September 8, 2003

Photos of the Day: 18-ft Skiffs

September 8 – San Francisco Bay

Thursday, Friday and Saturday saw a fleet
of ten 18-ft skiffs (aka Aussie 18s) take flight on the Bay.
After nine races, RMW Marine emerged victorious, followed
by West Marine and Yandoo.

The winning team, Robert Greenhalgh, Dan Johnson and Sam Gardner

RMW Marine

On Friday night the skiffs competed with
sailboarders and kite boarders in the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge
race. Micah Buzianis, a sailboarder, had the fastest time, an
amazing 16 mins. 29 secs. – shaving a whole 1.35 seconds off
2002’s record.

We’ll have more in the October issue of
Latitude 38, but in the meantime, see www.stfyc.com for complete results.

Third place boat Yandoo crosses a cruiser, with Alma
in the background.
Photos Latitude/Andy

A Fine Line Between Pleasure and Pain

September 8 – Angel Island/Tiburon

Latitude
Ad Guy John Arndt’s Labor Day Weekend family adventures illustrate
San Francisco Bay’s fine line between pleasure and pain: “We
enjoyed two days on the moorings with barbecues ashore and aboard
our Ranger 33, kids swimming and a hike to the top of the recently
reshaped Mt. Livermore. From the top you could see the boats
on the Bay thrashing to weather in a steep chop and stiff breeze
while, with a quick rotation, you could see boats lazily sailing
along in the sun to leeward of Angel and Tiburon. The weekend
finished with a Corinthian Yacht Club ‘kidfest’ as they sailed,
rowed, swam in the ‘warmth’ of the yacht club basin.

“A mile to the south the cool, windy
fog line continued to offer its challenges and pain but in the
CYC basin, where the DeWitt dinghy was used as a ‘pool toy’ as
much as a sailboat, as shown in the photos below, it was nothing
but gentle winds, warmth and pleasure.”

Junior Sailors Meet America’s Cup Sailors

September 8 – San Francisco

Carisa Harris Adamson of the TISC Foundation
writes to remind us that today is the day to RSVP for the Sailing
Center’s 2003 Youth America’s Cup Class Racing Celebration.

“Junior sailors are invited to Treasure
Island for a special event on Wednesday September 10, from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Come meet America’s Cup
sailors and sail on an America’s Cup boat! Sailors from Alinghi,
the 2003 America’s Cup winner, and Oracle BMW Racing will tell
how their passion for sailing began and talk about their path
to the pro circuit. Then join us for boat rides and a post-sailing
barbecue with awards and achievement certificates for those who
participated in our summer classes. RSVP by September 8 for barbecue
and giveaways. Parents are welcome for shoreside activities and
all ages are invited. There is no entry fee, but $5 per child
is asked to pay for dinner from those able to pay.

“There will be plenty of room on our
docks if you would like to come via boat. There may be opportunities
to arrange transportation via water if ground transportation
is difficult for your group.

“For more information, please contact me via email
or at (415) 640-0563. You can also contact
our Program Director, Dan Malpas, at (415) 421-2225.”
They’ll accept RSVPs via phone, email and fax. The fax number
is (415) 421-2208.

Relaxing with Latitude 38 on the
Med

September 8 – Mediterranean Sea

Dave Wright and John Bunton sent us these
photos along with the following note: “We are steaming for
the next dive site on Skerki Bank. The ROV Hercules is
relaxing and catching up on his reading during the transit from
the Black Sea. He has earned his well-deserved rest after recovering
amphorae from ‘Wreck D’ at a depth of ~330 meters near Sinop,
Turkey.

“See http://expedition2003.org/ for ‘official’
background, and
www.swingingd.us/Blacksea/coming_soon.htm
for the ‘unofficial’ report from Mike Durbin, the wizard of our
satellite Internet connection.”

Photos Courtesy Dave Wright
& John Bunton

Relaxing with Latitude Logowear
in the Pacific Northwest

September 8 –
Desolation Sound, BC

Curtis Adams, who worked with Anacortes
Yacht Charters in Washington for many years, has moved on to
a new challenge and writes, “With my new endeavor at Bristol
Yachts Northwest, I have taken the time to enjoy the summer weather
a bit more than I was able to in the past. Anyway, it has allowed
me to wear my Latitude 38 shirt under appropriate circumstances.
As you can, see I am appropriately attired in your proprietary
product during a recent Desolation Sound cruise aboard the S.V.
Coriolis.”

YOTREPS

September 8 – 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

September 8 – 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.