Photos of the Day

November 27 - Bahia Santa Maria, BCS

The Photos of the Day are of Richard Bernard and his crew Angela the Surf Queen of the Valiant 42 Surf Ride, who took time off to surf Bahia Santa Maria during the Ha-Ha.

"I just wanted to let you know that I thought the Ha-Ha and all the parties were pretty dang fun," writes Angela. "After it was over, I helped Ricardo bring the boat back to San Diego. On the way we stopped at Punta Hughes and surfed for a couple days. It was a pretty mellow trip as far as the weather goes. After we got back, Ricardo had me go with him to look at a big cat in Newport Beach. I liked it, but he thought it had too much fluff. Anyway, I'm already having Mexico withdrawals and may go back in January."

Photos Latitude/Richard

219 Boats Started ARC on Sunday

November 27 - Canary Islands

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, the largest transoceanic sailboat crossing in the world, departed Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday, with a fleet of 219 yachts headed 2,750 miles southwest for St. Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean. Andrew Bishop, general manager of ARC organizers World Cruising Club commented: "The start to this year's ARC was absolutely fantastic, with a tremendous atmosphere in the marina as the yachts were leaving. Despite rain in the morning the weather held out for a sunny start with northeasterly force 4-5 winds promising a good crossing for the fleet."

We'll have more from the ARC as this year's event unfolds. We did it back in '95 and had a great time.

Vacation from Cruising

November 27 - New Zealand

"After being part of the '99 Ha-Ha, we cruised Mexican waters until March 2001, when we joined the Pacific Puddle Jump," report Jerry and Barbara Phillips of the San Francisco-based Pearson 424 Free Spirit. "We really enjoyed our wandering through Marquesas, Tuamotus, Societies, Raratonga, Niue, Vavau group of Tonga, and Fiji before dropping down to New Zealand. We plan on leaving our boat on the hard for a year to do land travels in the U.S. and Europe before returning to New Zealand and continuing our sailing adventures. We love the retired lifestyle."

Remember SatNavs? About 10 years ago, we bought a SatNav from the owner of a San Francisco-based Pearson 424 named Free Spirit. We're betting it's the same boat.

Swan 61 In
Good Rut

November 27 - Mexico

"The San Francisco-based Swan 61 (Hull #1) Hasty Heart will be headed down to Mexico in January - our ninth season!" reports Captain Rick Pearce, who knows the food is as good as the cruising in Mexico.

Photo Latitude/Richard

YOTREPS

November 27 - 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/

Weather Updates

November 27 - Pacific Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

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/.

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 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

Check out the Pacific Ocean sea states at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.