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October 11, 2024

San Francisco Fleet Week Restrictions and Regulations for Mariners

It’s that time again. The time of year when we look to the skies to watch the Blue Angels and others flying to demonstrate their skill in a kind of cockpit different from the one sailors frequent. Yes, we know there are downsides to the air show, as we are sometimes reminded by our readers, but nonetheless, it is exciting to watch.

The Blue Angels fly over the Bay in 2023.
© 2024 Latitude 38 Media LLC / John

There is also the issue of safety, and with this in mind, we’re sharing the US Coast Guard’s information about restricted zones during the air show and Fleet Week. The USCG press release states that they will “enforce the regulated areas in the navigable waters of the San Francisco Bay for the San Francisco Bay Navy Fleet Week Parade of Ships and Blue Angels survey flight and demonstration days from October 10 through October 13, 2024.” So be prepared!

USCG Sector San Francisco has provided information as follows:

WATCHING THE SHOWS
The best areas to observe the air shows and the Parade of Ships are:

  • North of the “Alpha” box for the parade and north of the “Bravo” box for the air show
  • East of Blossom Rock Buoy
  • From the shore

ACTIVITIES AREA CLOSURES NAVY PARADE OF SHIPS

Regulated area “Alpha,” which is depicted on “Chart 1,” will be enforced on Friday, October 11, between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Traffic will be restricted throughout most of the Central San Francisco Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge, south of Alcatraz, to just south of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. This is to accommodate the Navy Parade of Ships as they pass under the Golden Gate Bridge to their assigned moorings in San Francisco. No vessel will be permitted to cross the parade line or interfere with the safe transit of the parade participants in any way. A 100-yard protective zone will also be enforced around each naval vessel the entire time they are in the port.

BLUE ANGELS DEMONSTRATION

Regulated area “Bravo.” which is depicted on “Chart 2.” will be enforced during the dates and times as noted on “Chart 2.” The enclosure to this flyer depicts the boundaries and coordinates of the most significant regulated areas. Federal Aviation Administration regulations require that these areas be clear of all vessel traffic during the specified times for scheduled air shows.

Chart 1: Regulated Area “Alpha” for Navy Parade of Ships

Regulated Area “Alpha” for the Navy Parade of Ships Friday, October 11, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
© 2024 USCG

Chart 2: Regulated Area “Bravo” for U.S. Navy Blue Angels Activities

Regulated Area “Bravo” for US Navy Blue Angels Activities — Thursday, October 10, to Sunday, October 13, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
© 2024 USCG

Temporary buoys for the Air Show Box will be installed by October 8, 2024, and will be removed on October 14, 2024. The buoys at the center and northwest corner point will be partially obstructing the eastbound traffic lane, and the buoys at the northeast and southeast corners will be partially encroaching upon the precautionary area east of Alcatraz Island. The locations of the temporary buoys are listed below:

Air Show Box
SW Corner: 37°48.612 N / 122°26.786 W
NW Corner: 37°49.113 N / 122°26.868 W
NE Corner: 37°49.389 N / 122°24.354 W
SE Corner: 37°48.888 N / 122°24.272 W
Center: 37°49.008 N / 122°25.590 W

The Fleet Week S.F. webpage tells us that along with enforcing the perimeter, the San Francisco Police Department Marine Unit, US Coast Guard, and partner public safety agencies will be enforcing boating laws on the Bay:

We imagine you all know this, but it doesn’t hurt to have an occasional refresher.
© 2024

Now that we’ve dealt with the official part of the this story, we understand the flyovers aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, for varying reasons. But it is a once-a-year event in the Bay and we know there’ll be scores of boats on the water. So please, have fun, but be courteous of your neighbors and play nicely.

Regardless of how one feels about the air show, there’s no denying the pilots have skill, and cojones!
© 2024 Latitude 38 Media LLC / John

If you take any cool photos of the spectacle, upload them to our Sailagram for next month’s gallery, or email us at [email protected].

Second Annual Sausalito Boat Show Kicked Off at Clipper Harbor Last Weekend

The second annual Sausalito Boat Show was a great second success. The event has grown as a grassroots effort of the local maritime professionals who not only want to see a show built in the Bay, but want to be the conduit for the industry to connect with the entire West Coast boating community.

The days were hot, and the evenings were perfect, with glassy water across Richardson Bay, and the vibe at the show was festive. This year’s boat lineup had grown substantially, with more than 70 boats on display — everything from tenders to 90-ft luxury yachts, while on shore, the tents were filled with happy, familiar faces from over 50 Bay Area marine businesses.

