South Bay Racers’ Missing Buoy Retrieved and Under Repair
Early last week we received an email from John Tennyson of the South Beach Yacht Club (SBYC) Race Committee alerting us to a missing buoy — the NAS1 buoy. The SBYC had received a Coast Guard notification that said (among other things), “ALAMEDA NAVAL AIR STATION CHANNEL ENTRANCE LIGHTED BELL BUOY 1 (LLNR 4745), MISSING.” They received the notice on March 20. When John contacted us on April 28, the buoy was apparently still missing. His hope was that we would know whom to contact or how to find more information, and be able to alert other sailors.
Well, we hunted long and hard to find notices, maps … any indication of what had happened to this buoy. Almost nada! We did find reference to it. In fact, at one point, after much deep delving, we found that same notification quoted above. But that was all. In the end, we called the Coast Guard. They didn’t answer, so we emailed them. Thankfully, a day later, they replied.
It seems the buoy has been found and recovered, sporting a hole in its hull. We’re told the buoy is now being repaired on Yerba Buena Island, but the ETA of its being back in place is “still a couple [of] months away.”
John Tennyson says the SBYC Race Committee is quite concerned about its absence. “The NAS1 buoy is a pretty important bit of equipment to South Bay sailors and racers and its status is important news to us. It doesn’t sound like what was happening in Santa Cruz where USCG wanted to remove a buoy, but we would sure like to see it returned!”
We’re told it will be returned, but we suggest that no one hold their breath during the wait. By the way, this particular buoy is also on the Coast Guard’s list of buoys that will be stripped of their sound signals.
For anyone who is wondering exactly where NAS1 is, our amazing racing editor Christine Weaver has sailed and raced in that area many times and was able to identify and highlight the buoy on a chart. See the red circle.
We all look forward to the return of missing buoy LLNR 4745, or for the locals, NAS1.
Caption Contest(!)
Sailors John and Virginia were out and about in the hills of Mendocino County when they found this gem.
“Racing Sailboat for sale — needs TLC — propane auxiliary — accepting offers.”
We’ll be happy with just captions, though we don’t deliver.
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Do You Have June 22 Sailstice Sailing Plans?
There are over 50,000 sailboats and hundreds of thousands of sailors in California. One thing they all have in common is a great climate for year-round sailing. Another thing is, on most weekends, most sailors and sailboats don’t go sailing.
The June 22 Summer Sailstice is an annual celebration of sailing created to help change that, by inspiring you to #raiseyoursails along with all sailors worldwide. To commit to join the world sailing, you simply put your sailing plans on the Summer Sailstice map and then go race, cruise, crew for others, visit an open house, or just do what feels right for your personal or organization’s tribute to sailing. Here are some sample activities already on the map from California individuals and organizations:
Cal Sailing Club is hosting an open house on Sunday, June 23. The club’s April 27 Open House gave 300 rides to the public (92 kids and 208 adults!). CSC Co-Commodore Nicholas Waton said, “All this is completely free. We had over 50 volunteers come together to make it happen.” See their plans here.
Ayone who has already found a way to sail, like Cory Wood of Encinal Yacht Club, can sign up with a personal plan to let folks know where, what and how they are planning to sail. Cory is planning to sail his Opti in the BAYS Summer Series Race #1 at Richmond Yacht Club.
What about cruising to the great city of San Francisco for Summer Sailstice weekend? Pier 39 is inviting Bay Area cruisers to try their guest docks at half price! See their offer here. Space is limited, so if this is your plan, book it early and post it on the Summer Sailstice map.
The June 22 Summer Sailstice weekend is a great weekend to get your boat off the dock in Southern California. Or sail someone else’s boats. If you don’t have a boat you can sign up for lessons or become a shared owner with SailTime Newport Beach. See their weekend plans here.
One of the best ways to start any summer weekend or end any summer workday is with beer can racing. Corinthian Yacht Club has posted their June 21 Friday Night Beer Can Race as the kickoff to their Summer Sailstice weekend.
There are always many more sailors than sailboats, but there’s plenty of room on the sailboats sailing on Summer Sailstice weekend. You can jump aboard some race boats as crew, or join the brigantine Matthew Turner for a Summer Sailstice sail on the Bay. Again, it never hurts to sign up early. See their plans here.
What if all the boats in California hoisted their sails together on Summer Sailstice weekend? It would be a sight to behold. On the Bay it might be like Opening Day, the Three Bridge Fiasco, Fleet Week and the Moët Cup happening all at once. Sounds scary and sounds like fun. Folks are sailing on the tall ship Matthew Turner, on Optis at RYC, on El Toros at Lake Merritt, and at an Open House at Cal Sailing Club. Perhaps everyone in the Bay Area will remember there’s a Bay in the middle of it and find a way to join the world in hoisting sails together on Summer Sailstice.
Between now and June 22 there is time for you to post your own plans, your fleet event or your club race. You can change your mind and change your plans later too. Don’t wait until the day before, because people need notice to join your event or join your crew for a day or weekend of sailing. Plus Summer Sailstice offers early-bird prizes to people who sign up in advance.
Ready to join the weekend celebration? Sign up and post your plans here.
You’ll be joining folks sailing in the Manitou Islands. Do you know where they are? Find out here.
How Do I Find a Magazine for a Friend in Fort Bragg?
We recently received an email from our friend Woody, who was inquiring about where to find some copies of the Latitude 38 magazine in Fort Bragg. We thought it a good time to share our response with everyone, so if you need a copy for yourself or a friend, you can go pick one up. It’s easy.
Go to our page “Find The Magazine” from the link at the very top of our website.
Once you’re on the distribution page, type he zip code or town where you want to find a magazine into the line below “Find a Store.” Hit the blue bar “Find in Store” and presto! Digital magic, combined with a great printer and delivery drivers, will provide a venue closest to your desired location to pick up a free copy of the magazine.
The map will show the location of almost 700 fantastic distribution points in California near sailboats, the water and you, so it’s easy to find a magazine. If you don’t find one nearby, you can always get a visit from your friendly postal carrier when you subscribe, or let us know of a place frequented by sailors in California to distribute, and we’ll see if we can get that set up for you.
If you’ve sailed north to the Noyo River and Fort Bragg, let us know your story by sending it to [email protected] or commenting below.
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