Coyote Point YC Hosts Peninsula’s Only Lighted Boat Parade
On December 12, Coyote Point Marina will glow once again as the Coyote Point Yacht Club (CPYC) hosts its annual Lighted Boat Parade — a sparkling Peninsula tradition with deep local roots and a modern community twist.
The event will start with a skippers’ meeting at 4:30 p.m. at CPYC, with the parade beginning at 5:30. Skippers and boats of all kinds, club members or not, are invited to participate. The entire public is invited to the waterfront to watch the parade.
A Tradition Lost — and Found Again
For many years, Coyote Point hosted one of the Peninsula’s most charming winter spectacles: a festive flotilla of boats draped in holiday lights, looping through the marina in a pageant of color and creativity. But as participation waned in the early 2000s, the tradition quietly faded away.
It wasn’t until 2017 — when club members realized that no other yacht clubs on the Peninsula were holding a lighted boat parade — that Coyote Point Yacht Club stepped in to revive it. Since then, the parade has returned stronger each year, becoming a rare opportunity for Peninsula residents to enjoy a lighted maritime celebration without crossing the Bay or heading into San Francisco.
A Parade With a Peninsula Personality
Coyote Point’s parade is special, not only because of its accessibility, but because of its interactive spirit.
Spectators can vote for their favorite boat by text message, choosing the highly coveted “Crowd Favorite” award. It’s part community event, part holiday spectacle, and part friendly creative competition — an all-ages celebration that brings together skippers, families and visitors in the warm glow of shared tradition.
Whether you’re decorating a boat, cheering from the shore, or simply strolling the marina to soak in the lights, we welcome you to join us on Friday, December 12.
Good Jibes # 221: Commodore Tompkins on 600,000 Miles of Sailing, With Host John Arndt, Pt 1
This week we’re joined by one of the great legends of the sailing world, Warwick “Commodore” Tompkins. The 93-year-old Commodore has sailed over 600,000 miles and has essentially been sailing since birth.
In this Part 1 — recorded in person on Commodore’s custom Wylie 39 Flashgirl — tune in as Commodore chats with Good Jibes host John Arndt about the health scares on his recent 48-day passage, the lifetime of sailing inspiration he credits to his father, his unbelievable memories from sailing around Cape Horn at age 4, how they became the first sailing vessel to cross under the Golden Gate Bridge, and how he started working professionally on boats.
Here’s a sample of what you’ll hear in this episode:
- How Konrad Lorenz explained Commodore’s destiny as a seafarer
- Rounding Cape Horn at age 4 and sailing without an engine in 1936–37
- Commodore Tompkins’ childhood at sea
- The origin of “Commodore”
- Wander Bird’s tragic sinking
Read about Commodore in Latitude 38 sailing magazine here: Commodore Tompkins on the Move Again.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Don’t Miss Spaulding Marine Center’s Winter Open House
Join Spaulding Marine Center on December 11 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a night of art, music, food, friends and festive cheer! Winter Open House will feature an art Market with over 14 artists selling their beautiful goods, live music from The Dirt Farm Duo, Food from Davey Jones, wine & beer for purchase, and more seasonal treats.
A Nostalgic Return to St. Katharine Docks Marina, London
“If we were going to spend a winter aboard our boat in Europe, we’d look for an idyllic setting with a colorful history where well-traveled international cruisers gather. That’s precisely what Horst Wolff and Julia Shovein have done. After hopscotching across the Med for Istanbul in recent months, they nestled into a cozy spot at St. Katharine Docks in central London.” This was our introduction to Horst and Julia as they arrived in London in 2012 during their seven-year sail around the world. They had sailed to the South Pacific aboard their San Francisco-based Island Packet 35 Pacific Star in 2008. Today, the couple is still sailing, and recently returned to St. Katharine Docks Marina (as land dwellers this time), where they reconnected with the vibrant international sailing community. Julia sent us the following update.
It was with absolute joy my husband and I returned to St. Katharine Docks Marina (SKD) next to the Tower of London. We fondly called this place home for seven months before the 2012 Olympics during a break in our seven-year circumnavigation. This past Thanksgiving we flew into London from Seattle to join our friends on their yacht — unlike our previous experience of sailing our own Island Packet 35 across the English Channel, up the Thames Estuary amid a mix of picturesque urban and rural scenery, through the Thames Barrier, and into a central London lock leading to the famous St. Katharine Docks Marina.
Memories of this peaceful sanctuary amid the hustle and bustle of London overwhelmed us. It was so good to be back in a place where we’d had so many positive experiences. First and foremost had been the opportunity to explore and enjoy the sights of London in a leisurely fashion with the added luxury of having our own bed to sleep in each night. My London guidebook listed 205 attractions that put the cultural and historic aspects of the city into perspective. I was able to check 200 highlights off my bucket list. How wonderful to be living next to the picturesque Tower with access to a nearby tube station and light rail station to help us explore the entire city!
