"Yesterday we had a big problem with our visas," report Marina and Myron Eisenzimmer, vets of numerous Baja Ha-Ha rallies with their San Francisco-based Swan 44 Mykonos. Ha-Ha vets Myron and Marina had an unexpected headache over their Mexican visas, but they solved their dilemma before flight time. More »

When Pt. Richmond’s Kim Paternoster heard the news, she spoke the truth of many adoring Ben Ainslie fans when she posted the following to her Facebook page: "Nooooooooooooooooo!"  Yeah, we’d be smiling, too. More »

Someone forwarded us a copy of Marc Myers’ June 6 interview with 71-year-old singer/songwriter/mind-altering-substance abuser David Crosby. Boomers know him as a founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and as being in the center of 1970s rock ‘n roll. More »

Once again, the holiday season is upon us. If your reaction to that statement was ‘Oh crap!’ instead of ‘Oh joy!’, maybe it’s time to clean out your dock box and lazarettes to earn a few extra bucks for shopping. More »

This is a photo of a very frustrated Jane Roy of the Portland-based Columbia 43 Adios. She’s not frustrated because of the sailing conditions on the Ha-Ha, because for the second year in a row she and her guy Craig Shaw had one of the few boats that sailed the entire time of each of the three legs. More »

We don’t normally hype stand-up paddle boarding events in far-flung destinations, but this year the British Virgin Island’s annual Painkiller Cup definitely has a West Coast hook. Adopted sons of San Francisco Jimmy Spithill and Shannon Falcone — key members of the winning Oracle Team USA America’s Cup team — have confirmed that they’ll attend this year’s event, slated to take place January 25. More »

Electrical fires account for more than half of all boat fires. © 2013 Rob Murray It’s that time of year again, folks. The time to check your shorepower connections in an effort to prevent incidents like this one. More »

Parts of the Philippines were devasted by Haiyan, and it’s likely to have been the deadliest natural disaster to hit the island nation. © 2013 Aaron Favila After learning of the terrible destruction dished out to the Philippines by Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful in history, we feared for the safety of longtime friend David Addleman of Monterey. More »

The banking group Mirabaud is once again sponsoring this year’s Yacht Racing Image Contest, and it looks like some local shutterbugs are up for the grand prize.  San Francisco’s Abner Kingman has long been a star on the local sailing photography scene, and this year had the opportunity to work for the America’s Cup Event Authority, where he took one of the most iconic shots to come out of the event (you might recognize it as the cover to the October issue of Latitude). More »

Brutal seas and hurricane force winds battered racers participating in this year’s Clipper Round the World Race. The 12 identical Clipper 70s started Leg 4 from South Africa heading toward the ‘Roaring Forties’ via the Indian Ocean. More »