October 3, 2000

By Grzegorz | October 3, 2000

Photos of the Day

Small Vessels Must Give Way

October 3 – San Francisco Bay

As everyone knows, small recreational
vessels have to give way to large commercial vessels in restricted
waters – such as San Francisco Bay. As everyone also knows, skippers
of small boats often don’t give way.

For instance, we were out sailing along the Cityfront last Saturday
when we saw the skipper of the 26-foot Pearson Ariel in the accompanying
photograph sail right in front of the very large container vessel
‘Madison Mærsk’, seen in the second accompanying photograph.
In order to warn the small boat of the danger he was creating,
the bar pilot aboard the ‘Madison Mærsk’ sounded the ship’s
horn five times. Put bluntly, this means “Stay the f–k
out of my way!” But still the little boat kept coming. So
the bar pilot sounded his horn another five times. And another
five times and still another five times. But nothing would prevent
the small boat skipper from maintaining his ill-advised course.
We can only assume that the skipper of the small boat thought
five toots of a ship’s horn means, “Your boat is looking
especially lovely today.”

Despite having to sail through the big ship’s wind shadow, the
little boat crossed about 100 feet in front of the huge ship.
Nonetheless, it had been a very dumb move, one that jeopardized
the safety of the sailboat’s crew, the ship’s crew if they had
to make an emergency stop, and the ability of recreational boats
to continue to enjoy the use of the Central Bay for recreational
purposes. Avoiding all of the above was a simple as the skipper
of the sailboat either pointing a little higher starting a mile
before, or throwing in a short tack.

The big mistake that small boat skippers make when sailing in
front of large ships is thinking they are the only boat on the
Bay. In truth, pilots on the big ships often have to work their
way through a number of recreational boats heading across their
path. If two or three small boats refuse to give way as required
by law, the pilot can be put into an almost impossible situation.

We went out sailing on Sunday, too, and once again saw some strange
behavior on what also appeared to be a 26-ft Pearson Ariel –
it may have even been the same one – this time at the mouth of
Raccoon Strait. One or more males, appearing to be in state of
complete buck nakedness, and perhaps even extreme inebriation,
seemed to be running from bow to stern of the boat, yelling and
screaming at the top of their lungs. We don’t think anybody has
anything against sailing naked, but there’s a time and place
for everything. The mouth of Raccoon Strait late on a Sunday
afternoon, when many families are heading back to their berths,
isn’t the best place.

Photos Latitude/Richard

The Pearson Ariel is a great little boat, but some folks are
beginning to soil their reputations.

Weather Updates

October 3 – Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

Tropical Weather

Former Hurricane Joyce is now moving across the waters of the
Southern Caribbean with 25 knots or less. Rain is now the biggest
danger. Meanwhile, former hurricane Keith is stalled over Belize
where it is dumping prodigious amounts of rain. If Keith gets
back over water again, he may be re-energized and head for Texas,
perhaps with hurricane force winds. For more on the Atlantic hurricane
season, go to http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2000/index.html.

Tropical Storm Olivia has formed at 15°N, well off the
coast of Mexico, and appears to be headed to the northwest and
more open water. She is currently blowing at 40 knots.

San Francisco Bay Weather

To see what the winds are like on the Bay 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 new University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology
satellite picture by clicking
here.

Pacific Sea State

Seas are normal in the Eastern Pacific. Check out today’s sea
state at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.

For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.

Cruising

Mexico-Only Crew List Party

October 3 – Alameda

Don’t forget the Mexico-Only Crew List and Ha-Ha Kick-Off and
Reunion Party tonight at the Encinal YC in Alameda starting at
6 p.m. The Coast Guard will give an in-the-water helicopter rescue
demonstration, we’ll be setting off liferafts, ‘Profligate’ will
be available for boarding, and several vendors will be there,
including Qualcomm-Globalstar, which will be demonstrating their
satellite telephone. Oh yeah, there will be lots of skippers looking
for crew and crew looking for skippers. See you there!

For more details on the Crew Party and directions on how to
get there, see www.latitude38.com/crewlist/CrewParty/CrewParty.html.

YOTREPS

October 3 – 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/

Racing

‘AmericaTrue’ to One World Challenge

October 3 – Tiburon

In what isn’t much of surprise, AmericaTrue announced
yesterday that they are selling ‘AmericaTrue’, USA-51 to Craig
MacCaw’s Seattle-based One World Challenge for the 2003 America’s
Cup. The AmericaTrue non-profit organization, however, will continue.
With proceeds from the sale of USA-51, AmericaTrue will be able
to expand its True Youth program and its support of other professional
sailing programs. Plans also include a new America’s Cup campaign
in 2006.

“Our mission has always been to win professional sailing
events with co-ed teams while giving back to society through
our work with at-risk kids and promoting sailing at a grass roots
level,” said Dawn Riley, who was the first woman to lead
an America’s Cup syndicate. AmericaTrue COO and supporter, Chris
Coffin added, “With the sale of our 2000 AC assets, we will
have additional funds available to expand our non-America’s Cup
efforts.”

Riley’s one-boat AmericaTrue effort representing the San Francisco
YC was a surprising success right up until the challenger semi-finals
in Auckland, and attracted a large and enthusiastic following.
It will be a shame they won’t be in Auckland in 2003 for the
next Cup, but with the billionaires such as MacCaw and Oracle’s
Larry Ellison willing to fund syndicates to the tune of $100
million, even traditional corporate sponsorship isn’t enough.
There will be far fewer syndicates in Auckland for the next cup.

AmericaTrue team members Phil Kaiko, Heiner Meldner and Kurt
Jordan, technicians Martin Dack and Richard Whitaker as well
as boat builders Peter Sowman and his building team, and sailor
Kelvin Harrap, have also signed up with One World Challenge.
“We are very fortunate to have these experienced individuals
from AmericaTrue’s historic 2000 effort added to our Team”
said Gary Wright, CEO of One World Challenge. The Seattle-based
effort purchased Dennis Connor’s ‘Stars ‘n Stripes’ in May.

For complete details, visit: www.americatrue.org.

AmericaTrue in Auckland
Photo Tom Zinn

Top

 / Index of Stories

/ Subscriptions

/ Classifieds

/ Home