February 14, 2001

Photo of the Day

February 14 – World Headquarters

Crew hats, shirts, foul weather gear and even shorts with
boat names on them have long been a staple in sailing. Now –
apparently on the theory that ‘less is more’ – we’ve received
our first boat thong – a hot pink one, no less. It comes to us
courtesy of Dana Sack of Oakland, who owns the J/105 ‘Hazardous
Waste’. Sack calls the thong “reward wearing apparel.”
Frankly, we don’t know what that means, and were too afraid to
ask. The Victoria’s Secret brand thong has the boat name, boat
type and hull number silk-screened on what little of the front
there is. Since the boat’s name is ‘Hazardous Waste’, it seems
as though it would have been more appropriate if it had been
silk-screened on the back, but with a thong there really isn’t
a back, is there?

Now that we think about it, thongs have actually been used
as racing crew uniforms before, most famously by the legendary
Joel Byerly of Antigua. A terrific sailor who has owned everything
from the great schooner ‘Lord Jim’ to the Olson 30 ‘Ebb Tide’,
Byerly always did Antigua Sailing Week with an all woman crew,
which he outfitted in nothing but black thongs and sandals that
consisted of a couple of strings wrapped around the big toe.
We often thought some of the most dangerous moments in sailing
were off Cades Reef during Sailing Week, because you’d be beating
toward the hard-to-see reef on starboard in 20 knots, and have
to flop away on port – directly into scores of boats from 30
to 120 feet, moving at different speeds, with crews hollering
‘starboard’ in five different languages. And right in the middle
of all this would be a grinning Byerly and his nimble boat full
of nearly naked girls, bare boobs bouncing with the chop. Suddenly,
half the crews and skippers forgot about the race, the other
boats and the reef. No wonder there were so many collisions and
Byerly always did so well.

Speaking of the great schooner ‘Lord Jim’, if you read the
February charter section of Latitude
38, you know that she’ll soon be on her way back to the San
Francisco after completing her fourth circumnavigation. Owners
Holger and Tracy, formerly of Sausalito, are looking for crew.

When Cruising Destinations Become Too Crowded

February 14 – Isla de Cabrera

What’s the solution when some popular cruising destinations don’t
have enough room to accommodate everyone? In many places, it’s
first-come, first-served, so if the place has filled up, you’re
out of luck. But not the lovely island of Cabrera, just five
miles off the coast of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands of Spain,
where authorities want to give everyone a chance to enjoy the
lovely spot. As such, before going there, you must buy a cruising
permit. Even with a permit, a yacht is only allowed one night
in the most popular months of July and August, two nights in
June, and seven nights during the other months of the year. There
is no mercy shown for yachts that don’t adhere to the policy,
and they are booted out!

It’s not far from the glitz of Puerto Portals,
Mallorca, to overloved Isla de Cabrera.
Photo Courtesy Tourist Board

A few days ago we had a shortie on some folks who were making
Puerto Angel, Mexico, a great place for cruisers. Unfortunately,
that’s not true of all the locals.

“I’d like to report a distressing event that took place
onboard my sailboat in December of last year at the beautiful
anchorage of Puerto Angel, Mexico. While cruising up the Mexican
coast en route to points north from the Panama Canal, I was warned
by another cruiser not to stop at Puerto Angel, as he had been
ripped off of much of his gear while anchored there. He, like
me, is a singlehander. When he later confronted a person who
was trying to sell his binoculars, dive gear and fishing rods,
he was told he would be killed if he didn’t leave Puerto Angel
immediately. In addition, he told me that three other cruising
boats had been robbed there.

“I nonetheless decided to pull into Puerto Angel for
one night and leave early the next morning. I felt there wouldn’t
be a problem as long as I remained onboard. Boy was I wrong!
Sometime during the night I was woken up by a noise. I sat up
in my bunk – which that night was in the main salon – and listened
intently. Hearing no more suspicious noises, only the slap of
the waves on the hull and on the beach, I went back to sleep.
But when I awoke before dawn, I realized that my boat had been
boarded and that many items from the immediate vicinity of the
companionway were missing: binoculars, backpack, camera, flashlights
. . . all items that could have been reached from the cockpit.

 
The beach at Puerto Angel
Photo Courtesy Photos Courtesy Joss and Heather
K.

“I wasn’t happy because it’s a potentially very dangerous
situation when thieves board occupied boats. Sooner or later
somebody is going to get hurt. I didn’t report the theft to the
authorities as I didn’t want to get caught up in red tape, nor
did I want to stay there longer and become a victim a second
time. I just wanted out ASAP. I’m still cruising Mexico, and
I would appreciate it if you withheld my name and my boat name.”

Theft from active cruising boats is not common in the main
cruising areas of Mexico, and it’s almost unheard of for thieves
to board occupied boats.

Puerto Vallarta Race

February 14 – Pacific Ocean

Bundled up in winter clothes and looking up at snow on the
Bay Area hills, our thoughts naturally are turning to sunny Mexico.
And with plane tickets to PV as low as $230 on Alaska Airlines
(a deal that came and went last week), why not head south for
a few weeks? A whole bunch of sailors – including seven
Bay Area entries – are doing just that right now in Del
Rey YC’s 16th biennial Puerto Vallarta Race. Five of the eight
classes are underway, with two more classes going off tomorrow
and five boats (‘Pegasus’, ‘GI’, ‘Mongoose’, ‘Pendragon 4’ and
‘Sorcery’) starting on Friday. The latter boats have the best
shot at Joss’s 4 day, 23 hour record – which along with
the Pineapple Cup record is one of the longest-standing ocean
racing records yet to be demolished. Could this be the year?
Check www.dryc.org to watch
the race unfold.