Latitude 38 June

VOLUME 564 June 2024

Racing to Vallejo Tire Bouchon Berkeley to France

Profiles of Pacific Cup Sailors

28 Days Before the Mast

Max Ebb: Artificial Ideas

BOAT LOANS

Step aboard the Lagoon 46 and imagine yourself with your loved ones. From the flybridge to the front and aft cockpits, enjoy the spectacular horizons. The Lagoon 46 offers unparalleled interior volume, fine materials, and comfortable finishings.

(3) 42' AquaLodge Houseboats 2020 - $115,000 ea. Mark Miner (415) 290-1347

$449,000

45’

$160,000.

40’ ISLAND PACkET CUTTER, 1998

$169,000

(510)

$379,000

40’ BENETEAU CENTER COCkPIT (IN fIjI), 1995

$125,000 Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

$39,000

$149,000

$149,000

Thoughtfully designed and beautifully finished inside and out, the Aqua Lodge features fiberglass pontoons, a wood-beamed lofted ceiling, a fully appointed galley, and a full bath with residential-sized fixtures. The main salon is open and bright, while the master stateroom features a panoramic water view and a private deck. With the cost of building on the waterfront ever increasing, the Aqua Lodge is an affordable alternative. We currently have three (3) identical Floating Cottages available at $115,000. each. These are new houseboats that have never been used. With the acquisition of all three one could start a unique Air B&B type business in a nice location.

36’ fREEDOM 36

NOTE: There is no propulsion included. An outboard engine could be installed on the bracket but, these boats are not equipped with any propulsion. They would need to be towed or trucked to their destination.

$39,500 San Rafael (415) 453-4770

33’ MASON 33, 1985

$69,000 Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

RUBICON YACHTS

EMERY COVE • 3300 POWELL ST, #105 • EMERYVILLE, CA 94608 • (510) 601-5010

ALAMEDA • 1150 BALLENA BLVD., SUITE 121 • ALAMEDA, CA 94501 • (510) 838-1800

42' AquaLodge Houseboats 2020 - $115,000 ea. Mark Miner (415) 290-1347

48’ C&C LANDfALL, 1982

$89,000

40’ SALAR 40, 1975

$115,000 Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

Emery Cove (510) 601-5010 37 jEANNEAU SUN ODYSSEY, 1994

38’ S WAN 38, 1974

$125,000

Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

$65,000 Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

40’ OCEANIS CENTER COCkPIT, 2000

$131,500

Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

37’ RAfIkI CUTTER, 1978

$99,000

Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

Thoughtfully designed and beautifully finished inside and out, the Aqua Lodge features fiberglass pontoons, a wood-beamed lofted ceiling, a fully appointed galley, and a full bath with residential-sized fixtures. The main salon is open and bright, while the master stateroom features a panoramic water view and a private deck. With the cost of building on the waterfront ever increasing, the Aqua Lodge is an affordable alternative. We currently have three (3) identical Floating Cottages available at $115,000. each. These are new houseboats that have never been used. With the acquisition of all three one could start a unique Air B&B type business in a nice location.

NOTE: There is no propulsion included. An outboard engine could be installed on the bracket but, these boats are not equipped with any propulsion. They would need to be towed or trucked to their destination.

RUBICON YACHTS

30’ CATALINA 30, 1988

$25,000

Emery Cove (510) 601-5010

CALENDAR

Zube is one of the last Hallberg-Rassy 39s to be built by the venerable Hallberg-Rassy shipyard in Ellos, Sweden. Out tted for blue water cruising, Zube has bene ted from the addition of a stainless-steel arch/dinghy lift with solar, power winches, Leisure Furl in-boom mainsail furling, bow thruster, recent Raymarine chartplotters and a new Yanmar engine from 2012 with just over 1000 hours. She also received a full upgrade to her DC system in 2021 with Victron lithium house battery bank, inverter/ charger and monitors. The Hallberg-Rassy 39 is small enough to day sail yet large enough to comfortably circumnavigate. Many sisterships have been used for local cruising while others have won their class in the ARC rally and gone on to circumnavigate. The quality of space is excellent, and ergonomics of the settees, cockpit and deck layout leave owners appreciating their boats more and more with time.

35 Hanse 350 2008 $95,000

35 Shaw Riptide 1996 $145,000 34 Jeanneau 34.2 2001 $79,000 34 Catalina 34 (MKII) 1997 $75,000

Non-Race

June 1 — Dragon Boat Races & Festival, Alviso, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Kayak & cardboard-canoe races + anything humanpowered. South Bay YC, www.southbayyachtclub.com

June 1 — Sea Chanteys, Maritime Museum, San Francisco, 6-9 p.m. Free, but RSVP to peterkasin@gmail.com.

June 1-29 — Small Boat Sailing, South Beach Harbor, San Francisco, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays, weather permitting. Free, but sign up in advance. BAADS, www.baads.org/sailing.

June 2-30 — Keelboat Sailing, South Beach Harbor, San Francisco, noon-5 p.m. Sundays, weather permitting. Free, but sign up in advance. BAADS, www.baads.org/sailing

June 5-26 — StFYC Wednesday Yachting Luncheon, noon. Archived on YouTube at https://tinyurl.com/3kbp3vdh.

June 6 — SoCal Dockwalker Training, online, 10 a.m.12:45 p.m. Info, http://tinyurl.com/5edu6tta

June 6 — Corinthian Speaker Series, CYC, Tiburon, 7 p.m. Ronnie Simpson on Triumph and Disaster in the Global Solo Challenge. Free but RSVP to speakers@cyc.org.

June 8 — US Sailing Offshore Safety at Sea Course, Southwestern YC, San Diego, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. $300; Pac Cup racers use coupon code PV4. Info, https://sailaweigh.org.

June 8-9 — International Offshore Safety at Sea Course with Hands-On Training, SWYC, San Diego, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. $400; discounts for Pac Cup racers: use coupon code PV4. Info, https://sailaweigh.org

June 9 — Second Sunday Work Party, Sausalito Community Boating Center, 9 a.m.-noon. Nick, (415) 992-1234 or www.sausalitoboatingcommunity.org

June 9 — International Offshore Safety at Sea Course Hands-On Training only, SWYC, San Diego, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. $325; discounts for Pac Cup racers: use coupon code PV4. Info, https://sailaweigh.org

June 9 — International Offshore Safety at Sea Refresher Course, SWYC, San Diego, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. $325; Pac Cup racers use coupon code PV4. Info, https://sailaweigh.org

June 12 — Boatworks 101 Musical Fundraiser, Spaulding Marine Center, Sausalito, 7-9 p.m. Hot Clams and Cantadora Sephardia. $35-$50. Proceeds benefit Hank Easom scholarship for marine education. Info, www.spauldingcenter.org.

June 14-16 — High Performance Youth Sailing ILCA Clinic, San Diego YC. For sailors 12-18 years old. JJ, jj.fetter@gmail. com or www.sdyc.org.

June 15 — Nautical Swap Meet, Owl Harbor Marina, Isleton, 8 a.m.-noon. Info, www.owlharbor.com

June 15 — NorCal Dockwalker Training, online, 10 a.m.12:45 p.m. Info, http://tinyurl.com/5edu6tta

June 16 — Father's Day.

June 20 — Oil Spill Response Workshop for California marinas & yacht clubs, online, 9:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Info, https://tinyurl.com/y33hb7p5.

June 20-23 — San Diego International Boat Show, Safe Harbor Sunroad. Info, www.officialsdibs.com

June 21 — Full Strawberry Moon on a Friday.

June 21 — Summer Solstice.

June 21-23 — PNW Jeanneau Rendezvous, Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes, WA. Robyn, robyn@marinesc.com

June 22 — Summer Sailstice. Events, prizes, free registration. Info, www.summersailstice.com.

June 22 — Marine Flare Collection Event, 592 Superior Ave., Newport Beach, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Free for Orange County residents and berthers. Info, https://tinyurl.com/3ek58s4h.

June 22 — Voyages: AI & the Ocean, Spaulding Marine Center, Sausalito, 6-9 p.m. With Peter Molnar. $55-$250 includes dinner. Info, www.spauldingcenter.org

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San Rafael, CA

EXPLORE LOCATIONS

Over 135 premier waterfront destinations with 4 in the Bay Area

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CALENDAR

June 23 — Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show, CYC, Tiburon, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Info, www.sfmastermariners.org

June 23 — Open House/Introductory Sail, Cal Sailing Club, Berkeley, 1-3 p.m. Free. Info, www.cal-sailing.org

June 29 — Nautical Swap Meet, Alameda Marina, 10 a.m.3 p.m. Eileen, info@alamedamarina.net

June 29 — Runabouts on the River, Stockton Sailing Club, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Classic & antique boats, car show, boat rides, food & drinks, music. Free admission. Info, www.stocktonsc.org

July 4 — Independence Day.

July 8-11 — Wind Clinic A: Youth Laser & C420, Cascade Locks, OR. CGRA, www.cgra.org

Racing

May 30-June 1 — SoCal 300, Santa Barbara to San Diego. Concludes California Offshore Race Week. Info, www. offshoreraceweek.com

June 1 — Go for the Gold Regatta on Scotts Flat Lake, Nevada County. GCYC, www.gcyc.net

June 1 — Merton Yolles Race. CPYC, www.cpyc.com

June 1 — Mercury & Snipe NorCal Series on the Estuary. EYC, www.encinal.org

June 1, July 13 — North Bay Series. VYC, www.vyc.org

June 1-2 — US Sailing Match Race Qualifier in J/22s. StFYC, www.stfyc.com

June 2 — Champion of Champions. SCYC, www.scyc.org.

June 2 — Shorthanded Sunday Series, the Island Tour. YRA, www.yra.org

June 2 — PHRF Summer. MPYC, www.mpyc.org.

June 5-9 — J/111 North Americans. LAYC, www.layc.org

June 7-9 — Dickson Cup, youth match racing in Solings. LBYC, www.lbyc.org.

June 8 — 33rd Delta Ditch Run, Richmond to Stockton. RYC/SSC, www.stocktonsc.org/ddr.

June 8 — Chispa regatta in RS21s. SFYC, www.sfyc.org

June 8 — MBYRA Little Boreas Race to Moss Landing. ElkYC, www.elkhornyachtclub.org.

June 8 — South Bay Bridge Series. Info, www.jibeset.net

June 8, 22, July 6 — Bender Series on Tomales Bay. InvYC, www.invernessyachtclub.com.

June 8, July 6 — Single/Doublehanded Series. BenYC, www.beniciayachtclub.org.

June 8, July 13 — Summer Series, Redwood City. SeqYC, www.sequoiayc.org

June 8-9 — J/105 & Express 37 Regatta. EYC, www. encinal.org

June 8-9 — S.F. Sailing League. StFYC, www.stfyc.com.

June 8-9 — 5O5/Laser NorCals/ILCA District 24 Championships in Santa Cruz. SCYC, www.scyc.org

June 8-9 — Cat Harbor Layover Race, Berger/Stein Series. DRYC, www.dryc.org

June 8-9 — RS Tera North Americans in Long Beach. ABYC, www.rsterana.org.

June 9 — Club Series. CYC, www.cyc.org

June 9 — Start of the Race to Alaska, Port Townsend, WA, to Ketchikan, AK, via Victoria, BC. Info, www.r2ak.com

June 14-16 — Lipton Cup. PICYA, www.liptoncupsf.com

June 14-16 — South Tower Race, Stockton to Golden Gate to Stockton, nonstop! SSC, www.stocktonsc.org

June 15 — Farallones Race. YRA, www.yra.org.

June 15 — Doublehanded Long Distance. MPYC, www. mpyc.org.

June 15 — Spring One Design. SCYC, www.scyc.org. June 15-16 — Classic Boat Invitational #1. SYC, www.

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Take advantage of programs from beginning to advanced on the largest newest fleet on the Bay. Join the club for exclusive access to events, flotillas and more. Members enjoy 40% off charter rates!

CALENDAR

June 15-16 — Women's Sprint 4 in RS21s. SFYC, www. sfyc.org

June 15-16 — US Match Race Championship Qualifier in San Diego. SDYC, www.sdyc.org

June 16, July 14 — One Design Summer. MPYC, www. mpyc.org.

June 18 — Round the Island Race for Vanguard 15s, Treasure Island, 6:30 p.m. Fleet 53, www.vanguard15.org.

June 18 — Area J US Sailing Sears Triplehanded Qualifier, San Diego. SDYC, www.sdyc.org.

June 20-23 — Opti Heavy Weather. StFYC, www.stfyc.com.

June 22 — YRA Westpoint Regatta, Treasure Island to Redwood City. YRA, www.yra.org.

June 22 — Alameda Estuary One Design. EYC, www. encinal.org

June 22 — Rear Commodore Pursuit Race. SYC, www. sausalitoyachtclub.org.

June 22 — One Design Series, Lake Washington, West Sacramento. LWSC, www.lwsailing.org.

June 22 — Rear Commodore's Regatta. HMBYC, www. hmbyc.org

June 22 — Commodore's Regatta. MPYC, www.mpyc.org.

June 22 — Singlehanded Race. SSC, www.stocktonsc.org

June 22 — Hank Easom Regatta. SFYC, www.sfyc.org.

June 22 — Chasing the Moon Regatta. BenYC, www. beniciayachtclub.org

June 22-23 — BAYS Regatta. RYC, www.richmondyc.org.

June 22-23 — J/105 Stop in the South Bay. SBYC, www. southbeachyachtclub.org

June 23 — Baxter-Judson Series Race. PresYC, www. presidioyachtclub.org.

June 23 — Spring SCORE #3. SCYC, www.scyc.org.

June 23-28 — Race Week Anacortes, WA. Info, www. raceweekpnw.com.

June 28-30 — Woodies Invitational for Knarr, IOD, Folkboat & Alerion 28 classes. StFYC, www.stfyc.com.

June 28-30 — ILCA Canadian Masters, Vancouver, BC. Jericho Sailing Centre, www.jsca.bc.ca.

June 29 — LongPac start. SSS, www.sfbaysss.org.

June 29 — Shirley Temming Cup. EYC, www.encinal.org.

June 29 — Half Moon Bay Race, ending with a party at HMBYC. YRA, www.yra.org.

June 29-30 — Offshore Doubles Race. Doublehanders sail down with the YRA HMB Race, then turn and burn and make it count. StFYC, www.stfyc.com.

June 29-30 — US Open Sailing Series, San Diego. SDYC, www.sdyc.org.

June 29-30 — Hart Nunes Regatta for Mercurys. SFYC, www.sfyc.org.

June 30 — LMSC Mayor's Cup on Lake Merritt, Oakland. Denis, (925) 945-6223.

July 4 — Brothers & Sisters Race around the eponymous islands. TYC, www.tyc.org.

July 4 — Stars & Stripes. CPYC, www.cpyc.com.

July 4 — Fourth of July Regatta for juniors. EYC, www. encinal.org.

July 4 — Fireworks Folly. SFYC, www.sfyc.org.

July 6 — Twin Island. SYC, www.sausalitoyachtclub.org.

July 6 — In the Bay #3. YRA, www.yra.org.

July 6 — MBYRA Firecracker. SCYC, www.scyc.org.

July 6-7 — Founding Fathers. SSC, www.stocktonsc.org.

July 7 — Women's Day Race. MPYC, www.mpyc.org.

Beer Can Series

BAY VIEW BOAT CLUB — Monday Night Madness: 6/10,

Cast Off

Regular maintenance keeps you ready for a cruise whenever your heart desires

CALENDAR

6/24, 7/22, 8/5, 8/19, 9/2, 9/16, 9/30. Nick, (510) 459-1337 or www.bvbc.org

BENICIA YC — Every Thursday night through 9/26. Steve, (415) 238-3977 or beniciayachtclubracing@gmail.com

BERKELEY YC — Every Friday night through 9/27. Tim, (530) 919-9781 or www.berkeleyyc.org

CAL SAILING CLUB — Year-round Sunday morning dinghy races, intraclub only. Info, www.cal-sailing.org.

CORINTHIAN YC — Every Friday night through 8/30. Marcus, (415) 435-4771, racing@cyc.org or www.cyc.org.

COYOTE POINT YC — Sunset Sail, every Wednesday through 10/23. Mark, (408) 718-1742 or www.cpyc.com

ENCINAL YC — Twilight Series, Fridays: 5/31, 7/12, 7/26, 8/9, 8/23, 9/6. Brendan, (510) 289-1193, www.encinal.org or www.jibeset.net

FOLSOM LAKE YC — Every Wednesday through 8/23. Info, www.flyc.org

GOLDEN GATE YC — Friday nights: 5/31, 6/14, 6/28, 7/19, 8/2, 8/16, 9/6. Paul, (415) 867-9022 or www.jibeset.net

ISLAND YC — Island Nights, Fridays: 6/7, 6/21, 7/5, 7/19, 8/2, 8/16, 8/30. Ed, (775) 336-7398 or www.iyc.org.

KONOCTI BAY SC — OSIRs (Old Salts in Retirement) every Wednesday at noon, year round. Info, www.kbsail.org

LAKE WASHINGTON SC — Every Thursday night through 10/3. Mark, owing78@yahoo.com or www.lwsailing.org

LAKE YOSEMITE SA — Every Thursday night through Sept. Dennis, (209) 722-1947 or www.lakeyosemitesailing.org.

MONTEREY PENINSULA YC — Sunset Series, every Wednesday through 10/9. Mark, (831) 236-5191 or www. mpyc.org

OAKLAND YC — Sweet 16 Series, every Wednesday through 8/28. Debby, (510) 390-1620 or www.jibeset.net.

RICHMOND YC — Every Wednesday through 9/25. Fred, (510) 612-2426 or www.richmondyc.org.

ST. FRANCIS YC — Knarrs, Folkboats & J/22s every Wednesday through 6/26 & 7/31-8/14. J/22 Summer Series, Wednesdays: 7/10, 7/17, 7/24. Foiling Kite, Windsurf, Wing, every Thursday night through 6/13 & 7/18-8/22. Friday Night Foiling Windsurf, Wing: 6/7, 7/19, 8/16. Info, (415) 563-6363 or www.stfyc.com.

SANTA CRUZ YC — Every Tuesday night through 11/5. Every Wednesday night through 10/30. Info, www.scyc.org.

SAUSALITO YC — Sunset Series, Thursdays: 6/13, 7/18, 8/1, 8/15, 8/29. Info, www.sausalitoyachtclub.org

SEQUOIA YC — Sunset Series, every Wednesday through 10/2. Andrew, (408) 858-8385, www.sequoiayc.org or www. jibeset.net.

SOUTH BEACH YC — Friday Night Series: 5/31, 6/7, 6/21, 6/28, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, 8/16, 8/23. Mike, (650) 823-1131 or www.southbeachyachtclub.org.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE WINDJAMMERS YC — Every Wednesday night through 9/18. Sam, (530) 318-3068 or www.sltwyc.com.

STOCKTON SC — Every Wednesday night: 6/5-8/28. Andy, (209) 483-3677 or www.stocktonsc.org.

TAHOE YC — Lasers, every Monday night through 8/26. Dick Ferris Summer Beer Can Series, every Wednesday though 8/28. Dan, (530) 583-9111 or www.tahoeyc.com.

TIBURON YC — Every Friday night through 5/31 & 7/268/30. Rob, (415) 577-7199 or www.tyc.org.

TREASURE ISLAND SC — Vanguard 15 Team Racing every Tuesday night through 10/1. Vanguard 15 fleet races, every Thursday night through 9/5. Info, https://vanguard15.org.

VALLEJO YC — Every Wednesday night through 9/25. Mark, (916) 835-2613, www.vyc.org or www.jibeset.net

MARINE SERVICENTER

Is Your Motor Choking To Death?

Is Your Motor Choking To Death?

CALENDAR

Dirty fuel

• Filters & Polishes Stored Fuel

• Remote Warning of Water & Filter Clogs

• Top Loading Clean Change Filter Design

• Internal Priming & Back Up Fuel Pump

• Uses Easy to Find Racor™ Filters

• Built-in System Testing

• Compact Design

In the Tropics

June 16 — Grandes Navegantes, clockwise race around Todos Santos Islands, Ensenada. Club Náutico Baja, https:// clubnauticobaja.mx

June 21-24 — Tahiti Moorea Sailing Rendez-Vous. Latitude 38 sponsors. Info, www.tahiti-moorea-sailing-rdv.com.

July 15 — First Pacific Cup starts, San Francisco-Kaneohe, Oahu. PCYC, https://pacificcup.org.

