October 27, 2003

Photos of the Day

October 27 – San Diego

One hundred twenty-five boats checked in
yesterday at the Cabrillo Isle Marina in San Diego for the tenth
annual Baja Ha-Ha rally to Cabo San Lucas, representing a 15%
increase over the highest number ever before to sail in the ‘nothing
serious’ event. The smallest boat to sail is a 27-footer, the
largest are four 65-ft monohulls.

The start will go forward as planned this
morning, although some entries will start late, as they are still
waiting for crews to arrive. With many flights canceled over
the weekend and I-5 intermittently closed, folks are still scrambling
to find a way to get to San Diego. Some are waiting at airports,
hoping to get a stand-by seat, hoping no more flights will be
canceled; others are arriving by train.

Light winds are expected for the first
day or two of sailing. We expect to bring you daily photos, to
arrive via Globalstar satellite phone. Unfortunately, due to
the evacuation of helicopters normally used for photography,
and low visibility, we will not be able to take aerial photos
of the start this year.

The crews will be glad to leave the smoke
behind as they head out to sea; people are walking around wearing
face masks and boats and hotel swimming pools are covered in
ash. Schools are closed today, and workers are being asked to
stay home to leave streets and highways clear for emergency vehicles.

Smoke on the Water, Fire in the Sky

October 27 – Washington, DC

Storms on the sun
Photo Courtesy NOAA

While we’re on the subject of natural disasters,
some speculation has been going around that this week’s solar
storms may affect the electronics sailors have come to rely upon
for navigation and communication. Michael Pordes of Favonius
in Vallejo points out that “Lots of sailors get lazy (even
experienced ones) and do not keep a good running DR [dead reckoning]
track going and rely way too much on GPS and charting software
driven by GPS. The activity described by NOAA may knock off GPS
for a little while and may also affect HF radio.”

As NOAA reported last week, “Two very
large sun spot regions continue to maintain their size and magnetic
intensity. There have been three major flares in the last 24
hours, which caused considerable disruption of high frequency
communication. More large flares are expected in the next few
days.

“So far this storm is materializing
as expected,” said NOAA space weather forecaster Bill Murtagh.
NOAA forecasters predicted the onset of the magnetic storm to
occur midday Friday. The magnitude the of G-3 level storm is
also in line with NOAA predictions. NOAA thus far has not received
any reports of the storm’s effects.” Nor have we heard any
sailor complain that their gadgets aren’t working.

For more, see NOAA Web pages www.noaa.org and www.emergencyemail.org/solar2003oct.html.

Parks and Rec Tries – Again – to Absorb
Dept. of Boating and Waterways

October 27 – Sacramento

The California Department of Parks and
Recreation is again pursuing a merger with the Department of
Boating and Waterways. There seems to be some feeling that Governor-elect
Arnold Schwarzenegger will embrace this plan, even though boaters
have rejected it at least 13 bazillion times in the last 10 years.
DBW is a well-run organization that uses its budget efficiently.
DPR is not. The feeling among boaters is that if Parks and Rec
gets the money and the say-so over DBW funds, kiss the great
Department of Boating and Waterways, and their many forward-thinking
projects, good-bye. As Walt Bilofsky, Commodore of Tiburon YC
put it, “The State Parks people are once again eying your
boat fuel tax dollars. This time they’re hoping to talk The Terminator
into terminating boating programs statewide.”

To see how you can make your voice heard
on this topic, visit watchdog organization Recreational Boaters
of California’s Web site, www.rboc.org.

YOTREPS

October 27 – 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

October 27 – Pacific
Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

Check out this guide to San Francisco Bay
Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html.

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

The site for the Pacific Ocean sea states
has moved to http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/PacRegSSA.shtml.

For views of sea states anywhere in the world,
see http://www.oceanweather.com/data.