
Summer Sailing Starts With a Spectacular Summer Sailstice Weekend
It was a pretty perfect weekend on the Bay to start off the summer sailing. We began our Summer Sailstice weekend with a brisk Friday night race off the Corinthian Yacht Club, though it ended prematurely with a broken jib halyard. We got the jib back up with a spare and carried on for a nice evening sail.

Then it was up early to join the CYC cruise-out to the San Rafael Yacht Club, as we needed to join other members in making room for the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show on Sunday. Our Saturday sail up to San Rafael passed by San Francisco YC’s Hank Easom Regatta, which was busy racing on the Knox course. We sailed around Angel Island, passing through the Westpoint Regatta on their windward leg to Harding Rock. It was a very fine day for sailing.
With so much going on, we’re going to summarize with a glimpse of sailing on the Bay and some shots of testing the eight-foot draft of the San Rafael Canal.

The Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show and the Westpoint Regatta were two of many events on the Summer Sailstice map.







The San Rafael Yacht Club was joining sailors from the South Pacific to Norway (where the sun almost doesn’t set on Summer Sailstice). You can see participants that included SailGP, the Newport Bermuda Race, and sailors just going sailing. We’ll have more on the weekend racing events, the beautiful boats on display at the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show, and numerous other summer sailing events past and future.
How was your weekend? If you’ve got pictures and news of your sailing event, adventures and sailing friends, send them to us at [email protected].
Have a great summer of sailing!
Marine Flare Disposal Bill One Step Closer to Passing
A marine flare disposal bill was introduced in February in the California Legislature by Sen. Catherine Blakespear, representing Senate District 38 in western San Diego and Orange counties. The bill, SB 1066 — The Marine Flare Producer Responsibility Act — aims to create a program for marine flares to be collected and disposed of in a safe and proper manner, free and convenient to the consumer. The bill has now passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 34-0.
According to Sen. Blakespear’s recent press release, marine flares expire 42 months after manufacture, and each year in California, approximately 174,000 flares expire. However, there are no facilities in California that have the necessary permit to treat or dispose of these flares.
“Flares are important for boaters to have in case of emergency, but we must do a better job of collecting and disposing of them to protect the environment,” Sen. Blakespear said. “SB 1066 sets up a program to make disposing flares as easy as purchasing them to protect the environment, boaters and the general public.”
Local governments report finding flares left in front of fire and police stations or improperly disposed of in the trash. This puts public safety workers at great risk, because an expired marine flare can accidentally explode while being handled. A video shared on the BBC website shows one of the potential dangers of unsafe flare disposal.

SB 1066 shifts responsibility for disposing of marine flares from local government to those who produce them. The legislation requires manufacturers to create a producer responsibility plan for the collection, transportation and safe management of expired flares. The plan must involve a free and convenient statewide collection program with permanent collection sites, as well as a statewide education and outreach program, including prominently displayed and easily visible signs at point of sale and in marinas.
The bill is co-sponsored by the National Stewardship Action Council and Zero Waste Sonoma, and it is supported by 69 organizations, including Californians Against Waste, the California State Association of Counties, Heal the Bay and the League of California Cities. It will now go to the Assembly for consideration.
Special Offer for a Two Coat Bottom Painting Package from KKMI
Ron Harben Lands a Crew Position
We recently received a note from Ron Harben, saying, “You may remember me from Svendsen’s event this past winter. I was lamenting that we older (in years but not physicality) sailors have a difficult time getting crew gigs due to ageism. The Universe must have been listening because I did finally get a crew job on a 44-ft catamaran out of Honolulu bound for La Paz.”

“It took some very fortuitous maneuvering by said Universe to land me the position. I had coordinated the refit of the very same cat during August of last year but another crew had been hired for the delivery to Zihuatanejo. That crew turned back due to equipment failure and another captain was hired with his own crew. One of the new captain’s crew had visa problems so I was ‘reluctantly’ (the captain’s word) called to fill in. I got the call on Friday, May 10th, flew out to Honolulu on Sunday, and the boat left the dock about 15 minutes after I came on board. We landed in La Paz 3123.1 miles later on June 4th.”

