January 11, 2001

By Grzegorz | January 11, 2001

Photos of the Day

January 11 – St. Barts

As reported a couple of weeks ago, the Wanderer
flew to St. Barts in the Caribbean hoping to take ‘Latitude 38’
readers ‘along’ for a sailing vacation. So what happened? After
two quick reports, a combination of computer problems, phone
problems, and a virtual collapse of island communications, the
Wanderer became frustrated and fed up – that he decided to concentrate
on vacationing while in the islands and on working while at home.

Back now, we’ve got lots to report. But we’re jet-lagged, so
we’ll start slow with two photos. The first photo is of Susan
Stromsland, formerly of Santa Barbara and San Francisco, but
currently of Tampa. She’s seen posing next to a Lewmar 122 winch
on the brand new S&S designed 112-ft ‘Zingaro’. The Lewmar
was the Wanderer’s battle station during the 6th annual St. Barts
New Year’s Eve Parade. Susan handled the runners on a winch almost
as big. A 112-ft boat is huge to be sure, but as always, there
were lots bigger boats racing in St. Barts. Anyway, the photo
is for the IRS as proof that the Wanderer really was working
in the Caribbean.

The second photo is of some of the holiday fleet that tied up
at the St. Barts commercial dock for New Year’s Eve. Normally,
we’re not much interested in powerboats, but this photo illustrates
a couple of points. One is that today’s private yachts are becoming
as large as or even larger than some cruise ships. To appreciate
the size of ‘Tatoosh’, which is in the foreground, check out
the size of the cars on the dock and the sailboat on the far
end. The sailboat that looks to be about 40-ft is actually the
112-ft ‘Zingaro’. At about 300-ft, the Pacific Northwest based
‘Tatoosh’ is so big that she can carry plenty of toys – such
as the owner’s 43-ft sailboat – right on deck. Yet ‘Tatoosh’
was far from the largest yacht in the harbor. For example, the
owner’s brother was there with his 350-ft motoryacht ‘Grand Bleu’,
anchored a short distance away. She carries a 67-ft sailboat,
‘Bellatrix’, on her deck. Here’s a fun mini quiz for those who
follow big boats and big money: Who are the two boat-loving brothers
from the Pacific Northwest who own these boats? Two hints: One
of them left his 118-ft daysailer – which won the St. Barts Parade
last year – in Newport so she could get a complete refit. Two:
One of them just sold his house in Tiburon to Andre Aggasi for
$23 million.

If you got the names of the two brothers right, perhaps you’d
like to go for some extra credit: Name the two other guys from
the Pacific Northwest who were also in St. Barts for the holidays
– and who have even more money? This illustrates yet another
point, which is that lots of West Coast big boat guys have discovered
the Caribbean in general, and St. Barts for New Years in particular.
(Send your answers to Richard.)

A winch aboard Zingaro

Big and bigger boats in St. Barts
Photos Latitude/Richard

We’ll have more tomorrow – including, perhaps, a somewhat
shocking revelation: That boats over 65 feet aren’t really that
much fun.

The Race Update

January 11 – Atlantic Ocean

If you’ve been following The Race, you know that the lead
boats have crossed the equator.

After more than ten days at sea, the giant ‘Club Med’ catamaran
continues to lead The Race. The pace set by the leading boats
has been breathtaking, with 4,100 miles sailed since the start,
and a potential record average speed
currently being maintained. The record for distance sailed in
a 24 hour period is 625.7 miles, an average of 27 knots, which
was set by ‘Club Med’ last May. But it may soon fall.

Early this morning skipper Grant Dalton reported the following:
“The pace has cracked on over the last hour or so, we are
doing between 26 and 32 knots constantly. Over the next 24 hours
the 24-hour record might tumble.”

But ‘Club Med’ is not the only boat sailing at high speed. Right
beside them in relative terms is Cam Lewis’ ‘Team Adventure’,
slightly further north and west, something that represents just
46 miles more in distance to sail to the finish. Both boats are
sailing in effectively the same conditions, beam winds of up
to 20 knots and a small sea running from the North.