Our time at SKD celebrated the strong sense of community and camaraderie formed among sailors. During our time the guest berths were filled with over two dozen international visitors spending the winter in London. Now, there are about a half-dozen cruisers taking advantage of the lower winter-rate fees. We had a standing Tuesday morning breakfast together at one of the nearby restaurants to exchange information about everything — currently they meet on Monday mornings — discussing shows, activities, events, news and the most economical way to do everything. One of the best tips was the “day of” theater tickets in the West End. Rising early, you get in a queue in front of the theater you want to attend that night to buy the limited reduced-cost tickets. Fellow cruisers had tips to offer about everything, and we often ended up arranging excursions together and sharing meals at some of the nearby pubs: the Prospect of Whitby, Captain Kidd, and the Grapes (a longer walk near Limehouse Basin Marina, where canal boats are available for rental.) This last pub was owned by Sir Ian McKellen, who had his Oscar nonchalantly sitting on a shelf.
Nearby Limehouse Marina also houses the Cruising Association, an organization founded in 1908, which hosted interesting seminars, among their other activities. The most interesting presentation for us was by the Chandlers, a couple captured by pirates as they made their way through Pirate Alley the year before we made the crossing. They had been held hostage for 13 months. One of the sad stories of our stay at SKD was the absence of another American boat that had reservations that winter along with us, the SY Quest. The four on board had been killed while crossing Pirate Alley.
Other projects our community of sailors shared at SKD included group workdays, such as gathering all the anchor chains that needed re-galvanizing to be packed and shipped to Birmingham, since London no longer provided this service.
When our friends Leslie Perreault and Gary Bryan of SV Spellbound made a return cruise to London from the Eastern US via the Azores this fall, we were thrilled to visit them at our old stomping grounds. We were delighted to find another American couple, Gus and Helen Wilson, whom we’d met previously at SKD. They have become UK residents and return annually to winter at SKD, and it was very good to see them again.
With our friends, we ascended the Horizon 22 skyscraper to view the many new buildings in London, apparently booming despite the economic woes brought on by Brexit. The city remains one of the most lively and spectacular places to be.
We again made many familiar treks around the city, including one to the Mayflower Pub, where Sir Christopher Jones, who captained the Mayflower, rests in a nearby churchyard. The ship is said to have left for America from that location.
The St. Katharine Docks exhibited many improvements, including new luxurious bathrooms and beautiful docks. A touch of celebrity class is provided by Pete Townshend, who has a sound studio in a barge located on the East Dock.
Our times at St. Katharine Docks are full of vibrant and rich memories of the extraordinary sailors we met there and the appeal of one of the greatest cities of the world. We were so fortunate to be able to return.
– Julia Shovein, formerly of SV Pacific Star, currently SV Purple Haze. Author of Murder on the Squid Row Run and other sailing mysteries.
You can learn more about Julia’s sailing books in December’s Latitude 38. And at JuliaShovein.com.
Where Are They Now? Sailors Changing Latitudes
Cruisers are folks on the move. Their appearances in Changes in Latitudes are just snapshots in time. By the time their stories appear on these pages, the sailors who wrote them are often many miles and oceans away on further adventures. As 2025 slips into the rearview mirror, we catch up with a few of the folks and boats that have appeared here over the past year.
✯ Kathy and Scott Erwin started their cruising on the 2021 Baja Ha-Ha aboard their Atascadero-based Brewer 44 Sea Bella. They headed to the South Pacific the next year, eventually ending up in New Zealand, where — inspired by other cruisers who had switched to multihulls — they sold Sea Bella and moved aboard the Outremer 49 Kalea.
“Our sailing journey continued to Fiji and Vanuatu, both fabulous experiences,” says Kathy. Being avid divers, the Erwins list their favorite Fiji underwater sites as Rainbow Reef, Namena and the Astrolabe/Beqa area. “I was stunned by the beautiful coral called the cabbage patch,” says Kathy. “The vertical pinnacles of Namena were spectacular, and the famous shark dives of Beqa … mind-blowing!”
“Other Fiji highlights include the Lau group, especially charming for our host family being so welcoming and giving. Hiking up to the cave of skulls and bones of their ancestors was a thrill. New experiences awaited in Vanuatu’s quiet Port Resolution. Highlights there included booking a trip to the spewing Mount Yasur volcano. Exceptional!” says Kathy. “The loud explosions, staring straight down into the lava pit, while holding onto a rickety railing and barely dodging falling red lava rocks — wow!”
Another Vanuatu memory was being welcomed into the small Awei village in lower Malekula, where only 20 people live a very simple life. “Chief Safren invited us to church, and a charming lap-lap lunch of water taro and fish afterward. We all became quick friends with many wonderful interactions during our week’s stay.”
The end of the season saw Scott and Kathy waiting for a weather window to head back to the cyclone safety of New Zealand. As for next season, says Kathy, “Possibly exploring the rest of Vanuatu, the Solomons, Papua New Guinea and Raja Ampat, Indonesia.”
Next up:
✯ “My slow transformation from rabid racer to mellow cruiser, courtesy of the Oyster 56 Quester and her generous and gracious skipper/owner Michael Yokell and wife Deb Rahm, continues at a leisurely pace.” So reports Roxanne Vitesse of Oxnard.
Read.
Give the Gift of Latitude This Holiday Season
