Diamond Head Lighthouse Is Getting a Makeover
Here’s one for our Hawaii sailors, or anyone planning on going there. The US Coast Guard is undertaking a “long-term” maintenance project at Diamond Head Lighthouse, Honolulu. Many sailors have used the Diamond Head Lighthouse not only for navigation purposes, but also as a marker for racers to indicate the finish of the 2,225-mile Transpacific Yacht Race.
The project is commencing this month and will focus on repairing aging concrete and replacing railings, decks, ladders, windows and frames.
During construction, the lighthouse tower will be temporarily covered with scaffolding and sheeting as a safety measure. A temporary aid-to-navigation light will be installed on the lighthouse for the duration of the construction project. The project is anticipated to be completed in spring 2027.
Eleven years earlier, in June 1906, the first Transpacific Yacht Race (also known as the Transpac) set off from Point Fermin, Los Angeles, headed for the Diamond Head finish line. Since then hundreds of mariners — Transpac racers and cruisers alike — have used the light as a guide on their approach to Hawaii.
The next Transpac is scheduled to start in July 2027; it’s unlikely the maintenance work will be finished early. But hopefully the temporary navigation light will do its job well and assist all finishers as they approach the Diamond Head finish line at the completion of their 2,225-mile race.
Bay Area Knarr Sailors Take On the Danes and Norwegians
Latitude 38 racing editor Fritz Baldauf is in Norway this week, racing in the the International Knarr Championship (IKC) being held in Oslo. Fritz has been sending a few postcards, including one that said “Having a great time, but wish there was wind,” or words to that effect.”
But we know there has been wind most days. Currently the US team of Jon Perkins, Larry Swift and Kurt Hemmingsen (#103) are in first place with 6 points from four races.
Fritz is racing aboard Three Boys & a Girl with Chris Perkins and dad Hans Baldauf. They are currently in sixth place. “[I]t’s a dogfight for the podium with five points separating seventh from second,” Fritz tells us. “We’re in that mix with Randy Hecht and three Danish boats.”
Again, we send fair winds and good racing to all the teams in Norway!
And for our readers … a little eye candy.
See up-to-date results here.
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Mark Zuckerberg’s Megayacht Fails To Respond to USCG Mariner in Distress Call
Apparently, Bay Area boater Mark Zuckerberg’s $300 million, 387-ft yacht, Launchpad, didn’t get the message when the USCG called them recently to ask if the yacht would come to the aid of a nearby vessel in distress. Perhaps the USCG should have used Facebook Messenger? As the rarefied world of billionaires isolating themselves from reality on their megayachts continues to distort their relationship with humanity, it comes as no surprise that the yacht was not available to help.
The incident occurred while the yacht was in southeast Alaska when a 21-ft skiff ran out of fuel and needed help. Fortunately for the stranded vessel, the Coast Guard was able to contact a small cruise ship that was farther away than Zuckerberg’s, and the captain and crew were able to help the vessel. The Zuckerbergs were not aboard Launchpad and it was not a life-threatening situation, but every sailor knows that when they are the closest vessel to someone in distress, they should respond. It’s been reported that Zuckerberg spokesperson Brian Baker said the yacht’s crew was operating on a different radio channel, which they say is the reason they didn’t respond to the request for aid. It’s been a long time since we were on the bridge of a megayacht, but we’d think they would have a radio monitoring Channel 16.
As reported by MSN, New York software developer Michael Love, who was aboard the rescuing cruise ship Wilderness Legacy, posted on Bluesky that the captain told the passengers and crew that Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht had repeatedly refused to respond, at which point the passengers unanimously booed. Is it any wonder that people are skeptical when billionaires want to build data centers in their neighborhood? We think many sailors feel the same when a megayacht marina moves into the neighborhood or a megayacht anchors nearby and unleashes their armada of toys on a formerly peaceful harbor.
The luxurious megayacht lifestyle insulates those aboard from nature and the maritime community. It reminds us of David Geffen’s tone-deaf post from his 400-ft, $590 million megayacht in Grenada during the COVID lockdown. Megayachts’ bright lights block out the stars, generators block out the sounds of the natural world, and something aboard blocked out the Coast Guard’s request for assistance from Zuckerberg’s yacht Launchpad.
