June 2019

Six teams, named for their nations instead of corporate sponsors, and sporting their country colors, descended on San Francisco Bay on May 4-5 to duke it out in foiling 50-ft catamarans.

In late April, about 10 sailboats on the Oakland Estuary were destroyed as part of a state-funded, Bay Area-wide program to remove marine debris. It was the City of Oakland's second cleanup operation over a roughly six-month period.

Webb Chiles made landfall in San Diego on April 29, concluding a 46-day, nonstop passage from Panama — the final leg of a five-year, singlehanded circumnavigation aboard the Moore 24 'Gannet'.

On May 4-5, sailors in the greater Bay Area region had to make a choice. Would they sail in the 120th (no, that's not a typo) Great Vallejo Race? Or would they instead go to San Francisco, by land or water, to watch the pros rip around the Cityfront at 40+ knots in the first SailGP event to be held there?

Tahuata is the sort of roughly chiseled volcanic isle that fills the dreams of would-be bluewater voyagers the world over when they picture themselves escaping the stresses of mainstream living.

I'm not big on crossword puzzles. But at my age I need some sort of mental exercise to fend off age-related dementia, so after considering many options, I settled on my preferred brain-stimulating activity: Tutoring calculus at my local public high school.