February 14, 2002

By Grzegorz | February 14, 2002

Photo of the Day

February 14 – Union Island, Windward Islands

The Photo of the Day is of Union Island
in the Windward Islands, and is it not enough to make you Caribbean
blue on a gray winter day in California? The shot comes from
Chris Doyle’s Web site on the Eastern Caribbean, where he tells
you about all the islands. Doyle, you might know, is the author
of several excellent cruising guides published by Cruising Guide
Publications of Florida. In fact, the 7th edition of his Cruising
Guide to the Windward Islands was just released. For more
goodies, check out www.doyleguides.com/index.html.

Photo Courtesy Chris Doyle

Cowabunga!!

February 14 – Ixtapa, Mexico

A few days ago, we reported that our Mickey Munoz Ultra-Glide
surfboard had been stolen from Profligate at Ixtapa Marina.
We’re thrilled to report that this didn’t happen at all. The
mistake was the result of our forgetfulness and an error in communication.
Our apologies to Ixtapa Marina.

Dirty Deed in Z-Town

February 14 – Zihuatanejo, Mexico

A short time after we learned our surfboard hadn’t been stolen
in Ixtapa, we received the unfortunate news that there had been
a theft from nearby Z-town. Here’s the details:

“We left Puerto Vallarta on January
14, headed for Panama and the Caribbean,” report Tom and
Kathy Knueppel of the San Francisco-based Island Packet 40 Tai
Tam II. “We have had a wonderful 16 months here in Mexico
and are now looking forward to other cultures and experiences.
Currently in Acapulco before leaving for Huatulco to cross the
Gulf of Tehuantepec, we wanted to give some advice to other cruisers
in Mexico.

“Like most cruisers, we became so
enamored by the friendly Mexican people and their honesty and
kindness – that we never thought much about locking our boat
when away from her for a few hours. Well, it finally happened
to us. We had arrived in Zihuatanejo on January 22, and anchored
in front of Playa La Ropa amongst about 60-70 other boats. On
the evening of the 23rd, we dinghied over to Starfoam,
a nearby boat to have dinner and socialize with old friends.
When we got back to our boat at about 10 pm, we found that someone
had come onboard and relieved us of our new Notebook computer,
a set of expensive binoculars, a set of used Tevas shoes (who
would want raggedy shoes?) and Kathy’s purse – with all of our
credit cards and her driver’s license. There was no cash in the
purse. It looks as though the thieves may have been disturbed
by our old and totally deaf dog Moo Shoo, as they missed my wallet
and open cash lying next to the computer, a hand-held VHF in
the companionway, and a spare set of Fujinon binoculars. The
computer was carefully unplugged and no other damage done.

La Ropa Anchorage
Photo Latitude/Richard

“We received a lot of help and encouragement
from the cruising community, as well as Rick of Rick’s Bar. We
did report the theft to the Port Captain and the Tourist Police,
but we’re not sure how much help that was. So our message is
to be a bit more cognizant that others around you may see you
as a very wealthy gringo and be tempted. Therefore, use
common sense and secure your boat appropriately. This does not
mean making it into a fortress – but then you wouldn’t leave
your car open in a downtown area in the USA with its windows
rolled down and the car key in the ignition, right?

“This unfortunate experience has not
changed our opinion about the wonderful, kindhearted, generous
and warm Mexican people, and we – who have lived in seven countries
– believe that Mexico is one of the safest places to be. We should
just not be lulled into complacency by this wonderful country
and need to use basic common sense. By the way, the Zihua Sail
Fest was a blast, and the organizers deserve all the credit they
can get.”

Our only comment is that we wouldn’t assume
that the theft was the doing of Mexicans. This may sound blasphemous,
but we’ve cruised a lot of places where there were thefts from
boats, and on too many occasions the perps were other cruisers
or folks who had crewed on boats.

Tenacatita Regatta

February 13 – Tenacatita Bay, Mexico

We recently reported on the Zihua Sail Fest, but there was also
a mellow cruiser regatta at Tenacatita Bay, Mexico, (about 250
miles north of Z-town) around the same time. Here’s the report
from Alan Wulzen aboard Silhouette:

“On February 4, we held a rather humorous
sailing event here on one of Mexico’s best bays. The pleasant
fiasco involved 27 of the 41 boats in the anchorage, and 58 sailors.
The ‘rules of engagement’ were simple. Boats would be handicapped,
and would sail a course that took them to Tenacatita Beach, the
little village of La Manzanilla, and back to the original anchorage.
The unique thing is that at each ‘mark’, the boats anchored and
the crew – except for the skipper – swam or rowed to shore, bought
and drank beers or soft drinks, returned to the boats, raised
anchor, and sailed on! The race was monitored on VHF 22, so the
rest of the fleet could follow the progress. The winners were
required to buy a round for the entire fleet, so the incentive
to win had its drawbacks!

“The event was the brainchild of Pete
Wolcott of the Hawaii-based Santa Cruz 52 Kiapa, I was
the organizer, and together we made up the race committee. We
hatched the idea on Thursday, announced it at a dinghy raft-up
on Friday, shared it on the net on Saturday, and had nine boats
racing on Monday! By the way, I placed myself on Rick and Elkie
Cunningham’s Alden 54 Mithrandir – was that ever a sweet
ride!”

It sounds like a terrific event – in fact, we wished it had been
held a few days earlier when we were there and captured this
shot of Kiapa sailing under main alone away from Manzanilla.
Here’s a couple other shots of Tenacatita:

Wulzen (we think) and his family in their dink;

Restaurant Martin, the most celebrated in Manzanilla;

three of our crew expressing horror at the collapse of the hotel
in the background;

and the beautiful Tamarind Hotel anchorage, which is across from
where everybody else seems to anchor.

Photos Latitude/Richard

Kostecki and Illbruck Continue
to Lead Volvo Race

February 14 – South Atlantic

Positions on February 14 at 0359 GMT: 1. illbruck, 1,267
miles to finish; 2. Amer Sports One, 58 miles behind leader;
3. Team Tyco, 63 mbl; 4. Assa Abloy, 89 mbl; 5.
djuice, 90 mbl;. 5. News Corp, 98 mbl; 7. Amer
Sports Too, 508 mbl 8. Team SEB, 1,264 mbl. For the
latest news see www.volvooceanrace.com.

Bruno and the Orange About to Start

February 14 – Brest, France

Officials report that Frenchman Bruno Peyron
and 13 crew will take off tomorrow aboard the maxi cat Orange
in quest of the Jules Verne Around The World Record. Oliver de
Kersauson is expected to start in about a week with his 120-ft
trimaran Geronimo.

You think you know multihull sailing? Who
were the first two to race a multihull around the world non-stop?
(Answers to Richard.)

YOTREPS

February 14 – 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

February 14 – 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 has moved
to 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/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.

Pacific Sea State

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

For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.

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