August 6, 2003

Photos of the Day: Southland Research Continues

August 6 - Santa Catalina Island

The Wanderer and Doña de Mallorca remain in Southern California doing 'research'. After the excellent Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race we were joined by Latitude 38 Managing Editor John Riise, his wife Katie and daughters Nic and Hayley for a little cruise to Catalina. Here's how it's been going so far, as told in a series of photos.

John with daughters Hayley, left, and Nic, right, on a screecher reach away from the Palos Verdes Peninsula

Our first stop was Two Harbors, where the first activity was jumping into the blue water.

Much of Catalina looks like it did hundreds of years ago, and there's still a lot of wildlife. These hikers loaned us their binoculars to have a look at the bald eagle sitting on a notch of this peak. You can see his silhouette just above one fellow's white hat.

That's it for today as we've got to get down to Avalon, the Manhattan of Catalina, to do some more 'research'.

There was light air until a couple miles into Catalina Channel at which time it blew about 15 knots, allowing for some fine boat speed. John and Nic check out the cat's wake.

Halfway across the channel, Profligate was joined by about 100 dolphins. Katie and Hayley hung over the forward beam to get a better view.

August and September are prime time at Catalina because the water is so warm. As the sign indicates, the water temperature was 71 degrees and the visibility was 25 feet.

Unlike 10-mile distant Avalon, the more westerly Two Harbors wasn't too crowded even though it was a Sunday. This is a view of Cat Harbor, on the back side of the island, a short hike across the isthmus.

Are our eyes fooling us or have the folks on moorings in Cat Harbor put a satellite dish in the anchorage?
Photos Latitude/Richard

Aldo Alessio Regatta

August 6 - San Francisco Bay

The StFYC hosted the Aldo Alessio Regatta on Friday in foggy conditions on the ocean. Rob Weed, sailing overall winner Wired, a Farr 40, nabbed the Alessio Trophy for top corrected time. A big collision made for an eventful start, as Mayhem t-boned Non Sequitur. The latter's co-owner Dick Watts injured his leg in the crash; the boat is at KKMI and will hopefully be back in the water in time for the NOOD Regatta in September. Mayhem gave the Non Sequitur gang their boat for rest of weekend.

Saturday's events featured two Bay races; Sunday's a longer Bay tour. The Aldo Alessio is the first of five events in the SF Bay Series. Scroll down for top finishers. Full results are available at www.stfyc.com and we'll have more in the September issue of Latitude 38.

White Dove, a Beneteau 40.7

Scorpio, Wylie 42, won Americap with a 2,2,1,1 record.
Photos Latitude/Rob

Here's a sampling of the results:

FARR 40 - 1) Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy/Paul Cayard; 2) Shadow, Peter Stoneberg/Ed Baird; 3) Wired, Rob Weed/Pete McCormick.

J/120 - 1) Oui B 5, John Sylvia; 2) Mr. Magoo, Steve Madeira; 3) Chance, Barry Lewis.

J/105 - 1) Good Timin', Wilson/Perkins; 2) Wet Paint, Don Priestly; 3) Zuni Bear, Bergmann/Bennett, 27.

AMERICAP - 1) Scorpio, Wylie 42, John Siegel; 2) Sensation, 1D-35, Fanger/Yovko; 3) Swiftsure II, Schumacher 54, Sy Kleinman.

Dueling Farr 40s: Revo chased Samba up the Cityfront.

Seeing red - Rob Weed's reactivated Wired leads the pack on Saturday.

Swiftsure II came out for the weekend only.

1D-35 Sensation went 1,1,3,4 to take second in Americap.

Men in blue - Oui B 5 won the J/120s by a point over Mr. Magoo

Good Timin' (left) crushed the J/105 fleet. Zuni Bear (right) gives them a standing ovation.

The Poobah Speaks

August 6 - Long Beach/Tiburon

Here's a reminder that The Wanderer, Grand Poobah of the annual Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers' Rally, will be giving two talks next week titled 'The Baja Ha-Ha: 10 Years of Fun and Friends.'

In the Southland, he'll join the Long Beach Singles Sailing Association on Tuesday, August 12, at the Golden Sails Hotel, 6285 Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach. Folks will start to gather at 7 pm for hors d'oeuvres and socializing, and the presentation will begin around 8 pm. Admission is $5 for first-time guests and $10 for other non-members.

Back home in Northern California, he'll be at the Corinthian Yacht Club, 43 Main St., Tiburon, on Thursday, August 14, 6-9 pm. This event is sponsored by KKMI. Admission is $10 per person. Visit www.cyc.org/speakers or call (415) 435-4771 if you have questions.

YOTREPS

August 6 - The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.

Weather Updates

August 6 - Pacific Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

Check out this guide to San Francisco Bay Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html.

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

The site for the Pacific Ocean sea states has moved to http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/PacRegSSA.shtml.
For views of sea states anywhere in the world, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data.

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