Archive for October 2009
J/World at the start of the ’07 Ha-Ha. She sailed more than 10,000 miles before a freak whale attack sunk her 50 miles off the coast of Baja.
The start of the 16th annual Baja Ha-Ha received a surprising — but welcome — amount of local media attention this week, including reports by NBC San Diego and the San Diego News Network, as well as the cover of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Somali pirates are reporting that they captured a British cruising couple in the Indian Ocean yesterday.
How many Latitude readers can you fit in a YC bar on delivery day?
The Port of San Diego, Harbor Police and a variety of local businesses worked together to facilitate the inaugural ‘parade to the start’.
The Great Pumpkin Regatta pursuit racers clog Raccoon Strait on Sunday.
© Peter Lyons
With plenty of breeze, a great turnout, and rockin’ shoreside entertainment, this weekend’s Great Pumpkin Regatta left little — if anything — to be desired.
There’s nary a woman alive who hasn’t had her colors done. If you have no idea what that means but still consider yourself a ‘summer’, then you need some bright and cheerful Latitude 38 logowear.
The details of SailMail are a mystery to many cruisers. Did you know, for example, that you can use it to post updates and photos to your blog, download weather reports, and order flowers for your cousin’s birthday?
I’m watching you, BMW Oracle Racing . . .
All Quacked Up
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC While we’re not sure if it’s public information yet, we heard a rumor from our little duck friend that you may remember has been keeping a close eye on BMW Oracle Racing at their compound in San Diego.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC While we’re not sure if it’s public information yet, we heard a rumor from our little duck friend that you may remember has been keeping a close eye on BMW Oracle Racing at their compound in San Diego.
Chuck Naslund managed to snap a very illustrative shot of Tropical Storm Rick has he roared into Mazatlan.
Bismarck Dinius has been forced to sell his Soling to help pay for his defense.
Thomas Ruyant sailed his Finot-Conq designed Prototype 21-ft Mini, Faber France across the finish line of the second leg of the Charente Maritime-Bahia Transat 6.50 yesterday.
From Race Editor Rob: If you’re planning on hanging around the party at this weekend’s Great Pumpkin Regatta over at Richmond YC, we need your help!
Remember super strong Hurricane Rick which, according to earlier forecasts, was going to batter Cabo San Lucas with Cat 1 or Cat 2 hurricane force winds, leaving all the fishermen in the multimillion dollar Bisbee Black and Blue Marlin Jackpot with nothing but bad bait?
The Baja Ha-Ha Rally Committee is starting to get a little worried. And not just about late-season hurricanes.
A truly sad sight, as a young surfer’s boat/home comes to grief on the rocks at the Burro’s surf spot on Banderas Bay.
While nothing is certain, things are certainly looking more promising for Cabo San Lucas, La Paz and all of southern Baja, as once-monster Hurricane Rick has weakened greatly, from 156 knots to 100 knots.
Given the fact that, as we write this on October 18, monster Hurricane Rick is churning to the northwest far off the mainland coast of Mexico, but expected to swing to the north and northeast and perhaps hit Cabo and La Paz with Category 1 or 2 force winds, and that it’s just eight days until the scheduled start of the Baja Ha-Ha, we thought it would be an excellent time to share some information on the most recent 20-year history of late season hurricanes off the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
The most recent NOAA forecast suggests that there is only a 5% chance Rick will hit Baja.
In Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic, we wondered if anyone had been heading south at the height of the storm that wreaked havoc in the Bay Area on Tuesday.
After spending three days adrift in a dinghy, a Canadian cruiser and his dog were succesfully rescued when their EPIRB’s signal was picked up by Tahitian authorities, reports Susanne Ames of the New Zealand-based Cheshire.
Time flies when you’re getting ready to race solo to Hawaii, so don’t forget to attend Monday’s Electrical Systems seminar for the Singlehanded TransPac.
‘Diver Dave’ Gissendaner rescues a 30-footer whose anchor dragged off Strawberry Point. “The pounding waves helped us pull her off,” he reports.
As Tropical Storm Patricia dwindles to a measly remnant low, the effects of last month’s Hurricane Jimena are still being felt in many places along Baja.
Currently cruising the South Pacific aboard Moonduster with his ladyfriend Neria, Alameda-based cruiser Wayne Meretsky reports from the Kingdom of Tonga: "The big deal at Ha’apai this week — and probably for the month and year, if you don’t count the tsunami and the ferry sinking — is an influx of palangi (foreigners) here, who have arrived in a quest to clean the beaches of Tonga.
Who’s that peeking around the bow of Royal Prince?
© Jeff Berman
Boats poured onto the Bay this weekend to take in Fleet Week festivities.
Well-known Australian skipper Andrew Short, 48, died when his PriceWaterhouseCoopers (formerly Shockwave 5) foundered on the rocks off Flinders Islet.
A doozy of a storm is set to wallop Northern California tomorrow so you’d better grab Toto and run for the cellar — but not before you check your boat.
Frequent news reports on the so-called Mexican drug war has dampened enthusiasm for travel south of the border at a time when the Mexican economy is already struggling.
Milna, Brac, just another beautiful stop in Croatia.
© 2009 Andrew Vik
If you’re read this month’s Changes, you’ve no doubt seen 36-year-old Andrew Vik’s second installment on his second summer cruise in the Med and Adriatic aboard his Islander 36 Geja.
After being told by the Red Cross in Samoa that they had too many volunteers, Nick Jaffe of the Contessa 26 Constellation — along with a number of other cruisers — set their humanitarian sights on the tiny Tongan island of Niuatoputapu.
All the boats you see here are out to see the Blue Angels, and they’re all just outside the Angels’ ‘ditch zone,’ set between Alcatraz and the Cityfront.
Mainly saw many such sunsets during the Olszewskis’ stewardship. This stout cruising boat is ready for a quick sale after the skipper’s death.
Registration for the 17th Annual Northern California Women’s Sailing Seminar, which will be held at Island YC in Alameda this Saturday and Sunday, is still open.
In the absence of cooperative dolphins, these boat dogs were recruited to tow a pair of ‘survivors’ in the dinghy parade.
Saving the Bay premieres on KQED Channel 9 tomorrow night from 8-10 p.m., with Part Two running October 15.
The Cross Family on the Ontario-based Irwin 52 Biscayne Bay survived the tsunami, though their boat was banged around a bit.
"I’m thinking about sailing to Mexico this winter," writes one reader who wishes to remain anonymous, "and have heard that Mexico legalized a lot of popular drugs.
Bruce Schwab, the formerly Alameda-based rigger who went on to become the first American to complete the Vendée Globe, announced last week that OceanPlanet — the Tom Wylie-designed Imoca 60 that carried him around the world — had sold.