Showing sailing friends the photo of Nantucket Harbor above usually generates a comment like “ick” or “gross” because so many sailors go cruising to “get away from it all.” Modern tech titans, for some reason, want to bring it all with them and disturb formerly quiet harbors. This makes it increasingly difficult for cruisers seeking escape.
It’s hard to believe that a yacht owned by a billionaire who made his fortune connecting the world with social media “didn’t get the message.” It’s possible the captain and crew were scrolling through Instagram like many other distracted drivers, but it remains disturbing to have the yacht unable or unwilling to help with one of the most basic rules of the sea: helping other mariners in distress.
It’s not that billionaires can’t be philanthropic, as we know West Coast sailor Jeff Bezos contributed millions to the New York Met Gala and the new White House ballroom. However, if you are a vessel in distress, the sight of a megayacht on the horizon may not indicate the source of your survival. We continue to be grateful to the Coast Guard and good Samaritans who are listening to Channel 16 and respond when someone is in distress.
Max Ebb: Rally Rules — A Break From the Racing Schedule?
“Whenever two sailboats are in sight of each other, heading in the same general direction, they are racing.” An old saw, but very true. What if there are 30 boats? Or 130? And what if the event is promoted as a “Cruisers’ Rally” and the fleet is unapologetically, at least on paper, not interested in racing?
They will race anyway, and may Poseidon help the organizers who have to come up with a scoring system. That’s how I persuaded Lee Helm, usually too much in demand as a tactician, to race on an old boat like mine, and with an old skipper like me, to come along on a midsummer cruisers’ rally up the river. It was billed as a refreshing break from the racing schedule. My old friend Roxanne Scholes, a confirmed non-racer, was also on the guest list. So was Phill Chute, an experienced foredeck crew who can’t resist a long downwind sail, especially in a relatively heavy boat like mine that sails deep downwind angles instead of hot reaches for best VMG.
The wind at the start was flat calm, so the call had been made for a “rolling start.” That means, in this context, that all boats are asked to motor across the starting line.
“Is this a powerboat race?” Phill asked. “How do we know who wins?”
“They have a system,” I said. “The RC announces on VHF what time the engines are allowed to go on, and when they have to go off. There’s a six-knot speed limit, so in theory, everyone motors the same distance.”
“But the RC picks only one winner in each division,” Lee added, “and everyone else is scored as tied for, like, second place.”
“Keeps the logistic overhead under control,” I surmised. “They also make up prizes for biggest fish caught, best wine list, oldest and youngest crew, and other cruisey stuff.”
“For sure,” Lee said. “But I think a lot of us would like to go for ‘adult’ prizes too, based on, like, you know, actual sailing skill.” Phill was also big on the adult prizes. “This morning I bet a round of drinks with my buds on another boat that we would beat them on corrected time. Not fair if we’re already locked in a tie.”
‘Cat’astrophe Discovered Aboard Tacoma Sailboat
Dozens of seemingly healthy but abandoned cats were discovered aboard a sailboat in Tacoma, Washington, last Friday. Reports say that police described more than 30 cats and kittens being removed from the vessel near Owen Beach on Friday, August 7; another 10 to 15 cats were still aboard on Sunday. Many of these cats had crawled into unreachable places throughout the boat. Animal control officers then left open crates with food and water aboard, hoping to lure the remaining felines.
News site KING 5 reported that by late Monday all the cats and kittens had been removed from the boat — around 50 in total. A police spokesperson told KING 5 that the vessel is legally registered and has been anchored for a long time. They said that an expanded search warrant had been issued, and that potential charges against the boat owner will be announced as soon as possible. A marine unit is actively determining what to do next with the boat.
While we haven’t discovered any official explanations for the presence of such a large number of cats, with no human in sight, the internet did not disappoint and presented several plausible explanations:
“Must have been a catamaran,” Steven Miller wrote.
“[We] all know that one or two cats got under the owner’s feet and they went overboard,” Shelley Foxx commented.
” … the purrrfect escape,” Dale Farrar added.
The cats were taken to the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County.
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