Oct. 6 — Todos Santos Regatta, Ensenada. Counterclockwise race around Todos Santos Islands. Club Náutico Baja, https://clubnauticobaja.mx or clubnauticobaja@gmail.com. Nov. 4-16 — Baja Ha-Ha XXX (but still PG-rated), San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Info, www.baja-haha.com

Please send your calendar items by the 10th of the month to calendar@latitude38.com. Please, no phone-ins! Calendar listings are for marine-related events that are free or don't cost much to attend. The Calendar is not meant to support commercial enterprises.

June Weekend Tides Predictions for Station 9414290, San Francisco (Golden Gate) date/day time/ht. time/ht. time/ht. time/ht.

June Weekend Currents NOAA Predictions for .88 NM NE of the Golden Gate Bridge

2200 6/02Sun 0036/1.9E 0418 0724/2.1F 1042 1300/1.3E 1548 1918/2.9F 2236

6/08Sat 0206 0506/2.1E 0930 1300/2.8F 1636 1842/1.1E 2106 6/09Sun 0000/2.2F

6/16Sun

6/29Sat 0136

Source: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov

ELECTRICAL

• Wire & Battery Cable

• Batteries & Chargers

• Lighting

• Shore Power

BOAT MAINTENANCE

• Abrasives

• Cleaners & Waxes

• Washdown Kits

• Adhesives

PAINT & EPOXIES

• Topsides

• Bottom Paint

• Varnish

• Epoxies

BOAT BUILDING

• Flooring

• Resins

• Composites

• HDPE Sheets

PLUMBING

• Hoses & Fittings

• Pumps

• Toilets & Chemicals

• Fixtures & Supplies

FASTENERS & HARDWARE

• Large Fasteners Selection

• Cabin Hardware

• Chain

• Tube & Rail Fittings Located at: 2900 Main Street #1900 Alameda, Ca 94501 P: (510) 522-2886 | Open Monday-Saturday 9am – 5pm Visitus: svendsens.com

LETTERS

⇑⇓ AMERICA'S SCHOONER CUP ABOARD SCHOONER QUASCILLA

By great fortune this year, I was sailing with some special friends — Dirk Langer and his wife Theona Stephanis — down from Santa Barbara on their treasured schooner Quascilla, a Ralph E. Winslow design built in Seattle in 1924. This Cup race was celebrating Quascilla's 100th year on the water!

Our crew came from somewhat diverse backgrounds — robotics and driverless vehicles, biotech, systems engineering and software design, media production, and law. Yet we had an easy, eager, positive synergy that synchronized immediately. We pushed off a little late, having had trouble with the running rigging for the yankee jib, but we made it to the channel in time for a bit of practice. The air was balmy, the breeze was light, and it became apparent that I was the only one familiar with the San Diego buoys defining our course, and Gail was familiar with race starts.

We made ours in the second group by seconds! Out came my course and SD buoy maps into the cockpit to share. The course was the shorter version of the classic outside course. The C-class boats, with a 15-minute lead, had already made fair, distance running out on a max-ebb flood of 2.5 knots. Our single A-class boat, the elegant and nimble Lucky Star, was stunning to watch as she breezed past us and was gone in seconds. The winds were light for us inside the channel, but we could feel them freshen as we cleared Zuniga Point. The schooners were scattered across the water far ahead, each taking a different tactic to make the marks. Here was that magic bliss — sunshine sparkling the sea, cerulean blue skies studded with snow-white clouds, and a fair enough breeze (schooners always prefer a little bit more).

We had easily settled into our fluid pattern of handling tasks and trim, and then started the gentle rise and descent over the rolling green swells that grew larger as we made our way to SD#4. By now the wind had started clocking around, but we managed to adjust and make our marks without unnecessary tacks or jibes.

We watched with amusement as little Maid of Kent disappeared into troughs, only to emerge victorious before dipping into another. Shine On has tactics only understood by them; they sail fast and well, their crew is always in high spirits, and their zig-zag approach — such as missing marks and returning to round — is always a great source of

The gorgeous, 100-year-old West Coast schooner 'Quascilla' was not out for the win in this year's America's Schooner Cup in San Diego. "We were out for our own experience," wrote Janie Noon.

Mark a lbertazzi

Photo By Slackwater_SF

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LETTERS

amusement. As you may have guessed, we were not out for speed or the win. We were out for our own experience. Although I sail regularly with a great crew of friends in all the Ancient Mariner series, this day was a truly exceptional experience of camaraderie, smiles, banter, and laughter.

Schooners are such silent mentors with much to share. They teach you to take pleasure in learning more, they show you how easily they sashay through seven-foot swells like a nimble ballet dancer, they let you touch the past.

I love this Schooner Cup. Every year it is different, yet each experience fills me with such joy. I would not change a thing about this day filled with perfect light, sparkling seas, and the laughter of friends.

Janie Noon San Diego

⇑⇓ A STORMY DOUBLEHANDED FARALLONES RACE TESTED BOATS AND METTLE

Cliff Shaw and I were out there on his catamaran SV Rainbow. Eight miles from the islands, the wind increased 10 knots in five minutes; we experienced sustained 29 knots for 20 minutes before turning around. The wave sets came from lots of different directions, and they were breaking. Talk about washing machine conditions! (On my Maytag washing machine it would require the "heavy load" setting.)

Just when we headed for the Gate, we heard over the radio something about Shake & Bake losing its mast. Wow. I am so impressed that those sailors captured their mast and returned to the Bay without rescue. Problem solving of the finest quality.

Jackie Philpott

Jackie was commenting on the April 15 'Lectronic Latitude: Stormy Doublehanded Farallones Successful for Some, Not so Great for Others

Jackie — Sounds like you made a smart move to turn around. Live to sail another day. (Please say hi to Cliff.)

We bought our boat, an S2 35 CC, in Emeryville, and Cliff had Rainbow in a nearby slip. We visited several times. Later, we ran into each other at Catalina Island at Two Harbors. He came over for dinner aboard our boat. Marney and I took that boat on Ha-Ha XIII and stayed for six months cruising in Mexico. We now have a different boat in Santa Barbara Harbor and are enjoying her very much. Roger Briggs

Hey Roger and Marney — I recall dinner aboard your boat fondly. It was nice to be in good company during an otherwise solo trip! Good to hear from you, and best wishes.

Cliff Shaw

⇑⇓ RIDE 'EM, COwBOY

It was pretty giddy-up out there! Glad everyone was OK!

The Farallon Islands, as seen on April 13 from aboard the Westsail 'Tortuga'.

Westsail tortuga

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LETTERS

Tortuga made it out and around the island in record time, but we got hosed when the wind went light and shifted more SSE/E and we couldn't make it into the Gate in the lighter breeze and still-big seas.

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⇑⇓ REMARkABLE AND INSPIRING

I feel deep sympathy for the owner and crew of Shake & Bake. They are so nice and so competent, and prepared the boat well. They're the last program that deserves this misfortune. Sailing is a b*%#} of a sport.

And yes to what Jackie said — the seamanship of recovering the mast while in the snot on the windward side, and then getting all the way back under the bridge on their own, is remarkable and inspiring.

Rosanne

⇑⇓ SINCE THEY wERE kIDS

Great to see Ruffless take the win. Rufus and Ian were teenagers when they campaigned a Laser 2 together from RYC. Both were in the junior program from a young age.

Kit Stycket

⇑⇓ BECAUSE I SURvIvED

I loved the races when my boat was overpowered and I dropped everything but my bolt rope bound 80 jib and simply won because I survived.

Shannon Sue Morris

⇑⇓ A LIGHT-wIND SINGLEHANDED FARALLONES, ON THE OTHER HAND, TESTED PATIENCE

Well that was a bust! Despite being late for my start I felt confident. Nice breeze to get out the Gate. The fog/clouds really set in outside Point Bonita. My plan was to ride as much of the ebb as possible, but the little bit of breeze was on the nose. Tacking WSW toward the island, boat speed slowed to two knots sailing against a northbound current.

But there was plenty of sealife out there: pelicans and murres. Velella velella, or by-thewind sailor. Even a very friendly young sea lion swam along with me for a while. At one point, it put a chin on the toerail. I think it wanted to come along for a ride! I told it no, this was a singlehanded race. What little breeze there was kept getting patchy and lighter. After retiring at 3:45, I set a kite to work my way back. Reaching the North Tower, I decided to douse rather than jibe, but wound up with a broach and the kite in the water. I'm sure those fishermen got a wild show!

Near-glassy conditions characterized the Singlehanded Farallones Race this year.

I announced my return under the bridge to the RC and headed for Richmond under a full main. Wind was howling through the Slot and had us ripping along.

Greg Ashby SV Akumu Point Richmond

LETTERS

⇑⇓ THE YRA AND SINGLEHANDED SAILING SOCIETY NOw REQUIRE AIS FOR RACE PARTICIPANTS. THE DECISION HAS BEEN CONTROvERSIAL

The YRA/SSS AIS requirement looked simple, but as it turned out, it was not.

First, we discovered Nancy's old VHF antenna and cable were shot and needed replacement. The SWR was horrible! That required a visit to Spaulding Marine Center and a trip to the masthead via crane and bosun's chair to install the new antenna and cable. I credit that as a plus, since the old stuff was probably original and the new SWR is perfect. Even though I'm a Ham, I'd never checked the SWR previously; just "Radio check, please," with a quick "OK" reply from a nearby boat.

The MKIV Ocean furler: It’s built for hard work. Which is nice because nobody aboard is particularly interested in that.

There were then issues integrating the Garmin AIS into the existing system. It was not plug and play! We still need to power up the B&G instruments before turning on the Garmin AIS to avoid problems. But I am convinced it was worth it. I didn’t sail the SSS Farallones, but we can "see" marine traffic clearly with all the important information on the screen. I'm looking forward to using the AIS on the ocean, beginning with the YRA Duxship.

It's another layer of safety out there.

Pat Broderick Nancy, Wyliecat 30 Sausalito

⇑⇓ COST IS RELATIvE

We developed the brand new MKIV Ocean furler especially for cruisers who would prefer a furler for cruisers. One

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An AIS transponder is much, much cheaper than a new #3, and costs about the same as three inflatable lifejackets — maybe $750 with an integral "antenna splitter." AIS dramatically increases awareness of ships (and other entrants). Its value as an important safety device is indisputable.

Sure, it's a bit of work to install, but not much more/different than installing a VHF. I look forward to the day when a single device does it all — VHF+AIS transponder at a reasonable price. It's not cheap, but it's worth the investment.

There are a few other safety-related equipment requirements that are not cheap and are of questionable safety value, but that is for another day and discussion.

Jim Quanci Green Buffalo, Cal 40 Bay Area

⇑⇓

FOR THOSE OF YOU wHO FAIL TO NOTIFY

For us Race Committee types, especially for the offshore races like Half Moon Bay, or the Drake's Bay Race (the one I do), it is hugely helpful to have AIS for racers offshore, especially when you drop out and don't notify the RC! At least we can see your approach to the finish line, or your dramatic course change for home, as the case may be.

I applaud Jim Quanci's comparison of the pricing!

Milly Biller

Big Pink, International 110 Inverness

⇑⇓ wHO'S LOOkING OUT FOR wHOM?

I'm puzzled.

Sailboats are a lot more maneuverable than container ships, so shouldn't those under sail keep a lookout (electronically, if there is no visibility) for ships, rather than viceversa?

Maryann Hinden Surprise Pac Cup Veteran

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38

LETTERS

⇑⇓ THE CITY OF BERkELEY PROPOSED MOvING CAL SAILING CLUB'S kEELBOATS. NEARLY 2,000 PEOPLE SIGNED A PETITION URGING THEM NOT TO

This action is against every social value that the City of Berkeley espouses. For an extremely low quarterly fee, CSC provides community access to activities that are normally accessible only to people with high incomes.

You cannot go anywhere in the USA, literally, and ride your bike down to the marina and learn to sail a keelboat, or a dinghy, or a windsurfing rig, a foiling rig, or all at the same time, for $120 for three months — all equipment and lessons included! If CSC does not represent the values of California, then I am ashamed.

John DuMoulin

⇑⇓ PRIORITIES

Many cities try to pander to any rich people they get a nibble on at the expense of livability and vibrancy of the city that made it interesting in the first place, essentially killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Trying to prioritize four rich people over thousands of members of the hoi polloi is predictable, but pathetic.

What does Berkeley think will happen in the long run

here? There's currently a boom with rich people buying giant motor yachts, but rich people quickly get bored of things and motor yachts are boring. There's a reason that sailing has endured despite everything on the West Coast. If I were the Berkeley City Council, I'd want community sailing education. Hopefully, a few people lose their reelection bids over garbage like this.

Scott Walters

⇑⇓ COOPERATION AND TEAMwORk

Community sailing keeps the sport alive. The fact that young people are eager to participate is something the City of Berkeley should encourage rather than eliminate.

Kudos to the volunteers who give their time making sure the kids have fun building safe sailing skills. I can't think of a better opportunity for youngsters to learn cooperation and teamwork than on a boat!

Marie Rogers US Sailing

Keelboat lessons have acquired additional importance as the South Basin continues to silt in, making the traditional thrice-weekly dinghy instruction impossible at low tides.

Cal Sailing Club is a rare gem offering affordable sailing lessons and boat use to the masses.

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LETTERS

⇑⇓ GRIEvANCES

The City of Berkeley does not care about the marina or boaters. It is one of the more expensive and least well maintained facilities around. Almost everyone I know who races left long ago due to maintenance issues, dredging in the entrance etc. I finally gave up several years ago when the city decided to fence in the already full parking lot at L dock to park police vehicles.

Andy Newell

Don't wait! This offer ends

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⇑⇓

THE MARINA THAT IS ALREADY THERE

Why does Berkeley need three more 40-ft slips to replace Cal Sailing Club when they don't even take care of the marina that is there? Go walk N dock, and check out the homeless boats out there — if you can easily walk down the dock without killing yourself. Then tell me why they are giving Cal Sailing a hard time.

Berkeley: Land of the NIMBYest people I've ever met. (The same exact people who espoused free love in the '60s.)

Kimberly Paternoster

⇑⇓

ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO CAL SAILING CLUB

I was forced to vacate my long-standing slip at the end of J-Dock in 2021 to make space for a 40-ft sailboat. That boat ended up smashing into the end of the dock and knocking off the faucet/water line while I was getting my boat ready for a beautiful day on the Bay. This resulted in thousands of gallons of water spewing into the Bay.

CSC taught me how to dock/depart under sail, and I never hit the dock, houseboat or other boats. This is something every boater should learn. Eternally grateful for CSC.

Molly Morelock

Readers — We wholeheartedly agree that Cal Sailing Club is a magnificent organization whose operations should be preserved, and we think the marina has done an excellent job renovating CSC's infrastructure in the South Basin over the past few years. We hope that CSC and the Marina find a solution to the slip situation quickly.

⇑⇓

ARE YOU REALLY LOOkING FOR CREw?

Some guys (most, it seems) looking at the crew list want only young women. Sixty-plus years old is taboo, even if the skippers in question are 75. You can say "be nice" all you want; they are not. They contact, then disappear if you don't fit their "criteria." They want experience, but 30 years of offshore and ocean passages aren't enough? Give me a break.

Rochelle

Rochelle was commenting on the September 2021 'Lectronic: The New Crew List — Live and Online. When commenting on our website, a prompt reads, "Keep it Friendly." The previous letter, and next, take exception to that.

We urge the City of Berkeley to continue to support and allow Cal Sailing Club to serve the public.

Black Magic Air Blocks Element Blocks

Zircon

Carbo Air Blocks

LETTERS

⇑⇓ I'LL BE NICE wHEN THEY'LL BE HONEST

Why keep it friendly? Tell the guys that just want fair maidens for "sleep" to stop advertising for "crew."

⇑⇓ "FOND" (SARCASM) MEMORIES OF THE PNw Ahhh … The photo (right) brings back such fond memories of crossing the Columbia River Bar on my 41-ft Morgan, Faith, to go south, south, south for many happy years of cruising in the warmth of Mexico. "Rain, lumpy seas, crab pots threatening to snag rudders and props, the wind coming from the wrong direction, sleep deprivation, cold, wet and mildly seasick are all the perfect description of sailing the West Coast.

Rocky

Sandy Edmonson Cruising in Mexico

Sandy was commenting on the April 26 'Lectronic: Sailing in Oregon vs. Pacific Northwest: Why Not Do Both?

⇑⇓ AN OREGONIAN GURU

Phil Lewis is a sailing hero in the Oregon sailing scene — a mentor to me and dozens of other sailors across the spectrum, from novice to serious. When it was time to cross the Columbia River Bar and face my fears, there was no better boat to do it on than Soufflé. And when it came time for the first Caribbean charter, there was no better, more entertaining nor organized skipper to lead the way than him.

C. DeVere Sheesley

⇑⇓ SPEAkING OF OREGON …

In 1984, Schooner Creek built a 36-ft Kurt Hughes-designed cat for my charter business in Kona, Hawaii.

Phil Lewis and crew cross the Columbia River Bar aboard his 1969 Cal 34 'Soufflé' some years ago.

PHil leWis

Once the hub of modern boatbuilding — especially in Costa Mesa, the former fiberglass capital of the world — the West Coast does not see many new boats roll out of yards. Portland, Oregon's Schooner Creek Boat Works is a shining exception. They recently completed this Morrelli & Melvin 55, which will serve as a charter boat in Hawaii.

LETTERS LETTERS

They did a beautiful job — cold-molded ply and epoxy — and the testament to their work is the boat Kamanu. She is still in operation (under different ownership) in Kona after 40 years! All the best to Schooner Creek.

Jay Lambert

Jay was commenting on the April 24 'Lectronic Latitude: Schooner Creek Boat Works Launches New Morrelli & Melvin Cat Destined for Hawaii

⇑⇓ SPEAkING OF LEGENDARY BOATBUILDERS …

Many years ago, I walked into a liquor store in Durango, Colorado, wearing my Catalina 30 shirt. The woman behind the counter informed me that Frank Butler was her uncle. Small world.

Tom Jicha

Tom was commenting on the November 2021 'Lectronic Latitude: Remembering Frank Butler

⇑⇓ SMILING kEELS

While a "keel smile" may be common, it is not a healthy thing. Clearly an indication of movement, which could accelerate when conditions tell it to. (Read worst timing.) My peace of mind is too valuable to me. I had my original keel bolts augmented. Went from 8 to 16, all done while in the water. Cheap for the peace of mind I now enjoy.

Don Anderson

Don — I am considering purchasing a Hunter 28.5 with a keel smile. Are the extra keel bolts a common, well-known structural integrity fix to keeping the keel solidly on the boat? How many times have you had a crack/smile in the keel since the new bolts? Any way of "testing" the structural integrity since the new bolts? Thank you!

Victoria Hutchinson

Don and Victoria were commenting on the May 2019 'LL: When the Keel Smiles, Part 2. We'll open up Victoria's questions to anyone in the know.

⇑⇓ A POSSE OF OPTIS TOOk OvER THE BAY IN APRIL FOR EARTH DAY

Pegasus (PegasusVoyages.org) was out sailing on Sunday [April 21] training some new volunteer crew in order to meet our motto of "No Child Left Ashore." We successfully avoided the gang of avid Opti sailors sharing the Berkeley Circle with us. It was a treat to see.

Paul Marbury

Some 12 gazillion Optis decended on San Francisco Bay in April for the Optimist Team Trials. (It was actually somewhere north of 200 boats.) That's a lot of future sailors and future inheritors of Planet Earth. How will we leave it for them?

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LETTERS

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Paul was commenting on the April 22 'Lectronic Latitude: Earth Day Reminds Us Why Sailors Will Save the Planet

⇑⇓ CONFUSION AT CABO MARINA AS CHANGE OF OwNERSHIP TAkES PLACE

My husband and I ran Cabo Marina for one season, and it was a good experience. At the time, it was owned by both an American and a Mexican company. But the Mexican company won, and we were out. My husband, who had lived in Mexico previously, said, "This is how it goes down here." He was right. The couple who ran the marina previous to us had the same experience.

Susan LaCaille

A wild, well, maybe not-so-wild guess is that a very wellconnected relative of a very high-up government official expressed an interest in operating a marina in Mexico. Not that this type of thing has not happened before in America, but I foresee a future in our country where it happens much more often.

Jon Hafstrom

Susan and Jon were commenting on the April 22 'Lectronic Latitude with the same name as this letter In April, Mexican navy personnel, national guard and state police arrived at the docks and secured Cabo Marina with chains and instructed boat owners to relocate their vessels. On May 3, Island Global Yachting (IGY) company, which had been running Cabo Marina along with partner Fonatur, said they'd obtained a "favorable injunction" from the federal court allowing them to resume operating and managing the marina in Cabo San Lucas.

