Photo of the Day

July 25 - San Francisco Bay

"First off I'd like to say your magazine is one of my favorite reads," writes Mike McNabb. My friend and I own a 28' Columbia that we sail all over the Bay, and we happen to also love taking pictures. We seem to come upon all the strange mishaps on the Bay. I sent you this shot my buddy Doug took this weekend."

The crane appears ready to right this Antrim 27
in the midst of a spectacular wipeout.
Photo Doug Jacobs

High Sierra Regatta

July 25 - Huntington Lake

Fresno YC's 49th annual High Sierra Regatta took place on gorgeous Huntington Lake on July 13-14 (dinghies) and July 20-21 (keel boats). The accompanying photos were taken during the second weekend, which featured enough wind on Sunday to dismast one boat and nearly sink another. Weekend class winners included Bob Farmer (Hobie 33), Cam 'Not That One' Lewis (J/22), Kim Desenberg and John Groen (Wylie Wabbit), Vaughn Seifers and the 'Dumb America Syndicate' (Moore 24), Nat Gildersleeve (Olson 25), and Bruce Golison and Steve Washburn (Tuna 20).

If you enjoy camping and sailing, it doesn't get any better than the HSR. Plan to be there next July for the 50th edition of this great regatta - it's sure to be an epic gathering.

For more, see Racing Sheet in the August issue of Latitude 38.

Bob Farmer's Hobie 33 (with lime green
spinnaker at right) smoked PHRF A.

The Holder 20 PMS almost sank, but had just enough flotation to make it to shore.
Photo Susan Kawakami

Men Are from Mars - and This Proves It

July 25 -
New York, NY

In what seems like the answer to a question nobody asked, sailor/adventurer Reid Stowe plans to singlehand his 70-ft schooner Anne from New York to the middle of the ocean - well, actually the middle of several oceans - and stay out there for 1,000 days. He's not headed anywhere. The goal is to stay out of sight of land longer than any voyager before. Stowe has dubbed the project the Mars Ocean Odyssey because 1,000 days is the expected duration of a journey to the Red Planet.

Stowe, who turns 50 this year, designed and built Anne in 1978 and has lived aboard ever since. No other voyager in history, from Vasco de Gama to the Mir astronauts, has been out of contact with terra firma for as long as Stowe's planned 1,000 days. The existing 'record' is held by Australian sailor John Sanders who took 657 days to sail around the world three times, also alone.

The  schooner Anne

Captain Stowe hosts a gallery showing of his artwork.
Sales go towards financing the expedition.

Stowe's departure date is set for November 24. If all goes as planned, he won't return to New York Harbor until sometime in September of 2005. You can learn more about Stowe's voyage, which includes an interactive educational tie-in, at www.1000days.net.

Stowe's wife, who is apparently not from Mars, opted not to go.

YOTREPS

July 25 - 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 25 - 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/Maps/Southwest.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/.