Latitude 38 June Issue Is Out Today!
Welcome to the June issue of Latitude 38. As we sail into summer we’re excited to bring you our latest stories, photos, news and updates. It’s all possible thanks to our community of readers, advertisers, our printer, delivery drivers, and everyone who has had a part in putting these pages together. We hope you enjoy our latest offering!
Here’s a preview.
May Gray is one thing (plenty of that later in the month), but a winter storm on May 4 is quite another. While snow dumped on the Sierra, cold rain poured on San Francisco Bay all morning. The temperature dropped 25° from Friday (more in the higher elevations). We suspect that some competitors registered for the Great Vallejo Race saw the weather, hit the snooze alarm, and pulled their down comforters over their heads. The rest of us had a cold, wet romp of a sail in 10 to 21+ knots of southwesterly breeze, surfing the stacked waves whipped up in an ebb on San Pablo Bay. We hoped we wouldn’t see those waves going back on Sunday, and we pitied those who turned around after finishing to bash back on Saturday afternoon.
28 Days Before the Mast — A Sailor’s Experience Aboard Stad Amsterdam
Sailing across the Pacific Ocean on a Dutch clipper ship was not on my boating bucket list until I read about Stad Amsterdam’s voyage from Panama to San Francisco in ‘Lectronic Latitude. The ship’s stop in San Francisco before sailing to Honolulu and then Tokyo was part of its 2023-25 around-the-world voyage. The Pacific leg of this adventure had berths available!
The photo that ran with the article showed a three-masted, full-rigged ship, sails billowing, bow furrowing through the water — a picture I’d seen on the covers of all the sailing books I started reading as a kid on a farm in Oregon, far from any ocean. Thoughts of Richard Henry Dana, Herman Melville, and all the 19th-century clipper ships arriving at San Francisco during the Gold Rush filled my dreams. I was hooked.
$2 Catamaran, Priceless Adventure
An adventure like this is not for the faint of heart. When Terry Castleman found the boat of his dreams on eBay, he approached his three prospective boat partners to see if they’d throw down the cash to make the deal. After some deliberation, the three partners each Venmo-ed Terry 50 cents, at which point they had enough for the all-cash purchase of their two-dollar catamaran, Lickety Split. All that remained was cleaning it up and sailing the boat from its location in Stockton to their home in Los Angeles. Simple enough, right?
There are plenty more stories, plus our regular monthly columns:
- Letters: America’s Schooner Cup Aboard Schooner Quascilla; A Light-Wind Singlehanded Farallones, On the Other Hand, Tested Patience; Speaking of Oregon …; A Posse of Optis Took Over the Bay in April for Earth Day; and many more readers’ letters.
- Sightings: Falling In, and Saving Myself; West Coasters at Charleston Race Week; The Mini-Clipper Route; and more great stories.
- Max Ebb: Ahoy, sailors! As the sun sets on another day at sea, it’s time to chart a course through the waves of wisdom with Max Ebb. In this month’s column, we’re setting sail into uncharted waters to explore a topic that’s sure to make waves among sailors and landlubbers alike — Artificial Ideas
- Racing Sheet: A fast Newport to Ensenada Race, FLYC’s Camellia Cup, StFYC’s J/105 Women Skipper Invitational, SCYC’s Moore 24 Santa Cruz Regatta, the SSS Sort of Singlehanded South Bay Race, DRYC’s Malibu Race, the team roster of American sailors heading to the Paris Olympics, and Box Scores all get ink in this edition.
- Changes in Latitudes: This month we bring you reports on Sweethaven’s first season in Mexico (Part 2); Migration‘s return to the South Seas after a 16-year hiatus; Quark’s return to cruising after a summer in the marina; and catch-ups with voyagers from all over the place in Cruise Notes.
- Loose Lips: A wrap-up of May’s Caption Contest(!).
- All the latest in sailboats for sale, Classy Classifieds.
We appreciate all readers and all our supporters. Without you there would be no Latitude 38. Again, we extend a big thanks and appreciation to our advertisers who have made this issue possible. We invite you to show your appreciation by supporting them.
And thank you to our distributors. Go grab your new issue of Latitude 38 from any of these folks listed. Or subscribe, and have your copy delivered each month.