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Photo of the DayJuly 18 - Honolulu, Hawaii Today's Photo of the Day doesn't look like
much - just some scribbling on a yellow legal pad - but it has
great importance for this year's Baja Ha-Ha fleet. While talking with Short, we asked him
about the status of the proposed new berths at Cabo Isle Marina
- with which Almar has some sort of operating agreement. Short
pulled out the yellow paper and started drawing. The line at
the bottom of the page represents where boats currently dock
at Cabo in front of the Plaza Las Glorias Hotel. |
Everything above that line is going to be new, specfically, 90 more feet of dock space on each side, 'topped' by a 600-foot long wave attenuator - which is sort of a floating breakwater - that boats can tie to.  Photo Latitude/Richard The bottom line is they will have about 1,500 more linear feet of dock space, which will be a big help for folks wanting berths in the marina. Short says they are hoping to complete the project by September, but feel certain they will be ready for the Bisbee Fishing Tournament at the end of the October and the arrival of the Ha-Ha fleet in early November. |
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Hey Tim, Is That You?July 18 - Honolulu, Hawaii Also while covering the TransPac, we spotted
the S&S designed 125-ft ketch Sariyah (it rhymes with
'Maria') berthed at the Waikiki YC. We first saw the Kiwi-built
and Saudi-owned ketch eight years ago when she was brand new
at, oddly enough, the transient docks of the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor
where she was hiding out from a hurricane. |
Like many mega yachts, she'd spent last winter in New Zealand for the America's Cup and getting a refit, but now she's on her way to either San Francisco or L.A., then through the Canal for the Antigua Charterboat in early December, St. Barth for Christmas and New Years, and the season in the Caribbean.  Photos Latitude/Richard Tim tells us that for the first time ever,
Sariyah will be available for charter, and gave us a couple of
brochures. |
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Little Change in the Ala WaiJuly 18 - Honolulu, Hawaii A year ago there was much noise that the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor - which is in disrepair, features countless safety hazards, and is poorly run - would be privatized and rebuilt to a world class marina. When the tenants realized their way-below-market $4/ft slip fees would go up to $12 or so, they started major protests. As is often the case, if one special interest group yells loud enough, they'll get their way. So privatizing the Ala Wai - even though it is badly needed - is no longer on the radar screen. We took a tour of the facility, and it continues to look as rundown, dangerous, and inefficient as ever. |
 Photo Latitude/Richard About the only improvement we noticed was that one wobbly cement finger was sporting white wall tires rather than the traditional black wall tires. |
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Who Is Responsible for the Success of This Year's TransPacJuly 18 - Honolulu, Hawaii As many readers know, the TransPac, held every two years since 1906 - except for World Wars - had been in terrible decline the last two times, with less than 35 entries. This year they started with 59 entries and 54 finishers.  The guy we think is most responsible for this dramatic turnaround is TransPacific YC Commodore Brad Avery, right, who has done many TransPacs and is passionate about it. His other hat is the honcho at the Orange Coast College's tremendous sailing program in Newport Beach. But if you try to compliment Avery, he points the finger at the fellow on the left, Bill Lee of Santa Cruz. |
As most sailors know, Lee ushered in a whole new era of TransPac and sailing in 1977 when he sailed the 67-ft ultralight Merlin that he'd designed and built to a smashing new record. For most of the ensuing years, the TransPac was dominated by Santa Cruz 70s and 50s, with lots of 40s participating, too. We don't know exactly what Avery and Lee did to breath life back into the TransPac - we'll read about it in the August Latitude - but whatever it was, it worked. A tip of the hat to the both of them, as well as everyone else who helped.
 For fashion-conscious TransPac fans, Lee
was no longer wearing his magician's hat, but he hasn't given
up on the red socks.Photos Latitude/Richard |
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Hoping for a Quick Return TripJuly 18 - Honolulu, Hawaii After Bob Lane's Andrews 61 Medicine
Man finished the TransPac, we came across crewmember Sam
Heck, surfboard in one hand and bride in the other.  Photo Latitude/Richard "You guys finished the TransPac on
July 13 and plan to enter a race that starts in Santa Barbara
on the morning of August 1?" |
Seeking Ranger 33 InputJuly 18 - Mill Valley, CA The Latitude 38 editors are currently
gathering anecdotes, opinions and impressions on the venerable
Ranger 33 design. If you've cruised or raced extensively aboard
one we'd love to hear from you -- especially if you are a longtime
owner. Please send your thoughts to Andy.
