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Photo of the DayJune 30 - Mill Valley  Photo Latitude/Richard It's not July yet, but we're distributing the July issue today so you can enjoy it over the weekend - and hopefully during your Fourth of July sailing adventures. We're very happy with the issue and the color photographs - and hope you will be, too. The e-Book version of the entire magazine - and you must check it out - will be available in about a week. The Latitude 38 office will be closed until July 5. The whole crew has busted their buns for the past month, so it's time to go sailing. The next 'Lectronic will be on the 5th. Have a great sailing Fourth - and hey, how about sending us some photos of your adventures? |
Will It Be President Obrador or President Calderon in Mexico?June 30 - Mexico City, Mexico The campaign south of the border has been wild and, going into Sunday's vote, is just too close to call between Lopez Obrador, a charismatic populist who has promised the world to the poor and middle class, but has no idea how to pay for it, and Felix Calderon, a somewhat dull Harvard-educated candidate who would basically continue the moderately successful policies of current President Vicente Fox. The consensus seems to be that Calderon would not be a bad president, while Obrador could turn out to be anything from surprisingly good for the entire country to a Hugo Chavez-type disaster for Mexico. The new president will take office on January 1 for a single six-year term. No matter who wins, a badly divided Congress - there is a relatively strong third party, too - means nobody is going to have an overwhelming mandate. |
Owned Her for 30 of 31 YearsJune 30 - Tiburon A few months back there were a number of letters in Latitude 38 regarding the so-called 'Garden 41' and 'Garden 51' designs that were built in Taiwan and marketed under a number of names, including Sea Wolf, Formosa, Yankee, and others. There was some discussion about the varying quality of the different brands. A month or so ago, we were sailing out of the Agua Verde anchorage in the Sea of Cortez at the same time as Chez Nous, a 'Garden 51'. We pulled alongside to ask which yard had built her, how long the current owners had owned her, and where she was from. The answers came over the VHF. Chez Nous is a 1974 Imperial 51, hull #3, built by Formosa Boatyard. She's been owned for 30 of her 31 years by Al and JoLinda Garnier, and is based out of the Los Angeles YC in San Pedro. They tell us she's been a great boat for them. She sure looked lovely - particularly once the crew set all their sails so we could take the accompanying photograph. The Garniers had a lot of guests aboard, as they were participating in a Cruising Club of America cruise in the Sea of Cortez.  Photo Latitude/Richard We used the same photo in the Blog of the Sea of Cortez feature in the July issue of Latitude 38, but inexplicably identified her only as being from Newport Beach! Our apologies to Al and JoLinda for that error. |
Slow, Slow Boats to HawaiiJune 30 - Pacific Ocean  Foolish Muse Pity the 15 remaining singlehanders in this year's Singlehanded TransPac from San Francisco to Kauai. According to this morning's roll call, they are absolutely crawling across the Pacific. The fastest boat over the last 12 hours has been Andy Evans' Foolish Muse, an Olson 30 that covered a pitiful 59 miles. Al Hughes' Open 60 Dogbark covered just 58 miles. At the time they reported in, their speeds over the ground were horrendous: Mark Deppe's J/120 Alchera, 0.7. Westerly, Steve Wilson's Westsail 39, 0.0. Rob Macfarlane's N/M 45 Tiger Beetle, 1.3 knots. It's so bad that LaDonna Bubak, who will be covering the race for Latitude 38, has changed her plane reservations to Kauai from later this week until October.  Alchera For the sake of these brave and surely frustrated souls, can we all take a few minutes off today and pray for some breeze for them?  Westerly Photos Latitude/Richard |
Guidance Needed on Cruising Guides for the West CoastJune 30 - San Juan Islands, WA John Alden, owner of the Pacific Northwest-based Pacific Seacraft 37 Solstice, is planning to do the Baja Ha-Ha this fall, but has to get south first. As such, he's looking for cruising guides to help him get from the San Juans to Redondo Beach. We don't feel capable of making recommendations because, 1) We don't go north of San Francisco, and 2) We've been between San Francisco and Redondo so many times that we don't pay much attention to guide books. As such, we're asking for your help. If you've sailed these waters recently, which guides books have you used and liked? Please keep your responses relatively brief. Gracias. |
Most Recent List of Paid Baja Ha-Ha EntriesJune 30 - Tiburon 1) Kialoa III / S&S 79 / Orange
Coast College / Newport Beach |
