Today’s Photos of the Day are from last
weekend’s Buccaneer Days at Two Harbors, Catalina. It was our
first time, and we were amazed to find the harbor totally packed
so late in the year. We were also surprised at the percentage
of people who went all out with their costumes, many of which
were truly excellent. Despite a lot of drinking and many provocative
costumes, everybody behaved like adults, and a good time was
had by all – until the hangovers kicked in.
We’ll have more photos on Friday.
All Photos Latitude/Richard
More Hurricanes for Mexico
October 8 – Pacific Coast of Mexico
As if Hurricanes Ignacio and Marty didn’t
do enough damage and fray enough nerves in the Sea of Cortez,
last weekend’s Hurricanes Olaf and Nora had to put everyone in
semi-freak mode again. Fortunately, Category 1 Olaf never got
close, and dissipated after taking a weird reverse course and
heading inland south of Puerto Vallarta. Even more fortunately,
Category 2 Nora, which originally looked to be headed for Hawaii
then took a wicked turn toward the mouth of the Sea of Cortez,
has rapidly lost strength. Hopefully she’ll cause no damage to
Mazatlan, which seems to be her current destination.
Mari-Cha IV
About to Crush Monohull Record
October 8 – Atlantic Ocean
Having averaged 19.63 knots since leaving
New York, Robert Miller and his brand new 144-ft schooner Mari-Cha
IV is set to crush the transatlantic monohull record tomorrow
morning. Here’s Miller’s latest update on this spectacular debut:
“This afternoon at 16:39 UTC we will
be completing our sixth full day of this transatlantic record
attempt. We will then be on our final run to the finish at Cape
Lizard. We are currently on a port jibe and will probably have
to jibe twice more before we can get lined up for the final dash
to the finish. What a great sailing experience this has been
for all of us! Our best 24-hour time is 525.5 nautical miles,
which I hope to have ratified in due course by the WSSRC for
the record book. With appropriate due caution that something
unplanned can happen, but with optimism and great confidence
in this marvelous boat and world class crew, I believe we will
cross the ‘line’ sometime tomorrow (Thursday) during the day.
Under seven days? Yes – fingers crossed!”
The Ha-Ha Folks Recommended You Sign Up
Early
October 8 – Cabo San Lucas, BCS
Some Ha-Ha entrants – the paid number is
now up to 136 – are contacting Cabo Isle Marina in Cabo San Lucas
and asking for berth reservations at the end of the Ha-Ha. The
Cabo Isle Folks are telling them they have to do it through the
Ha-Ha. Lauren Spindler, Ha-Ha Honcho, says, “We’ve always
told Ha-Ha entrants to sign up early, because berths in Cabo
are assigned in the order that people sign up for the Ha-Ha.
So everybody already has their place on the waiting list. Assignments
will be announced at Bahia Santa Maria just before the start
of the last leg. The good news is that Cabo Isle Marina is expected
to have 1,200 more linear feet of docking space than in previous
years.”
It’s Not Always Sunny in Southern California
October 8 – Oxnard
We spent the last five days in Southern
California, going out to Buccaneer Days and hauling Profligate
in Oxnard in preparation for the Ha-Ha and her trip to the Eastern
Caribbean. Everybody says October is a great weather month in
Southern California. It might be normally, but we didn’t get
more than one hour of sunlight, as the gloom was in full force.
Gloomy in Catalina
Gloomy at Channel Islands Boatyard before the haul out. Photos Latitude/Richard
Beauty Below the Surface
October 8 – Galapagos Islands
The much travelled Mike Harker of the Manhattan
Beach based Hunter 466 Wanderlust is in the Galapagos
Islands taking some great underwater photos – such as these of
rays. We’ll have more in the future.
Photos Mike Harker
LED Lights Sensitive to Polarity
October 8 – Oxnard
We’d been having the hardest time figuring
out why the 12-volt anchor light on Profligate wouldn’t
work, and then only sometimes worked when we fiddled with the
wiring. Then Wayne Meretsky figured it out – LED lights are polarity
sensitive. Unlike most 12-volt lights, it does make a difference
if you connect positive to positive and negative to negative.
Maybe everybody already knew that, but it was news to us.
‘Lectronic Classy Classified
Baja Ha-Ha Inflatable Special: 11’6″
Carib hard-bottom inflatable in good condition. No outboard.
$1,400. Located at Tradewinds Inflatables in Placentia (near
Newport Beach.) Contact Richard.
YOTREPS
October 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.
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.
