Skip to content
Archive for December 2010

Teaching ‘Traditional Values’

December 17, 2010
After many hours of dedicated work, three of the little skiff’s builders take her for a victory lap around Aquatic Park. © Seth Muir In an era when many California schools have eliminated practical, hands-on ‘shop’ courses, the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association has been quietly offering boatbuilding courses to disadvantaged youth for the past five years, that teach marketable skills, build self-esteem, and sometimes give participants a whole new direction in life.  More »

Two Canadians Rescued off Costa Rica

Jud Baker, left, and John Davidson, right, survived in a dinghy without food or water for three days before their rescue last Saturday. Inset, Trinity in happier days. © Sunbelt Spirit Last Saturday, Canadians John Davidson, 65, and Jud Baker, 47, were rescued from their inflatable dinghy after Davidson’s 42-ft trimaran Trinity sank in rough weather about five miles off Costa Rica three days earlier. More »

Break Out the Bubbly…Bath

December 15, 2010
"We have to agree that a shower of any kind is a special event while cruising," writes Emmy Newbould, who has been cruising with hubby Eric Willbur aboard their Brickyard Cove-based Dutchman 37 Nataraja since April ’09 and are currenty in New Zealand. More »

A Bay Sailor’s Sad End

Despite an extensive search that lasted nearly eight hours, Bay Area sailor Casey Speed, 28, could not be found after he fell off his Sausalito-based Island Packet Kachina near Tiburon shortly before 8:30 p.m. More »
Default Thumbnail

Your Move, Larry

With an 11-0 vote, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved the Host City Agreement for America’s Cup 34 yesterday, and Mayor Gavin Newsom promptly signed it. What is unclear is whether the agreement — which is sigificantly different from what was orginially negotiated between the City and BMW Oracle Racing — will satisfy Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts. More »

Another Big California Boat to Oz

December 13, 2010
As we’ve been reporting for several months now, Aussies have been coming to California to buy expensive sailboats. There is no mystery as to the reason why. Thanks to the weaker American dollar and the stronger Aussie dollar, sailors from the Land Down Under believe they can buy a boat in the States, take a couple of years to cruise her home, and, upon selling the boat, recoup all their money. More »

Sunny and Not-So-Sunny Memories

With beautiful sunsets 80-degree water, and affordable prices, Cabo is a prime winter getaway. But this year tourists are few and far between. © 2010 Jeffrey Gould Responding to our call for photos of on- or near-the-water Thanksgiving celebrations, Jeffrey Gould wrote, "While we’re not cruisers, my wife Karen and I did enjoy a week in Cabo that encompassed Thanksgiving. More »