March 9, 2001

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Photos of the Day

March 9 – Isla Isabella, Mexico

One of the most popular stops in Mexico
is Isla Isabella, the nature preserve between Mazatlan and Puerto
Vallarta. These two photos – one of the local bird life, and another
of the rocky-bottomed anchorage – give some indication of why
it’s so popular. Both shots were taken by Mike Miller of the Vanguard
Uhuru.

By the way, his ‘Lectronic Latitude request for women who might be interested in crewing with him got some results. “I already got a response from a woman who did the Ha-Ha,” Mike writes. “And thanks for writing that I was well-groomed. My mother will love that.” If any other women are interesting in contacting Mike – his photo is below and appeared in the March 7 ‘Lectronic – can email him. Photo Latitude/Richard

Above Photos Mike Miller

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Oracle
Racing Sailing for . . . Whom?

March 9 – San Francisco
After Oracle Racing wasn’t able to reach an agreement to sail
for the St. Francis YC, it was expected that they’d quickly sign
up with the California YC of Marina del Rey. But it’s been a while
now, and no such deal has been announced, which makes you wonder
what’s going on. Not being able to sign up with America’s Cup
by March 1 will cost Oracle $150,000 in a late fee. But with the
deadline passed, they now have another year to link up with a
yacht club. Will something be worked out with the St. Francis
YC? From what we hear, nothing has been happening on that front.

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Money and Cruising

March 9 – Around the World

Shortly after typing up Matt Stone’s thoughts on how inexpensive
cruising can be for Wednesday’s
‘Lectronic Latitude, we stumbled across an old email from
Roy Wessbecher who did a five year circumnavigation with the Columbia
34 Breta. It read as follows:

“I kept an exact record of all my expenses
during the circumnavigation. In the four years, nine months and
nine days from Puerto Vallarta, I averaged $14.66 a day. That’s
$5,350 a year or a total of $25,300. I had budgeted $20 a day,
so I came out way ahead. These numbers include every single expenditure.
I didn’t make any flights home, and had no major breakdowns. But
I did do two bottom jobs; one in New Zealand and one in Thailand.”

$14.66 a day! This would seem to reverse
the commonly asked question of, “How can I afford to go cruising?”
to “How can I afford not to go cruising?”

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News from Mexico

March 9 – Tenacatita Bay, Mexico

“The French restaurant in Tenacatita is called Restaurant
Frances, Paris, Tropical. We were in there the day that some authorities
arrived and told them they had one day to shut down because they
were not hiring “union help”. Boy, was that some excuse!
I think the Blue Bay Hotel down the beach a ways complained because
they were taking away business from them. They charged just 7
pesos for beer, and lunches and dinners were very reasonable.
Almost all waterfront restaurants down here now are charging about
the same for dinner as in the States. It’s not like it used to
be. Anyway, the owner of the French restaurant went and talked
to some authorities and probably paid some mordida. In
any event, it opened up again the next day. We did not get a chance
to talk to the French couple before we left.

“There was one boat that got damaged
from lightning in that storm that hit Tenacatita about a week
ago. It was a monohull named Far Country. They lost their
SSB, VHF, radar and GPS. I tried to raise them this afternoon
to find out more particulars, but couldn’t reach them.”

Two Weeks to the Banderas Bay Regatta March 9 – Banderas Bay The Banderas Bay Cruiser’s Regatta is not only one of the best cruiser’s regattas in the world with the best conditions, it’s also free! The March 23-25 event is expected to be bigger than ever this year, and we’ll be back for the fourth year in a row with Profligate. While at Punta Mita late last month, we went surfing with a bunch of other young cruisers, and in the process snagged much of our Banderas Bay crew. They’re seen in the accompanying photo, after a practice sail, in the hot tub at the host Paradise Resort and Marina. We hope to see you on the Banderas Bay race course and in the hot tub at the end of the day.

From left to right, the couples of Ali and Christian of the Sausalito-based Haida 26 Blue Dragon; Deborah and Neal of the Santa Cruz based Vanguard 33 Tranquilo; Steve and Gabby of the Newport Beach based Cheoy Lee 35 Karibu; and Emily and Derek of Sausalito, who sometimes crew on Blue Dragon. The solo guy in front is Mike Miller of the Vanguard 33 Uhuru. Photo Courtesy Profligate

March 9 – 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/

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Weather Updates

March 9 – 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 Sea State

Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you
might 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.