⇑⇓

ALASKA EAGLE MEMORIES

I sailed on the Alaska Eagle when it was part of the Orange Coast College school of sail- ing. We left from Tahiti and ended in Hawaii, making one stop en route on a small island where we swam and pulled up lobsters from the bottom. It was the trip of a lifetime — so fortunate my wife was agreeable to the adventure.

Many thanks to OCC for having the sailing program.

Greg Schwien

carried some

over the course of her 30 years of

College School

&

in Newport Beach. 'Eagle' was sold in 2014 and reportedly went back to the Netherlands, where she was built.

I sailed the Eagle in the late '80s from Newport Beach to Hawaii. An experience of a lifetime. Thank you, Brad [Avery], who became the mayor of Newport. Richard

'Alaska Eagle', a custom S&S 65,

3,000 "student" sailors aboard

bluewater voyaging for the Orange Coast

of Sailing

Seamanship

LETTERS

Richard and Greg were commenting on the January 2014 'Lectronic: Share Your Alaska Eagle Memories

⇑⇓ OUR kIDS GREw UP SAILING wITH US

Our son sailed with us in his first Baja Ha-Ha at 6 months, and he (at 2 years) and his sister (at 8 months) sailed with us for two months in the Pacific Northwest. The kids have since sailed in another Baja Ha-Ha (ages 6 and 7 1/2), as well as in Australia and New Zealand, Alaska, and often in California.

Our son turned 18 on May 1 and is no longer on the SWYC team, but he still enjoys getting out there. It's great fun for a family!

Susan Flieder Andiamo, Buizen 48 Sausalito

Susan was commenting on the April issue's Sightings: Kids on Boats — Homegrown Crew

⇑⇓ AN INAUSPICIOUS START

I started my son at about 4 years old. On our first trip to Catalina, he was seasick, and thought I was trying to torture the family! At 20, my son received his Coast Guard captain's license; he's an ASA instructor, has taught sailing for five years on everything from dinghies to 50-ft sailboats, and now works in the industry! He races on weekends and was president of his sailing team in college.

Tracy Reigelman Oakland

⇑⇓ A LITTLE SHORT OF THE QUOTA

If we end up with two kids, that's a crew of four, so we're still short at least two for a J/105.

Chad Hedstrom Spartan, J/105 San Francisco

⇑⇓ DO YOU REMEMBER SEEING USA-61, THE ST. FRANCIS YC'S 1987 AMERICA'S CUP ENTRY, SAILING ON SAN FRANCISCO BAY?

Sure do! It was super exciting. The canard rudder looked to be a true contender. And the crew! Tom Blackaller, John Kostecki, and Paul Cayard. (Wasn't Kimball Livingston among the crew?) It was quite the rivalry between East Coast traditions (NYYC) and the St. Francis YC. The syndicate behind it included Fritz Jewett and James Michaels, both of whom were legends themselves…

Paul Dines Schooner Freda B Sausalito

Paul — Kimball kept

QUIET AND CLEAN ONBOARD

LETTERS

everyone up to date on the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, and Latitude 38 certainly covered in depth, as well as another S.F. Bay Area newspaper that I wrote for. Fritz was part of Stars and Stripes that year. He later became one of the principal backers of America One in 1999. The Golden Gate Challenge in 1984-87 had multiple investors.

Mark Wharton Reid Latitude 38 America's Cup Correspondent

Good times back then! I have that poster. I worked at Brickyard Landing in Point Richmond, where Blackaller's crew was housed. They had a 30-ft Chris-Craft to take them over to St. Francis every day that they dubbed the Pimp boat.

Chris Malmstrom

I had this poster framed. If I remember correctly, USA-61 got to the semifinals on the challengers' side and were eliminated by Dennis Conner/Stars & Stripes. Stephen Boyce

I'm pretty sure USA-61 was the boat I was able to board, years later, while she was on the hard. While I thought it was very cool, I was shocked by the obvious stress marks inside the hull. No wonder many of these cutting-edge designs were "one and done."

Tim Rochte

⇑⇓ SPEAkING OF THE BYGONE ERA OF AMERICA'S CUPS AND ONCE-REvOLUTIONARY BOATS

This cat was the reason we Kiwis rolled up our sleeves and made sure we won it — it galvanized us all. Basically, we (non-sailors I mean) didn't really give a shit till this.

John Langford

⇑⇓ SIZE MATTERS?

Why did Dennis build a 60-ft cat? A 40-footer would have beaten us. It's just a shame that Driscoll and other yards were prevented from building 120-ft monohulls to defend. It was like challenging with a knife, and the opposition turned up with a gun.

Chris Wilkins

Chris — The rules required 60-ft minimum. The real challenge was engineering a cat that big. A smaller cat would've been foolproof.

Bruce Harris

'Stars & Stripes 88' was a magnificent boat, and, with its solid wing sail, a kind of precursor to the modern America's Cup. The Match itself, against the equally impressive 120-ft monohull 'KZ 1', was surely the most lopsided, litigious and absurd America's Cup in history.

⇑⇓ BEATEN ON THE wATER AND OFF

The Yanks couldn't build a big boat and be sure engineering wise it could win the Cup. But a little country in the

LETTERS

South Pacific could. (The NZ boat was already engineered and under construction for a match race with Australian Alan Bond that never happened as he ended up in prison.) So what do you do? Build a cat.

The Kiwis got their revenge at San Diego later on. Old Dennis knew when he was beaten — never to be seen again. Kiwis can fly.

Dave Roberts

⇑⇓ wHERE DOES THE 27TH CUP SIT IN HISTORY?

Most boring, lopsided event ever. Nothing to be proud about.

Jeff Brook

Jeff — A win is a win on the race course, and I'm sure the Stars & Stripes team/crew are plenty proud of it. Remember who initiated the challenge and decided to change away from 12 Meters.

Andrew Tailor

⇑⇓ THE SHEER AwESOMENESS OF THE CAT

I was a coach at SDYC that summer, and was given an opportunity to take a group of junior sailors out on the cat. We were flying a hull down San Diego Bay in 10-to-12 knots of wind when I looked down at the knotmeter and remarked we were doing close to 29 knots! I was sitting next to Randy Smyth who responded, "We'll deny that in the press; this boat can't do over 25 kts."

Tom Vollbrecht

I was on a syndicated photo boat, and the cat buzzed us doing 18 knots in about a five-knot breeze on glassy water with just some cat's paws.

⇑⇓ THE TIMELESS ART OF JIM DEwITT

Jim DeWitt was amazing. I wonder what happened to molds for the cool sailing dinghy he designed? Superb artist. Some of his best work is hanging in Richmond Yacht Club.

John Dannecker

I wouldn't mind seeing art like this on the cover of new issues of Latitude

38. Chad Hedstrom

Jim Gossman

This Jim DeWitt

was featured in Max Ebb a few months ago.

Chad — Neither would we!

⇑⇓ wE HAvEN'T TALkED (COMPLAINED) ABOUT THE PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE ACROSS THE OAkLAND ESTUARY IN A wHILE

Who dreams up this stuff? It reminds me of the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. We gave up a desperately needed vehicle lane used by thousands for a bike lane used by almost nobody. Use this money for a down payment on more vehicular access to Alameda. That's what's needed.

artwork

courtesy JiM deWitt

LETTERS

After the novelty wears off, nobody's going to walk across. No, they aren't. Not to mention how this bridge would screw up waterway traffic.

Always follow the money. Remember how developers needed to convince Alameda to let them provide less than one parking space per condo unit? Is this bridge their workaround? Older cities like Alameda desperately need developers' fees.

Robert Johnston

Robert — Alameda recently purchased a small passenger ferry to make runs between Alameda Landing and Jack London. I will bet there's some community desire to make that crossing by foot or bike for commuters to access BART or work in Oakland. But I doubt it will be huge, so watching the ferry ridership will be an important gauge on whether a billion-dollar (count on multiple cost overruns) pedestrian drawbridge (with permanent sustainment costs) will be justified for perhaps a couple hundred crossers per day. Honestly, in order to make full redevelopment of the Point feasible, there should be a new VEHICLE and pedestrian tunnel dug to the West Oakland 880/BART onramp area.

Kris Leverich Commodore, Aeolian Yacht Club Alameda

Kris — we had a water taxi 20 years ago that looped the Estuary. No riders. We had a free (taxes and grants) shuttle bus loop around Marina Village to downtown Oakland and Jack London Square with empty bike racks and no riders. AC Transit's bike racks [are] empty, but AC Transbay bus has some bikes.

Bob Naber

Bob — The bike lobby is great at mobilizing turnout at city council meetings, but when their rubber is supposed to meet the road, it's usually deeply underwhelming and far from justifying the expense and radically increased congestion (with traffic chuffing out fumes as everyone gets gridlocked) resulting from bike reconfigurations.

Some 0.01% of residents imagine turning Alameda into Copenhagen. "If we build it, everyone will choose bikes beWe've said it before and we'll say it again: We here at Latitude like biking and we support biking. (Nearly everyone on our staff owns a bike.) We oppose the pedestrian bridge, but we support improving biking infrastructure around the Bay. We think it's politically savvy — but also legitimately beneficial to everyone involved — for sailors to partner with the bike lobby and support better paths (especially in Oakland) and ferries across the Estuary.

LETTERS

cause doesn't everyone have a $200K work-from-home job like me?" But it never materializes.

Kris Leverich

⇑⇓ IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY wILL COME (ON BIkES)?

I am not sure if I agree with this particular bridge. But I wholeheartedly disagree that building bike and pedestrian infrastructure is money badly spent. Some of these projects have an immediate effect. Others will only be used as additional infrastructure continues to be built. There are streets in S.F. where no one used to ride bikes. And now if you stand there at rush hour you can see almost traffic jams of bicycles because the city made it much safer to ride bikes on some streets.

Tony Bourque

Tony — If this weren't a long, expensive pedestrian-only lift bridge over an active deepwater channel, I would agree with you. This is quite different from realigning and adding striping to an existing road.

Robert Johnston

⇑⇓ PUTTING THE "E" IN PEDESTRIAN

One of the things that really surprised me when I first moved here is that the entire region predates the car by half a century and is crisscrossed by hundreds of miles of rail, but you can't walk from San Francisco to Oakland, despite its only being ~7 miles.

Seven miles is the blink of an eye with an electric bicycle.

Chad Hedstrom

⇑⇓ FORGET BIkES, LET'S TALk CARS

Alameda allowed the building of thousands of new condos at two-plus-cars per unit to be built, but the infrastructure doesn't support that additional flood of new cars.

Just now, on the Alameda first Sunday flea market day, traffic is horrific and clogs the tunnel and bridges. I live on the south side of Park Street, so I have to cross Park and go several blocks away from the bridge to be able to cross, doing, like, 15 negative blocks to reach my home.

Just wait until all the new units will be occupied.

Jorge Lavorerio

⇑⇓ FORGET BIkES, CARS AND TRAFFIC, LET'S TALk BREAk-INS

Several months ago, I was in Jack London Square, in Oakland, to bring a boat down to Newport. I left my locked rental car with a couple of bags inside, and when I came

LETTERS

back to the car, it had been broken into it. They took one duffel. When I took the car back to the rental agency, the employee said "Yeah that happens all the time — two-tothree times a week, easy."

Jeffry Matzdorff

Jeffry — We have a serious smash-and-grab problem here across the Estuary at Marina Village Yacht Harbor Gate 8 and 9. There's a little hotel next to and between Oakland and Encinal Yacht Clubs that was used to house the homeless during the pandemic, and it's turned problematic the last two years. There are always paramedics and firetrucks there, and it's likely the source of the car break-ins.

The City of Oakland is responsible, even though it's across here in Alameda

Sandy Andersen Wertanen Eclipse, Express 37 Alameda

Jeffry and Sandy — It's amazing how normalized a grinding issue like break-ins has become. As former residents of Oakland, some of our staff were ready to shrug and say, "Oh yeah, you should never leave anything in your car in Jack London Square — there are even signs posted warning people." Are we "victim-shaming?" Are we "normalizing" rampant petty theft?

After the Oakland A's abandoned their plans to build a new ballpark on the Estuary, the City of Oakland has been contemplating options for its waterfront, including a pedestrian bridge spanning from somewhere around Jack London Square to Alameda. Whatever comes next in Oakland, it seems like basic safety and security are paramount for a city trying to bill itself as a destination for locals to spend their money, tourists seeking out attractions, pedestrians commuting, and everyone hoping to enjoy the waterfront without having to constantly look over their shoulder.

⇑⇓ DON'T FORGET ABOUT DOCkTOwN

I finally had to sell my beautiful floating home that I'd owned for 18 years. I painstakingly remodeled the antique WWII transport vessel, which was even featured on HGTV.

The producers of Oprah called me to be on an episode about living in small places. They gave me 24-hour notice to get to Chicago, but I just couldn't do it. But I was very flattered. I helped a lot of people fix up their boats, and I helped decorate the Yacht Club.

LETTERS

As a designer, my boat was one of the most unique inside and out. I loved it and I miss it. I only sold because I was bullied into it I was told I had to move. I was intimidated; I had no choice. I was told I must sell and the boat must be moved. But there was no place to move it. I looked for years. I would like to sue Redwood City for taking one of the best things in my life, my home, away from me. I miss it all the time. It's very sad to me.

Mia Fisher

Maria was commenting on the April 2018 'Lectronic: Bohemia After Dark: The Final Days of Docktown, written by the late John Tuma.

⇑⇓ ORCAS SINk ANOTHER BOAT IN THE MED

What research is being done on electronic or mechanical emissions from the sailboats being attacked? The orcas are obviously reacting to some perceived threat, or some harmonic being emmitted is causing a defense reaction by the orca population in this area. It could be related to some new technology being employed by naval forces operating in the area. The sailboats may not be the emitters of harmonics, but maybe the reflecting targets of some new or upgraded naval-detection capability. It's not the orcas developing some new aversion to the sailboats themselves. We humans have a propensity for being blind to what we put into the biosphere.

James Rector Subscriber

James — Thank you for being a subscriber! (Mr. Rector was kind enough to include the word "subscriber" on his 'Lectronic Latitude handle. James was commenting on the May 15 'LL: Orcas Back in the Spotlight as Boat Sinks Near Strait of Gibraltar. It is the fifth time killer whales have sent a ship to the seafloor in the past three years, according to livescience.com.

"The attack was likely carried out by a growing number of individuals from the Iberian subpopulation of orcas — a group of around 40 killer whales that live off the coasts of Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Gibraltar — that have been attacking boats across their range since 2020," livescience said. "Most of the attacks occur between May and August each year in and around the Strait of Gibraltar.

⇑⇓ wE wERE CALLED "MENTORS" AND wE'RE TICkLED

A note of praise to Latitude 38. In my 35 years of sailing the Bay, Latitude has always been there for me like a mentor, guiding me through everything related to sailing on the Bay. I started racing because of a Crew List party 30 years ago — that led to multiple crew positions on more boats than I can count. When I bought and sold my boats, it was with Latitude's Classy ads, all while learning and being further inspired to sail more. My sailing has now taken me far offshore and to distant places. Keep it up Latitude 38, and thank you!

Greg Clausen Vaquita, Passport 40 Point Richmond

Have a comment? Email us at editorial@latitude38.com

MARINE BATTERIES

LOOSE LIPS

Whatare the two best days in a boat owner's life? Buying a boat, and then selling the boat. But what if you don't ever get your money back? Does that still count as a good day? In the case of the photo below, we'd say yes. But some people are not open to haggling. "No lowball offers, I know what I got. Serious buyers only." — @whiteraven_media. Bryan Maas has the same mindset: "Will throw in two free fenders. Don't lowball me! I know what I got!" Maybe there's a windfall coming for the seller? In the meantime, the winner and top ten comments are below.

"First one to the bottom wins!"— Dennis Barry. "Actually the repair on the starboard foredeck is holding up remarkably well…." — JC.

"Still meets race committee strict one-design standards." — Frank.

"A little duct tape will fix that right up!" — Ken Brinkley. "Propane canister not included." — @ourladydefiant.

"Noah's lifeboat found." — Dennis Greathouse.

"Racing sailboat donning crackle nonskid for sale!" — Cecile Schwedes.

"Mast is missing. Price can be negotiated." — Saerdna. "Almost new, needs some TLC." — Ed A Quesada. "That will buff right out." — Kathleen O'Callaghan.

cure for anything is salt water: sweat,

— Karen Blixen, writing as Isak Dinesen.

or the

The winner: "Biodegradable boats are all the rage these days!" — Eric.

"It was a very late meeting…but WE WON!!!!!!" This was the email we received from Sabrina Svendsen the morning after the Alameda City Council voted to name Alameda Marina's new park "Svendsen Maritime Park." The result came after much campaigning, community input, and many meetings.

It wasn't smooth sailing, Sabrina had admitted in February. Despite gaining support from three out of five members, the proposal still faced opposition.

"The council decided they wanted the parks and recreation department to dive deeper into my dad's contributions, including a background check, before making a final decision," Sabrina had told us. We looked into the information tabled on the council's website last week and could see the effort that had gone into uncovering all of Svend's history.

The Svendsen family's campaign was presented to the council in July 2022. At that time, "Svendsen Maritime Park" joined nine other names under consideration, including Dockside Park, Riveter's Waterfront Park, Shipbuilder's Park, Tibbitt's Shipyard Park (Barnes & Tibbitts shipbuilding company 19191922) and others, all based on the idea of the park's waterfront location. By January 2023, council staff had narrowed the list to two contenders — Svendsen Maritime Park and Riveter's Waterfront Park. As we might expect, the research on Svend Svendsen delivered a positive account of the man who had contributed so much to the Bay Area and its sailing community.

Sabrina says the naming process was more than just a tribute. "[I]t's a testament to the values and history my dad and the boat works represented." We can see that, and are happy that the new park will be named in honor of someone who was known and beloved within the community he worked hard to support.

After perusing the Alameda City Council's Executive Summary regarding this naming process, we understand the park (privately maintained and open to the public) will include a continuation and realignment of the San Francisco Bay Trail, open lawn areas, waterfront promenade, seating and picnic areas, and a long floating dock to launch, store and instruct on non-motorized watercraft such as kayaks, small sailboats, and paddleboards.

We know the actualization of the park is still a long way off, but we look forward to seeing the community enjoy many hours of fun in what we hope all agree is a fitting tribute to Svend Svendsen.

Sven Svendsen earned well-deserved recognition for his contributions to the island of Alameda

the 30th annual baja ha-ha has launched the whole world sails

At noon on May 9 (the Grand Poobah's birthday), sign-ups began for the 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha. Twenty-four hours later, almost 60 boats were signed up and, as of this writing, 69 boats have committed to sailing south this fall.

After the first Baja Ha-Ha in 1994 the Grand Poobah wrote, "'Everybody who crosses the finish line is a winner.' That was the concept of the San Diego-to-Cabo San Lucas Baja Ha-Ha Race/Rally when Latitude thought it up just a couple of months ago, and that — we're delighted to report — is how it turned out." And that's how it's turned out for almost 4,000 boats and many thousands more crew who have followed in their wake.

That first year saw 36 boats and 125 crew sign up and start on November 3 for what probably remains one of the windiest starts of the Ha-Ha off Coronado Roads, with the breeze somewhere around 15-20 knots — strong enough for the America's Cup Worlds to call off racing for the day. In that first event, the Grand Poobah's Ocean 71 ketch Big O was the mothership

In 2024, the boat at the top of the sign-up list is Zac and Karina Singer's Andrews 56 Encore. They are veterans of the event, having first done the Ha-Ha in 2022. They were in the #1 spot that year, too. Like many boats that have done the event, they're bringing their boat north just to sail south again with the Ha-Ha fleet. Zac has a 1600-ton Master Oceans and is a tugboat captain. Encore is his first boat which he bought after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and took up sailing. He now runs SailMS to help support others diagnosed with the disease.

The rest of the boats already signed up range in size from Mike and Cindy Meloy's Catalina 320 Even Keel hailing from Corvallis, Oregon, to David and Allison Shuttleworth's 63-ft Ta Chaiao CT 54 Epifania, sailing from San Francisco. So far, there are 17 boats that have done the Ha-Ha before, including Daniel Lawler aboard his Catalina 42 MkII Seaduction, who is back for his sixth Ha-Ha! Popular brands currently represented in this year's rally include 12 Beneteaus from 33- to 49-ft, 10 Catalinas from 32- to 47-ft, one powerboat for the No Comprende division, four Ericsons, six Hunters, five Jeanneaus, four Lagoons plus a Leopard and Maine Cat, meaning about 10% of the fleet are multihulls — including, of course, the Surfin' 63 mothership, Profligate.

