Get your Copy of February’s Latitude 38 Now!
Hooray! February’s Latitude 38 magazine hits the streets today!
According to Wikipedia, February has been through a number of name changes over its long history, “Solmonath” (mud month) and “Kale-month” (named for cabbage) among them. In current times, some of February’s Northern Hemisphere names appear to be directly related to its relevance in nature. For example, in Finland the month is known as helmikuu, meaning “month of the pearl,” in reference to the melted snow that refreezes into droplets on tree branches — “they are like pearls of ice.” And in Poland and the Ukraine respectively, February is called “luty” or “лютий lyutyi,” and means “the month of ice or hard frost.”
But here in California February is just February, though for some of us, it’s also known as the month when we begin to dream about the close of winter and look forward to the coming summer sailing season. As all sailors do! So to help you with your dreams, we’ve put together an issue packed full of great stories and anecdotes that are sure to fill your sails and help you breeze through the remainder of the chilly season.
Jim DeWitt — Sailor, Sailmaker, Artist
When Jim was 10, his father built a 19-ft Acorn in the backyard. Jim sailed on her only once before his family sold the boat, so he didn’t go sailing again until he was 19, after he built an El Toro in the basement. His job as a lifeguard enabled him to buy the materials to construct #216.
At a St. Francis Yacht Club Yachting Luncheon, host Ron Young told this story: “He raced three races on Lake Merritt [in Oakland]. And in each of those races he took dead f—ing last. He would come in and the guy who was coaching and kind of running their regattas said, ‘Jim, you’re going straight into the wind. You have to go off at an angle.’ He’s trying to explain tacking to Jimmy. Jim said, ‘No, I didn’t want to go at an angle.'”
Jim DeWitt, a renowned sailor, sailmaker, boat designer and artist based in Point Richmond, celebrated his 90th birthday last year in part with his talk at the Yachting Luncheon on February 5, 2020 — live and in person in a crowded Grill Room.
Island Hopping in the Bay
After a respectable time without a boat, we reckoned that right in our own neighborhood, big adventures awaited that required none of the bothersome chart study, equipment and fancy electronics needed for an ocean voyage. We found a boat named Whisper, one of the original swing-keel Catalina 22s, the first of a long line of that marque’s successful designs. We had decided on Tomales Bay as a new venue for further expeditions, and the Catalina was the perfect boat for what we had in mind. Although no rocket ship, it’s solid, shoal-draft, trustworthy, and spacious for its size. I also built a 10-ft stitch-and-glue rowboat as a tender, to explore waters even Whisper was too large to navigate. With these crafts, Mr. Shrode and I were able to embark on travels to nearby places we’ve all seen but seldom if ever visited.
NV — 66-ft Custom: Joanna Hutchinson and Timo Pancin Moving Up
We’d had our eyes on NV for almost a year, and finding ourselves now anchored close to her mooring in Opua, New Zealand, and with my boat on the market, we set things in motion to make her our own. She may not be the obvious choice for a world cruiser, yet Timo and I saw a lot of potential in her for being both fun to sail and comfortable and safe to cruise in … or maybe it was the enormous cockpit — perfect for dance parties — that really won us over! Having both owned production sailing yachts in the past, we were looking for something different — and we certainly found that in NV!
You’ll also find your favorite regular pages: Letters, Max Ebb, Racing Sheet, Sightings and more. Plus the sailboat owners’ and buyers’ bible, Classy Classifieds
Here’s a fun shot from one of our magazine distributors.
Grab your copy from your nearest distributor. Not sure where that is? Click here to find your nearest outlet. Or you can also read online.