Photos of the Day

June 5 - West Coast of Mexico

Today's Photos of the Day come from a 'mermaid' who spent the last three weeks of May sailing from Ixtapa to Puerto Vallarta on a 40-ft sloop. What's it like in mainland Mexico during the end of May? Says the mermaid, "Nobody is there and it's hot. During the day it's in the 90s, with 80 to 90% humidity. Evenings and mornings are nice. And there was very little wind to relieve the hot, hanging, heat." One of the more interesting people the mermaid met during the cruise was Paul, a one-armed 89-year-old from Muir Beach. He swims half an hour a day in Banderas Bay and went Hobie Cat sailing with the mermaid and friends.

Fruit from a cactus

A nine foot croc at Ixtapa Marina -
where no diver will clean your bottom

Celebration of Life Service for Irving Loube at St. Francis YC

June 5 - San Francisco

Everyone is invited to attend a 'Celebration of Life' gathering for the late Irving Loube, who enjoyed nearly 50 years of great ocean racing success with a series of boats named Bravura. The event will take place at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 12, at the St. Francis Yacht Club.

Areva Looks Suitably Radioactive

June 5 - France

The Le Defi Challenge from France finally got their boat Areva repaired after being rammed by a Greenpeace RIB, and took her out sailing. Here's what she looked like. For a boat sponsored by producers of nuclear power - France gets 80% of their power from nukes - the boat looked positively radioactive. What a color scheme!

Photo Courtesy Le Defi

If Paul Cayard Could Be Italian, Why Can't Dawn Riley Be French?

June 5 - St. Tropez, France

If all goes as planned, there will be a press conference in St. Tropez, France, next week to announce that Dawn Riley will be the Team Manager for France's K-Challenge for the America's Cup - wherever it will be held - in 2006.

A Dozen for the Catnip Cup

June 5 - San Francisco Bay

Glenn Fagerlin reports that 11 catamarans and one trimaran have committed to this weekend's Catnip Cup rally from San Francisco to Vallejo, and back to San Francisco the next day. The boats are: Volker and Mai Dolch's Marquesas 56 La Dolce Vita; Michael Wright's Hughes 40 Wavy; Peter Lange's Lagoon 37 Adia; Bill Anderson's Hughes 39 Feet; Blair Grinols' Custom 46 Capricorn Cat; Don Parker and Terri Johnson's unnamed Gemini 105; Cliff Shaw's Crowther 33 Rainbow; John and Christie Burner's PDQ Laminar Flow; Rich Kerbavaz' Gemini 105 Mood Indigo; Bob Naber's Kantola 38 tri Devoras; Glenn Fagerlin's Kronos 45 Perception; and Latitude's Surfin' 63 Profligate. If anybody else wants to join in on the light fun, with a potluck on Saturday night, email Glenn Fagerlin.

Volvo Ocean Race to Return

June 5 - The World's Oceans

A lot of people were worried that Volvo may be thinking they weren't getting an adequate return on their investment in sponsoring the Volvo (Around the World) Ocean Race, and might not return. Well, today Volvo has announced that the event exceeded their expectations in all respects, and they'll be the sponsor again in 2005. They will, however, consider some changes, such as fleet racing, shorter stops, and perhaps one design boats. Grant Dalton, the grand master of the event, slammed the idea of one-designs and suggested that the event be held in 90-ft versions of the current 60-footers. There is going to be a lot of competition in the ultra grand prix level a couple of years out, as the Antarctic Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race, and Bruno Peyron's 'Giant Class' boats all vie for competitors and sponsors.

YOTREPS

June 5 - 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

June 5 - 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 another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.