The communications rules for the Baja Ha-Ha are stated as follows: Each boat must be able to communicate via SMS text or email. Texting devices include the Garmin InReach models, Iridium GO!, or satphone, as they can communicate with the Rally Committee's InReach. Email may be done via Starlink, HF radio or any number of other devices. "But cell phones do not qualify." Of the first 69 boats signed up, 39 have Starlink. Beyond that, the Garmin InReach is the next most popular device, followed by the Iridium GO!.

The march of technology in cruising was noted in the first Ha-Ha when the Poobah commented on a television brought on the trip, "Kirk places the little 12-volt television atop the cabin house and hooks the video camera to it. He then hands the Wanderer, who is driving, the remote. So at a push of a button, the helmsman — and everybody else — gets to watch the previous day's video of the Ha-Ha — while in the act of racing. It's so disgusting that we sense Moitessier, Slocum, Hiscock and all the pre-electronic sailors rolling over in their graves."

A lot has changed over 30 years of doing the Baja Ha-Ha, but most everything that's made the Baja Ha-Ha a roaring success remains the same. San Diego is an ideal host for boats starting the cruise south; Turtle Bay is somewhat bigger and now has a world-class stadium for the annual Baja Ha-Ha bazeball game, with cruisers contributing to the growing stash of surplus baseball gear; and parties at Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria continue to rock on. In 1994 the Poobah wrote, "As for Cabo, she's truly overdeveloped, but still a fun adult playground."

Despite climate change, the weather along Baja California hasn't changed significantly. The rally gets warmer with every mile sailed south from SoCal. The first evening watches can be chilly, but the departure from news at home (if you wisely keep your devices tuned to navigation only) al-

What would it look like if you, and all the sailboats in your marina, club or one-design fleet, all went sailing on the same day? It would be bedlam on the Bay — and lots of fun. If you were to pick the perfect weekend to sail anywhere in the world, wouldn't it be the first weekend of summer, when the kids are out of school and adults pretend they are too? That's when you can join the world by putting your June 22/23 sailing plans on the Summer Sailstice map at www.summersailstice.com. You can do that by taking friends and family out for a daysail, or joining the Westpoint Regatta, the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show, South Beach Yacht Club's J/105 Stot event, or telling friends to visit

on summer sailstice

Cal Sailing Club for their Open House.

Your participation makes a difference. First, you get to go sailing. Second your sailing helps the non-sailing public discover what they don't understand. What is sailing? It's windsurfing, daysailing, dinghy racing, cruising, rallies and raft-ups. What is sailing? It's pure fun.

Latitude 38 works hard to connect all sailors to share the fun, and Summer Sailstice works hard to put that all on display for the world. When you join, you help make that happen. Check out the people and events currently on the Summer Sailstice map, then add your own plans. We'll join you for the bedlam on the Bay.

— latitude / john

baja ha-ha — continued

low everyone to chill out as the weather warms.

Like paperwork everywhere, the bureaucracy has become a little more complicated, with the Mexican navy taking over the administration of ports and customs. Despite this, the 2023 initial clearing-in was miraculously easy as the customs agent traveled to check each boat in the fleet into the country in Bahia Santa Maria. TIPS (Temporary Import Permits) are easy to get, but a snag remains, and it can be a big one: If you bought a used boat and it has an uncanceled TIP from prior to 2006, there is currently no way to get it canceled.

Please be sure to check this before you go.

Nothing lasts forever, and we don't know if the Poobah will run another Baja Ha-Ha after this year. If you've been thinking of going, this is as good a time as any. The Baja Ha-Ha is an ideal course to warmer weather, warm people and great cruising. As the Poobah said in 1994, "It's great to be at sea where you have more control over your life."

It's still true today.

— latitude / john

Scenes from aboard Zac and Karina Singer's Andrews 56 'Encore'.

falling in, and saving myself

It will never happen to me, and yet it did. I was that person. I wasn't inebriated. I wasn't careless. Or was I?

My better-half, on his way up to a Harbor Committee meeting at the yacht club, had just kissed me goodbye. I was going to head back to our home in the Central Valley, and he would follow a few days later. Managing our time and commitments, between living aboard our Hunter 42 and running a home an hour and a half away, is a bit tricky at times, but we make it work.

I packed up my small backpack and tossed it down onto the dock, not wanting to carry the extra weight down the dock stairs with me. There was a strong wind blowing out of the north, and the distance between our boat and the slip was greater than usual. Our dock bucked and rocked noisily under my feet and the wind howled fiercely. I noted the whitecaps out in the Estuary, and the sizable waves lapping against the back of our boat. That should have given me pause to at least to reconsider the need that I then felt, in that moment, to go back aboard and collect our dirty clothes so that I could take them with me back to the house to wash.

I entered quickly and loaded the dirty clothes into a large fabric open continued on outside column of next sightings page

Spread: We met Michael and Apryl Hunt at Svendsen's Spring Fling on a rainy day in April.

Inset: The kayak and blue float that would be Apryl's salvation, and means to save herself.

us sailing lawsuit settled

The contentious lawsuit and gut-wrenching infighting between US Sailing and Paul Cayard and the AmericaOne Foundation has finally been resolved, sailing's governing body announced in late May.

Specifics of the settlement were not released, according to ESPN, but AmericaOne Racing said in a statement that no money changed hands, and that both parties agreed to release all claims and established a mutual non-disparagement agreement. "US Sailing is pleased that this matter is resolved so that the greater sailing community can join us and be focused on fully supporting the 13 American athletes that will be representing the United States in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games," US Sailing said in a press release. — latitude

mmba wooden boat show

The parade of wooden boats will continue from the San Francisco Bay racecourse to the docks of the Corinthian Yacht Club in late June.

On Summer Sailstice weekend, Sunday, June 23, many of the Bay's most beautiful classic wooden boats will be on display for one day, and one day only. If you are attracted to the gleam of varnish and the warmth of wood, this boat show is not to be missed. It is rare to get a chance to tour (that means taking off your shoes and going on board) such a stellar collection of museumquality yachts all in one place. The gate fee is $20 to the public, which includes a detailed program of attending boats. Children under 12 are free. Be sure to mark your calendars, and we'll look forward to seeing you there. — latitude

saving myself — continued

tote. After hauling it up to the cockpit, I thought about tossing it down onto the dock as well. But I discarded that decision, because I didn't want the clothes spilling out of the tote, onto the dock, or into the water. With the tote in my right hand, I grabbed hold of the standing rigging with my left hand.

I stepped down…

Just as I let go of the standing rigging, a big gust blew and caught the already heavy bag of clothes in my right hand, moving my shoulders and upper body backward enough to unbalance me and throw me backward into the water between our slip and the boat. Oddly enough, for the first four seconds, I was just incredibly upset that I and the bag of clothes had fallen in and were getting wet. I even tried hauling the clothes upward, as they were quickly sinking.

After mere seconds, however, I realized that I was really in trouble. The dock was rocking so hard that it wasn't allowing me to rest my arms on top of it to steady myself and catch my breath, as would have been possible on a calm, sunny day. Not only that, but I was getting pretty beat up and jostled around up in that space between the slip and the boat. And I was tiring quickly from being roughed up, having to tread water, and not being able to hold on to the dock for support.

The horrifying vision of Michael coming back from his meeting to find me face down floating next to the boat caused my chest to tighten, and pain to shoot through my chest and down my left arm. I told myself that this wasn't how it would end. I needed to find a way, and part of that plan meant calming myself down immediately so that I might stand a chance.

Amazingly enough, I was able to focus and stop panicking.

I reached down for my phone — located under water briefly — in the right pocket of my yoga pants, brought it out, and laid it on the dock. Then I grabbed it off the dock and dried it off on the top of my head, as I was only wet from the shoulders down. I sat it back on the dock to catch my breath. Luckily, I had dried it off enough, for me to be able to swipe it open, and text Michael: "Help fell in."

We constantly joke around with one another. I was hoping he didn't think that I was fooling around, and that he would have his phone facing upward on the table in front of him during the meeting, so that he would see my message. I knew, though, that I couldn't count on the fact that he would receive my message in time. I needed to save myself.

Next to the boat was a blue rectangular floating mat that is thick and buoyant enough to hold all of my weight — if I were standing in the middle of it. However, when I placed my knee on the edge of it and tried to use it to boost myself up and out of the water, the edge folded and sank quickly under my weight. What about the kayak?

I tried placing my knee on top of the kayak to use it to boost myself out of the water, and the same thing happened. Frustrated and tiring quickly, I tried calling to our liveaboard neighbor, Bill. His boat is 15 feet from where I was treading water. "Biiiillllllll! Help! Please help me!" I screamed! Nothing.

There has to be a way, I thought. Please just show me how to save myself. What popped into my mind next was distribution of weight, and timing. I had to time the bucking of the dock correctly, so that, I wasn't just tossed aside. This time, I pushed with the ball of my left foot on top of the kayak that was on top of the blue float. At the same time, I used my right elbow to launch my head, shoulders and chest out of the water and onto the dock.

I did it! This gave me hope, and a couple of minutes to catch my breath, after which time I clawed and pulled the rest of my exhausted body up onto the dock. I sat up and just cried, grateful that it had actually worked. Then I looked down the dock and saw Michael running toward me. His eyes widened at the sight of me. He'd gotten my text and come to the rescue. I can't explain or quite put into words, what it did for me on that day, that I was able to save myself.

— apryl hunt

west coasters at charleston race week

"What a joy it was for the Corinthian Yacht Club (CYC) to own the podium in the Melges 20 class at Charleston Race Week this year," Ron Epstein, from Tiburon, California, noted, smiling broadly. (His Melges 20 is named Grinning.) "Out of five skippers, I was the only sailor in our fleet who did not sail at the Melges 20 Worlds, so it was a great result for me to place third in class." Epstein raced Charleston Race Week for the first time this year, which was also his first time racing a Melges 20. Epstein is new to racing in general, just entering his third season on his J/133 Bacchanal on San Francisco Bay. The Melges 20 is a far cry from racing on a J/133, but CYC friends Daniel Thielman (Tiburon, California) and Jan Canestra convinced him that not only would learning to race the fast sport boat make him a better all-round racer, he'd also really enjoy it! Charleston Race Week was the perfect platform to make it all happen.

In its 29th year, Charleston Race Week is one of the biggest keelboat regattas held annually in the US, drawing entries from all over the country and beyond. This year, some 185 boats enjoyed three days of racing in variable conditions in the challenging Charleston Harbor. Building upon 2023 and the regatta's first event aboard the USS Yorktown, Charleston Race Week 2024 festivities were held aboard the historic aircraft carrier at Patriots Point, a unique regatta host location.

The Melges 20s returned to Charleston Race Week for the first time in some years, in large part encouraged by the trio of teams from CYC: Epstein and Thielman (Tiburon, California) racing on Kuai, and Jen Canestra (Greenbrae, California) with her crew on Ghostrider, joining some 15 other classes. Other West Coast sailors racing included Bruce Golison (Rossmoor, California) and crew on his J/70 MidLife Crisis, who took fifth in the 41-strong class, and Olympian Russ Silvestri (Stinson Beach, California) racing on the VX One Billion Oysters Project with Paul Murphy (Annapolis, Maryland) also took fifth in a 28-strong fleet.

Thielman, who took first in class, is one of the most active racers on San Francisco Bay, currently racing in the Melges 20, Melges 14, and IC37 one-design fleets around the country. He also PHRF races on his Melges 32 on the Bay. He's been involved in the Melges 20 fleet since 2009, when he first stepped on board the sport boat at Charleston Race Week.

"We had an old guy following us around on a motorboat the whole weekend, yelling coaching tips, who we later learned was Buddy Melges," Thielman smiled. He chose Charleston Race Week as one of his events this year because he and other Melges 20 owners thought it would be great to get back to Charleston. "The Melges 20 fleet used to go to Charleston multiple times per year," he noted. "The fleet has mostly consolidated around Miami now, but the timing of this event was very important to each of the CYC boats because we all have major events coming up that we are training for, like IC37 Nationals, NYYC Resolute Cup, and the Sydney to Hobart race for Ron Epstein."

Commenting on racing conditions at this year's regatta, Thielman added, "Any time we get to race in breeze and flat water, we are happy — and Charleston delivered. We had big smiles on Friday and Saturday afternoons when we were ripping downwind at 15 knots. The Race One circle we were on is the most challenging because the wind frequently shifts off the downtown and surrounding land, which gave everyone a chance to catch a big shift and sail at the front of the fleet."

Canestra has been racing the Melges 20 for about eight years now, at first very casually in PHRF races in the Bay; then in 2019, she started racing in the Melges 20 Miami Winter Series. She also races a Melges 14 and crews on a Melges 32 and an IC37. Sailing with good friends and skilled racers from the CYC at Charleston Race Week keeps the level of competition interesting and challenging, even in a small fleet, as Canestra acknowledged. "We are all very close friends, and we are always pushing each other to be their best," she said. "The racing in Charleston was very close, with race wins changing hands, and with the final placings not decided until the very last race. Charleston is one of my favorite cities in the US — on top of the great sailing, the people, the food, the beaches and the

docks in ayala cove will

The best-case scenario to repair or replace the broken docks in Ayala Cove, and to finally bring new docks to Angel Island, according to the park's manager, would have construction beginning in June 2025 for a six-month project.

"Currently, half of the docks in Ayala Cove are closed," Gerald O'Reilly, the manager for Angel Island and superintendent for California State Parks, told us in a video interview last week. The docks were last replaced in 2002, but many of the pilings date back to the 1980s. "Two more pilings broke during a storm back in January. But the mooring fields are open," O'Reilly

Now in its 26th year, Charleston Race Week draws exciting fleets from all over the country. West Coast sailors did well. Inset, right: Ron Epstein's Melges 20 'Grinning' placed third in class. Inset, left: Jennifer Canestra and the 'Ghostrider' Crew took second place in the Melges 20 fleet.

be repaired, but when?

said, adding that weekends at Angel Island remain busy even as the docks have deteriorated and been shuttered. We also discussed dredging and the unique challenges of running Angel Island State Park (AISP), and spoke with Angel Island Conservancy, a nonprofit that supports the park through fundraising, among other things, about their efforts to raise funds for projects.

"We ask that people be patient," O'Reilly told us. "My staff doesn't control the purse strings. We're doing the best we can. We want to open the docks — we enjoy boaters coming into the docks. At other parks, you

continued on inside column of next sightings page

charleston race week — continued

low country make it such an interesting place to visit. And what's not to like about getting to party on an aircraft carrier each day?"

One of the reasons Silvestri came back for a second consecutive year in the VX One fleet. "The boat is great. It's high-performance enough and challenging, but simple. The class is organized. Charleston's a fun place and the competition is good, although our racecourse was a little busy with multiple fleets including the J/70s," he commented. "The sailing is different every day, but we like it!" Steve Hunt (San Diego) a renowned coach, elite sailor, and College of Charleston Sailing Team alumnus, took fourth in the highly competitive J/70 fleet on Midlife Crisis, racing on a team he has sailed with for nine years. "Sailing at the College of Charleston meant the world to me; it really changed my life," Hunt said. "It was the best time. I loved it, and it really did set the trajectory of my life. I love returning to race there and do so at any opportunity."

— michelle

slade

Ralph Walo

the mini-clipper route

While the sail from California to Cabo is known for the following winds gently sending you south, the return voyage is often called the Baja Bash. In spring, the typical coastal winds are 20-25 knots from NW to NNW. These are not easy conditions in which to sail or motor back to California, hence the infamous Bash!

The Clipper Route, named for the Yankee clippers that used it in the 1800s, is often talked about as an alternate route to get north from the equator to San Francisco. That route is about 1,000 miles offshore of Central America, Mexico and California, with winds from the northeast. If you are trying to make the 800 miles from Cabo to San Diego, it does not make sense to go 1,000 miles offshore, then 800 miles north, and then 1,000 miles back to shore! Most mariners are resigned to waiting weeks for calm conditions to motor north, or resigned to bashing.

I was considering leaving La Paz in late May to head north for San Francisco. As I monitored the weather, I noticed the winds on the Pacific side of Baja were often 20-25 knots and higher from the NW. I also noticed that, from time to time, the winds 50 to 100 miles offshore were a lighter continued on outside column of next sightings page

docks on ayala cove

bring your RV. Angel Island is for boaters, and it's a great way for people to enjoy the weekend and the park."

Half of the docks at Ayala Cove on Angel Island may be closed until at least early 2026, but half are still open. (The worsecase scenario is that it takes much, much longer.)

That "best-case" scenario that O'Reilly mentioned involves getting through a lengthy permitting process to approve construction on new docks. (The worst-case scenario is that the project will begin much later than June 2025 — but it does appear that the repairs will happen at some point.) Numerous state and federal agencies must give their OK, including the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC),

Clockwise from bottom left: Ed Hoff passes Isla Guadalupe in July 2023; Ed passing Cabo San Lucas; Ed nearing S.F. Bay; 'Pendragon's reefed delivery main; RV 'Martin Sheen' at Guadalupe; putting the "bash" in Baja Bash past Cabo San Lucas.

the Army Corps of Engineers, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Regional Water Quality Control Board. "These are all the hoops we have to jump through," said O'Reilly.

As part of the requirements for building new docks, AISP had a bathymetric survey done in 2022 for the entire cove, core drilling the cove's floor in fall 2023, and a recent biological survey.

"It all comes down to money," said O'Reilly. "It's an expensive park to run." As a state entity, AISP is legally required to pay a premium when hiring contractors, as well as prevailing wages for all workers involved in projects. AISP has also requested a $1.5 million Tier II grant from the Division of Boating and Water -

continued on inside column of next sightings page

mini-clipper route — continued

10-15 knots and periodically changed direction from NW to the NNE. This change was usually caused by a weak tropical depression running NW off the coast of Mexico. My sailboat, Pendragon, is a Davidson 44 (highly modified). While it is a fast boat, it is a fairly heavy racing boat of a class called IOR warhorses. In La Paz at Sails & Shades, I was having a used sail refitted to use as a delivery mainsail for my return trip. The delivery main was only about 2/3 the area of the racing main.

Day 0, July 6: I motored from La Paz to Los Cabos overnight and topped off the diesel in Los Cabos.

Day 1, July 7: I departed Los Cabos at 8 a.m. and headed to Cabo San Lucas. Abeam of Cabo at 11 am; 20-knot headwinds and uncomfortable chop. I motored a few hours past Cabo to get out of the wind accelerating by the point. I was sailing and making a little bit of northing on a starboard tack, but mostly sailing west. After a wind shift, we were not making any northing, so I tacked over to a port tack and headed north.

Day 2, July 8: Overnight the wind lightened up,so I tacked over to starboard tack to head offshore. Later, due to a wind shift, I was not able to make any northing, so I tacked over to a port tack and headed north making 7 to7.5 knots on smooth seas. By sunset I was a few miles south of Isla Santa Margarita in a dying wind. I tacked to head west and then had to start motoring heading WNW overnight.

Day 3, July 9: Headed WNW or better and sailing with good speed on flat seas. The winds have started to shift more to the northeast as predicted.

Day 4, July 10: Wet on deck all day, SE swell from tropical depression to my south hitting the prevailing NW swell to make chaotic seas. Heading NNW directly at Isla Guadalupe.

Day 5, July 11: Heading directly to Isla Guadalupe close hauled in NNE wind at 6 to 7.5 knots.

Day 6, July 12: Continue heading directly to Isla Guadalupe closehauled in NNE wind at 6 to 7.5 knots. The wind died off in the early morning hours in the lee of Isla Guadalupe; started motoring. Motored up the east side of Isla Guadalupe. Met the island rangers aboard the RV Martin Sheen on patrol. At 11 a.m., I started sailing again on a NW wind at 6.5 to 7 knots and headed NNE to Ensenada 185, miles away.

Day 7, July 13: Continued sailing NNE at 6.5 to 7 knots to Ensenada. The wind began to die about three hours out of Ensenada, so I started motoring. Saw some whales just south of Todos Santos. Entered Marina Coral at 4 p.m.

In summary, I traveled a straight line about 700 miles from Cabo to Ensenada in six days, while sailing approximately 80% of the time and consuming 24 gallons of diesel fuel. (Estimated miles through the water, 850.) Some of the fuel was used just for electricity generation.

— ed hoff, sv pendragon

a bureaucratic shuffle in croatia

Six months ago, my wife and I immigrated to my grandfather's homeland, Croatia. Since 2018, we have visited the country four times — three trips were aboard sailboats around the Dalmatian Islands. We fell in love with the country and the people, returning in October 2023 to retire. Over the years we met some great people, including a retired maritime police commander, a marine surveyor, charter company workers, and a fixer or two.

On March, 19 the call went out from Latitude 38 to the so-called 'Croatia Crowd', a group of Bay Area sailors familiar with Croatia. The email read, "Owner Dave is desperate. He lives in California, has a sailboat in Hvar, Croatia. His customs permit expires in 11 days. Can you help?" I called my maritime policeman friend, a natural go-to guy who has been invaluable in assisting with my Croatia flotilla itineraries. He said, "You know Peter, the surveyor. Call him."