Dalton said: “This continues to be a show of strength between
‘Team Adventure’ and ourselves. Neither boat can back off whilst
the other is running this fast. Normally the rich get richer
going South but we are right beside ‘Team Adventure’ so there
is no breakaway. ‘Innovation Explorer’ however seems to be wallowing
back there nearly 250 miles behind.”

Aboard ‘Club Med’
Photos Courtesy ‘Club Med’

In a normal state of affairs on a circumnavigation this section
of the course, descending down the west side of the South Atlantic,
is relatively straight forward with few tactical choices to be
made. Approaching the bottom of the Saint Helena High is when
boats start to cut the corner and turn towards the southeast
and enter the Southern Ocean. The point at which the boats start
to turn left is the next big decision. But as Grant Dalton pointed
out this morning: “Nothing is straight forward when you
are doing 30 knots, and to cap it all the South Atlantic High
is moving around a lot at the moment. It is not stable. But this
is really neat racing; we are all loving it.”

For the latest from ‘Club Med’, visit: www.catamaran.clubmed.fr.

Cruising

A New Year for ‘Fellowship’

January 9 – Pacific Ocean

“A new year and new plans,” report Sally Andrew and
Foster Goodfellow of the Alameda-based Yamaha 33 ‘Fellowship’.
After 10 years of cruising mostly the South Pacific, Foster and
I have decided we would like to return to the Pacific Northwest
for a few years of Alaskan and British Columbian cruising, or
alternatively move back to the Bay Area and a liveaboard/work
situation if the opportunity presented itself.

“Call us crazy, because we really love it here in the southwest
Pacific, but Foster has been under the weather for a year with
inner ear and balance problems. The doctors haven’t been able
to help, so ocean voyaging and rolly anchorages are off the agenda
for the time being. It’s a bit of a challenge after 10 years in
the tropics, but hopefully we’ve stored up enough vitamin D. But
it also means that we must seriously think about selling ‘FellowShip’.
We are now in New Caledonia and, at the end of cyclone season,
I will find crew to help me sail her to Australia’s east coast.
We will cruise around Australia waters until a suitable offer
comes our way.

“If anybody in Latitude land is interested, ‘Fellowship’
is a 1981 Yamaha 33, ten-year South Pacific veteran, well maintained
and fully equipped, that will arrive in Australia mid-May 2001
looking for new foster-parents. We will consider a trade for boat
or property.” Contact Sally and Foster at by
email.

YOTREPS

January 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 www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/

Unpleasant Duty on the Bay

January 11 – San Francisco Bay

“On Christmas morning, my girlfriend and I were motoring
near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge with no particular place to
go,” reports John Mullany of the Brickyard Cove based ‘Windsong’,
“when we heard the Coast Guard broadcast that someone had
jumped from the 185-ft tall span of the bridge about an hour before.
I was surprised that there were no Coast Guard boats or helicopters
out looking for the person, so we skirted the abutments and nearby
buoys hoping to find the jumper hanging on to something. The
Coast Guard finally arrived about 2 1/2 hours after the initial
report. While they were buzzing around by the bridge, we discovered
the body floating about a mile north, drifting with the current.
We got the attention of the Coast Guard by using a smoke flare,
and within minutes of our sad discovery two tugs and a helicopter
were on the scene. The helicopter provided a nice breeze on an
otherwise very calm morning.

“I’m curious why the Coast Guard took so long to respond.
Falling 185 feet into water is not a ‘death on impact’ fall. The
man could have been alive for 30 minutes or longer before hypothermia
kicked in. I read nothing in the papers about the incident the
next day. Is there a policy not to report jumpers?”

We’ll look into this a bit, but we know it’s the policy of the
Coast Guard to immediately respond to jumpers. Unfortunately,
it’s an all too common occurrence, as the Coasties regularly have
to retrieve several bodies a month, mostly from the Golden Gate.
Contrary to your statement, a 185-foot fall into the water often
results in death on impact. When it doesn’t, there are usually
terrible injuries. On the other hand, a person in good health
can often survive in the Bay for several hours.

Weather Updates

January 11 – 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/.

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 Ocean Weather

You can view the University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology
satellite picture by clicking
here.

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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