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Nuclear Waste Dump in Baja California?July 18 - Islas San Benitos, Baja California Jim Elfers, a marine surveyor and delivery captain based in Baja California reports, "You ain't gonna believe this, but the page one story in the local (El Sudcaliforniano) Spanish language paper was 'Proposal Discovered to Convert Islas San Benitos to Nuclear Waste Dump'. Apparently the fishing cooperative based in Ensenada (and who control the lobster and abalone fisherman of San Benitos) have gotten wind of a permit application for this proposed conversion of this incredible and really unique island group to an, ahem, nuclear waste dump. "As much as I love the Baja peninsula, I love the few offshore islands even more. The San Benitos are an incredibly important breeding ground for the Guadalupe fur seal, Stellar's and California sea lions, pelagic birds, and much more. There are numerous huge tracts of wasteland on the peninsula (a hundred miles from people or roads) that could better be used if this was really going to be done, accessible by tractor-trailer. I have no idea how much is behind this story, but government agencies and contacts were mentioned. "A long permit process and reviews are necessary for granting such a permit but the agency, SERMANAP, responsible for the major ecological review is a corrupt agency. In Mexico all the laws exist to protect everything (turtles, Mantas, etc.) but there is no enforcement. The San Benitos are the Baja equivalent of San Miguel in the Channel Islands." We expect that the Wanderer will follow up on this story when he returns from Hawaii. |
Sail San Francisco PartyJuly 18 - San Francisco  Photo Latitude/Andy  Photo Peter Schmidt |
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First Twenty-FiveJuly 18 - Tiburon The Baja Ha-Ha Rally Committee report that paid entries for the 10th annual event are over the 30 mark already. Here are the first 25: Scarlett O'Hara,
Serendipity 43, John & Renee Prentice |
Humu Humu Didn't Suffer Structural Damage After AllJuly 18 - Mazatlan, Mexico Just back from a week of whitewater rafting, Baja Ha-Ha vet Dave Crowe checks in, "I saw the bit about Humu Humu and the Cabo saga. As is often the case, fact and story don't quite jibe. Here are the facts: "After bringing Humu Humu from Mazatlan to Cabo, we decided to stick our noses out past Cabo Falso with winds forecast 15-20. Usually not too much an issue. But once offshore the wind piped up to 30+ and just as we were about to give it up and go back to Cabo to wait a few days, we took a "biggie" over the bow. So much water column crashed down on our starboard net that it tore the net lashings right from the hull, thereby toppling the first domino. Next, the net was instantly in water dragging heavily, and the next domino was both net support tubes on centerline breaking from the downforce. So I brought the boat nearly head to wind and to a stop. Thanks to lazy jacks, Harken battcars, full batten main and furling jib, all sail was struck within very few minutes. This while the boat rode in a stable manner with no rolling. Now the wind was 40 knots. We retrieved the dangling nets using a spare halyard, jury rigged some lashings, then bare-pole sailed off to Cabo, motoring when in the lee of Falso.  "For the first time, I berthed at Cabo Isle ($180 US per night). Then we rounded up a stout 4 x 4 wood beam, bolted it in place as a net support, installed some temporary eyebolts through the hull on two sides, relashed the nets and stuck around Cabo a couple of days curious when the wind would drop. On the third day a delivery skipper bringing a big ketch from Venezuela pulled in for shelter, saying it was still blowing too much, having seen 50-knot gusts. "Not happy with the Cabo price, we took the boat back to Mazatlan where we know people who do good things to boats, and where the replacement tubes that Doug at Svendsen's so quickly located for me and sent off to Mexico are now being installed. In short, we experienced no structure failure, this was more like blowing out a sail with the rig left whole. Not enough to warrant an insurance claim as repair is far less than my deductible. "Just another reminder, when you think you should have reefed, it might be too late. Wait a minute, that's not right, we were reefed way down. Beware the rogue wave!!! And here is a public thanks to my able crewdoggies: Jim Forrest, Dave Fiorito, Bob Edmunds and Malou Olsen, all of whom responded superbly." |
YOTREPSJuly 18 - The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn. |
Weather UpdatesJuly 18 - Pacific Ocean San Francisco Bay WeatherCheck out this guide to San Francisco Bay Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html. 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. The National Weather Service site for San Francisco Bay is at www.wrh.noaa.gov/Monterey. California Coast WeatherLooking 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/Maps/Southwest.shtml. Pacific Winds and PressureThe University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds. Pacific Sea StateCheck out the Pacific Ocean sea states
at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
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