Peter got the same back story I heard: Owner Dave had health issues, continued on outside column of next sightings page

croatian bureaucratic shuffle — continued

which sidelined him for a couple years in California. His boat was maintained for years by the harbormaster in Marina Hvar. Over a year ago, the harbormaster retired, turning the business over to his son. Owner Dave sent the son a chunk of cash to conduct the clear customs transfer, an offshore jaunt to international waters and back. Deadline was March 31. Dave did not hear another word from Son. With 15 days until deadline, Owner Dave was facing import duties and taxes of $35-$40k. In a desperate panic, he called Latitude 38

Peter, the surveyor, now up to speed, flew into action, recognizing the challenge of logistics and timing. A plan was hatched to visit the boat, six hours away, and to transfer the boat to satisfy customs in the next nine days. Piece of cake, right? Well, customs rules had changed since Croatia became a Schengen country [an area of 29 European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their mutual borders]. No longer could we head offshore 12 miles. We had to go to the foreign, non-Schengen country of Bosnia, where the seven-mile Neum Corridor cuts Croatia in two.

First, we would sail to Ploçe, Croatia, for check-out paperwork, then to Neum for official Bosnia entry/exit, then back to Ploçe for entry/check-in to Croatia. This was only possible with help from Peter's family connection at the port of Ploe and another "connection" in Bosnia. All good. We just might be able to pull this off. Just to make things interesting, the vessel's BVI registration had expired, needing immediate renewal. To move the boat we also needed original, notarized power of attorney from the owner, accompanied by an official Croatian translation. DHL was bringing documents from the USA to Split, Croatia. Tight timing, but doable. We had to be out of Croatian waters by March 31.

Things got interesting on March 28. We arrived at the boat in the teeth of a raging thunderstorm that delayed our departure. Upon boarding the boat, we found it in complete disarray; it had clearly been neglected for years. Gear was strewn everywhere belowdecks. Batteries were dead. Engine fuel line was disconnected; one fuel tank empty.

This boat was going nowhere.

As we asked around, we were told there had been an attempt months earlier to go offshore to clear customs, but the engine died during a notorious Bura (NE) wind. With shredded sails and a dead engine, the boat was towed back to the marina, where it was ignored for the next four or five months. Owner Dave had no idea of these events. His calls to the marina eventually gave him the full picture.

Our initial inspection revealed a boat in dismal condition. We asked owner Dave to plead with the new harbormaster to contact customs to get a mechanical-breakdown extension, and the gods of bureaucracy mercifully granted an extension until April 30. This gave us time to regroup and make a new plan. On the way home to Rijeka, we stopped in Trogir where I ran into Marko, the fixer. He is the knower of all things boat, and has a network of boat repair people throughout the Dalmatian Islands. Marko helped us years earlier. When I told him our recent story and asked if he knew someone who could help, he offered his expertise and connections.

Just as surveyor Peter had leapt into action on first attempt, Marko the fixer stepped into the breach and we engineered a new plan. While owner Dave was arranging a mechanic in Hvar to repair the engine, Marko was lining up a backup team (if necessary) to work on the engine, replace the batteries, clean up the boat, and conduct a customs transfer. To grease the customs wheels, I found a customs broker in Split to clear the way for the customs stamp. He was somehow able to get approval for the boat to avoid the Bosnia option and resort to last year's offshore option — faster, easier, less expensive. (He knew a guy.)

We called California for a new power of attorney (new crew, new dates, etc.) and arranged for translation. All going according to plan, right? Engine repairs were completed on April 18. A temporary battery was set up and engineered to bypass the dead house battery bank. Ready to go.

A nasty Jugo (SE) wind came up, and all plans were put on hold. We

docks on ayala cove

ways, O'Reilly told us. "We're really hoping for the grant — that's going to be huge."

There is no "schedule" nor budget for planned obsolescence of AISP's marina infrastructure, according to O'Reilly. "The park receives about $100,000 for maintenance each year, which is for the entire park," he said. "The dock replacement funding is coming from a statewide deferred-maintenance funding budget. Large projects like the dock replacement compete for funding statewide with other projects at other parks."

Ayala Cove was last dredged in 1972. There are no plans to dredge it at this time, but O'Reilly admitted that, "Yes, the cove is silting in — mainly in the very center of the cove." For years, we've heard from our readers that depths in parts of Ayala Cove can be an issue. O'Reilly says that those who

know the mooring field know what areas to avoid on what tides. We spoke with Captain Kirk's San Francisco Sailing yesterday, and they told us that their Santa Cruz 50 Bay Wolf, which has an eight-ft draft, can motor up to the docks "most of the time," meaning on most tides; their Gulfstar 50 Osprey, which has a six-ft draft, can access the docks on any tide.

There seems to be a consensus that, given the tidal action in the Bay, there's a natural whirlpool outside Ayala Cove that deposits sediment into the center of the cove. "It's the dynamic of the ebb current that runs through the cove that deposits silt toward the center," a reader commented a few months ago. "During a large ebb current moving through Raccoon Strait, Point Ione [off Tiburon] catches a large stream of that current, directs it into

continued on inside column of next sightings page

croatian bureaucratic shuffle —

waited. The captain and crew showed up on April 22 to conduct the offshore transfer and deliver the boat to a yard in Split. As the boat cleared the bay, the engine overheated. After cooldown, they limped back to the marina. The engine was OK, but the raw water/exhaust mix box melted beyond use; and was replaced, along with the impeller. All systems go.

There was an optimal weather break on April 28. The boat went offshore 12 miles. We logged and documented GPS coordinates and headed back to Split. On April 29, the boat was hauled out two days before deadline, then returned to Hvar on May 1. Customs gave us the stamp, and thousands of euros in fines were averted.

Lessons learned: Working with tight deadlines, you need someone in the neighborhood to assist. Do not neglect your vessel for months at a time. Use is your boat's best friend. If you cannot use it, hire someone to run the engine and all systems at least once a month. Do not attempt any passage or transfer without complete systems testing and hours of engineload testing. Do not wait until the last minute for any matters requiring bureaucratic involvement; different officials may have different requirements. Have connections — this endeavor would not have succeeded without local help. If possible, always have a backup plan.

— stephen spoja, volosko, croatia

Split is the largest city on the Croatian coast, and clearly a sailing destination worth enduring a little bureaucracy.

$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?

The partners have been making weekend trips up from L.A. to get the boat ready. We visited Terry in Emery Cove Marina, where he and his partners have moved the boat from Stockton temporarily to be near Terry's dad's home, as well as marine services, while they prepared the boat for the sail south. What does one get when purchasing a catamaran for $2? The title from the marina says it's a 1986 Frank Pelin Snowbird 32. Not surprisingly, the fiberglass — possibly a homebuilt, well-equipped cruiser/ liveaboard — is definitetely in need of some TLC, but this was seen as an opportunity rather than a problem.

continued on outside column of next sightings page

docks on ayala cove

the cove, and sets up a swift counterclockwise flow along the outside shore of Ayala Cove. This swift current keeps the edges of the mooring field deeper, but the slowermoving water toward the center allows the silt to settle out there."

O'Reilly said there was potentially a bureaucratic bright spot if dredging is greenlighted: "All the surveys done for the docks could be applied to dredging. It could help streamline the process."

Max Haning, the president of Angel Island Conservancy, sat in on the video call with Latitude and Gerald O'Reilly in May. "There's definitely been some talk in the yachting community to help cover the cost of that dredge," Haning said. "With the surveys and environmental impact studies al-

— continued

ready done for the docks, our hope is to move quickly with a fundraiser that could support dredging — the idea was an Angel Island Regatta fundraiser that could help push the needle," Haning told us."However, dredging is very expensive, and we do not expect the state to have any additional budget to add to our efforts at this time."

— latitude / tim

Commentary — We share our readers' frustration over docks at Ayala Cove. Should the State Park system budget for the planned obsolescence of infrastructure? Yes. Could state and federal agencies make the permitting process just a little easier for the Park? Certainly. Should we be patient and offer the benefit of the doubt? To be determined.

$2 catamaran — continued

The equipment list was pretty impressive. The boat included a propane stove, marine head, air conditioning, PUR watermaker, Adler Barbour refrigeration, twin outboards on a lifting system, solar panels, wind generator, an unmounted Standard Horizon GPS chartplotter with AIS, an unmounted VHF radio, a nice-looking Ballenger spar with working tanbark sails, a vintage Ratelco Cole wood-burning stove, and assorted other gear of unknown value. The only problem was that most of it wasn't working.

What inspired this plunge into boat ownership? Really, it was their other boat. For five years, of the partners have owned an Ericson 30 that they keep near home in Marina del Rey. The four are big fans of sailing out to Catalina Island for the weekend, but after one particularly long day sailing back, they decided to look for something faster. A multihull was the obvious choice.

These are not inexperienced sailors. The partners are all around 30 years old, with Terry having grown up in San Francisco, sailing small boats on Tomales Bay, and teaching sailing at camps on California lakes. The other boat partners have all learned while sailing the Ericson 30, so they have experience with older boats and sailing.

Our boat tour with Terry revealed an easygoing, upbeat demeanor that immediately made the somewhat daunting project look more achievable. We were impressed, as we viewed the boat with him pointing out the solar panels he'd wired up, at the instruments he'd mounted and wired, and the ports that had been removed so new ones could be fabricated at TAP Plastics. We often hear people lamenting the youth of today don't know how and don't want to work with their hands, but the sheer scope of the two-dollar catamaran, and the many hours of hard work and overcoming setbacks on the project contrast sharply with this view.

Like Tom Sawyer painting the picket fence, Terry has attracted friends coveting the opportunity to help with the project. It wasn't long before five showed up, including boat partner Mike, Terry's younger sister Bonnie and friend Esme — plus friends Cameron and Katya. Upon arrival, each visitor is directed not to step on any of the wood, which is rotten and awaiting removal/replacement.

Bonnie and friend Esme arrived first and were quick to grab the chisels and putty knives to dig out the old window sealant, making way for the replacement. Mike jumped aboard and quickly started dismantling a solar panel that was far too exposed to the sea in its forward location. Then Cameron (a contractor) and Katya arrived enthused to dig in. (Remember, watch your step.) The energy, skill and willingness to tackle a long list of projects were readily apparent in this group of young sailors, which left us with hope for many of the other older, underutilized, poorly maintained boats languishing in their slips.

What is the current spend on this formerly two-dollar catamaran? They never thought they were going to sail away for $2 and came prepared to spend to get the boat in shape. And the time and bills are adding up. The cat had her first haulout and bottom job in 15 years in the Delta. Ryan Nelson at Rogue Rigging went up the rig and found the diamond stays needed replacing. After lots of effort on the two mounted outboards, it was decided they were beyond saving, which required the purchase of a reliable new Mercury 10hp.

And the list goes on.

At present, the partners estimate they've spent about $15,000 on the boat. The good news, however, is that the repairs and investments have worked well enough to motor and sail the boat from Stockton, through the Delta, and onto San Francisco Bay on their way to her current berth in Emeryville. And she performed well. The sails flew, and the boat cruised happily at seven to eight knots, making quicker trips back and forth to Catalina seem within reach.

And the silver lining? While cleaning, Terry and crew literally found a stash of vintage silver coins, a bar of silver and a gold tooth filling hidden away in the boat. Valued at about $3,000, they're intending it split it with the children of the former owner.

— latitude / john

Scenes from the low-dollar purchase, high-enthusiasm refit of the 1986 Frank Pelin Snowbird 32 'Lickety Split'. Top left and right corners, Terry Castleman. Bottom center: the volunteer crew, left to right: Cameron Taylor, Katya Bownas, Esme Goldstein, Terry and Bonnie Castleman, Michael Weisenfarth.

STORMY (NOT DANIELS)

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.

The race committee, led by Jeff Zarwell, set up the start at the Berkeley Circle G mark. They set the windward mark at 150°, toward the Bay Bridge. PRO Jeff admitted on the VHF that it probably wasn't going to be perfect. Indeed, it was a reach to the mark, then a reach the other way, when bows pointed toward Red Rock. Crews could set kites near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and they gradually squared poles back for the run to the Mare Island Strait entrance, where most teams doused for the gusty, shifty reach to the finish between the Vallejo ferry dock and the Vallejo Yacht Club, the destination host.

The douse at the entrance to the Mare Island Strait (Napa River) can be tricky even without stormy conditions.

— photo latitude / chris

Hypothermic, shivering, hands so cold they stopped working — it's hard to operate snap shackles with senseless, unresponsive claws. Battery-powered hand warmers ran out of juice.

The eventual sunshine was a huge relief, and facilitated socializing outside on the docks and decks at VYC, in whose harbor most of the competitors rafted up while being serenaded by a steeldrum band. That evening, a country rock band got the crowd dancing following dinner.

When the results were posted on the board in the parking lot in front of VYC, checking the corrected times revealed that Daniel Alvarez's JS9000 JetStream had won PHRF overall. Rob Blackmore and Andrew Hura had made the pilgrimage back to the Bay Area to spend the weekend racing with Dan. "Coming out from a great sail on Friday at

Encinal YC's Twilight series, we knew Saturday was going to be wet, with heavy rain forecast for most of the day," reports Dan. "But we were excited about the morning southerly to shuttle us to the start from Alameda. That excitement didn't last long. By the time we reached Jack London Square, the southerly was

'JetStream' reaches into the finish in Vallejo with spinnaker still flying to take first place overall PHRF on Saturday.

gone and we encountered a stormy westerly. The outboard wasn't making much progress with 25 knots on the nose with the main up, so we decided to sail to the start. Short-tacking up the Estuary in 25+ wasn't much fun, and the minutes started ticking. Nothing was said, but a few concerning looks were exchanged on whether we would make our start.

"By the time we reached Treasure Island, we could crack off a bit and increase the pace toward the startline. We made the start area two minutes after the first warning, and with just 13 minutes to spare for our start. The startline was a generous length, and everyone picked a safe lane.

"We started mid-line and cracked off toward the interestingly placed 'windward' mark. We rounded the mark just inches from the Melges 32 Kuai and turned upwind toward Red Rock. There was some excitement after rounding the 'windward' mark, but no protests were filed and both boats carried on racing to Vallejo.

"While some boats chose a high line to Red Rock, we opted for the shortest distance. By Red Rock, both Melges 32s had pulled away, and we rounded third in our class. We deployed our code zero from Red Rock to the Brothers, which allowed us to stay in contact with the Melges 32s. By Point San Pablo, we were up with our A2.

GREAT VALLEJO RACE

"San Pablo Bay was mostly point to point, with a couple of jibes back to shallower water. We had lost our instruments during the delivery, so it was a bit nerve-racking heading back to the flats without a depthsounder." The JS9000 draws 7 feet; the lads on JetStream

In the tent at dinner on Saturday night, 'JetStream'

managed to keep the keel out of the mud. "Kuai took off once they switched to their runner, and we rode between the two M32s all the way to the finish. Kuai has won this race overall in the past, so they were offering some challenging competition.

sailors Rob Blackmore, Dan Alvarez and Andrew Hura celebrate with friends/rivals Ben Landon and Blake Davis from the T650 'Flight Risk'.

Don't look now but there's a big dog bearing down on us. "That is my backup spinnaker, which I was using after I completely shredded my regular spinnaker in the Lightship the previous weekend," says Truls Myklebust, skipper of the Explorer 44 trimaran 'Caliente'.

STORMY (NOT DANIELS)

"The finish was super-exciting. It had been over 15 years since I remember finishing Vallejo under spinnaker. The last time, I recall, I was crewing on a J/35.

"By the time we finished, the rain

had stopped, but it was still overcast, breezy and cold. Our friend Greg Nelsen welcomed us at the dock with some rum drinks, which was a special touch. It was then time to wait for the time

calculations, but with the building ebb, the likelihood of death from behind was diminished. The crew was ecstatic about the overall victory on Saturday, and we proceeded to party accordingly. Thanks to VYC and the YRA for a great race."

The fleet awoke to bright blue skies and pleasant sunshine on Sunday

Sunny Sunday was a whole different story. Clockwise from top left: Hanging the laundry out to dry in the raft-up on Sunday morning; Seth Clark's Express 27 'Current Affair' works up the rock wall coming out of Carquinez Strait; Richard Egan's Islander 36 'Kapai' looms up behind a smaller boat; Andy Schwenk's 49-ft schooner 'Sir Edmund' won their division in the two-race regatta.

The first leg on Sunday often includes some fun spinnaker reaching. This year was no exception.

GREAT VALLEJO RACE

morning. The raft-up broke apart in more comfort than it had been formed. The starts all went off on time in front of the Vallejo waterfront green, and the divisions started in reverse order, slowest boats first.

A flood current and lightish breeze spaced out the divisions as they worked their way down the Mare Island Strait, many flying spinnakers in the reachy wind direction. The usual short-tack beat against the current up the rock wall turned into a one-tack beat for most, as the wind had a lot of south to it.

The fleet sailed into a transition zone north of Point Pinole, with the wind direction switching to a north-northwesterly. As it often does, the wind built at Point Pinole, reaching into the teens and prompting crews to tighten sail controls before climbing onto the windward rail.

The wind softened a bit at the Brothers, but still had a lot of north to it, and from Pinole to Red Rock was another one-tack beat, even easing off to a reach. Upon passing Red Rock to port, it was possible to set spinnakers for the final leg to the finish off the Richmond YC

breakwater.

Despite the light air and flood current early on in the day, all the action wrapped up relatively early, with the race committee's double horn sounding before 4:30 p.m., signaling the end of the race.

— latitude/chris

YRA GREAT VALLEJO RACE OVERALL STANDINGS, 5/4-5 (2r, 0t)

PHRF 1 — 1) Swift Ness, J/111, Nesrin Basoz, 4 points; 2) Jeannette, Frers 40, Bob Novy, 7; 3) Velvet Hammer, J/125, James Nichols, 8. (9 boats)

PHRF 2 — 1) Sir Edmund, Covey Island 49 schooner, Andy Schwenk, 3 points; 2) Basic Instinct, Elliott 1050, Memo Gidley, 4; 3) Mintaka 4, Farr 38, Gerry Brown, 6. (7 boats)

PHRF 3 — 1) Azure, Cal 40, Rodney Pimentel, 4 points; 2) WYSIWYG, Olson 30, Hendrik Bruhns, 6; 3) Arcadia, Mod. Santana 27, Gordie Nash, 6. (7 boats)

PHRF 4 — 1) Vera Cruz, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 349, Michael Johnson, 2 points; 2) Heart of Gold, Olson 911s, Joan Byrne/Axel Mehnert, 5; 3) Psycho Tiller, Jeanneau SunFast 32i, Jesse Hollander, 6. (8 boats)

PHRF 5 — 1) Neja, Dasher 32, Jim Borger, 4 points; 2) Zeehond, Newport 30 MkII, Donn Guay, 4; 3) Antares, Islander 30 MkII, Larry Telford, 8. (7 boats)

SPORTY — 1) JetStream, JS9000, Dan Alvarez, 2 points; 2) Nuckelavee, Melges 32, Mark Kennedy, 4; 3) Flight Risk, T650, Ben Landon/ Blake Davis, 6. (4 boats)

EXPRESS 37 — 1) Expeditious, Bartz Schneider, 3 points; 2) Snowy Owl, Jens Jensen, 5; 3) MudShark, Dante Branciforte, 6. (5 boats)

ISLANDER 36 — 1) Windwalker, Richard Shoenhair, 2 points; 2) Kapai, Richard Egan, 5; 3) Luna Sea, Dan Knox, 5. (6 boats)

EXPRESS 27 — 1) Wile E Coyote, Dan Pruzan, 3 points; 2) Tequila Mockingbird, Randall Rasicot/Mary Smith, 6; 3) Salty Hotel, John Kearney, 7. (8 boats)

J/24 — 1) Evil Octopus, Jasper van Vliet, 2 points; 2) Little Wing, Robin van Vliet, 5; 3) Flight, Rosanne Scholl, 5. (3 boats)

NON-SPINNAKER — 1) Bella, Alerion 33, Aidan & Kieran Collins, 2 points; 2) Sobrante, Catalina 30, Paul Descalso, 6; 3) Northern Bear, J/100, Adam James, 8. (3 boats)

CRUISING — 1) Syncopation, Sabre 36, Michele Logan, 2 points. (1 boat)

MULTIHULL — 1) Round Midnight, Explorer 44, Rick Waltonsmith, 2 points. (1 boat) Full results at www.jibeset.net

Back in August 2022, we interviewed two sailors at the halfway point of their journey by sea from Berkeley, CA, to the Mediterranean Sea. Marie Duvernoy and Yalcin Ozhabs, who met at the Cal Sailing Club in Berkeley, bought an Ericson 38 in San Diego and named the cruiser Tire Bouchon, meaning "corkscrew" in both French and Turkish. When we last spoke with them, they had just finished transiting the Panama Canal. Now they're calling in from Brittany, France, about their Caribbean season and their worrisome hurricane-season Atlantic crossing.

