December 9, 2002

Photo of the Day

December 9 – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

International terrorist? Today’s Photo
of the Day is of political correctness run amok. The lovely little
lady in the photo is four-year-old Alexandra ‘Lexi’ Gross, who
is cruising with her parents and three siblings aboard the Alaska-based
Paine sloop Evolution. After doing the Ha-Ha, the family
sailed to Puerto Vallarta, then flew to New York to spend Thanksgiving
with relatives. When about to board the Continental flight to
New York, little Lexi was taken aside by security officials for
extra searching to make sure she wasn’t . . . what, getting ready
to blow the plane up? Sure, she’s got a mischievously cute little
smile, but was this crazy or what?

Lexi wasn’t the only Gross child to have
problems in Mexico. Arian, six, T-boned the edge of one of the
Paradise Resort and Marina pools with the his nose while swimming.
Fortunately, both parents are physicians and Arian’s a tough
little guy, so the pool probably suffered more than anything.

Photos Latitude/Richard

Did We Do Something Bad in a Previous
Life?

December 9 – Victoria, BC

“In December 2001, Latitude
ran an item about Les MacNeill and Marcia Stromsmoe, who were
viciously beaten while ashore at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, while
en route back to their Victoria, BC, homeport aboard their boat
Rio Nimpkish,” writes James MacNeill. “To update
the story, they were medically evacuated to Australia and then
Canada. Marcia is almost fine, with what she estimates 90% of
her previous abilities. Les is physically fine, but has suffered
a serious brain injury. He has lost short term memory and abstraction
abilities – numbers, time, names. Fortunately, he can remember
everything up to the attack, and retains his sense of humor and
spirit. He refuses to ‘let that *#!#%&! ruin his life’.

“Marcia returned to Rabaul with three
friends to deliver Rio Nimpkish back to Victoria. They
learned the boat, which had been put in care of a local yacht
club, had been broken into twice! It all makes Les and Marcia
wonder if they are having to atone for something bad they’d done
in a previous life. In any event, the boat was sailed back to
Victoria where, sadly, she was sold in September.

“While a lot of stuff had been taken
during the theft, perhaps the worst losses were of photos and
their address book. Les
and Marcia would love to hear from any and all of the cruisers
they met in Mexico, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Niue,
Tonga, New Zealand or Australia. They can be contacted at: 583
Toronto Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 1P1; or (250) 381-2176. They
give their season’s greetings to all.”

America’s Cup Inaction

December 9 – Auckland, NZ

Yesterday was supposed to be the start
of the matches between Oracle BMW and Alinghi – which just dropped
a mast the day before – and OneWorld and Prada. Unfortunately,
for the 15th time in 42 days, the wind didn’t cooperate, so there
was no racing. Under the Louis Vuitton rules – which are set
by the challengers for their own best interest – there is no
racing if the wind is blowing less than seven knots or over 19
knots.

The big action was ashore, where it was
ruled that the OneWorld Challenge will have a point deducted
in each round for however much longer they are able to stay alive
on their America’s Cup effort. This because for the second time
an arbitration panel ruled they had broken the regatta’s rules
for possessing and using design material that belonged to the
New Zealand team. Designer Ian Mitchell told the panel he had
a computer disk which contained six to eight Team New Zealand
files detailing design and structural material from their 2000
campaign. He also had files on an old computer from his days
with Team New Zealand’s 1995 campaign. Neither he nor OneWorld
had declared the information in previous affidavits submitted
to the panel at an earlier hearing on the case. OneWorld opponents
will have a point taken away from them in each round rather than
their opponents getting a free win.

Columbia
Arrives in Port, and All Are Well

December 9 – Manzanillo, Mexico

The mystery of what happened to the 48-ft
sailing adventure sloop Columbia, which left Vancouver,
BC, way back on October 22 for Mazatlan, with a skipper and two
paying crew, is over. And the news is good. They have arrived
safe, sound, well rested and well fed, at Manzanillo, Mexico.
The only problem was they’d found very little wind on their offshore
route. Well, that and the fact the captain apparently didn’t
feel there was a need for a Satphone, SSB, ham radio or other
device with which to stay in contact with shore.

“They were becalmed in mid-ocean for
almost two weeks, and the prevailing winds took them further
south than anticipated,” reports Michael Pordes of Favonius,
a friend of the parents of Darren Lewis, one of the paying crew.

“Columbia
arrived in Mexico during the weekend, meaning all the official
offices were closed, so the two crew weren’t able to fly home
until Monday. Lewis’ parents are ecstatic, relieved, and
celebrating – and asked me to thank the Latitude 38 staff
and all the cruisers and radio operators who put out the word
to be on the lookout for Columbia.”

Chili Cook-Off for a Good Cause

December 9 – Nuevo Vallarta

Saturday was the annual Chili Cook-Off
at sponsoring Paradise Resort and Marina to benefit a regional
school for developmentally disabled children. As you can see
from the photo, which was able to capture only a fraction of
the crowd, a large group turned out for the fine cause. Judging
by the flatulence in the area, the event was once again successful.

We were fortunate to have had to work aboard
Profligate in Banderas Bay this last week, and can report
that it was very warm, there were great surfing waves – head
high all day at La Launcha on Saturday – the whales were arriving
in force, and life was very, very good. More in the next few
days.

Teapot Tony, local master mechanic

A beautiful and bodacious blonde crewmember
from LT Sea with a wonderful smile

YOTREPS

December 9 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS –
‘yacht reports’ – at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps.

Weather Updates

December 9 – 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.