Somebody stole my favorite stick! Today’s
Photo of the Day is of a bunch of Profligate crew sitting
on or around the Wanderer’s favorite surfboard at Isla Grande
near Ixtapa/Z-town early this month.
Photo Dustin
Two days later, we moved Profligate
into Ixtapa Marina while we returned to the States to resume
work. A day later this beloved board – an 11-ft single fin Surf
Tech shaped by Mickey Munoz with wood veneer with a band of purple
colored Hawaiian doodling – was ripped off by some miscreant.
If you should happen to see this board, please seize it on our
behalf. You’ll be justly rewarded. The theft comes as a major
surprise to us, as Elsa, the very pleasant harbormaster, and
several tenants assured us the harbor had excellent security.
We suppose we should have invited some of the resident crocs
to stay aboard during our absence.
Zihua Sail Fest
February 11 – Zihua Bay, Mexico
Zihua Sail Fest seems to be an event whose time has come, as
over the February 1-3 Super Bowl Weekend, some 40 yachts gathered
in Z-town for three days of parades, sailing, socializing – and
excellent fund-raising. The following boats participated: Wasabi,
Marna Lynn, Volante, Scarlett O’Hara, MMildred, Loncia, In The
Mood, El Pacificio, Spot, Dry Martini, Kamielle, Hard on the
Wind, Saucy Lady, La Vie Dansante, Kynda, Sunrise, Mariah, Wings,
Seraphy, Catherine Scott, Observer, Abraxas, Fairwind, Halcyon,
Capricorn Cat and Profligate. In addition, the crews
of many other boats anchored in the harbor joined in by sailing
on other boats, donating money, or getting in on the beach activities.
This was an event that almost didn’t happen
again. The Wanderer had dreamed of a semi-organized late January
sailing event in Z-town for the last two years – in part because
it would give him an impetus to make the 200-mile sail south
of Manzanillo, the southern tip of Mexico’s Gold Coast. Friends
Jan and Signe aboard the Deerfoot 64 Raven, and Blair
and Joan Grinols aboard the 45-ft Capricorn Cat, gave
positive response to the concept, with the Grinols agreeing to
take any and all aboard in a fund-raising race against Profligate.
Alas, it didn’t come together last winter, and by mid-January,
it looked like lassitude was once again going to rule. That’s
when Rick of Rick’s Bar, Jimmie Zinn of Dry Martini, and
other cruisers really picked up the ball, making arrangements
with the port captain and navy, getting shirts made, and beer
donated. With them having done so much work, there was no way
we could not come down with Profligate.
The Zihua Fest started with a Friday sunset
raft-up aboard Profligate and Capricorn Cat, with
snacks brought by cruisers, and many cases of beer provided by
Sol and Corona. Originally it was just going to be a dinghy-in
party on Profligate, but fortunately the ever cooperative
Blair decided at the last moment to bring his cat over for a
raft-up. It was a good thing he did, because nearly 100 people
showed up. Everyone had a fine time and enjoyed the sunset for
which Z-town is renowned.
Saturday was the boat parade around the
harbor and up to Ixtapa, where boats set sails to try and sail
back to Z-town in light air. The fleet was honored to have the
port captain, well-liked by the cruisers, and other dignitaries
lead the way. A film crew also came down from Mexico City – alas,
it was an unusually hazy day with very, very little wind. Oh
well.
That night there was a big burger fest
with traditional entertainment at Rick’s Bar. During the evening
festivities, Jimmie Zinn introduced some kids from the Netzahualcoyotl
Indian School in Z-town, as the school would be the recipient
of the funds raised.
Photo Latitude/Richard
On Superbowl Sunday, Adam Sadeg of Blarney
3 organized beach games, while Capricorn Cat and Profligate
had their match race for charity. Cap Cat took about 30
guests, while the larger Profligate carried about 40.
Things didn’t look good at the start, as there was almost no
wind. Fortunately, there was about 6 to 8 knots later in the
day so we had some decent sailing with the nylon sails up.