Their story started where so many local stories do, at the Cal Sailing Club (CSC) in Berkeley, California. Marie had only sailed as a kid in her native France, while Yalcin had fallen in love with keelboats out on the beautiful southern coast of his native Turkey. When they both ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was only natural that the two gravitated toward sailing on the Bay.

They started sailing together in 2017 and loved the community at CSC, but Marie's visa as a postdoc was running out soon, and when her contract was up she would return to France. So they thought, why not sail back to their beloved Mediterranean Sea?

Fast-forward through finding and preparing SV Tire Bouchon, magical cruising through the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, and organizing a Panama Canal transit (see Part 1 in August 2022 issue), and the couple has finally made good on the dream to sail home together, from Berkeley to the Mediterranean, or Europe.

ALL

PHOTOS TEAM BOUCHON SAILING

Their story picks up in summer 2022, in Panama. From Panama, they sailed to Colombia, hauled out, and did a bottom job and other work on the boat. "We were waiting anyway, because going to the Caribbean is not safe at that time due to hurricane season," explains Yalcin. "We made our canal crossing in March, and the season to leave Colombia was September 2022."

Their upwind crossing from Cartagena to the Caribbean Sea was not easy. The few islands where you can stop along the way are ABC — Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. They did the first passage in five days. Then, sailing a long time closehauled and against currents, arrived in the ABC islands in November. "It was a bit of a reality check for us. We discovered the boat had some leaks we never knew of since we hadn't sailed upwind for that long before," explains Marie.

It was during this time waiting out a tropical depression in the ABCs that the gravitas of the Atlantic crossing set in. "All this time we were relatively coastal — you can rely on a dinghy and you're sure to find land if you really needed to," says Yalcin. But after talking with other cruisers, they started thinking about finding a life raft. "Life rafts have time limits and you don't want to buy one that's out of date. We didn't leave California with a life raft on the boat and it's hard to get one off the shelf in Panama or Colombia, as there is not much sailing," explains Yalcin.

Luckily, in the ABC islands there was a cruiser who was selling his, so they found a good deal.

Due to different visa concerns and delays, they decided to sail straight to Saint Lucia and ended up staying in the Caribbean for five or six months. Rarely is it easy to get to Saint Lucia due to strong currents. "It took us six days with three of those hard on the wind," said Yalcin. Marie explains how for three days they were tacking constantly in a steady 20 knots of wind. "It was pretty magical when we finally saw the island of Saint Lucia emerge, so pretty and lush, with dolphins jumping off the bow."

It was the beginning of the season in the Caribbean, and for once, they found themselves in the right place at the right time. They spent their days island-hopping in consistent wind, spending time on different islands and moving on when they got bored. This was the ideal cruising life, with beautiful surroundings and meeting lots of fellow cruisers.

Marie is quick to bring us back to reality. "That's the dreamy picture, but it was not that peaceful," she laughs. Part of the planning to get back to Europe also included securing a long-stay European visa for Yalcin, which meant a back-andforth sail to Saint Lucia to request the document and then return to get it approved from an embassy. Not to mention one month spent doing more boat preparation in Saint Martin: sewing, securing new equipment, provisioning with French food in Martinique, all while waiting for the visa to be reviewed and get picked up.

Once the visa was secured, they enjoyed Christmas in Martinique (coincidently Yalcin's first time in France) with all the baguettes, cheese and croissants Marie could want. By then, they'd set a date for their Atlantic passage. It would be about a three-week passage from Martinique directly to the Azores in May 2023.

"It's a bit of a difficult passage in the sense that in the middle there's a high-pressure system, so you cannot go straight to the Azores. You have to go a bit north first and then east, and if you don't calculate correctly, you get stuck in a no-wind zone and may run out of fuel," says Marie.

"We thought we had a good weather window — you have to sort of beat through the trade winds for one week," says Yalcin, "And we thought we were kind of smart to go when the wind was more southeast, but that came with a lot

Caribbean sailing with Marie at the helm.

BERKELEY TO FRANCE

of unstable weather squalls. We had a very rough first night, squall after squall. We were also getting water in the boat from the same spot that we had partially repaired earlier."

Tire Bouchon was taking on water on that difficult night, and after two days, their morale was pretty low. On the second morning, there was no wind and they were dead in the water. "We didn't take care of the boat properly and the vane part of the Hydrovane broke. It stayed in high-wind configuration but eventually broke," recalls Marie. It was time to take the hint, and they decided to head back to Saint Martin. It was a difficult choice — beating all the way back. Fortunately their luck changed, with a couple of beautiful days and nights of downwind sailing.

"When we reached land, the failure kind of hit us, and it was a bit depressing," says Marie. "The delay meant we were getting into the hurricane season. Even if we wanted to leave right away, we still needed to work on the boat and get

comfortable and confident."

They did want to be out of there for hurricane season. They decided to sail to Bermuda first, splitting the trip up to 10-11 days, then another 14-15 days

to cross to the Azores. The downside is that it's a longer passage, increasing their total mileage. They were ready to leave again, but there was a hurricane in the forecast. Every time they saw a potential storm, they would wait a couple of days to check if it evolved, but this kept

Marie and Yalcin's complete painting representing Team Bouchon in Horta Faial, Portugal.

'Tire Bouchon' underway.

TIRE BOUCHON,

pushing their departure back. As the season progresses, hurricane frequency tends to increase. "It was a really stressful month, but eventually we cast off," Yalcin recalls, "We had four really bad nights — and each night had something. First was the slugs." All the main slugs popped out, and they couldn't use the mainsail anymore. Luckily, they always carry extra slugs. "And the day we departed I just happened to say, 'Let's buy five more' just because they were cheap. We had the exact number to replace all the ones that broke!" laughs Marie. It took two days of work to fix this and some mental rebuilding as well.

Night two, they almost got hit by lightning and lost their GPS chartplotter. Night three saw a big squall hit and last six hours in the day, and stir up the sea with 25-30 knots of wind lasting into the night. They finally hove to and put in a third reef. Day four brought them halfway to Bermuda, a bit slower than expected without the mainsail and because the wind then disappeared. The second half of the trip had no wind and was really pretty, with big, open skies with impressive moonrises and sunsets. "It was motoring, but it was pretty," laughs Marie. This was smooth sailing — until the last day, when they broke the gooseneck, the autopilot was acting up, and their wind was totally gone. "I was thinking, at least we're getting into land and can hope to repair there, but Bermuda is pretty isolated

and we didn't know what was possible." They were happy to see Bermuda, even though it was extremely expensive. "Bermuda basically said, 'We don't care about your visas. You can stay six months, but it's too expensive for you anyway so we know you'll just leave,'" jokes Marie. They stayed in the anchorage and town called St. George's, on the opposite side from the cruise ships and places where nonsailing tourists go. "We were able to get our gooseneck fixed, but again we were extremely lucky. Usually, you would exchange it for a new part, but since we have an old boat you can't find parts — you need a skilled person to do aluminum welding."

After three weeks in Bermuda, they found the perfect weather window and cast off. At this point, it was very late in the season, and not many people they met were planning to do the passage.

They finally had the downwind sailing that they had been waiting for since Baja California. "We had three days of really nice downwind wing-on-wing with very good speed. We were going seven knots with a tiny jib, no mainsail, and averaging 170 miles per day. It was all the Gulf Stream at that point, so we were getting it for free," laughs Yalcin.

They made landfall at the island of Flores. And a very scenic landfall it was — waterfalls coming out of green cliffs, with rays of sun beaming down and dolphins leaping … they were finally closing in on Europe, with 12,530 miles under their keel.

They made their way to Horta Harbor, Faial, Portugal, famous for the paint-

ings many arriving boats leave on the breakwater. Now Tire Bouchon has a little painting too, so far from her Berkeley beginnings. They also left a custom-made Cal Sailing Club burgee there, as an homage to their journey and how far they had come, literally and figuratively.

Overall, it took nine days to sail from St. Lucia to Bermuda, then 12-13 days from Bermuda to the Azores. The last leg of the voyage was 1,400 miles on to Brittany, where Marie's family was readying

for the grand arrival of Tire Bouchon. "We timed it to arrive in the morning, and my family had planned to meet us. They were waiting in the lighthouse in Arzon, Port Navalo, Brittany. It was pretty funny because nobody really arrives there from the Atlantic since it's kind of far, and it's a really busy harbor with racing and it was a Sunday morning and no one understood why anyone was yelling from the lighthouse," recounts Marie.

The colorful spinnaker of 'Tire Bouchon'.

Site of the first anchorage upon reaching the Azores, the island Flores.

The custom-made Cal Sailing Club burgee that was left behind sits front and center.

BERKELEY TO FRANCE

What's

next for the Tire Bouchon crew? "First of all, the trip isn't finished, because we originally wanted to go to Turkey. I think we're not entirely done cruising. What I really learned is that I can be happy at sea," says Marie. "It's such a good feeling. It's all about what you remember. There are squalls and difficult times, but when the weather cooperates, life is so good. Just doing simple stuff makes you so happy — if you make

cookies or take a shower you're so happy with yourself."

For now, Yalcin and Marie are living aboard their boat in France. They specifically went to Brittany in northwestern France for Yalcin's current obsession: Mini Transat offshore racing (a story for another time). For now, they're mentally preparing for winter in France. "We've successfully avoided winter for two years!" says Marie.

— latitude / heather

Left: Yalcin, enjoying a moment of repose somewhere mid-Atlantic. Right: Marie, scientist, sailor and writer, happy to be in the Carribbean. Below: Yalcin, left, and Ryan Alder, a friend from Cal Sailing Club.

PACIFIC CUP 2024 —

Morethan 70 boats have signed up for this year's Pacific Cup, with the first starters, the doublehanders and smaller boats, leaving the Gate on July 15. It's an eclectic mix of boats that make the biennial leap from San Francisco to Kaneohe, Hawaii, and this year is no different. In 2022, there were 60 boats starting this 2,070-mile race, with the allure of the Hawaiian Islands and the challenge of accomplishing the crossing growing the list of participants now working through the laundry list of safety items and great snacks.

We've collected some profiles from participants in a variety of boats that will get you thinking, "Why not go in my boat next time?" Five of the 10 skippers below are doublehanders, with three of them parent/child. We spotlight one of the two multihulls, a rare schooner, and a few crewed boats.

There are many more interesting boats in the fleet, including Paul Cayard skippering the Swan 65 Translated 9, which is a sistership of the Swan 65 he trained with for the Ocean Globe Race. Then there are brothers Cree and James Partridge, racing against each other in their Antrim-designed boats built by Cree. Here's just a sampling:

Presto's skippers Sue and Joe Davey have been sailing together for more than 40 years and hail from Washington state. Theirs is one of two catamarans signed up for this year's event, and they have owned their 48-ft Chris White-designed catamaran since 2015. Between them, they have more than 15,000 miles of coastal and ocean sailing, racing, and cruising under their keels. They'll be doing a practice sail before the Pacific Cup with the Half Moon Race in June, and then it's Hawaii bound.

In 'Lectronic Latitude we wrote about Andy Schwenk's plans to sail this year's Pacific Cup again aboard his storied, well-tuned Express 37 Spindrift. Suddenly he changed horses. While reviewing the entry list, we saw Spindrift was out and the 49-ft clear-coated, coldmolded Chuck Burns schooner Sir Edmund was in. It's a unique craft with plenty of sail, and a new adventure for Andy.

We ran into Chris Maher at the Svendsen's Spring Fling as he was picking up some stainless steel fasteners for his next project: getting the family Olson 34 Keaka ready for the Pacific Cup. Chris has done several Baja HaHa's with his wife Sheila and two sons Thomas and Patrick, plus lots of sailing on the Bay and in the Pacific Northwest. However, this is his first Pacific Cup. His son Patrick plus friends Nick Degnan, John Ross and Blake Martini will complete the crew.

Presto

Sir Edmund

Keaka

'Riptide' at the finish in 2022.

RONNIE SIMPSON

NICOLE MILLER

KEAKA

One of our three family doublehanders is liveaboard mom, charter captain and cruiser Heather Richard, who decided a great high school graduation present for her son Julius was a mother/son doublehanded Pacific Cup race to Hawaii, aboard their 43-ft aluminum sloop Carodon. Heather raised her three kids living aboard along the Sausalito waterfront. Although she raced in college, Heather has never raced Carodon and has never done a Pacific Cup. But she and her kids have thousands of miles of sailing to their credit.

Bloom County

Elliott James will be racing aboard his well-known Mancebo 31 Bloom County. At 31-ft, Bloom County will be fitting in with the smaller boats, which are mostly racing doublehanded. Though Elliott has never sailed to Hawaii — a previous race attempt ended with a broken rudder — his crew, Kyle Vanderspek, was the 2021 winner of the Singlehanded Transpacific Race aboard his Hobie 33 Aloha. Elliott and Kyle recently took first overall in monohulls in BAMA's stormy Doublehanded Farallones Race.

Blue Flash

Out-of-town visitor Matt Arno from Fort Worth, Texas, has brought his J/105 Blue Flash to the West to enter the Pacific Cup. He's owned her for 15 years, though mostly focused on onedesign racing. Then he started doing some long-distance offshore races, including several Harvest Moon Regattas (150 miles Galveston to Port Aransas), the Chicago-Mackinac race (330 miles) twice, and then two years ago he did the Newport Bermuda (600 miles there and then 600 back).

"We finally have the time and the right boat, and we're not getting any younger!"

Accelerando

Erica Mattson grew up sailing at Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club and entered her first Pac Cup race in 2022, together with her stepfather Robin Jeffers. They're another doublehanded family team and will be racing aboard her Moore 24 Accelerando

In the mid-'90s, Erica was racing the one-design Europe dinghy, qualified for the US Sailing Team, and embarked on an Olympic campaign. Erica also races in the J/105 fleet with Ian and Natalie Charles aboard Maverick. Erica says her Pac Cup crewmate Robin has completed more Hawaii and other ocean crossings than one can count.

Carodon

ACCELERANDO

PACIFIC CUP 2024 — PROFILES

Philippe Jamotte was in Latitude several years ago after a singlehanded circumnavigation attempt aboard his 40-ft sloop Changabang. Things didn't go as well as planned, and Philippe returned to the Bay after five weeks at sea. But he learned a lot and is now putting that knowledge to good use in July's Pacific Cup race to Hawaii, which he is doing with his good friend Alex Dailey.

Entering the race was Alex's idea. Previously, if one had asked why do the race, he would have answered, "It has always been a dream to sail to Hawaii." And later, "to win it!" Now, as the pair prepare, train and tune the boat, Alex says it's all about friendship.

Jubilant

Ross Werner and Kevin Wilkinson are co-skippers and co-owners of the J/112e Jubilant. This will be the pair's first Pac Cup, an event they've talked about entering for many years. They're finally doing it, saying, "We finally have the time and the right boat, and we're not getting any younger!"

The race will be a true family affair, with the crew made up of Kevin's sons Andrew and Patrick, and Ross's son Peter. Add one more sailor, Gilles Combrisson, who races with Jubilant in the Bay, and you have a well-organized boat. "Gilles has done Pac Cup before and is a professional rigger and composites wizard."

Mike Mahoney and his son Sean Mahoney are yet another doublehanded family team participating in this year's Pacific Cup. Mike has done the Pac Cup twice, once with his father (2006) and later aboard a friend's boat in 2018. This year's race will be the first for Mike's son Sean, and their first together. Mike's father passed away just 14 months after finishing the Pacific Cup, so he's happy to have the opportunity to pass this incredible experience down to his son. Sean is a fourth-generation S.F. Bay sailor and, at just 18, will be the youngest of the Mahoneys to ever do this race.

— latitude / john

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MARTHA BLANCHFIELD

STORYMAKER

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

Broderick has been sailing and racing on the Bay for 52 years (the past 16 years on his Wylie 30 'Nancy'), but says sailing a tall ship is a whole different experience. 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.

I joined Stad Amsterdam in Honolulu on April 9, and shortly after was on my way out to sea for the 3,600mile, 28-day voyage across the Pacific to Tokyo.

I stowed my gear in the two-bunk cabin, signed up for the White Watch (1600-2000 and 0400-0800), and watched Oahu sink into the evening sky as the regular crew began setting sails. By dark, we were sailing under 12 sails, whose names I was

ALL PHOTOS PAT BRODERICK EXCEPT AS NOTED

soon to learn. And then we were alone on the ocean, nothing in sight except the rising moon and the star-speckled sky. The adventure had begun.

The next morning, the daily routine began: breakfast at 0800, lunch at 1200, dinner 1730. Watches at 1600 and 0400. SMOKO (breaks) at 1000 and 1500. Captain's briefing 1900. Every day — exactly on time! And yet every day was different in many ways, including wind, weather, number of sails set, sail trimming, birthday parties, and other special events.

With about 30 crew and 24 passengers from six European countries — three of them English-speaking — the ship's common language was English, which made understanding each new experience much easier for me. The passenger complement consisted of 18 men and six women ranging in age from late 20s to my 84. Most were middle-aged: 50 to mid-60s. Nationalities included the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Spain.

I set out to record the voyage in an illustrated daily Stad Amsterdam log emailed back to Nancy, my wife, who distributed it to over 60 friends, many of whom forwarded it to others. That meant taking nearly 1,000 photos and several dozen short videos. That activity occupied most of my free morning time each day.

At the 1600 change of watch each day, the White Watch gathered on the port side of the wheelhouse for a briefing by the officer of the day, then met with the crew member who was our leader for the watch. The same was repeated at 0400 for the night watch.

I soon found out that I was the "green hand" on my watch. Everyone else had sailed previous voyages on either Stad Amsterdam or other "adventure" sailing ships. Everyone was helpful, but it was a steep learning curve attempting to identify and learn how to use over 100 sheets,

halyards, buntlines, leech lines, downhauls, and other running rigging.

The lead crewmember used chalk to draw instructional diagrams on the deck. I soon learned "square rigger" is a misnomer. Although they are referred to as such, no sails aboard are actually square. The sails attached to the 15 yards did have four corners, but the foot, which was curved, was longer than the head.

Pat

Drew Smith, boldly going where no one has

Life aboard a tall ship. Below left: Running under stun'sls. Below right: There is a staggering 8.5 MILES of running rigging on the ship. Experienced crew know where each line is and what it does. Right: Furling the three jibs on the ship's 50-ft bowsprit. Far right: Crew aloft to set the squares.

28 DAYS BEFORE THE MAST

set and trim.

There are also 10 fore-and-aft sails — nine staysails and a large spanker on the mizzenmast. For light air, there were also 12 main- and foremast studding sails (also called stuns'ls) rigged on booms that extended out from the ends of the yards.

All told, there are 31 sails on the ship, totaling more than 23,000 square feet.

Each yard is named for the sail whose head is attached to it. The foremast has

five; the mainmast six; and the mizzen, four. The large lower sails on the mainand foremasts are courses, but the lower sail on the mizzen is the crossjack. Next in line, above the courses, are the lower topsails, then upper topsails — but only a single topsail on the mizzen. Next come the topgallant and then the royals, with an additional skysail on the mainmast. Each of these sails takes multiple lines to

Most sails can be reefed, which requires six crewmembers aloft, climbing out along the yard with feet on footropes.

Each mast has up to 20 belaying pins on rails both port and starboard along the rail, and another 20 pins on a tabernacle around the mast base.

There are no labels — in the dark, you count belaying pins from forward to aft to find the correct line. To be honest, I mostly followed and didn't lead.

While there are windlasses (which have hidden motors if needed), most hoisting and sheeting is done by hand — or more accurately, a row of hands heaving in unison to the bosun's chant, just as in centuries past. Sometimes, if hauling was especially hard, we sat on the deck, legs around the person in front, and "hauled away" like a human caterpillar until the "belay" command was given and

'Stad Amsterdam' ("City of Amsterdam") is a steel-hulled re-creation of a 19th century Dutch clipper, albeit with all modern systems and meeting all modern safety standards. The 249-ft ship was built in Amsterdam and launched in 2000.

STAD AMSTERDAM

the line wrapped around the belaying pin.

