October 24, 2002

Graphic of the Day

October 24 – Mexico’s West Coast

Today’s Graphic of the Day is of the very
powerful 140-knot Hurricane Kenna, which is sweeping up the coast
of mainland Mexico and is expected to make landfall within 36
hours. There are tropical storm warnings from as far south as
Manzanillo, and hurricane warnings as far north as Mazatlan.
Much of the prime cruising grounds along Mexico’s Gold Coast
are and will be getting nailed with huge surf, but the real damage
will be done by the approaching winds, storm surge, and rain.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for all the sailors, boats,
marina facilities, and ports in Kenna’s path.

Graphic Unisys Weather
Courtesy http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/e_pacific/2002/index.html

For about 450 other people looking forward
to starting the Baja Ha-Ha next Tuesday, the obvious question
is how the hurricane might affect the Ha-Ha. Lauren Spindler,
Ha-Ha Honcho, issued the following statement: “While Hurricane
Kenna is not predicted to come within hundreds of miles of the
Ha-Ha course, we’re naturally concerned that the conditions necessary
for a tropical storm or hurricane might continue to exist at
the southern extremes of the Ha-Ha course this late in the season.
So we’re currently checking with our weather sources regarding
upper level conditions and ocean water temperatures in those
areas. As of today, Thursday at 10:30 a.m., I can say that the
Skipper’s Meeting and Kick-Off Costume Party will be held in
San Diego on Sunday as scheduled, and I expect the Ha-Ha to start
on Tuesday. Safety, however, is the primary concern of the Ha-Ha,
so, based on the weather conditions, we will also be drawing
up contingency plans such as: 1) Doing the first leg to Turtle
Bay – where the water is now too cold for hurricanes – and reevaluate;
2) Postpone the event a week. 3) Postpone the event a month.
I’m acutely aware that any changes in the original schedule will
cause inconvenience and expense, but it’s better to deal with
those than recklessly sailing into a tropical storm or worse.
I’ll have an updated announcement on ‘Lectronic tomorrow.”

Things Are Getting Juicy in Round Robin
II of the Louis Vuitton Series

October 24 – Auckland, NZ

The Prada chief blew a gut after a bad
first round, canned head designer Doug Peterson, and had the
bow dramatically modified to his own liking. In a move likely
to set back yacht design, the result has been three straight
wins, the latter two against Oracle BMW and Dennis Conner.

It’s not surprising then that mercurial
Larry Ellison, no doubt unhappy after Oracle started so well
and then faltered so badly, has done the nearly unthinkable by
bringing in Chris Dickson. The Kiwi skipper had been put on the
sidelines nearly two years ago after reportedly being a corrosive
influence on the team. Dickson is now the primary helmsman and
manager of sailing operations. Peter Holmberg, John Cutler, and
Bill Erkelens are all still valuable members of the team, but
Dickson has obviously gotten a huge promotion. He promptly went
out and got Oracle back on the winning track, although it was
against the ‘Latin Rascals’, who are a lower grade opponent.
Will the talented Dickson be too new to the boat and too rusty
to win against the top competition? Will his intensity be just
what Oracle needs? How many of the old team members might quit
in protest? How long before Ellison calls in Paul Cayard, also
still under contract? Oh yeah, it’s getting good!

In another interesting development, Alinghi
handed OneWorld their first loss of the series. It’s clear that
both these teams will make the double elimination foursome, what
other two syndicates will join them?

SCOREBOARD
9-1 Alinghi Challenge
9-1 One World Challenge
6-4 Oracle BMW Racing
6-4 Prada Challenge
5-4 GBR Challenge
4-5 Victory Challenge
4-6 Team Dennis Conner
1-9 Mascalzone Latino
0-10 Le Defi Areva

The ‘Land Canal’ and Nautical Stairway

October 24 – Santa Rosalillita, Baja California

A protected harbor at little Santa Rosalillita,
some 300 miles south of San Diego on the Pacific Coast of Baja,
is the first step in the establishment of Mexico’s ‘Nautical
Stairway’ from California to Mexico, and a proposed ‘land canal’
between Baja and the Pacific Coast. Mac and Mary Shroyer, owners
of Marina de La Paz, took a drive to Santa Rosalillita – the
name is spelled incorrectly on the billboard – where they took
the accompanying photographs and filed the following report:

“We drove to Santa Rosalillita to
see what has and hasn’t been done. (We were told by the man who
sells gas at the Bahia de Los Angeles turnoff that work is going
on on that part of the road.) The road from the TransPeninsular
Highway to the Pacific Coast has the same 4 kilometers of paving
that we saw last year. The rest is pretty awful going, with sharp
gravel and washboard. Note the graffito on the billboard, as
someone doesn’t believe that 100,000 will be helped.”

Big tanks

Washboard road

YOTREPS

October 24 – 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

October 24 – 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/.