Severe Storms Cause Flooding in Hawaii
Hawaii has been inundated with rain this week, resulting in what has been described as “catastrophic flooding.” While CNN reports that Hawaii’s governor, David Ige, has declared a state of emergency, NOAA advises that a small craft advisory will remain in effect as “moderate to strong thunderstorms are moving north over the far southwestern offshore waters early this morning.”
Marlaina Pipal sent us the following photo of a sailboat that washed ashore in the storms.
Have you been affected by this week’s storms? Let us know at [email protected].
Tune In to Good Jibes with Lin Pardey
In this week’s episode of Good Jibes, Latitude 38‘s Nicki Bennett catches up with Lin Pardey to chat about Lin’s legendary life of sailing, giving back, and adventure. Lin has sailed over 200,000 nautical miles, completed two circumnavigations, and had many more adventures of a lifetime with her late husband, Larry Pardey.
Nicki and Lin talk about how to modify your boat to suit your needs and build confidence as a sailor, what size boat to get, being a pioneer in tiny living, and everything from living in the Kalahari to attending a rodeo in Vanuatu.
Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:
- Where did Lin and Larry’s philosophy of “just do it” come from?
- What’s different about sailing on a boat you built yourself?
- How do you build confidence as a woman sailor?
- Can you wait to outfit your boat with accessories?
- How did Lin and Larry become pioneers in tiny living?
- Why is sailing great for any age?
- How do you cultivate community as a sailor?
- Tack or Jibe: What is on Lin’s bucket list as a destination?
Check out the episode and show notes for much more detail.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast spots – follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Dump at the Pump with Division of Boating and Waterways’ ‘Pumpout Nav’ App
Division of Boating and Waterway’s “Pumpout Nav” is a free iOS and Android mobile app that shows you where the nearest sewage pumpout, dump station and floating restrooms are located.
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Meeting Up — in Person — with the YRA
On Sunday, December 5, the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay welcomed their racers in person — and on land. The occasion was the 2021 YRA awards party. Alameda Community Sailing Center, tucked (some might say hidden) between the erstwhile Naval Air Station and Encinal High School, provided the outdoor venue. In a further effort to keep everyone COVID-safe, snacks came in single-serve packages rather than on the usual appetizer platters. Rather than a yacht club bar, liquid refreshment took the form of two kegs of beer.
The party wasn’t so much about eating and drinking, but more about visiting with fellow racers, greeting leaders of the YRA, picking up prizes from the racing season, and learning about the host venue, ACSC. Many of the visitors had never been there before. Kame Richards and Mike Bishop talked about the center, a grassroots nonprofit. The all-volunteer facility provides access to the water, with dinghy sailing for kids, families and adults. Learn more about ACSC at www.sailalameda.org.
Latitude 38’s publisher, John Arndt, again anchored the (decidedly informal) formal portion of the afternoon. The speechifyin’ stayed brief, but John did point out that this year the YRA had three series, two weekend regattas, 22 total race days, and 25 individual races. A total of 123 individual boats earned a total of 423 awards. “That’s a pretty stunning effort on top of everything else that goes on on San Francisco Bay,” commented John. Participation in YRA racing in 2021 topped that in the last several years.
Also ‘attending’ the event were the Wosser Trophies. We’ll have more about those in another edition of ‘Lectronic Latitude, but essentially the trophies will be awarded to the winner of the largest one-design regatta on San Francisco Bay; the boat owner who has competed in the most race days during the year; and the boat owner who takes the most people racing during the year. Learn more in Racing Sheet in the December issue of Latitude 38. We’re accepting applications for 2021; submit your proof to us at [email protected].
The YRA gave flags and glasses to winners of individual races. Series champions received custom-embroidered jackets.
We’ll meet more of the season champs in the January issue of Latitude, but in the meantime, here are some of the weekend regatta winners.
Tell Me a Tale About Telltales
Here’s a letter pulled from the pages of the November issue asking about that gloriously low-tech and completely critical piece of technology, the telltale.
“Does anyone know the true history of those pieces of yarn we poke through the luffs of our jibs to determine whether the sails are in trim, stalled, or luffing?
“In the late ’50s and early ’60s I was racing on the Bay with my dad in a 26-ft Pearson Ariel. I was 8 to 12 years old at the time. My perception is that we would determine whether the sails were in trim by continuously heading up, or sheeting out, a bit until the sails luffed, and then bearing away, or sheeting in. The whole fleet was doing the same thing. Then in one race, one boat just trounced all the others. After several races, word spread that the magical advantage was to sew a piece of yarn through the jib’s luff and then ‘trim toward the tattling tail, or, bear away from the tattling tail’.”
“This is history as perceived by a young lad.
“Does anyone know the actual story? Were telltales invented on the San Francisco Bay or elsewhere?
“By the way, isn’t it remarkable that on modern boats loaded with all sorts of electronics, we rely on bits of yarn to tell us one of the most critical pieces of information, whether our sails are in trim?”
What are your thoughts on “those pieces of yarn we poke through the luffs of our jibs?” Do you have a theory, or actual fact, about their origin? Let us know in the comments below.
Three New Golden Ticket Winners!
While we’ve been busy putting together Latitude‘s monthly magazines, readers have been picking up issues and finding Golden Tickets inside! This week we heard from two winners who found their tickets in the December issue. We also caught up with Armand, who discovered his ticket in the September issue.
Armand holds a US Coast Guard Master’s license. He and his wife Cynthia have a 35-ft CHB trawler and are members at the Diablo Sail and Power Squadron and the Benicia Yacht Club.
“We are avid boaters,” Armand told us. “We have been to many marinas and yacht clubs from the Golden Gate Bridge to Rio Vista, as well as from Drake’s Bay to Monterey.
“Also, as a veteran of the Coast Guard, I’m a huge supporter of safe boating. As such, I’ve had several letters published in Latitude 38 and am very supportive of how Latitude 38 promotes boating.”
Larry Haynie picked up his Golden Ticket when he picked up his December issue at Point San Pablo Yacht Club. Larry hasn’t shared his sailing story with us yet, but when he does, we’ll let you know.
Our third winner, Steve Rienhart, picked up his December Latitude 38 at West Marine in San Carlos.
“Friday was my lucky day,” Steve wrote after collecting his magazine. “[I] first discovered that I was a runner-up in the Caption Contest(!), and a dozen or so pages later found out that I’d won a Latitude 38 T-shirt.”
Steve is a member of Encinal Yacht Club and owns the Antrim 27 Cascade and the Mercury California Zephyr. He describes himself as a “lifelong Bay Area sailor and racer” who knows a lot of the old-school Latitude 38 folks “such as John Arndt and certainly miss the late great Rob Moore.”
Congratulations to all our winners. We look forward to seeing you out on the Bay sporting your new Latitude 38 gear. And for everyone who hasn’t found a Golden Ticket with which to claim an item of L38 logo wear, keep reading; you never know when the Golden Ticket will turn up. (Neither do we.)
If you don’t want to wait, go to our store and purchase whatever you want now, and while you’re at it, you can get gifts for all your family and friends. Christmas shopping sorted!