As always, the waters outside of Z-town
were bluer than blue, and the race was briefly interrupted so
everybody could take an offshore swim – something that might
add interest to the America’s Cup. After most of the crew were
recovered, the racing was resumed. Down by the leeward mark of
Guano Island, a humpback whale made a dramatic breech, and for
the next five minutes slapped the water. The Wanderer likes to
think he was waving to him.
All Photos Dustin Except as Marked
Volvo Ocean Race
February 11 – South Atlantic Ocean
illbruck rounded Cape Horn at 0838 GMT Sunday in a very
favorable current which allowed her to open up on the trailing
fleet. Next around was Amer Sports One at 1348 GMT, followed
by Tyco less than three minutes after. illbruck
is stretching distance away from the fleet towards the Falkland
Islands with the fleet stuck in the Estrecho de Le Maire. This
is a 20 mile-wide channel between the eastern tip of Argentina
and Isla de los Estrados, where the current can run from anything
between five and even up to eight knots in places. Positions
on February 11 at 0400 GMT: 1. illbruck, 2,063 miles to
finish; 2. Amer Sports One, 74 miles behind leader; 3. Team Tyco, 74 mbl; 4. News Corp, 83 mbl; 5. Assa
Abloy, 84 mbl; 6. djuice, 101 mbl; 7. Amer Sports
Too, 542 mbl 8. Team SEB, 928 mbl. For more, see www.volvooceanrace.com
Corrections on a Dismasting
February 11 – Southern Ocean
In Thursday’s ‘Lectronic, we
passed on word that SEB seemed to have lost her mast during
a lull in Southern Ocean conditions during the Volvo Ocean Race.
Based on the following report from skipper Gurra Krantz from
onboard SEB, this wasn’t true at all. It actually was
a case of too much wind in combination with really bad waves:
“Conditions were as hard as one can
only imagine. Snow storms and winds up to 48 knots in the squalls.
Really freaky waves, as always down here. We had a storm chute,
small jiffy reef in the main, and a storm jib in the foil just
in case. The gradient wind varied from 28-32 knots. Conditions
change from very hard to severe in just a few seconds. Pitch
black, snow and the power of the wind just became too much. The
spinnaker was rigged with a ‘martin-braker’ – emergency release
to trigger the shackle that holds the spinnaker at the spinnaker
pole, which can be operated from the deck. We did not even have
time to release the spinnaker with the ‘martin-braker’ when the
wind shift and strong gust with snow came in. We went flat on
our side the wrong way. I believe, had the rig not broken, we
could have totally submerged the boat.
“The big waves came in through the
companionway. Remember the knockdown of Amer Sports One? We
have two companionways further apart, further outboard. The rig
did not have a failure itself: It was a result of us being knocked
over. We do not know whether hitting the mast in the water and
overloading it, or something else caused the mast to break. Likely
speed of SEB when hitting the rig in the water was 27
knots, so the loads on the rig when smacking the water must have
been enormous. After this giant hand pulled the boat over, there
was water flooding through the hatch and then a first bang, which
was followed by the sound of breaking carbon.
“The hull, which was over at 90 degrees,
stood up as the rig gave away over the side. The terrible noise
of breaking parts and water moving around inside was left for
us. A quick check that everybody was still onboard and not injured
took away the first knot in the stomach. We then went ahead and
tried to get the rig organized and back onboard, but it seemed
too dangerous after a while. The splinters of damaged parts of
carbon were everywhere, just waiting to cut somebody up. To wait
four hours for daylight was not an option. By then the hull would
have been severely damaged. The waves were doing their best to
increase the damages when the mast tube was crushing on the sheer
line. By far the safest option was to let it go.”
Photo Oskar Kihlborg/ Magnus Woxen/Denniz Corsman/Team SEB
YOTREPS
February 11 – 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/
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/stuff/southwest/swstmap.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.