“I’m hoping for a ride in this year’s Baja Ha-Ha so, if there’s anyone out in the Ha-Ha Universe looking for an experienced, healthy, and energetic octogenarian (I’ll be 80 years old by the time the fleet leaves San Diego), I’m their man.”

We do remember talking with Ron. We couldn’t believe he was almost 80 and was looking to do lots more sailing. We’re happy to hear of his recent delivery and wish him luck with his search for further crew spots. If you’d like him to crew for your next voyage you can email him here.
Ron is a great reminder that anyone, regardless of age, background or experience, can add their name to the Latitude 38 Crew List. You never know how the universe is going to act but it helps when, like Ron Harben, you put it out there. There are well over 2,000 crew and boat owners on our crew list for racing, cruising and daysailing. If you’re a boat owner looking for crew or crew looking to sail, make sure to add your name under the category of your interest. It’s then up to you to make connections and discuss the boat, your honest experience and your interests, and to evaluate whether the situation works for both owner and crew.
If you’re looking to meet prospective owners and crew, make sure you plan to attend our Crew List Party at the Spaulding Marine Center in Sausalito on September 4!
Counting Down to the 30th Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally, and Surfing!
It’s official! With the passing of the solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is now sailing through summer. Here in the Bay Area we’ve been enjoying some beautifully warm weather, interspersed with some cooler moments, depending on where you happen to be standing. But none of that has stopped our looking ahead to the latter part of the year when sailors start to head south, particularly this year, as the Ha-Ha turns 30. Right now, again, depending on where you’re standing, there are only 133 days until the Kick-Off Parade in San Diego.
At the time of this writing, 80 boats and their crews had signed up for this annual cruising rally to Mexico. That’s a minimum of 160 sailors, all heading to party it up amid the warm, sunny bays and beaches that comprise the official Ha-Ha stops. One of the activities that awaits sailors post-Ha-Ha is surfing — for boards, not boats.

Here’s the Poobah’s official word on the Ha-Ha and surfing:
As all surfers know, catching good waves is always a hit-and-miss thing. It’s even more so when there is limited time, such as during the Ha-Ha. So there are no guarantees.
However, over the years, Ha-Ha participants have sometimes caught excellent surf at the point at Bahia Santa Maria (BSM), the sometime home of a fly-in surf camp. In some years, there has also been interesting surf at the bar on the way into the mangroves at BSM.
Not nearly as often, sailor-surfers have met up with other surfers in Turtle Bay to drive to a break a few miles up the coast.
Isla Natividad, just north of Turtle Bay, is known to have great surf, but we’re not sure how one would approach that.
Scorpion Bay, on the middle reach of Baja, is probably the best-known and most reliable break along the Baja coast. But in order to hit that, a Ha-Ha-er would have to either leave Turtle Bay a day earlier than the rest of the fleet or arrive in Bahia Santa Maria a day later than most of the fleet.
There are also well-known surf spots once the fleet gets to Cabo.
After the Ha-Ha, there are many fine breaks on the mainland. There is great surf at a number of places in Mazatlán. And San Blas is known not just for mosquitoes but also for long, mellow, beginner rides.
Sayulita is an international surfing mecca, and you can paddle in to the break. The downsides are that it’s often crowded with beginners and locals, and it’s an open-roadstead anchorage.
The sailor/surfer’s paradise on mainland Mexico is just inside the northwest corner of Banderas Bay, where in the space of just a couple of miles there are five or six great breaks, from El Faro to Burros.

There’s nothing quite like paddling in to a break from your boat.
There’s more info to be had, too much to share here, so head on over to Baja Ha-Ha XXX for the full surf report.
And while you’re there, sign up and join the fleet for one of the most fun cruising rallies you’ll ever experience.
Steering the Dream With Hydrovane
Hydrovane is your best crew member: an independent self-steering windvane and emergency rudder/steering system … ready to go!