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Photo of the DaySeptember 6 - Black Rock City, Nevada Today's Photo of the Day comes from the recent Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert. Write Rennie and Anne of the Swan 65 Cassiopeia, "While at Burning Man, we saw this sailing vessel. We think it's the super-secret America's Cup entry from the Burning Man Yacht Club, but who knows?"  Photo Courtesy Cassiopeia |
A Third for the Around Ireland
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 L'Hydroptere |
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Good News from the Port of Los Angeles - Long BeachSeptember 6 - Long Beach Tired of all the negative environmental news? Then track down Louis Sahagun's September 4 front page article in the Los Angeles Times on what seems like a miraculous return of sea and bird life to, of all places, the Port of Los Angeles - Long Beach. Thirty years ago, the water quality was so terrible in the 15,000-acre industrial harbor complex, that croaker were found with chemical burns on their bodies, their fins rotting off, and some even had two heads or tails between their eyes. There was so little bacteria in the water that fish waste tossed into the water by fish processors wouldn't even decompose. But with the passing of the Clean Water Act and the California Coastal Act in the early '70s, and the cracking down of water discharge permits by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, most of the high polluting businesses had to leave the area. By the mid '80s, water clarity had improved almost 100%, the levels of dissolved oxygen jumped from almost zero to nearly normal, and life began to return to the former 'dead zones'. Now, reports Sahagun, the port is full of life. "Just beneath the trash bobbing on waves often coated with gleaming oil swim mackerel, bass, and a small but growing number of brilliant orange garibaldi, the official state marine fish. Clinging to the breakwater are lobsters and crabs, octopus and bat stars. Burrowing in the mud are worms 14 inches long and fatter than hot dogs." Sahagun reports that halibut up to four feet long cruise the kelp, and that a 20-pound lobster with thousands of eggs was caught by hand at Eddie's Marina. In all, the port complex is home to 67 species of fish. Birds are thriving, too. A nearby part of Pier 400 has become the nesting ground to 3,500 elegant terns and 600 endangered least terns. The general consensus is that the improvements are terrific - but there's much more to be done. Unfortunately, the easy and cheap part of the solution - getting heavy industry to clean up their act - is over. Now comes the hard and expensive part. Writes Sahagun: "Then there is the No. 1 source of coastal water pollution: urban toxic runoff, which is almost always toxic to marine life and liable to sicken swimmers. The Clean Water Act requires cities to take steps to clean up the mess than washes down their storm drains. Many cities, however, say it would be too expensive to comply with all the provisions of the law."  Photo Latitude/Richard |
Even More Good News on the EnvironmentSeptember 6 - Riverside According to another L.A. Times story, researchers at UC Riverside have found that the latest ultra-low pollution automobile engines create so little pollution that it would be healthier to breath from a tube from the tailpipe than the ambient air of Southern California freeways. |
Who Are the Cover Boys on the September Issue?September 6 - Two Harbors, Santa Catalina Island "Great cover shot!" writes Eric. "The guy at the tiller is Jeff Nelson, who does Harbor Patrol at Two Harbors, Catalina. He lives on a blue Horstmann tri in Cat Harbor and did a season in Mexico in '97-'98. The other guy I only know as 'Bartender Mike'. By the way, I liked the photos of the Wedge posted on yesterday's 'Lectronic Latitude." Photo/Graphic |
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Tuesday Is the Deadline for Signing Up for the Ha-HaSeptember 6 - Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters "As of late Thursday, we'd received our 95th paid-up entry for this year's Ha-Ha," reports Ha-Ha Honcho Lauren Spindler. "The deadline for getting paid entries in is Tuesday, so don't procrastinate any longer. See www.baja-haha.com for details. Here's a list of the latest entries:" 53) Adventurous / California 42
trawler / Robert & Lesley Boyce / San Rafael |
Aussie 18 RegattaSeptember 6 - San Francisco The Aussie 18 (International 18) action off the San Francisco waterfront continues to be fast and furious. After seven races, the California-based General Electric team leads the 11-boat fleet with 11 points (after one throw-out). However, skipper Howie Hamlin and his crewmen Mike Martin and Andy Zinn dare not loose their concentration, as two Aussie teams, Yandoo and RMW Marine, are battling hard to unseat them. Both of these Sydney-based teams currently have 14 points. Look for expanded coverage of the series in the October edition of Latitude 38.    |
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YOTREPSSeptember 6 - 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 UpdatesSeptember 6 - Pacific Ocean San Francisco Bay WeatherTo 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 WeatherLooking 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 PressureThe University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds. Pacific Sea StateCheck out the Pacific Ocean sea states
at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
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