old, will sail on the other boat. Kahn is sailing small boats in order to become more skilled at competing in his Farr 40 and Pegasus, the maxi sled he sailed to victory in the last TransPac. Call it wretched excess with a noble goal.

YOTREPS

January 15 - 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

January 15 - 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 is www.nws.mbay.net/home.html.

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.