January 3, 2003

Photos of the Day

January 3 –
Southern Ocean

We start out the New Year with rainbows
in the Southern Ocean, courtesy the Around Alone Race.

While the Class 1 boats rocket under Australia
with leader Bernard Stamm almost around Tasmania, the Class
2 boats, with the exception of Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America,
are approaching the longitude of Cape Leeuwin on the southwest
corner of Australia. Brad van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom
America passed that famous cape, one of the five great southern
capes, a few days ago. He has a substantial lead in his class
and is sailing a fast, yet conservative race across the bottom
of the world. For more, see www.aroundalone.com.

Tasmania Tease

January 3 – Tasmania

Does anyone remember the Mystery Photo
from December
20? Here it is in case you’ve forgotten:

We ran this as a teaser, not a contest.
The tease has stretched out all through the holidays, but no
more excuses. The photo is from Steve Darden on Adagio, and
we assume it was taken by his wife Dorothy. The unspoiled locale
is Tasmania, specifically the slopes of Mt. Rugby overlooking
Bathurst Channel. You can see many more spectacular photos at
Adagio’s Web site, www.adagiomarine.com.

Anchorage at Moulters Inlet

Adagio at anchor in Wineglass Bay, viewed from
the lookout between Mt. Mayson and Mt. Amos

Carnivorous Forked Sundew plants underfoot
on the walk up to the top of King’s Knob.
All Photos Courtesy Adagio

“Adagio
is now at Sanctuary Cove Resort on the Gold Coast [of Australia],
where I’ve talked the IT Manager into allowing us to connect
our wireless LAN to their corporate network. Happiness is a broadband
connection on the boat!

“We have just done an update to our
Web site, covering the cruising from Tasmania up to Great Barrier
Reef, June to November, 2002. In addition to the new 2002 sections,
there are also lots of new photos in the 2002 section ‘Tasmania
– Sailing Around Hobart.’ In an attempt to convey via image what
some of these beautiful places are like, there are nine new panoramas
on the 2002 page.

“There is a new button at the upper
right of each 2000-2002 page ‘All Cruise Reports Here’. This
link takes you to sixteen adventure reports from Aug 2000 through
Oct 2002. There are two new articles under the Techno tab: Boom
Furler Issues and Web Site development tips.

“Adagio
will make for Tasmania as fast as the fair winds grant, where
we’ll be cruising for the southern summer. Our current plans
are to sail to NZ in April ’03, Tahiti in April ’04, and Patagonia
in November ’04.”

Steve and Dorothy plan to write in soon
with a more complete report for Changes
in Latitudes. For more on Tasmania, including an interactive
map, see www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm.

Police Investigating Threats Against Alinghi

January 3 – Auckland, NZ

The police are investigating threats made
against the Swiss Alinghi challenger team property, its team
members and their children.
 
According to Alinghi Team Executive Director Michel Bonnefous,
two threatening letters were sent to Alinghi on December 16 and
17. Bonnefous said that the letters were sent from what purported
to be a group of patriotic activists and had spelled out a clear
intention to target the children and families of sailors. The
letters identified team members who have young children, and
warned that the group would damage team members’ property and
inflict violence on their families. They said they had tracked
the movements of children and other family members, and gave
personal details about one crewmember.
 
Jeoff Barraclough, Communications Manager for the America’s Cup
Division of the New Zealand Police, said that the police rate
the issue very seriously. “This isn’t a nasty letter,”
said Barraclough. “This is a threat, and it’s a threat to
harm. So it’s being treated extraordinarily seriously.”

For Sean McNeill’s complete story, see
www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/story1596.html.

YOTREPS

January 3 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht
tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.

Weather Updates

January 3 – 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.