Fifteen Minutes of Fame Day

You might say that today is Fifteen Minutes of Fame Day for Pacific Puddle Jumpers in the Puerto Vallarta area. Why? Because today is the day that all who show up at Latitude 38’s annual PPJ Send-Off Party will be interviewed for mini-bios that will appear in the magazine. As we often say, we give them this special attention because we consider anyone who makes the 3,000-mile ‘jump’ from the West Coast to French Polynesia to be entering the realm of “varsity-level cruising.”

As in years past, today’s event is being generously co-hosted by the Vallarta YC in Nuevo Vallarta’s Paradise Village Resort. In addition to digital media presentations on the crossing, we’ll share insights on Polynesian culture, customs and immigration issues, inter-island cruising, and cruising strategies beyond these fabled isles.

The current sign-up list for this loosely formed rally now stands at 130 entries from at least 15 countries (you can still sign up at the link above). We’ll meet more of them soon in Panama, where the Balboa YC will help us put on another send-off party next Saturday (March 9, noon to 4 p.m.). Look for our reports on this year’s fleet in the April and May editions of Latitude 38 — which will be available as free downloads, of course, at www.latitude38.com.