August 13, 2003

Photos of the Day:
Sailing in Southern California Is Sweet

August 13 – Santa Catalina Island

It’s not uncommon for Northern California
sailors to pooh-pooh sailing in Southern California. The truth
of the matter is that given the right time of year – mid-July
to mid-October – and given a boat that can sail well in under
15 knots of wind – it’s a great place to sail.

Last weekend, for example, the Wanderer,
Doña de Mallorca, and eight others enjoyed three days
of shared expenses sailing between Long Beach, Catalina, and
Newport Beach. The sailing was lovely. We left from the Californian’s
berth at Rainbow Marina in Long Beach, headed high across the
channel at 9-10 knots in order to set up a screecher reach to
Avalon. It worked – just about everyone was hitting the low teens
with a top speed of 14.5 knots.

After an afternoon and early evening of
fun at Avalon, and anchoring for the night halfway to White’s
Landing, the next morning we slowly motored up the coast to Two
Harbors. After a morning of hiking, running, and swimming, a
light breeze came up at 2 p.m., and for most of the next three
hours, we enjoyed more screecher reaching at about 10 knots.
As was the case the day before, it was only blowing 10 to 14
knots, so the seas were flat, the air was warm, and it was perfect
for taking it easy on the forward tramp. After a barbecue at
the Isthmus on Saturday night, we had an asymmetrical spinnaker
run toward Newport Beach in moderate winds that finally died
out – as they always seemed to do – just north of the Newport
Pier. Still, we had enjoyed about 75 miles of absolutely lovely
sailing over a three-day period, with no foul weather gear in
sight, and not a drop of water on the deck.

There’s no knocking Northern California
sailing, of course, but for boats that can move in light to moderate
winds, Southern California has fantastic sailing, too. Vive
la différence!

Holly and Peter at the grill at Two Harbors on Saturday night.
Peter and Arnie, another of the crew, were kings of the Q.

Although Profligate is sailing along at 12 knots, the
crew takes it all in stride.

“The Young Guy? Just Leave Him Up
There.”

August 13 – Newport Beach

When we arrived in Newport, the kind folks
in the Sheriff’s office assigned us a mooring – $100 for 20 nights!
– not far from Brad Avery’s boat. Brad is the head of Orange
Coast College’s superb sailing program and the Commodore of the
suddenly revived TransPac Yacht Club, and we started talking
about sailing in the ‘old days’. Brad had the best story.

Something like 30
years ago, when he was 17, Brad managed, after a year of trying
and two sailing trips across the Atlantic, to get a job as lowly
deckhand aboard the legendary 71-ft Herreshoff ketch Ticonderoga
in the Caribbean. As the youngster on the crew, he got no respect.
The beautiful and busty young French girl who was the cook, and
with whom he bunked in close quarters, ignored him completely.
And the captain did pretty much the same – even in harsh conditions.
For example, one of Brad’s duties was to keep the varnish up
on the mast. “I often spent the entire day up the mast varnishing.
I remember being up there one squally day in Grenada. I’d been
varnishing for awhile, when I saw this big squall approaching.
Did they even think of lowering me down to the deck? Of course
not. So I just put a cover over the can of varnish and hung on
while the squall raged through. After it passed and everything
dried, I resumed varnishing. For this, I was paid a total of
$75 a month.”

And as you might expect, they were some
of the greatest days of his life. He just didn’t realize it at
the time.

J/105 North Americans this Week

August 13 – San Francisco

Anika Leerssen, Race Coordinator at the
St. Francis Yacht Club, dropped us a note to remind us that the
St. Francis Yacht Club and SF Bay Fleet 1 will host the 2003
J/105 North American Championship starting tomorrow. This event
will be a seven-race, no throw-out regatta, and the owner-driver
rule will apply. Thursday and Friday’s racing will be in the
Treasure Island area. Saturday and Sunday’s racing will be off
the Cityfront.

