It sounds like the start of a bad joke: How many bureaucrats does it take to buy an island? But the punchline was delivered yesterday when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that the City had finally struck a deal to purchase Treasure Island from the Navy for $55 million. More »

Happier days – while singlehanding through the Society Islands in ’08, Wayne surveys Bora Bora’s distant peaks from the Tahaa lagoon. latitude/Andy
©2009 Latitude 38 Media, LLC The first major storm of the South Pacific cyclone season — named Mick — clobbered the Fijian islands two days ago with winds as high as 94 knots (108 mph). More »

Denis Neumann reports that, on November 24, while walking the beach in Half Moon Bay, he spotted a small, bright yellow canvas pouch. "It was about 2" x 4" x 5" with two zippers and two velcro straps. More »

Got the Christmas shopping blues? If you’re perplexed about what to buy for hard-to-shop-for friends or family members, we may have the perfect solution: Invest in their mental and physical well-being by giving them a sailing gift certificate. More »

Designed by the Huntington Beach-based firm Morrelli and Melvin, the Aeroyacht 110 features an optional two-seater Icon A5 amphibious sports plane and pod to house it in. Morelli & Melvin
©2009 Latitude 38 Media, LLC Although typically associated with large, sleek, maxi-daysailers, Italian yard Wally and its 300-by-40-meter shed in Ancona, Italy, has signed on as the builder for the Aeroyacht 110 — a cruising maxi cat designed by the Huntington Beach firm of Morelli and Melvin. More »

"Is it time we did something about the shoddy marine forecasts for San Francisco Bay?" asks reader Iain Woolward. "On the afternoon of November 28 — the day of the big blow here on the Bay — the forecast called for 15 knots, dropping to 12 knots. More »

"While anchored at North Minerva Reef, a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion did numerous passes over the anchorage," reports Emmy Newbould, who’s cruising with her husband Eric Willbur on their Brickyard Cove-based Flying Dutchman 37 Nataraja. More »

Intrepid solo circumnavigator Jeanne Socrates, who set out from the Canaries on October 10 on a planned non-stop circuit of the globe via the five Capes, is being forced to stop in Cape Town, South Africa, to effect repairs to her Najad 380 Nereida. More »

Natasza was greeted by adoring friends and family – and magnums of spraying champagne – when she arrived in Honolulu on Wednesday. © 2009 Agnieszka Caban Polish beauty Natasza Caban sailed into Honolulu on Wednesday aboard her S&S 34 Tanasza Polska Ustka, completing the westabout solo circumnavigation she started two years and four months earlier. More »