The weekend started with show owners Mitch Perkins and Ethan Hirschfeld opening the event, with Clipper Yacht Harbor owner Ken Pedersen and his son KC, doing the honors of cutting the official ribbon. Members of Sausalito’s city council and local organizations and media joined the crowd.

The weekend’s highlights included Friday night’s Waves of Opportunity happy hour, hosted by Helmut’s Marine Service, the San Rafael Channel Association and Big C Charters. The happy hour raised $4200 for the Canal Alliance. Also popular, alongside the beautiful boats and excellent displays by the vendors, were the local live music, food trucks, the Dunk Tank, which raised money for Sausalito Nursery School, and a meet and greet with Bravo’s Below Deck stars Daisy and Fraser, hosted by Marquis Charter.

The Sausalito Boat Show has come to life through the heart and soul of the people who live and work on this waterfront every day. People who understand the importance of the industry and connecting the community to the businesses to share this thing that is so special to us all — life on the water. It’s supported by family businesses that are the backbone of the working waterfront in Sausalito and around the Bay, including H & M Marine and KKMI, along with a team of volunteers from the Sausalito Yacht Club, managed by Ed Shea, who provided critical support throughout the weekend.

Here’s a snapshot of the weekend:

The show ended with a few words from Erica Deuyour, Mitch Perkins and Ethan Hirschfeld, KKMI’s Paul Kaplan, and a closing knot-tying ceremony together with committee members Tom Relya, Nicki Bennett, Nick Deuyour, Nadine Urchol, Ed Shea, Curtis Havel, Ben Hirschfeld, Shane McCormack, and Jessica Norelli Cox.

Mitch Perkins was understandably emotional at the end of the event and shared these words. “A new boat show is growing in Sausalito, and it is all about the community, giving back, and growing what we all love.”

Navy Destroyer USS ‘Stewart’ Lies Below Your Keel off Point Reyes

This doesn’t have much to do with sailing, but it does coincide with Fleet Week. An interesting sea story “resurfaced” recently after the discovery of the sunken Navy destroyer USS Stewart off Point Reyes in the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, back in August.

USS Stewart off of Cordell Bank.
The USS Stewart sits on Cordell Bank off Point Reyes.
© 2024 NOAA

In shades of Captain “Lucky Jack” Aubrey — hero of the Patrick O’Brian novels — the USS Stewart (DD 224) was captured, repaired and reflagged as a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. And then “captured” back!

The first incident happened in February 1942, when the then 22-year-old “four stacker” was in drydock in Surabaya (in east Java) after being damaged during the Battle of Badung Strait. Unable to get her out before the port was overrun, American forces set demolition charges to blow up the ship — and the drydock — and the coup de grace seemed to be a direct hit from a Japanese bomber. The Stewart’s name was struck from the Navy list a month later.

USS Stewart (DD-224) steaming at high speed, circa the 1920s or 1930s.
© 2024 U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph/Wikipedia

Imagine the surprise when American pilots started reporting an American warship operating deep in enemy waters. Turns out the Japanese navy raised the Stewart, repaired her, and commissioned her in the Imperial Navy as Patrol Boat 102! Under that designation, she participated in several operations, including the sinking of an American submarine (though she was not directly involved in that attack).

Soon after VJ Day, the ship was found laid up in Hiro Bay, only a few miles from Hiroshima.

In what was said to be an emotional ceremony, in October 1945 the USS Stewart was recommissioned into the US Navy. On the way home, her engines gave out near Guam, and she had to be towed the rest of the way to San Francisco. The old ship was decommissioned in 1946, with her last assignment being a target for bombing practice on the Cordell Bank. Navy Hellcat airplanes lit her up with rockets and thousands of 50 caliber rounds, but as before, the old gal refused to give up the ghost. It took a point-blank barrage from another Navy ship to finally send her to the bottom.

USS Stewart
The USS Stewart on San Francisco Bay after being towed home from the war.
© 2024 Image from the archives of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum

Autonomous drones operated by the marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity found the USS Stewart in August. She sits upright, and amazingly intact, in 3,500 feet of water.

J Class World Championships Pictorial From Barcelona

J Class sailors have been competing in the J Class World Championships in Barcelona this week. The races have been held concurrent with the Puig Women’s America’s Cup, providing a fantastic contrast between today’s foiling cats and the classic monohull boats that graced the America’s Cup races in the 1930s. These magnificent sloops, owned and coveted by “some of the most colourful tycoons,” such as Sir Thomas Lipton, Harold S. Vanderbilt and Sir Thomas Sopwith, competed between 1930 and 1937.

Today’s J Class Association was welcomed to join the action of the 2024 America’s Cup and host their World Championships from October 7–11 with a practice regatta on October 3 and 4.

Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Events, commented ahead of the regatta, “When the idea was first suggested, it was one of the easiest decisions ever to make. The J Class are integral to the history, legend and fascination of the America’s Cup, and we are very grateful to the Class Association and the owners for taking the opportunity to host their World Championship in Barcelona at the time of the 37th Match. Seeing those boats being raced just off the Barcelona waterfront will be a spectacle for everyone on the water or watching from the shoreline — we cannot wait to see them in action.”

Sailing photographer Louis Kruk (whose images have often been featured in ‘Lectronic and Latitude 38) sent us a few photos of these classic boats in action.

Hands down, these boats win for beauty.
© 2024 Louis Kruk
Such classic lines.
© 2024 Louis Kruk
Can anyone tell us one major difference between these boats and today’s AC foilers?
© 2024 Louis Kruk
Apart from the obvious actual difference in boat type?
© 2024 Louis Kruk
What’s going on aboard the AC40 in the background?
© 2024 Louis Kruk
Have you come up with the same answer we have?
© 2024 Louis Kruk
The sailors in this picture appear relaxed.
© 2024 Louis Kruk
And they’re sailing their boats the “old-fashioned” way.
© 2024 Louis Kruk
We counted 22 sailors on the rail.
© 2024 Louis Kruk

From the J Class Association website:

“Designers had to produce a J Class yacht which had a rating of between 65 and 76 feet. That was not the length of the boats but a product of the limiting factors of the rule’s equation. Any of the determining factors such as length, displacement or sail area could be changed but such changes required proportionate change in other factors to compensate.” Learn more here: jclassyachts.com/class

Thanks to Louis Kruk for a brief and enjoyable ride aboard a 1930s J Class.

Pre-Marriage Racing Program — Not Recommended for Everyone

Taylor Joosten, a keelboat sailor in Seattle, and her friend JD were fortunate to gain the use of a J/80 for the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club’s Monday night beer can races. They were short a crew for one of the races, so JD brought one of his roommates, David. Taylor assigned him to the middle of the boat, the usual spot for beginners. He politely nodded and smiled as she explained how to launch and gather the spinnaker while they motored to the starting area.

Things went wrong during the first takedown as voices were raised and nearby boats screamed for room. David immediately reached across to blow the tack and pole lines and stood out to gather the flailing spinnaker, effectively saving the rounding. “Oh, this guy knows what he’s doing,” thought Taylor, realizing the newbie was no novice. Like Taylor, David Rogers was also an experienced Seattle area sailor. They had much in common and were quick to hit it off. They started sailing together regularly as their relationship blossomed.

Seattle’s J/80 class also helped bring David and Taylor to a new sailing friend: Marc-Andrea Klimaschewski. Standing even taller than David, Marc-Andrea is an avid sailor who relishes the technical aspects of racing and making sailboats go fast. He and David jelled while crewing shorthanded on a J/80 during the bleakest months of the COVID pandemic, when no more than three were allowed on a boat.

Marc-Andrea aspired to buy a boat to race doublehanded in the Pacific Cup race to Hawaii. Initially, he was considering a Moore 24, but his friend Alex Simanis urged him to consider a larger 26-footer with Hawaii-race pedigree that was about to come on the market. That boat was the legendary Moonshine, a hard-chined plywood ultralight described as a Moore 24 on steroids. Marc-Andrea bought the boat and trailered it to Seattle with the intent to compete in the 2022 Pacific Cup. For crew, Marc-Andrea was happy to enlist his friend David Rogers. Marc-Andrea and David proved to be an excellent pairing and added another division win to Moonshine’s impressive list of awards.

What transpired between that first voyage and this happy ending?
© 2024 Irina Potekhina

By 2023, David and Taylor were engaged and making wedding plans. Marc-Andrea was intent on entering the 2024 Pacific Cup but realized he had too many competing demands. So he offered the boat to David and Taylor, knowing they wanted to race doublehanded as a couple. His offer to use Moonshine was the best engagement gift imaginable.

David and Taylor put their wedding plans aside, and Marc-Andrea resolved to ensure the boat was ready. The team signed up for California Race Week to get in more practice and further dial in the boat. Racing on Moonshine as a doublehanded crew during the Spinnaker Cup race from San Francisco to Monterey, David and Taylor experienced an epic wipeout that put the mast fully in the water. They managed to cut a sheet in time to save the spinnaker, but limped to the finish with shaken confidence.

Taylor and David just before leaving the dock for their Pacific Cup race.
© 2024 Taylor Joosten

Continue reading.

Cup action Continues
Twelve teams (six official and six invited) from around the world are racing in the Puig Women’s America’s Cup this week — the first women’s race in the history of the America’s Cup.
Never Turn Your Back …
And now for something completely different … It's time for October's Caption Contest(!).