Mia II was a beautifully maintained all-teak work of art. latitude/LaDonna
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC We can think of few worse ways to end 2010 than to lose your boat. More »

We’ve been on assignment in Mexico — lucky us — for all but three days since the start of the Ha-Ha in late October. We sailed over to Banderas Bay in early November, and in mid-December sailed down the Gold Coast as far as Barra de Navidad, which is where we are now. More »

The San Francisco maritime community lost a living legend last week, when Harold Sommer died of complications from pneumonia on  December 21. He was 85. Harold Sommer was a mentor and an inspiration to sailors and professional mariners throughout the West. More »

We received the following note from Dobie Dolphin about beleagured Tenacatita Bay, the four-mile by four-mile bay on mainland Mexico’s Gold Coast between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, and just north of Barra Navidad: "As many of you know, on August 4, villagers, land owners, and tourists were forcibly evicted from their restaurants, homes, and palapas on Tenacatita Beach by a wealthy land developer, with the help of the governor of the state of Jalisco. More »

Dutch 15-year-old Laura Dekker arrived at Simpson Bay Lagoon on St. Martin on Monday, 18 days after leaving the 2,200-mile distant Cape Verde Islands aboard her 37-ft Jeanneau Gin Fizz Guppy. More »

In Monday’s posting we published the remarkable photo (below) of former San Diego sailor Brenda Manceau standing proudly next to a massive yellowfin tuna that’s she’d supposedly caught in a recent tournament in Tonga. More »

No matter how you slice it, that’s a lotta sashimi! But is the photo real? © Endangered Encounters As you might imagine, here at Latitude 38 World Headquarters we receive all sorts of crazy stuff by email — and we’re not just talking about Nigerian inheritance scams, artificial hip recalls, and web specials on oxycodone. More »

Turtles on the move to lay their eggs and return to the ocean. © Ocean Actions The following photographs of turtle eggs being taken, probably to be sold as aphrodisiacs, will no doubt make any conservation-minded person sick. More »

After many hours of dedicated work, three of the little skiff’s builders take her for a victory lap around Aquatic Park. © Seth Muir In an era when many California schools have eliminated practical, hands-on ‘shop’ courses, the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association has been quietly offering boatbuilding courses to disadvantaged youth for the past five years, that teach marketable skills, build self-esteem, and sometimes give participants a whole new direction in life.  More »