With so many people heading down to Southern California to
prepare for a cruise to Mexico, we’d like to remind everyone
not to overlook the pleasures of California’s Channel Islands.
The top photo is of Deborah Bunting standing on a ridge overlooking
the water at Santa Cruz Island. The other photo is of the Forney’s
Anchorage, also on Santa Cruz Island.
Deborah’s husband Guy spent years building their M&M 46 catamaran
‘Elan’ in the backyard of a home in Vista, California. He did
a spectacular job. After shaking the boat down in the Channel
Islands, the couple cruised south to Mexico last November, and
have spent the summer in the Sea of Cortez. For more great photos
of their adventures in the Channel Islands and the Sea of Cortez
– including some great ones of the seafood you can pull right
out of the sea – visit: msnhomepages.talkcity.com/PassportPl/elan2001/.
Photos Guy Bunting
Weather Updates
October 5 – Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
Tropical Weather
Tropical Storm Olivia continues to blow at 55 knots well off
the coast of Mexico and heading even further out. At this point
it appears she’ll fizzle as opposed to build.
Former Hurricane Keith has now moved into the Gulf of Mexico,
but with only 35-knot winds. Other than that, the Atlantic/Caribbean
is clear for the first time in several weeks.
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.
Steve and Aleta Hansen of the San Francisco-based MacGregor
65 ‘Final Frontier’ report, “The year 2000 sailing season
was a short one for us, as we only sailed 2,800 miles while continuing
to move west from Fiji to the Vanuatu chain, New Caledonia and
Australia. We had to cancel our visit to the Solomon Islands
– where the diving is superb – because of civil unrest, as armed
militants took over the government. One of the highlights of
our season was getting caught in the center of Tropical Depression
23F, which is one level below a hurricane, while traveling between
Fiji and Vanuatu. So much for our faith in weather forecasters
and weather routers. We also enjoyed our dive on the luxury liner
‘SS Coolidge’, which was sunk during World War II by U.S. Navy
mines at Santo Island, Vanuatu. And if you ever get to New Caledonia,
we can recommend the gastronomic three course meals for $15 in
the Latin Quarter – especially at La Chaumiere.”
Japanese crew Hideyuki poses with
the first catch of the season, a barracuda.
Photos Courtesy ‘Final Frontier’
Top Photos Malakula Island, Vanuatu
Aleta Hansen cleans produce bought at
a Vanuatu market.
YOTREPS
October 5 – 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/
Racing
‘Club Med’ Back in the Water
October 5 – Southampton, UK
Although the Gilles Ollier designed and built maxi cat ‘Club
Med’ established an all time 24-hour sailing record of 625 miles
while crossing the Atlantic this summer, the feat took its toll
on the boat, which was shipped back to the yard in France for
modification and beefing up.
“After 6 weeks in the yard, the maxi-catamaran ‘Club Med’
has gone back to sea. Redesigned bows, reinforcement of the forward
sections for better reliability in case of shocks, modification
of the lower sections considered too directional, new interior
arrangement with notably the elimination of a galley to make
way for a ‘laundry’ space. Nothing has been left to chance because
the objective of this check-up, planned way back, was to optimize
the necessary configuring of the boat less than 100 days from
the start of The Race.”
In other big news, Grant Dalton of ‘Club Med’ announced the signing
on of Franck Profitt as the co-skipper. At just 36 years of age,
Profitt has had some great successes on multihulls: Winner of
the Transat Jacques Vabre with Loïck Peyron on ‘Fujicolor’
in ’99; winner of the Europe Race aboard ‘Fujicolor’ in ’92,
’94 and ’99; helmsman of ‘Mari-Cha III’; holder of the monohull
transatlantic record since ’98; winner of the Quebec-St. Malo
on ‘Fujicolor’ in ’96; winner of the Multihull Trophy aboard
‘Fujicolor’ in ’90, ’93, ’94, ’95 and ’96; helmsman on the Finnish
maxi ‘Belmont’ in the 1989/1990 Whitbread.
Just before the start of The Race from Barcelona, ‘Club Med’s
schedule will be dedicated to training:
The big cat is dropped back into the water
at Vannes, France Photo Courtesy ‘Club Med’
Sept. 29 – Relaunched in Vannes
Sept. 30 – Delivery to England
Oct. 3 – Press day in Southampton
Oct. 7 – Departure from London for Portugal
Oct. 10 – Arrival in Vilamoura (Algarve)
Oct. 22 to Nov. 20 – Training, based in Vilamoura: Azores,
Passages of Gibraltar Straits, North and South Atlantic.
Nov. 28 – Departure from Portugal for the Mediterranean
End November – Portofino, Italy
Beginning December – Arrival in Monaco
Dec. 16-17 – Monaco: participation in The Race prologue
Dec. 19 – Arrival in Barcelona
Dec. 29 – The Race : Parade
Dec. 31 – Start of The Race
