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Tanker Spills Fuel

A ruptured fuel line may be to blame for what the Coast Guard is calling an "unknown amount of fuel" released into the Bay from the Panamanian-flagged tanker Dubai Star.

Just before 7 a.m., the Coast Guard received a report from the ship that while engaged in bunkering operations in Anchorage Nine — near the Oakland Airport — it had released an unknown quantity of fuel into the Bay. Eyewitness accounts have placed the slick at over a mile long, but as of now, there are few verifiable details; in its most recent announcement, the Coast Guard said the type of fuel is unknown, after earlier calling it "fuel oil." If it’s "fuel oil," which we’re pretty sure is the same thing as bunker oil, then it’s the same dense, cruddy filth that leaked from the Cosco Busan two years ago. Hopefully the lessons learned from that catastrophe will translate to a higher percentage of recovered oil in this case — the Cosco Busan dumped over 58,000 gallons of bunker oil, with only 17,000 of them retrieved . . . .

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"After the great farewell party for our friends who are joining the Baja Ha-Ha, we’re inspired to write about our experience in Ensenada, and especially at the marina at Hotel Coral," report Victor and Andre Satie from the Ensenada-based Freedom 36 Easy Breeze.
If you’re heading south into Mexican waters this season — as part of the Baja Ha-Ha rally or not — be aware that health inspectors at Cabo San Lucas and other ports of entry may board and inspect any arriving vessel to look for certain foods.