Playing Hooky on Thursday
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While the rest of us were working our fingers to the bones yesterday afternoon, a number of Bay sailors were out playing hooky — and good thing they did it before the rain set in.
©2010 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
The good news is that this weekend’s forecast is for sunny — if not particularly warm — weather, so if you couldn’t find time during the week for a daysail, all is not lost.
©2010 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Nereida Gets Back Underway
After three frustrating months in Cape Town, South Africa, Jeanne Socrates restarted her second solo circumnavigation — this one aboard her new Najad 380 Nereida — on Tuesday. She had left the Canary Islands last October on a planned non-stop circuit, but Nereida developed a few nagging, but potentially dangerous, problems that Socrates wisely felt needed fixing before continuing her journey. Most of them were quickly resolved, but she soon realized that her Yanmar would need to be replaced due to seawater having backed into the engine under sail. Cue the red tape. Three months of haggling with Yanmar and Najad finally resulted in a new engine, but too late to finish her circumnavigation.
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Instead, Socrates is planning to sail nonstop to San Francisco. "I hope to make the start of this summer’s Singlehanded TransPac," she said. "Having had to miss the race start last time, it would be fun to do it this year and would fill in the time up to the end of the year when I could make a second attempt at a nonstop circumnavigation." Follow her progress at www.svnereida.com.
Crew List Party
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We thought last year’s Spring Crew List Party was a monster at just over 200 attendees, but nearly 300 skippers and crew jammed themselves into Golden Gate YC on Wednesday night for cocktails and socializing.
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Dozens, maybe hundreds, of connections were made, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Fifteen students plus the crew of Plastiki took advantage of the in-the-water liferaft seminar taught by Sal Sanchez of Sal’s Inflatables in Alameda and Barry Demak of J World, and everyone crowded around the windows and onto the race deck to watch the Coast Guard helo SAR demo. Though it was a little too dark to see what was happening, everyone appreciated the effort and gave the Coasties a big round of applause.
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As for demographics, it’s couldn’t have been more balanced. Men, women, young, not-so-young, skippers, crew — the numbers were so even, we can’t believe anyone left disappointed. If you missed the action but still want to find a ride or crew, be sure to sign up on our online Crew List, and start contacting folks who are already listed. You never know who you’ll meet!
Free Publicity in Latitude 38
With the economy on life support, we realize how tough it is for many sailing organizations and businesses to promote their services. So we’re happy to tell you about two special opportunities to get free publicity in the pages of Latitude 38.
Here at ‘world headquarters’, we’re hard at work on the April edition, which will be on the street during the region’s biggest boat show: Strictly Sail Pacific (April 15-18). That issue will contain a comprehenvise overview of the Greater Bay Area’s youth sailing opportunities — from year-round community sailing programs to summer sessions hosted by many local YCs. We invite all purveyors of youth sailing to check out our current listings, and alert us of any errors or additions. We’d also love to receive a selection of your best high resolution photos via email.
In our April World of Chartering section we’ll run our annual overview of Greater Bay Area charter vessels, which will include listings of every ‘bareboat’ available for rent, as well as every crewed charter yacht. Community sailing programs will also be included this year. As you can imagine, the goal of being thoroughly comprehensive is a tall order — and we’d hate to leave anyone out. So if you’re in the charter biz, please check out our 2009 listings and email us updates or additions. Here also, we’d love to receive new images of your boats via email.
Needless to say, we are a publication that exists solely on advertising revenue, so these freebies are once-a-year offerings. Don’t miss the boat. Give us your info, and let the thousands of dedicated Latitude readers know what you have to offer them.