Posts by John Riise
Weird Scenarios with Sailboats
In one of the weirder kinda-sailing-related news items we’ve seen in a while, a group of Greek boaters were arrested for smuggling immigrants into Italy — apparently using sailboats they’d bought via internet ads. More »
An Old Latitude War Story
Back in the '80s or '90s, I went out on .38 Special, Latitude 38's first Bertram 25 photo boat, to shoot a race that used the Yellow Bluff buoy as a mark. As I knew the fleet would be pounding up there soon, I headed there directly from our Sausalito berth.
A Different Kind of Cruising for a Californian
Krista Swedberg caught the sailing bug early. Starting out as a little girl aboard her parents’ Santa Cruz-based Islander 40, she remembers trips every summer south to Monterey and north into the Delta. More »
Full Moon, Flat Water and the End of Days
It’s been difficult these past few weeks to remain upbeat. Between the unprecedented fires, unprecedented winds and unprecedented power outages, October in California seems more like a preview of the End of Days than the month of plenty. More »
‘Changes’ Cruisers Duck Hurricane Dorian
Josh and Christina are OK!
Along with the usual conversations and questions at our Crew List Party on September 11 came an unusual one from a number of people: “How are Josh and Christina on Tish?” More »
The Reasons and Right Ways to De-Name Your Boat
People change boat names for all sorts of reasons. Which is all fine and good as long as you do it the right way. For those of you newish to sailing, changing a vessel’s name the proper way involves a fair amount of attention to form and tradition. More »
Bay Area Man Will Set Sail to Hawaii in 8-ft Boat
As far as we know, the smallest boat ever to sail to Hawaii is the 10-ft Yankee Girl. In 1981, relying partly on outboard power in low-wind conditions, 41-year-old Gerry Spiess made it from Long Beach to Honolulu in 34 days. More »
Briggs Cunningham: Sportsman, Gentleman, Sailing Gadget Inventor
Diesel, Kalashnikov, Graham (crackers), Mason (jars), Ohm, Edsel, Ferris — the list is long of items, properties or ideas named for the people who came up with them. One of the most familiar to sailors is the cunningham, that now-familiar tackle used to tension the mainsail luff. More »
Remembering the Big Bang
This month marks the 75th anniversary of one of the most horrendous events of World War II, which occurred right here in the Bay Area. On July 17, 1944, a mishap at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine (site of present day Concord Naval Weapons Station on Suisun Bay) triggered a massive explosion that killed 320 sailors and civilians; injured another 390; destroyed two ships, an entire pier, a railway and a locomotive that was on it; shattered windows as far away as San Francisco: registered 3.5 on the Richter scale at UC Berkeley; and blew shrapnel so high into the air that a pilot flying over the area saw debris flying by at 9,000 feet. More »
Angry Beavers Take R2AK
It was the best kind of win for what’s fast becoming the best kind of race. Due to glitches on boats and ashore, nobody knew who was ahead or who would win the 700+ mile Race to Alaska until they hove into view off the Ketchikan Yacht Club yesterday.
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