December 20, 2002

Photo of the Day

December 20 – Santa Catalina Island

Today’s Photo of the Day is a wet winter’s
remembrance of those warm summer days of cruising. This shot
is of three girls hiking on the road above Two Harbors, Catalina,
on one of those hot island days. If you look carefully, you can
see the top of the mast of one of the boats – perhaps the Bill
of Rights – in the anchorage. It’s great fun to spend a lot
of time on your boat in Catalina during the summer, but it’s
even more fun for the fact that there’s great hiking above the
anchorages, too. Hurry back summer!

Oracle Wins Wild First Race to Take Two
Race Advantage

December 20 – Auckland, NZ

Seattle’s embattled OneWorld Syndicate
won the start in yesterday’s first race against Oracle BMW, but
then failed to protect the favored left side. This allowed Oracle
BMW to claim the lead, which fluctuated greatly over the next
several legs. At the rounding for the final run to the finish,
Oracle BMW was fortunate to have a mere 10 second lead. As the
boats set asymmetricals, they took off in opposite directions.
OneWorld chose poorly, losing over four minutes on that final
leg. The match was marked by an incredible number of tacks on
the weather leg. According to reports, there were 50 tacks on
one leg, and 60 on yet another. Some grinders must have sore
arms.

Photo Courtesy www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com

The score is now Oracle BMW 1, OneWorld
-1. The latter has a minus point for supposedly possessing design
secrets of the New Zealand team. If Oracle BMW can win just three
of the next seven races, they would advance to January’s Challenger
Finals against Alinghi. The winner of that match would face the
Kiwis.

A Magical Night of Cruising

December 20 – Pacific Ocean

After years of cruising the 46-ft cat he
built between California and Mexico – with the occasional side
trip to the South Pacific – Blair Grinols and friends aboard
Capricorn Cat are headed from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands.
Here’s a recent report:

“Wednesday, the 18th December, 2002.
Jack is on watch at 10 p.m. After a fresh Tuna Veracruz, rice,
and green bean dinner, we sat out on the port stern for a magical
cruising moment that I will try to describe for your mind’s eye.
There is a full moon illuminating puffy white clouds and sending
moonbeams shimmering across the tops of myriad tiny wavelets
streaming toward us from the east. The wind is a mere 10 knots,
and we are under genoa and mainsail on a beam reach traveling
five to six knots through water whose swells barely disturb the
surface. Gazing skyward, the sails appear as great, pale, white
wings thrust upward and eerily lit against the ebonized sky.
The boat glides silently forward except for the sound of water
being gently parted by the hulls skimming across the surface.
This same water then gurgles as it reforms aft the stern. The
breeze blows warmly across the deck as we think about the great
expanse of ocean we are crossing. This is cruising. Blair’s face
lights up with joy as he feels the ship he has created respond
so nimbly. He is still awed by the feeling of Capricorn Cat
sailing across the sea. We feel blessed to have this opportunity
to experience the kind of adventure which, while not for all,
does thrill us.” – Jack

Mystery Photo

December 20

Can you name this cruising sailor and his
boat? Can you name the locale where he’s reading his copy of
Latitude 38? Probably not, which is why this item is really
a ‘teaser’ more than anything else. We’ll have details soon,
details which will prove that the world is far from running out
of rarely visited places to cruise.

YOTREPS

December 20 – 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

December 20 – Pacific
Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

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

Check out the Pacific Ocean sea states
at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.

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