Latitude 38 Helps California Sailing Keep On Keeping On

2027 will be the 50th anniversary of Latitude 38. Richard Spindler and his wife Kathy started the magazine in Sausalito in 1977, the same year the Bill Lee-designed Merlin was launched from the chicken coop in Soquel. As Ed Vitrano said in the Parkinson’s story, we keep on keeping on. Though it’s a tougher world for sailing and publishing.

The ’70s were the heyday of American sailing and boat building. There were dozens of boat builders in the Bay Area, Santa Cruz, SoCal and particularly Costa Mesa. Hundreds of companies grew the sailing industry alongside all the sailing activity, and Latitude 38 helped them grow. We remain dedicated to connecting the West Coast sailing community to keep this activity thriving, support access to the waterfront, and bring you the stories that inspire you to cruise to Mexico, race to Hawaii, sail to the Delta or Catalina, and generally find good reasons to get the boat out of the slip and hoist your sails. California sailors are an amazing group of people who are lucky to have an amazing coastline and 12-month sailing season!

The world is changing faster than a seven-knot reach across the Bay, and to keep offering the stories and community connection, we do need to ask readers for support. You can contribute any amount here.

What keeps it gratifying are letters from readers like the one below:

“Mark Downing here, currently crewing on a Lagoon 42 in Polynesia, sailing from Taha’a to Bora Bora. Remembering the tragic demise of Wander Bird, I found Lat38’s post of the June 2019 collision and sinking in Germany.

“I’m curious what additional info you might be able to direct me to on the collision and aftermath, her raising(?), her current status.

“My father and his twin sister crewed on her when the Tompkins were running ‘summer camps’ to Hawaii; he was about 17–18 years old, had to be ‘39–’41. I have pix.

“Hats off to you and Lat38; I’ve been a fan/reader/occasional boat owner in S.F. Bay since 1999 and always loved the mag’s style, quality and quirky but serious reportage on Bay Area sailing and worldwide cruising. I’ve been on the Ha-Ha twice, the first trip when the J boat hit a whale and sank off San Quintin (no one lost!)

“Thanks in advance for any Wander Bird resources you have time to send my way.”

Cheers! – Mark Downing, crew, SV Dragonfly

We were able to send Mark an update of Wander Bird’s resurrection from last year and know some folks going over soon who will bring us the latest.

We appreciate all kinds of contributions like this letter of support from Mark, great photos sent in, articles written by Andy Schwenk and so many others. However, wars, tariffs, and general inflation have increased the cost of paper, ink, FedEx deliveries, postal rates and everything that makes a magazine possible. Financial contributions, subscriptions or purchasing an item from our store all help. We also appreciate our advertisers, and we’d love any referrals or ads to support your organization. Today we’ll thank the San Francisco Yacht Club for their ad in the April issue for their upcoming Elite Fleet Regatta on May 16–17.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our last appeal. We hope you can join our growing list by contributing here.