Photos of the Day

July 1 - San Francisco Bay

If this is global warming, bring it on! We can't remember a summer when sailing on San Francisco Bay has been so fabulous. We were out Friday night, and it was warm and windy - sometimes at the same time in the same place. We did the San Francisco YC's Midnight Moonlight Marathon, which was also incredibly warm - even wearing shorts until after midnight. And yesterday, it was so hot that when we sailed through Clipper Cove, there were folks swimming off the back of their boat. "This was the first day in years when we've been on the hook in the Cove when it's been nice enough to even think about taking the plunge," said Greg Sherwood 'the big guy'. Others jumping in where Nicole Marinkovich, 'the bikini clad young thing', and Jeff Smith, the 'not so big guy'. Others in the other photos include Cathy Sherwood, with the Latitude 38 tank top, and Erin Sherwood, the young lady looking embarrassed at the stupid antics of the 'adults'. What great folks - particularly Greg and Jeff, who actually jumped in twice so we could get a retake.

Singlehanded TransPac Finishers Continue to Arrive

July 1 - Hanalei Bay, Kauai

As reported in Friday's 'Lectronic, Mark Deppe of the San Francisco-based J/120 Alchera was first to finish this year's particularly tranquil Singlehanded TransPac. Arriving on Saturday were Jim Tallet in the Seattle-based J/33 Zapped and Alameda's Tony Carr with the Hobie 33 Tease. Sunday's finishers included Erik Schwartz in the San Francisco-based Santa Cruz 40 Rusalka, who finished at 00:00:00. He was followed by Lou Freeman in the San Diego-based Swan 51 Seabird and Steve Wilson in the Alameda-based Westsail 39 Westerly. John Guzzwell, 72, crossed the finish line with his Seattle-based Endangered Species this morning. We'll have more on this event in the next few days.

Photos Latitude/Andy

Slow Sail Across the Pacific

July 1 - Pacific Ocean

We're told that Peter and Susan Wolcott of the Santa Cruz 52 Kiapa, who did the Ha-Ha last year, took 21 days to complete an extremely light air crossing from Mexico to Hawaii. Since they have an SC 52, some boats with them were taking even longer. The Wolcotts are now on their way to Polynesia.

A Slow Vic-Maui

July 1 - Pacific Ocean

Four of the 19 starters have already dropped out of the Vic-Maui Race because of very light wind. One of them, The Rusty Bucket, covered only 32 miles in four hours. Others who did better, such as Warren Hale's C&C 44 Turicum from the Vancouver Rowing Club, have also bailed, saying they could not reasonably expect to finish within the time limit. Hale is a veteran of two previous Vic-Maui races. At least some of the lead boats have gotten into 20-knot winds.

North Sails Race Week

July 1 - Long Beach

A record 171 boats - plus the likes of Paul Cayard, Dennis Conner, and Dave Ullman - showed up in Long Beach for last weekend's 18th Annual North Sails Long Beach. A large contingent was from Northern California. What was lacking in wind - 8 to 15 the first day, 6 to 12 the second, and just 6 to 9 on Sunday - was made up for in tight competition. On the first day, for example, Conner, driving Dale Williams' San Francisco-based ILC 46 Wasabi finished 8th in a 9 boat fleet - although they did blow out a headsail. Cayard, calling tactics on John Kilroy's Farr 40 Samba Pa Ti, didn't do much better, as the frequent winner slipped to 7th. And the sailing remained tight for the last two days. Check out the action in photos taken by Rich Roberts. For the complete story, visit www.Premiere-Racing.com.

From Day 2:

John Cummings' Kanzeon and Howard Lewis'
Pendragon lead the J/105s to the windward mark.

Dennis Conner drives Dale Williams' ILC 46 Wasabi
through a pin-end start in one of Saturday's two wins.

Photo Funnies

July 1 - Ontario

"I am the Traffic Detective for the City of Ontario, California," writes Mike Kelley of the Rafiki 37 Goodfellows. "A few days ago, a building near my station was demolished, exposing an old ad for Catalina Island on an adjacent wall. The ad appears to have been 'sandwiched' between the two walls for decades, covered by a common roof. The colors are still quite vibrant."

Photo Mike Kelley

Look Ma, No Fog!

July 1 - San Francisco Bay

YOTREPS

July 1 - 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

July 1 - 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 at 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 views of sea states anywhere in the world, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/.