So far, 39 boats are registered. The event
attracts racers from all over the country. Boats are coming from
New York, Connecticut, Florida and Texas. There is also a heavy
participation from an active southern California fleet. The local
J-105 fleet is the oldest and largest fleet in the country with
52 registered boats. All of the top local boats will be racing,
including Good Timin’ (1), Zuni Bear (2) and Arbitrage
(3).

“We expect the combination of San
Francisco Bay winds and tides with a number of highly competitive
boats on the starting line to produce truly world class racing,”
said Jaren Leet, the Regatta Developer.

This event kicks off a jam-packed late
summer/early fall racing schedule for St. Francis YC. For more
information go to www.stfyc.org
and drill down through Regatta Information and the Racing Calendar.
Photos, results, and other information are updated daily. Better
yet, head out and watch the action, by sea or by land.

Calling All Women to Race for Mikey

August 13 – Tiburon

On August 24, the Tiburon YC will be holding
a revived edition of the Joan Storer Regatta, a women’s PHRF
regatta. One male is allowed on board, but may not touch the
helm. The event this year will be a benefit for the Mikey Murison
Fund, and TYC would like to see a big turnout.

Mikey is a 24-year old sailor well known in the Bay Area as a Richmond YC and SFYC junior sailor, Santana 22 champion, RYC high school FJ coach and 470 class Olympic hopeful. He founded the College of Marin sailing team and led them to the Pacific Coast Championships. He’s a great guy as well, and he is being treated for stomach cancer. The proceeds from the day’s events will help raise funds for Mikey’s recovery. The regatta will be followed by a “huge silent auction,” where you can bid on a Sailing Lesson from Yachtswoman of the Year Liz Baylis and items donated by West Marine, Pineapple Sails, Leatherman, Vanguard, Harken, Wichard, Ronstan, Mt. Gay Rum, Sailnet and Latitude 38 – and this is just a partial list. Guys are welcome at the auction and the $7 barbecue dinner.

Mikey (driving) in his Olympic 470 campaign Photo Courtesy SF470

A Racing Seminar by women’s sailing champion Marcia Peck will
precede the race.

See www.tyc.org
for more information, race instructions and entry form. The deadline
to enter is August 18.

Poobah to Wander over to Corinthian Tomorrow

August 13 – Tiburon

Having just wandered back to the Bay Area
after a sojourn in SoCal (see top story), the Wanderer/Poobah
will give a presentation tomorrow night at the Corinthian YC
on the Baja Ha-Ha.

Last night he visited a crowd at the Long
Beach Singles Sailing Association, and here is some feedback
he got, “Just want to say THANK YOU so very much for what
was the best presentation that they have had in the year that
I have been a member there. People raved about it long after
you left. I think that you have started a new fan club here in
the hinter lands of Los Angeles.

“The vignettes with each slide certainly
revealed your excellent wit and sense of humor. All in all a
smashing success! There were 2-3 more people who talked to me
after the meeting about wanting to take their boats on the Ha-Ha
either this year or next.”

Don’t miss out – head over to the Corinthian
YC at 43 Main Street in Tiburon tomorrow night, August 14, 6-9
pm. This event is sponsored by KKMI. Admission is $10 per person.
Visit www.cyc.org/speakers
or call (415) 435-4771 if you have questions.

YOTREPS

August 13 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht
tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.

Weather Updates

August 13 – Pacific
Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

Check out this guide to San Francisco Bay
Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html.

To see what the winds are like on the Bay
and just outside the Gate right now, check out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind.

The National Weather Service site for San
Francisco Bay is at www.wrh.noaa.gov/Monterey.

California Coast Weather

Looking for current as well as recent wind
and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena
and the Mexican border? Here’s the place – which has further
links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Southwest.shtml.

Pacific Winds and Pressure

The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology
page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric
pressure and winds.

Pacific Sea State

The site for the Pacific Ocean sea states
has moved to http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/PacRegSSA.shtml.

For views of sea states anywhere in the world,
see http://www.oceanweather.com/data.