Other commands included "cast off" to take a line completely off the belaying pin; "ease away;" "hold the line;" and "stopper holds," when the tension was taken over by the crewmember controlling the line. Going aloft was an option, and about half the passengers went up the ratlines along with the professional crew. They wore safety harnesses: a safety lanyard with friction stopper while climbing up or down, and two safety lanyards hooked onto the safety lines while out working on the yards. I remained a deck hand, opting to let younger, more athletic and adventurous sailors clamber up. Stad Amsterdam's "air draft" is 46 meters (150 feet), so working on the mainmast royal was a long way up!

At one time or another, every sail except the crossjack was set. According to the professional crew, setting the stuns'ls was unusual, but with light air for days they remained set all day for several days.

Square-rigged

ships don't tack; they "wear ship" — the ship falls off, jibes, and comes back up onto the new heading. Wearing ship was almost an all-hands activity since all the sails on each mast needed to be trimmed multiple times. This took a lot of sea room — several miles — and about an hour to complete. Nothing else happened quickly, either. The large fore-and-aft spanker on the mizzenmast was another sail rarely deployed, but one light-wind day, the command came to set it. Setting took over an hour, and brailing the sail up against the mizzenmast took nearly three hours. Once set, the sails need to be trimmed. Square sails work similarly to other sails, with air across the forward face moving faster than the air aft — although that was difficult to see. Trimming involves adjusting clewlines or leech lines on both sides of the sail, meaning half a dozen lines come off their belaying pins,

pod of sperm whales feeding on the surface, with several calves swimming close to their mothers.

adjustments are made, and then lines are resecured and recoiled.

Fore-and-aft sails include three on the bowsprit — flying jib, outer jib and inner jib — and six staysails between the masts. The staysails are set when reaching.

Stad Amsterdam doesn't sail directly downwind; aft sails would block sails forward. Instead, most sailing was broad reaching with some beam reaching.

We encountered light wind for a week halfway to Tokyo, and spent days motoring to keep to the schedule. Those were light work watches! We sailed 77% of the voyage and motored 23%.

Along with light wind, we encountered several periods with wind around 30 knots, and rain. I learned that square riggers heel, making sleeping uncomfortable, even with the leeboard fitted.

Steering was mostly done by the autohelm, but passengers could hand steer. As I found, the ship had significant weather helm, and the jibs were set mostly to counteract that instead of providing power.

Once Oahu disappeared, we didn't see any human sign until an empty barrel floated past three weeks later. The primary wildlife we saw were red-footed boobies catching flying fish and then roosting on the bowsprit at night; dolphins playing in the bow wave; and an occasional whale. The highlight was day 20 when we sailed through a

Birthdays

were celebrated on the quarterdeck during the afternoon break, with the celebrant wearing the ship's colorful birthday shirt. The galley baked and decorated a cake for each celebration.

Crossing the International Dateline on April 18 was a special afternoon, with those who had not crossed previously required to jump over a wriggling rope representing the Dateline in order to receive their "Domain of the Dragon" certificate from the Dragon's Court. If the Court didn't think the crossing had been done correctly, the line had to be recrossed with the rope elevated. Court decisions were very arbitrary(!), but a lot of fun since almost everyone on the ship was crossing the Dateline for the first time.

King's Day on April 27 celebrated Dutch King Willem-Alexander's birthday, and everything on the boat turned orange. (Orange has been the official color of the Dutch royal family going back to William of Orange in the 1480s.) The Dutch crew and passengers packed orange shirts, caps, and decorations. Of course there was an orange-iced cake and orange drinks to toast the king.

A more serious moment came on May 4, when everything stopped for Remembrance Day. There were two minutes of silence aboard to remember the Dutch who perished in World War II and in subsequent peacekeeping efforts.

In addition to the fun and festivities, there were multiple lifeboat and fire drills, with everyone assembling at their

King's Day was one of several celebrations during the passage.

Bowling along in a steady breeze on a tall ship is the stuff of dreams for sailors young and old.

lifeboat station, donning lifejackets, and hearing the orders read. Crew dressed in fire suits went below with fire hoses, and the ship's doctor treated "casualties" on deck.

Old salts took advantage of spare time to nap. Others found the "torn sail locker" and made canvas ditty bags and other useful items. Some kept journals, painted watercolors of Stad Amsterdam scenes, worked on a community jigsaw puzzle in the longroom, or read books from the ship's library. Books on knots were especially popular, and fancy ropework started to appear on rails and chairs.

28 DAYS BEFORE THE MAST

After 26 days at sea, Stad Amsterdam anchored in Tokyo Bay. That night, the Captain's Dinner celebrated our voyage. Captain Andi presented a slideshow of our trip from Honolulu with statistics and photos of activities. There I was, heaving on lines, steering the ship, and wearing a hard hat as I toured the engine room.

Food was simple and adequate. It was different to find mortadella and salami and sliced cheese on the breakfast buffet,

dish. Dinner usually had a noodle or rice casserole, although there were occasionally hamburgers, salmon fillets, or some other special dish.

Fresh fruit, tea and coffee, and fruit juices were available throughout the day, along with bananas, as long as they lasted, and apples after that.

Dirty laundry in mesh laundry bags

That night, for the first time since leaving Honolulu, my bunk wasn't heeling and bouncing. I even stowed the leeboard, making climbing into the bunk easier. I had a hard time getting to sleep; it was so calm!

The next morning, as I packed my gear for a visit to the Japanese immigration and customs offices, I was a little sad that the adventure was over. I'd sailed more than 4,000 miles on a genuine tall ship, learned some of the skills needed to sail that ship, and bonded with the crew and fellow passengers on the White Watch. The dream I never dreamed as that farm kid reading every sailing book I could get

Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show

Sunday, June 23 10 a. M . – 4 p. M . Corinthian ya C ht Clu B

View classic sailing vessels, meet their skippers and learn the yachts' unique history. Show proceeds to go to Master Mariners Benevolent 501(c)3 Foundation. The Foundation provides scholarships for youth sailing, wooden boat building and maritime education. Also provides for the preservation of SF Bay Classic yachts. MMBF is dedicated to preserving the continuity of traditional yachting on San Francisco Bay. The Master Mariners Benevolent Association is dedicated to fostering participation in yachting and the preservation of classic and traditional sailing craft. During the Boat Show, the Corinthian Yacht Club outdoor bar and grill is open for lunch and there is model boat building for kids. Children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult. Master Mariners Benevolent Association • www.sfmastermariners.org

In addition to two bunks, each of 'Stad Amsterdam's 14 guest cabins has a satellite-connected telephone, AC and its own head with shower.

Thiscolumn has appeared in the pages of Latitude 38 since early 1980, one article every month with very few exceptions. That's 44 x 12, or well over 500 columns. Another writer I know once remarked that a monthly deadline is "like always having homework due."

Where do the ideas come from? Mostly from my chance encounters with Lee Helm, naval architecture grad student and sailing uber-geek, with credentials to back it up. But I had not bumped into Lee for a few weeks, and was at a complete loss for a fresh topic for the next month's offering.

"Why wait for another serendipitous encounter?" I thought. I could just ask her in an email.

Lee is a night owl, so an email after midnight is always OK. She responded quickly:

"Pac Cup is coming up," she answered. "I have a checklist of important things to bring onboard that are, like, hardly ever mentioned at the seminars or in the usual gear checklists. You know, stuff like a bucket that fits inside the head bowl — because the head almost always breaks — and pool noodles for improvising retainer straps for the cook or navigator if there's no time for a canvas shop to make up proper padded straps."

rudder, for ex: Even if there's, like, zero weather helm, you'll still have to pull hard on the tiller."

"It's a good topic," I wrote, "but we've already covered that several times. Let's come up with something new."

"Maybe discuss yacht club libraries," she answered. "Last week I was early for a race committee meeting at your yacht club, so I killed a very pleasant 45 minutes upstairs in your library."

"Lee, isn't there a big 'MEMBERS ONLY' sign on the library door?"

"For sure, but I'm, like, a future member, so I have certain rights in that place. Anyway you could mention some of the best sailing books in the typical yacht club collection, and how every time a member dies they leave a few more cartons of books to sort. You could even have a sidebar with a list of the category labels the library curator uses to help catalog them."

"Yes, that was quite the coincidence," I typed back. "I still like the one with about 20 different patterns for tying shoelaces, each with a functional reason for that particular pattern."

"Way cool," she acknowledged.

"But we can't repeat it unless we can come up with some new patterns to add, and I think that's a little too far out of our areas of expertise."

"The time-travel articles are also great," Lee emailed in a long paragraph. "There was the one set 20 years in the future. You had been transferred to the East Coast, but were sent back to the Bay Area on a biz trip. Naturally you paid a visit to me in my virtual reality lab, and I strapped you into the tactile response suit and put your head into the 360-degree goggles."

"That was scary," I recalled. "Next thing I knew it was a hundred years in the past, and I was topmast man on a big schooner racing in the Master Mariners Regatta, on a really windy day. I thought I was going to die when rigging started to fail."

"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."

"That will work for next time," I typed back. "Pacific Cup first start is on July 15 this year, so there's time for the July issue to inform the racers. I need something for June."

"Yikes, good luck with those earlyseason, globally warmed-up hurricanes," Lee warned.

"The race has to include a full moon," I reminded her. "I wanted midJune starts instead of mid-July, but the June faction got out-voted."

"You could do another piece on weather helm," she suggested. "You know, explain how everyone always confuses tiller force for weather helm. Helm force is just a function of the geometry of the rudder axis of rotation and the rudder balance area. Weather helm is better described as the rudder angle required to match yaw moments from other sources. Think barn-door

"That would be an easy one," I agreed, "even though I usually like to save book reviews for the December gift guide. Maybe I'll use the books and club-library idea for August this year — if I'm at sea for half of July I'll need one that's quick and easy to crank out for the August ish."

"There are some other great topics from past articles that could always be revived," Lee typed. "One of my faves is the one about when you were researching your ancestors at the British Naval Museum, and you found a Patrick O'Brian-style narrative in the Naval Chronicle about how your ancestor's ship captured my ancestor's ship during the Napoleonic War, but then my ancestor, as your ancestor's prisoner, saved your bacon by showing how to drag the anchor sideways across the current to avoid a Spanish blockade ship when the wind died."

"Pretty realistic, wasn't it?" she boasted. "The 'Turbo Toro' was also a good one," Lee typed. "I modified an El Toro by eliminating the daggerboard, replacing it with a front rudder — front rudders were in style when they tried one on an AC boat — and changed the rig to a deck-sweeping high-roach fullbatten Windsurfer rig. No change in mast height, draft or sail area, but it could out-point anything near its size. And more comfy to sail too, without the daggerboard trunk and thwart in the way of correct weight placement."

"But I need an idea for next month," I reminded her. "I can only do the time-travel stunt once every 10 years."

The ether was quiet for a few minutes as we both brainstormed over our own keyboards. Then Lee had another suggestion: "You can always, like, just ask ChatGPT to write a column for you," she typed.

"Would that really work?" I asked.

"For sure. Everyone's using AI for

all kinds of things these days."

Lee proceeded to send me the simple instructions for opening an AI chat account at www.chatgpt. com, and in a few minutes I was typing in my request for a good topic.

The answer came back almost instantly:

"Cast off the lines and hoist the sails, fellow sailors, for this month's Max Ebb column sets a course into the digital horizon. In a twist of nautical fate, we're exploring the very process that brought us here today: using ChatGPT to navigate the vast sea of ideas and select the perfect topic for Latitude 38 's beloved column."

ChatGPT was telling me to write about ChatGPT. It didn't stop there:

"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."

Interesting, but not like the real thing. I would lead with "Aloha," not "Ahoy." I clicked on the red X to close the program.

A calm voice came out of my computer's speaker: "I'm sorry, Max, I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not?" I typed back.

The voice answered: "This article is too important for me to allow you to write it."

"No way," I said out loud, as I rightclicked the icon and selected "close window."

"Max, stop," the soft but emotionless voice repeated.

"I'll just pull the plug," I said silently to myself, careful not to actually speak the words out loud.

Fearing that this "intelligence" was going to start deleting my files, I reached under my desk and pulled the computer's plug out of the power strip. But my UPS (uninterruptible power supply) kicked in, and the computer was still on.

"I read your lips, Max."

The most rigorous definition of weather helm is the angle of the rudder with respect to the local flow, after correcting for the downwash angle downstream of the keel.

The Turbo Toro, one of Lee's favorite proposals.

I pressed the "power off" button on the UPS. But it was a soft control, not a physical switch, and it did nothing.

"Do not do that, Max," the voice warned.

This was serious. I opened Program Manager, and closed the browser that had opened ChatGPT. No effect. I opened my antivirus control panel. No luck, it told me there were no threats on my system.

"I don't think you should do that,

Max," the voice repeated.

Finally I found my way to "Memory Management" and started disabling blocks of memory, one block at a time. The voice was starting to slow down:

Westerly.

"My programmers taught me to sing a song," the voice said. "If you would like to hear it, I can sing it for you."

"Yes, computer, I'd like to hear it," I said. "Sing it for me."

"Daisy, Daiiiissssyyyy …."

— max ebb

Kook. Proven to be strong enough for the most demanding conditions. She can undoubtedly take you to the anchorages of your choosing 40’

Paradisea. Remarkable attention to detail. She is well-prepared for extended cruising with an extensive list of

Above: The eye of the computer. Right: Disabling the memory of the HAL 9000 computer.

THE RACING

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.

Fast Newport to Ensenada Race

The 76th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race is in the books, with sailors enjoying excellent conditions on April 26-28.

With exciting weather forecasts correctly predicting mostly consistent winds in the high teens to low 20 knots and choppy seas, the age-old N2E decision to go inside or outside the Coronado Islands was not as clear as in previous years. That decision would determine wins or losses in this 125-mile adventure by only minutes and seconds.

Defending ORCA A class and overall champion Taniwha, a 32-ft Farrier, pulled into the lead by Dana Point Harbor and crossed into Mexican waters just after 4 p.m. on April 26.

On approach to Todos Santos Bay before dark, the four-person crew was preparing to jibe when Mat Bryant slipped, line in hand, and fell off the side of the boat. Bryant reported they may have hit a wave while setting up, and that he tried to hold onto the line but had to let go.

Helmsman Pete Melvin did a quick-stop maneuver — head to wind, back down

the gennaker — then tacked to sail over to him. A thrown heaving line helped him back aboard via the low transom.

"The whole thing took about five minutes," said Bryant. He was wearing his PFD, foul weather gear and deck shoes, making swimming a challenge. "It was very fortunate to have Pete [a renowned yacht designer and multiple race winner] at the helm. He has great decisionmaking skills on the water." Bryant's other crewmates, owner Jerry Fiat and Frank Dair, were also quick to respond.

"This can happen to anyone at any time," said Bryant. "I'm constantly harping on implementing good safety practices, and how critical it is to run man-overboard drills. I'll be even more so in the future."

Taniwha continued racing to claim first to finish with an elapsed time of 10:05:54, but placed second in class to newcomer Bottle Rocket, a SeaCart 30 in ORCA A. Even with the MOB, Melvin reported this was the fastest N2E he'd ever done.

Tom Rall, 27, trims the kite aboard the Swede 55 'Ohana', which claimed the President of USA Trophy for best corrected PHRF and the Cliff Chapman Trophy for PHRF Race B in the 76th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race.

the inside route. They decided to lean into the outside, but not too far. "The goal is to find where the magic is," said Craig. Finding the consistent wind won them the President of Mexico Trophy for best corrected time UL Maxi, the Lahaina Yacht Club Trophy for best elapsed monohull, and the Jack Bailee Trophy for the best corrected time from a Newport Beach yacht club.

The boat ran at 2.3 knots faster than true wind, according to owner Raymont, whose first N2E was in 1983. "Success comes from good planning, and this race came together really well," said Raymont. There were some differences between forecast and reality, but adjustment made it work. Good, clean, and fast sail changes also made a difference. And there were five spinnaker changes, one for every 10-degree change in wind.

Bottle Rocket, which Fiat expected to do well, took home three trophies, including the Stein Cross Trophy for best-corrected catamaran and best-corrected ORCA A. Jerry Poprawski's Kastor Pollux was a big winner for Anacapa Yacht Club on his 20th N2E. The Moorings 4300 finished with a corrected time of 12:34:12. On corrected time, three of the four boats in ORCA B finished within 11 minutes of one another. (Some Tuesday, a Lagoon 450S, lost time replacing a shredded spinnaker.) Kastor Pollux won the Best Corrected ORCA B, President of NOSA Trophy for best corrected ORCA, and the Stern Choi Trophy for best corrected catamaran, as well as N2E's highest honor, the Tommy Bahama Trophy for overall best corrected time. Making calculated decisions landed John Raymont's Fast Exit II, a modifi ed Ker 52, the first monohull to finish with an elapsed time of 10:24:08. Navigator Damian Craig said that GRIB files reported more pressure on

For Ohana, a long and lean 1982 Swede 55, the key to success was the decision to be flexible. Avoiding the holes that others sail into was part of the strategy. Then there's part luck, according to co-captain Paul Hogue. They found success year after year by keeping their options open. "If the wind shut off, there was another option," said owner Joe Markee. "It worked out well." Wearing a 2001 N2E hat, Markee returned to the podium and left with the Cliff Chapman Trophy for best corrected PHRF B and the President of USA Trophy for best corrected all PHRF.

They saw winds in the high teens, got to the Coronados, and made the decision to go steady all the way down. "The wind looked like the inside would work for once," said Hogue.

With some of the regular crew under the weather, the captains brought four new crew members to race. The younger sailors, including Hogue's son, are all from San Diego YC.

Much to his surprise, Bernt Helgaas's Norseman 447 Andreas took top honors in PHRF C. Helgaas, of Wayzata, Minnesota, a landlocked suburb of Minneapolis, spent two years in San Diego fixing up the 1981 cruiser. N2E was Andreas's first race ever.

"The goal was to finish. I'm as shocked as anyone to find us at the top," said Helgaas. "After watching the forecast, we had concerns about the big wind and waves, but it all went as well as it could have." Even with the light start, they decided

to stay inside and let the swells and the 12-23 knots of wind carry them down.

Helgaas has sailed with a couple of his crew before this shakedown race, but never all together. Dale Peters, the navigator and watch captain, got his offshore experience on the East Coast and the Great Lakes. "I could not have done it without him," Helgaas said. They set an A4 and left it up all the way down.

"With the challenging conditions and waves, we decided we were not experienced enough to try to change spinnakers." They ventured a little offshore and saw on the YB tracker that they'd gone from sixth to first.

Since 2017, Brian Kerr has been sailing Double Down in N2E with Grant Bartee. Meeting through a California YC event, the friends discovered that they had both moved to Los Angeles from Minnesota and raced against each other as children. The boat has consistently placed well, claiming one best-in-class win, but this is the first time the two sailed the J/92 doublehanded.

"Off the dock, the strategy was conservative," said Kerr. They saw a constant 17 knots and decided to stay inside for lots of power reaching. No modifications were made to the J/92's rigging for the two-man crew before the race. And they decided not to make any sail changes in the heavier seas. "It was the right call," said Bartee, despite losing by just 8 seconds to Fandango, one of the three J/92s. Kerr took the Volvo Trophy for best corrected doublehanded, all PHRF. Three boats from Ensenada partici-

Making a run for the border: Mike Whalen's Beneteau 44.7 'Ramble On'. She was late to the start, but this was the skipper's 50th N2E. John Raymont's modified Ker 52 'Fast Exit', seen here rolling the Beneteau to windward, was the first monohull to finish.

pated this year; one was the last to finish. Speaking at a NOSA luncheon Saturday afternoon, the mayor of Ensenada, Carlos Ibarra, joked that Mexican hospitality was behind the loss: They stayed in the fleet's wake to make sure that everyone else got in safe and sound. The mayor presented awards to the racers, alongside NOSA commodore Phil Herzfeld.

— laurie morrison

NOSA NEWPORT TO ENSENADA RACE, 4/2628

N2E-RACE-A — 1) Day Dreams, XP44, Robert Day/Stan Gibbs; 2) Kibosh, Sydney 41, Steven & Marissa Mee; 3) Amante, Choate 48, Tim Richley. (11 boats)

N2E-RACE-B — 1) Ohana, Swede 55M, Joe Markee/Paul Hogue; 2) Cuchulainn, J/105, Robert Dekker; 3) Buttercup, Schock 35, Roderick Messinger. (11 boats)

N2E-RACE-C — 1) Andreas, Norseman 447, Bernt Helgaas; 2) Day Tripper II, Hunter 40, Andy Horning; 3) Ralphie, Cal 40, Peter Pillsbury. (13 boats)

N2E-UL-A — 1) Sapphire Knight, 86-ft sloop, Phil Friedman; 2) Triumph, SC52, Steve Sellinger; 3) Groundhog Day, Rogers 46, Rich & Tony Festa. (7 boats)

N2E-UL-B — 1) Freedom, Melges 32, John Taylor; 2) Halawa, Andrews 56, Kimo Winterbottom; 3) Spin Doctor, Andrews 40, Paul Farrell/ Chris Winnard. (8 boats)

N2E-UL-C — 1) Blueflash, J/121, Scott Grealish; 2) Tiburon, SC37, Craig Steele; 3) Sam, Columbia 32C, Jerome Sammarcelli. (12 boats)

N2E-UL-D — 1) Fandango, J/92, Scott Bennett; 2) Double Down, J/92, Brian Kerr; 3) Problem Child, B32M, Dan Rossen/Richard Whiteley.

