The Richardson Bay anchorage is getting
a little crowded again, as evidenced by the above picture. It
was shot on Sunday afternoon, after a storm front on Saturday
reshuffled the anchor-out deck. Best caption before Friday morning
wins a Latitude 38 T-shirt!
Richmond YC Small Boat Midwinters
December 8 – Richmond Riviera
The first of four Richmond YC Small Boat
Midwinters was held yesterday, with over 100 dinghies competing
on three different circles. It was a splendid day for sailing,
with sunny skies and a steady 12-15 knot northwesterly which
gusted higher by the end of the day. There were lots of capsizes
near the end of the day, when winds approached 20 knots. At least
one boat, a Laser, broke its mast, and a Byte sailor and a Banshee
sailor were rescued by crash boats and taken to safety (their
boats were retrieved later). Aboard the Latitude photoboat,
we picked up (and subsequently returned) a swimmer, a Wylie Wabbit
crewmember who had gotten ejected in a violent round-up. He reported
that, yes, the water was very chilly.
Photos Latitude/Rob
Results will be up tomorrow on www.richmondyc.org. Projected winners include
Tracy Usher (Laser), Greg Byrne (Wabbit), Andy Goodman (Snipe).
See the January issue of Latitude
38for more.
Seaweed Soup
December 8 – San Francisco
Golden Gate YC served up the second helping
of their Manny Fagundes Seaweed Soup Midwinters on Saturday,
which was devoured by 73 boats in nine classes. The bigger boats
reached around the Bay on an 8.4-mile course, while the little
ones did a 6.8-mile parade up and down the Cityfront.
Course options were once again limited
by the southerly breeze and the fixed starting line off the GGYC
deck (for the pricey $80 entry, why not at least provide a race
committee boat?). Fortunately, the race was over by about 1 p.m.,
and most competitors were already home when torrential rains
and winds blew through.
Class winners were Mr. Magoo (J/120,
Steve Madeira), Bodacious (Farr One Ton, Bobbi Tosse), Yucca (8-Meter, Hank Easom), Good Timin’ (J/105,
Wilson/Perkins), Chorus (Kettenburg 38, Peter English), Crew’s Nest (Catalina 34), Narcissus (Knarr, John
Jenkins), Elaine (Santana 22, Pat Broderick), and Frihed
(Folkboat, Bill Madison).
Photos Latitude/Rob
Full results should be posted soon at www.ggyc.org. Also see the January issue of Latitude
38 for more.
Profligate’s
Progress: Mission Accomplished!
December 8 – Antigua
Profligate, Latitude 38’s 63-ft catamaran, arrived in Antigua at 0900
on December 6, completing a 29-day, 3,402-mile passage from Cabo
San Lucas to the Eastern Caribbean via the Panama Canal. Twenty-four
of those days were underway. Strictly a delivery trip, much of
it upwind, required 1,397 gallons of diesel, plus or minus 10%
to take into account the margin of error when buying fuel from
55-gallon drums in Central America for the 540 total hours of
motoring. The fuel stops were short and to the point: Barra for
45 minutes; Acapulco for six hours; Puesto del Sol, Nicaragua
for three hours; Panama was scheduled for two days to transit
the Canal, but four more days had to be added to haul the boat
to install new saildrives sent down from Florida; 24 hours in
Cartagena, Colombia; and four hours in Aruba.
Congratulations to the crew: Doña
de Mallorca, Wayne Meretsky, Paul Biery, Mike Highfield, Steve
Arehart – and Sarah Terry, who did the trip from Cabo to her
home in Panama. A new addition to the boat in Cabo was a Spectra
watermaker. It was run for 160 hours to create 2,720 gallons
of water – resulting in the best smelling Profligate crew
ever. It proved the point that you’ll use as much water as you
can make.
The Wanderer arrived in Antigua the day
before Profligate, and snagged accommodations for the
night aboard Richard and Grace’s Vancouver-based 39-ft Crocodile
Rock. The Ha-Ha vets had spent 17 long days sailing to the
Caribbean from Virginia. Both Profligate and the Wanderer
arrived in the middle of the Antigua Crewed Charterboat Show,
home to many of the great yachts of the world. One of the first
people the Wanderer bumped into was Mark, who had once filled
in as Captain for Big O many years ago. Mark gave a tour
of his new command, Islander, a 209-ft sailboat that charters
for – sit down – $135,000 a week. The Wanderer was chuffed when
Mark, while backing down the giant yacht to the dock between
two other $20 million yachts, interrupted his attention to flash
the old hands over head in an O sign of Big O. We’ll have
more on the Charterboat Show in an upcoming issue.
Former Big O captain Mark’s new command, Islander.
Mark takes a minute to flash old ‘Big O’ sign.
It’s seasonally warm in the Caribbean,
with varying amounts of wind, rain, and sun. As always, Sunday
night was a big one at Shirely Heights overlooking English and
Falmouth Harbors. Over 1,000 people gathered for a cloudy sunset,
steel drum music, rock ‘n roll, and millions of rum drinks. The
Wanderer hadn’t been back to Antigua in seven years, and found
he missed it greatly. But there’s no time for pleasure. We leave
immediately for St. Barts, then St. Martin for a quick haul out
to repair leaks caused by haulout mistakes in Panama. Then there’s
the matter of having to rush home to finish the January issue.
The kind of yachts you’ll see floating around in Antigua during
early December: Juliet, a 156-footer in front, with the
dark hulled Victoria, which must also be over 150 feet,
in back. We’ve never seen so many flawless mega yachts in one
place.
Profligate hauled at Vocamante to have the saildrives
replaced.
Some of the crew and the boatyard workers at the Vocamante Yard
give the thumbs up on the saildrive replacement.
Mike points out an interesting bit of weather along the way. Photos above Wayne Meretsky
Doña holds up the prop, new in Cabo,
that was damaged hitting something off the coast of Mexico. Repaired
in Panama, it fell apart again during the 1,100-miles upwind
across the Caribbean.
Traditional pan music is still popular in Antigua.
Profligate, resting on the hook
in Falmouth Harbor after the long journey. Photos Latitude/Richard
except as noted
YOTREPS
December 8 – 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.
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.
Former
