Ho Ho Ho! Latitude 38’s December Issue Is Out Today

It’s December! The last month of the year, and with it comes the last Latitude 38 for 2024! We’re feeling pretty “Ho Ho Ho!” and jolly as we happy-dance ourselves around with glee for having successfully brought dozens of stories, photos and messages from our advertisers and supporters to the hands of thousands of sailors and sailing lovers. We hope you’ve enjoyed every issue, and we hope you enjoy this one, too!

The 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha — Champagne Sailing

This year’s rally began on November 4 with a spectacular send-off parade, starting in front of Shelter Island on San Diego Bay from a Bali 40 provided by West Coast Multihulls. The fleet was honored by a Navy ship that passed through the starting line at precisely the 10 a.m. start time, pressing the fleet to the edge of the channel. The fleet gave them plenty of room. The weather at the start set the tone for the trip, foretelling some of the flattest seas in the event’s history.

Catching Up With Morgan Larson

Morgan Larson’s professional sailing career might never have been if one of his father’s worst nightmares had come to pass on an early trial sail in 1977 aboard Bill Lee’s Merlin. We recently caught up with Morgan in an October Good Jibes podcast to learn more about his sailing history and latest escapades.

Hawaii To Alaska — The Classic Story of Selling Everything

It’s the classic story of selling everything we owned to begin our adventure. My wife and I purchased SV ‘Iwa, a ’99 Beneteau 47, through Atomic Tuna in spring 2021 in Sausalito. We moved aboard and spent a month prepping the boat in Emery Cove Marina. We pushed off the dock to begin our trip south to set up for a trade-wind passage to our home in Hawaii. Once back home, we would continue to work and fit out our bare-bones boat to a liveaboard full-time cruising bluewater boat.

Here’s a peek at this month’s regular columns:

Letters: A Statement from the skipper of the boat in question; GPS Is Not Guaranteed Positioning System; Do You Have Your California Boater ID Card Yet? Shall We Argue About Its Merits or Irrelevance Again?; and many more readers’ comments.
Sightings: Winter Solstice and 25th Summer Sailstice; Sailing on a Dream — The Big Kahuna; Vendée Globe — Solo, Unassisted; The Threats Facing Sailing; and other stories.
Max Ebb: “Rainy Day Projects”
Racing Sheet: This issue wraps up fall classic regattas and dips into midwinter racing. We cover StFYC’s Jessica Cup and Fall Invitational, RYC’s Great Pumpkin Regatta, CYC’s Fall Series and BYC’s Saturday and Sunday Midwinters. Snapshots of StFYC’s Fall Dinghy, SDYC’s Hot Rum, GGYC’s Seaweed Soup and the Vanguard 15 Nationals, plus Box Scores and Race Notes, pull some of the weight.
Changes in Latitudes: With reports this month on Harmony’s 25th cruising season; Dogfish’s return to cruising after a two-year hiatus; and a fun look at the more memorable cruising Christmases some folks have spent far from home.

All the latest in sailboats and sailboat gear for sale, Classy Classifieds.

We appreciate all readers and all our supporters — you keep Latitude 38 in print! Please show your appreciation by supporting the advertisers, who have made this issue possible.