Paperwork and Helicopters
The US Coast Guard motto is Semper Paratus — Always Ready. Time and again, we’ve seen that that’s true when it comes to rescuing mariners in distress at sea.
Hi From the Upside Down
Readers, we just received this email from Joanna Bloor, Randall Reeves’ wife.
Hello, and greetings to all at latitude 38 north from Randall, Mo and Monte of the Figure 8 Voyage 2.0 at latitude 38 south.
Season Trophies
“It’s time for prize-giving for skippers and crew who sailed their boats well in a fairly windy year.
Always the 15th
Solo Transatlantic Race
The 11th edition of the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race has been a barn-burner since the get-go, with just two boats in contention to finish first since the early stages.
The World Famous L 38
Latitude Nation, here’s your November Caption Contest(!). This is our first-ever photo from the Facebook Yacht Club, so we cannot attribute this shot to any one person — but thanks to reader Jere Visalli for sending it in.
Coming Soon
In the ‘old days’, a lot of deals were formed in secretive, smoke-filled rooms.
One More From the Road
Readers — after having light wind and an even lighter Internet connection, the Grand Poobah has sent this 25th Anniversary Baja Ha-Ha postgame analysis:
A quarter century of Baja Ha-Ha’s — the 750-mile cruisers’ rally between San Diego and Cabo San Lucas with R&R stops at Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria — is now part of sailing history.
Into the Sunset
Recently spotted off the coast of Baja California, Mexico: a flock of boats heading south, stopping on occasion to drink, be merry and maybe play a game of softball, then taking to the high seas again.
Timely Morsels
Westpoint and BCDC Closer to Settlement
Westpoint Harbor and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission are one step closer to reaching a settlement.
Women Skipper Regattas
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of women’s regattas in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Southland.
Totally Cruising
It’s not often that we get to write about local cruising, but it’s nice to be reminded that you can.
Mystery at Sea
Back in September, we noted the strange case of Lewis Bennett, his wife of just three months, Isabella Hellman, and their honeymoon-gone-wrong aboard their 37-ft catamaran.
Solo Transatlantic Race
This 11th edition of the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race has been a challenging one for the competitors and their boats.
Infrastructure
In San Francisco, a bond measure passed yesterday that will put over $400 million into repairing the Embarcadero seawall.
Business News
West Marine issued a brief statement on Tuesday saying CEO Doug Robinson has left the company after less than a year in the post.
San Francisco Bay sailing
Although there were 16 separate racing events in our 2018 calendar for this past weekend, we decided to go ‘cruising’ instead.
golden globe race
Just as we were finishing up this morning’s ‘Lectronic Latitude, we received a “Stop Presses” email from the Golden Globe solo around-the-world race.
Redwood City
There’s a new club coming to the Bay Area’s newest piece of waterfront, and it will have yachts.
Latitude 38
Mark from Rubicon Yachts said a customer came in and told him that the October issue was the last month for the printed edition of Latitude 38, and that Latitude was going entirely online.
Singlehanded Transatlantic race
Perhaps the biggest race most Americans have never heard of is about to get underway in France.
Coast Guard Rescue Website Stuff and Records
Here are some news nuggets for your Friday:
Coast Guard Comes to Aid of Diabetic Sailor off Eureka
On Wednesday, the Coast Guard came to the assistance of a sailor onboard a 29-ft sailboat off Patrick’s Point, near Trinidad, California, just north of Eureka.
Nautical Trivia
On Monday we challenged you to test your nautical knowledge by playing along with Richmond Yacht Club’s Great Pumpkin Regatta trivia quiz.
Regattas
Each October, as Halloween approaches, the Great Pumpkin visits San Francisco Bay.
Breaking News
After decades of passionate debate, the fate of Marin County’s most contentious piece of water seems poised to change, at least in Sausalito waters.
'Lectronic Latitude
Delta Doo Dah DIY
Max Perez of the Pearson 303 Olive filed this report on his solo Delta Doo Dah cruise this summer:
I had far too brief a trip to the western part of the Delta this year in late June.
Baja Ha-Ha
Cruising sailors know that if you stay close to the water, you’ll regularly cross tacks in harbors anywhere in the world.
Cruising Rally
Did you just hear horns blasting, fire hoses firing, and the sound of a mariachi band?
Sailing News
Halloween Mist on San Francisco Bay
“No fog machine needed for this event!” wrote Greg Clausen of the Great Pumpkin Regatta.
sailing trivia
There’s a whole lot of racing going on at Richmond Yacht Club’s Great Pumpkin on the last weekend in October, but it’s also one of the busiest regattas we can think of in terms of extracurricular fun.
Yacht racing
Midwinters
Don’t be afraid, but here comes ‘winter. Not the actual calendar season — the winter solstice is still 53 days away — but the midwinter racing season.
Here are a few news nuggets for your Friday:
Coastal Mexico Escapes the Worst from Hurricane Willa
Despite its strength and ominous portents, Hurricane Willa seems to have spared Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.
Yacht racing
Frances Larose reports:
On Saturday, October 20, the seventh annual Red Bra Regatta — sponsored for the first time by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau — was a celebration of women’s sailing on San Francisco Bay.
Estuary Park
The City of Oakland is soliciting public comment for their plans to expand and renovate Estuary Park, a lobe of landfill that juts out into the Oakland-Alameda Estuary east of Jack London Square.
On Monday, the almost 170 boats signed up for the 2018 Baja Ha-Ha fleet will officially kick off the Mexico cruising season as they gather off Shelter Island for start of the 25th annual Baja Ha-Ha.
Costumes, light air and sun defined Del Rey Yacht Club’s 2018 Halloween Monster Mash Regatta.
Hurricane Willa underwent an expected weakening as it approached the Pacific Coast of Mainland Mexico yesterday, but made landfall packing 120 mile-an-hour winds, and forcing the evacuation of approximately 4,000 people from coastal towns, according to CBS News.
The SoCal-based Herreshoff ketch Rhapsody makes landfall in the Society Islands.© 2018 Andy
What the heck is the Pacific Puddle Jump?
Sailors should know better than to expect wind just because they’ve planned a big weekend of racing.
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