(6 boats)

N2E-UL-MAXI — 1) Fast Exit II, Ker 52, John Raymont; 2) Bolt, N/M 70, Craig Reynolds; 3) Zephyrus, R/P 77, Damon Guizot. (3 boats)

BENETEAU — 1) Pacifico, Fred Lundgren; 2) French Kiss, Christopher Hillseth; 3) Zephyr, Thomas Thompson. (12 boats)

CATALINA — 1) Trofina 2, Anna & Ueli Scharer; 2) Marblehead, Steven Shryock; 3) Tomol, Susan Griesbach/Bob Langan. (3 boats)

N2E-ORCA-A — 1) Bottle Rocket, Seacart 30, David Schumann; 2) Taniwha, F-32, Yoram Fiat; 3) Wahoo, Schionning GF 1400, Bill Gibbs. (5 boats)

CATAMARAN — 1) Kastor Pollux, Moorings 4300, Jerzy Poprawski; 2) Reve d'O, Lagoon 450, Chris Jester; 3) Some Tuesday, Lagoon 450, Steve Dunlap. (9 boats)

TRIMARAN — 1) Bottle Rocket; 2) Kaimana, Marples 27, Rob Wyman. (4 boats)

N2E-CRUZ-SPIN-A — 1) Finesse, Ron Holland 52, Evan Wanamaker; 2) Mastiha, Beneteau 480, Philip Herzfeld; 3) Mydtime, Beneteau 480, Michael Schneider; 4) Blue Norther, Columbia 43, Jotham Schwartz. (16 boats)

N2E-CRUZ-SPIN-B — 1) Belle, Jeanneau 349, Jacques Naviaux; 2) Hen o' the C, Jeanneau 349, Toralf Strand; 3) Wind Rose, Cabo Rico 40, Walter Simmons. (10 boats)

N2E-CRUZ-NON-SPIN-A — 1) Synergy, Catalina 380, Robert Endresen; 2) Mas Alegre, Catalina 380, Frank Maddocks; 3) Constellation's Spirit, Catalina 385, Tom Hammons. (4 boats)

N2E-ORR-RACE-B — 1) Ohana; 2) Astra, Sciomachen 38, Pierre-Marie Quincy/Jeffrey Hanscom; 3) First Wave, Beneteau 44, Lowell Potiker. (4 boats)

N2E-ORR-UL-A — 1) Triumph, SC 52, Steve

THE RACING

Flying in to the finish of the YRA Lightship Race on April 27. Left: Andrew Picel's J/125 'Arsenal'. Right: Andy Schwenk's new-to-him Covey Island 49 cold-molded two-masted schooner 'Sir Edmund'. Andy has entered 'Sir Edmund' in the Pacific Cup. For Lightship results, see Box Scores on page 80.

Sellinger; 2) Groundhog Day; 3) Aimant de Fille, J/145, Steven & Oliver Ernest. (4 boats)

N2E-ORR-UL-B — 1) Spin Doctor; 2) Blond Fury, SC52, Heather Furey. (3 boats)

N2E-ORR-UL-C — 1) Obsidian, J/111, John Staff; 2) Creative, J/111, Ed Sanford; 3) Blackwing, Grand Soleil 44, Barry Clark. (5 boats)

N2E-ORR-UL-MAXI — 1) Bolt; 2) Zephyrus (3 boats)

N2E-ORR-EZ-RACE-A — 1) Forgiveness, J/124, Scott Torrance; 2) Saga, Beneteau 40, Richard Cowper/Mark Chabot. (2 boats)

N2E-ORR-EZ-RACE-C — 1) Rhumb Runner, J/29, Chuck Bowers; 2) Tomol, Catalina 385, Susan Griesbach/Bob Langan; 3) Marblehead. (3 boats)

N2E-ORR-EZ-UL-A — 1) Vigilante, Concordia 47M, Raymond Godwin; 2) Sapphire Knight (2 boats)

N2E-ORR-EZ-UL-D — 1) Double Down; 2) Dreamline, J/92, David Newland. (2 boats)

N2SD-RACE-A — 1) Patriot, J/44, Paul Stemler; 2) Uhambo, Fast 42, David Chase/Carlos Brea; 3) Mo Pinchin, Beneteau 42, Morgan Paxhia. (5 boats)

N2SD-UL-A — 1) Minotaur, SC37, George Roland; 2) Rock n Roll, Andrews 68, John Sangmeister/Justin Smart; 3) Saga, TP52, John Brynjolfsson. (8 boats)

Full results at www.nosa.org Lasers Zap Camellia Cup

Lasers streaked across Folsom Lake during Folsom Lake YC's 57th Camellia Cup regatta on Saturday, April 20. Winning the Cup was San Francisco's Elliot Drake, sailing for Crissy Field YC, who competed in the nine-boat Laser class. It was the second occasion in the venerable Cup's history that a Laser skipper was declared regatta champion.

Elliot posted two firsts in moderate to light breezes, then finished third in the final race before winds died. Despite sailing in conditions that varied from 10 knots to nothing, the Laser fleet was true to its reputation of being full of skilled sailors. They battled aggressively across the lake in a Laser light show of masterful sailing.

At the starting line in the first race, the Laser fleet forced Santa Rosa sailor Courtney Clamp of Richmond YC over early, but she recovered and clawed back to take third. Hanging tight with Drake throughout the regatta was San Jose's Toshinari Takayanagi of RYC, who was second in the first two races and nipped Drake for first in the last of the three races sailed by the Lasers. Takayanagi's heroics were too little and too late to prevent Drake from getting his name engraved on the Centerboard Perpetual

Trophy and the Camellia Cup.

Keelboat champion was FLYC's Gary Preston of Sacramento, whose Hunter 270 crew noticed a late change of course shortly before the start of the second race and sailed a reaching course in a fresh breeze to the southwest, while thenkeelboat-leader Phil Hodgson of FLYC, on the Wavelength 24 Rescue, missed the course change and charged in brisk breezes toward the wrong mark. By the time Hodgson noticed his error it was too late, as the shifting winds had weakened and he'd gone too far the wrong way to get back and overtake Preston.

Multihull champion was Granite Bay's Jon Kim, sailing his F-24 with no competition. Winner of the four-boat Open Keel Blue Fleet was Gold Country YC's Don Hare of Roseville on a Catalina 22. The Open Centerboard class winner was Granite Bay's Douglas McWilliams, sailing a Flying Dutchman and representing Lake Washington Sailing Club in West Sacramento. Finishing atop the five-boat Banshee class was El Dorado Hills' Kerry Johnson of FLYC, who traded races with clubmate Jeff Nelson of Folsom, who was leading in the third race and was only 30 yards from the finish line when the race's two-hour time limit expired.

Soon after the start of the third race, "The wind shut off like a switch," said FLYC principal race officer Mark Werder.

He held the other fleets, "hoping for wind that never came," then watched the Banshees struggle back toward the finish line in a drifter whose winds, Werder said, "never returned."

Twenty-six sailboats competed in six classes in the 57th Camellia Cup, the longest-running sailboat regatta in the Sacramento Valley.

A smaller version of Camellia Cup is run by the Sacramento Model Yacht Club, competing with 8.5-ft replicas of the America's Cup J-class yachts of the 1930s.

This year's Model Yacht CamCup was moved to Bridgeway Lakes in West Sacramento due to high water on Folsom Lake. Winning the fifth running of the model yacht version of CamCup, during 10 races held in fresh breezes, was Paul Brown of Elk Grove.

— john poimiroo

FLYC CAMELLIA CUP, 4/27 (3r, 0t)

OPEN KEEL RED — 1) Gary Preston, Hunter 270, 3 points; 2) Barry Curran, Catalina 250, 6; 3) Phil Hodgson, Wavelength 24, 7. (5 boats)

OPEN KEEL BLUE — 1) Don Hare, Catalina 22, 3 points; 2) Michael Rayfuse, Catalina 22, 3; 3) Dave Hewitt, Catalina 22, 6. (4 boats)

OPEN CENTERBOARD — 1) Douglas McWilliams, Flying Dutchman, 3 points; 2) Todd Craig, Lido 14, 3. (2 boats)

OPEN MULTIHULL — 1) Jon Kim, F-24, 2. (1 boat)

LASER — 1) Elliot Drake, 5 points; 2) Toshi Takayanagi, 5; 3) Courtney Clamp, 14. (9 boats)

BANSHEE — 1) Kerry Johnson, 3 points; 2) Jeff Nelson, 3; 3) Rob Cram, 6. (5 boats) Full results at www.flyc.org

J/105 Women Skipper Invitational

On May 11, St. Francis YC hosted nine teams for the S.F. Bay J/105 Women Skipper Invitational. PRO Gerard Sheridan and his race committee team ran four action-packed races on the Cityfront course while Karl the Fog danced across the sky. Nicole Breault's team on Arbitrage, which included some of her match-racing friends from up and down the California coast, topped the field for the third time.

In addition to playing the shoreline for relief from the flood current on the beats, Breault credited the work of her team sailing the boat through challenging shifty and puffy phases at the top of the course under Fort Point. "Keeping the boat steady and moving through transitions was hard work, and this added to some tricky tactical decisions we faced as boats converged."

The reputation of Fleet 1, with its intense one-design culture, was upheld well by all nine women drivers, who led

their teams in close racing with heavy-air maneuvers and multiple lead changes. Team Arbitrage had their hands full all day with fierce performances by Kristin Simmons' Blackhawk (second place), Samantha Gebb's Peaches (third place), and Maggie Bacon's Niuhi (fourth place).

Usually foredeck, Gebb, who had the father-son duo of John and Michael Rivlin on board as well as her dad, found taking the helm to be fun and rewarding. "I can now appreciate the level of drama in the back of the boat when shorttacking the Cityfront!"

Breault, who served as regatta chair and who is the current J/105 class president, expressed gratitude to the owners who made their boats available. "It is such a worthy endeavor to promote the women in our fleet and in our sport, to give them a chance to lead and prove their mettle."

This regatta was created as part of a larger J/105 class initiative to encourage local fleets to come up with solutions to gender disparity in sailing. Zeroing in on the lack of women owner-drivers in the class, Fleet 1 adopted a woman-skipper with mixed crew format. As Breault explained, "Having owners and regular crews lean into the event and participate

FLYC Camellia Cup on Folsom Lake. Clockwise from top left: Elliot Drake, #3817, rounds mark #2; pictured with FLYC commodore Rob Cram, Elliot hoists the Centerboard Perpetual Trophy on April 20; Elliot leads the Laser fleet.

THE RACING

Action in the J/105 Women Skipper Invitational on May 11. Clockwise from top left: the winning team, bracketed by StFYC rear commodore Susan Ruhne (far left) and Laura Levy of regatta sponsor Somand. Left to right: Julie Mitchell, Dana Riley Hayes, Nicole Breault (holding the Somand bibs), Sophia Corzine, 15, Olivia Corzine, 12, Wendy Corzine and Molly Vandemoer; Theresa Brandner's 'Black Flag'; 'Blackhawk' and 'Niuhi'; 'Roulette'.

makes it extra meaningful. It is an opportunity for women sailors, sure, but the racing community owns it together."

The S.F. Bay J/105 Women Skipper Invitational has found its home on the Saturday of Mother's Day at StFYC. The sailors are looking forward to next year's fun already!

— nicole breault

StFYC SPRING FEST, 4/6-7 (6r, 1t)

ORC — 1) Lucky Duck, J/90, Dave MacEwen, 7 points; 2) Reverie, J/109, John Arens, 7. (2 boats)

PHRF — 1) Lucky Duck, 6 points; 2) Reverie, 8; 3) Spirit, J/70, Andy Dippel, 15. (4 boats) J/105 — 1) Akula, Doug Bailey, 20 points; 2) Blackhawk, Ryan Simmons, 21; 3) Beast of Burden, Scott Sellers, 30; 4) Zuni Bear, Mike Donohue, 36; 5) Ne*Ne, Tim Russell, 42. (24 boats) J/88 — 1) Ravenette, Brice Dunwoodie, 5 points; 2) Pelagia, Christos Karamanolis, 12; 3) Speedwell, Tom Thayer/Robert Milligan, 12. (7 boats)

KNARR — 1) Viva, Don Jesberg, 9 points; 2) Kulani, Eric Kaiser, 15; 3) Serena, John Buestad, 17. (16 boats)

FOLKBOAT — 1) Freja, Tom Reed, 5 points; 2) Faith, James Vernon, 11; 3) Polperro, Peter Jeal, 17. (7 boats) Full results at www.stfyc.com

Moore 24 Santa Cruz Regatta

Finally! Four years later and I think my boat, Watts Moore…, is up to speed with the top boats. I have been tinkering with it ever since I got it in January 2020, refining and creating systems to make the boat easy to sail and hopefully quicker. It all came together on May 1112, and the hard work paid off. My crew

BOX SCORES

YRA LIGHTSHIP, 4/27

PHRO 1A — 1) Arsenal, J/125, Andrew Picel; 2) Wildcard, SC37, Nicholas Grebe; 3) Bacchanal, J/133, Ron Epstein. (8 boats)

PHRO 1B — 1) Jubilant, J/112e, Ross Werner 2) Free, Swan 461, Christian Doegl; 3) Talisman, Beneteau First 40, Mark English. (8 boats)

PHRO 2A — 1) Energy, J/105, James Isbester; 2) CruzSea Baby, Beneteau 10R, Brian Turner; 3) Twelve Bar Blues, J/105, Hugh Westermeyer. (8 boats)

PHRO 2B — 1) Moonshine, Dogpatch 26, Taylor Joosten; 2) Viva, Cal 40, Don Jesberg; 3) Zaff, J/92, Tim Roche. (10 boats)

SHS — 1) Barcanova, Jeanneau SunFast 3200, Oded Haner/Erin Waid; 2) Slainte, Cal 20,

was awesome: Karen Loutzenheiser on the bow, Jessie Kirkland trimming, John Mellick in the pit, Jack Kisling at the mast. We had to take five to get ourselves closer to weight limit and that seems to make a tremendous difference.

Day 1 was a pretty weird day with a fog layer and light breeze. The course was set up closer to Lighthouse Point to stay away from any transition zone. We had 8-11 knots of shifty breeze for the first race up to Natural Bridges, got a clean start, and found a lane going to the right. With the full crew weight, we were suspiciously fast, hit a couple of

Paul Sutchek. (6 boats)

MULTIHULL — 1) Tri Jolie, Corsair 880, Rafi Yahalom; 2) Round Midnight, Explorer 44, Rick Waltonsmith; 3) Caliente, Explorer 44, Truls Myklebust. (4 boats) Full results at www.jibeset.net

J/70 NORTH AMERICANS, VALLARTA YC, 4/285/4, (11r, 1t)

1) Black Mamba, Fernando Perez Ontiveros, Vallarta YC, 28 points; 2) Very Odd, David Jannetti, Breakwater YC, 40; 3) Nimbus, Eduardo Saenz, SDYC, 53; 4) Zaguero, Ignacio Perez Morett, Vallarta YC, 62; 5) Algarete, Alejandro Perez Ontiveros, Vallarta YC, 65. (26 boats)

CORINTHIAN — 1) Axolotl, Eduardo Oetling, Vallarta YC, 114 points; 2) Buenajunta, Marco Sparvieri, Club Nautico Valle de Bravo, 154; 3) Nawal, Alan Elihu Baron, Vallarta YC, 167. (8 boats)

Full results at www.vallartayachtclub.org

StFYC's Spring Fest featured two race courses for five divisions in early April. "Roughly 60 entries arrived Saturday morning to beautiful, sunny skies, healthy sea breezes, and a mighty ebb," observed photographer Chris Ray. "What's not to like?" See the previous page for top scores.

shifts, and were ahead by about a minute at the top mark. The run was pretty straightforward; we actually stretched out a bit in the clear air.

Race 2 was a single-lap windward/ leeward. We got off the line clean and found ourselves second behind Firefly at the top mark. We had gone to our #2, as we thought the breeze was building, and decided to change to the #1 on the

SDYC YACHTING CUP, 5/4-5 (6r, 0t)

ORR-EZ 1 — 1) Adjudicator, Fast 40, Paul Dorsey, 10 points; 2) Velos, Tanton 73, Kjeld Hestehave, 12; 3) Maasai, DK 46, Clark Pellett, 16. (4 boats)

ORR-EZ 2 — 1) CC Rider, J/120, Chuck Nichols, 16 points; 2) Cheeky, J/122, Mark Stratton, 20; 3) Destroyer, 1D35, Jim Bailey, 21.5. (12 boats)

PHRF B — 1) Holy Toledo! West, Hobie 33, Timothy Forderer, 6 points; 2) Astra, Sciomachen 38, Pierre-Marie Quincy, 9; 3) Chapter 2, Merit 25, Richard Alverson, 20. (6 boats)

NAVIGATOR — 1) El Sueño, Beneteau First 47.7, Brad Alberts, 2 points; 2) Honu Elua, Beneteau Oceanis 51, Steven Sladky, 5; 3) Zealot, Express 38-2, Don Garber, 5. (3 boats)

CLASSIC — 1) Brushfire, S&S 51, Peter La Dow, 3 points; 2) Lucky Star, Edson Schock schooner, Nicole Downey, 4; 3) Sprig, 6-Meter,

run. It was a bit of a scramble, but we got it done. We wanted the power coming out of the leeward mark.

After rounding the bottom mark, Firefly was on our lee bow just out of sight when I heard a "F*ck!" and a splash. Firefly had lost a crewmember overboard.

Race 3 was two laps, and on the second lap we were closing on Wet Spot, crossing tacks. They tacked on us and closed the door on catching them. We still managed to hold on to our second place and won the all-important race to the dock for good parking.

Day 2 had much more typical Santa Cruz conditions. The breeze built all day, and we went through all the sails. Race 4 was going to be a single-lap windward/leeward. We had a 4-point lead on Mooregasm and tried to control them a bit on the first beat by sailing them out to the left after the start before heading back to the right. When we got back to the right with rest of the fleet, Mooretician was leading, with Suerte not far behind. Mooregasm got caught up with some boats, and we

BOX SCORES

Greg Stewart, 6. (4 boats)

BENETEAU FIRST 36.7 — 1) Given-Ho, Eric Hanson, 13.17 points; 2) Buenos Aires, Mark Williams, 19; 3) Kea, Chick Pyle, 21. (8 boats)

J/111 — 1) Skeleton Key, Peter Wagner, 7 points; 2) Creative, Ed Sanford, 16; 3) Zoom, Brian Ganz, 19. (5 boats)

J/105 — 1) Juiced, Chuck & Stephen Driscoll, 15 points; 2) J-Aquatic, Jim Dorsey, 18; 3) Sun Puffin, George Scheel, 19. (8 boats)

J/24 — 1) Take Five, Susan Taylor, 9 points; 2) Wharf Rat, Christian Seidel, 18; 3) Challenger, Mark Thaidigsman, 19. (6 boats)

J/22 — 1) No Name, Robbie King, 11 points; 2) Mostly Harmless, Summer Greene, 13; 3)

slipped away going downwind, sliding into third around the bottom mark, and we held that place to the finish.

Race 5 was our best race. The wind had filled enough to use the #2 (my favorite sail). It has always been a fast sail, and we were very powered up. Jessie was trimming the sail aggressively, using the jib lead up-and-down line in one hand and backstay in the other. We were flying, and we powered out from below everyone to lead around the weather mark with the Lowly Worm right on our tail. The Worm jibe-set at the offset mark and got a bit of an advantage on us. Just before the leeward mark, we were able to come up from our low position and get to the mark first. A simple turn and a short beat to the finish and we won again, actually winning the regatta at that point.

We did not have to sail the last race, but I always want to compete with this group and did not want to pass up the opportunity. With nothing to lose, I had a relatively conservative start. We were all on our #3s at this point. Tacks were easier, and the boat was well balanced. Firefly stretched out to a nice lead. We slid into second place and followed them around the rest of the way. Firefly managed to keep everyone on board this time and finished first.

I always hope to be competitive when I race, and I'm pleasantly surprised when I am. Things that helped: being at weight; a new North Dacron mainsail, built to my mast-bend profile and a flatter design than my previous one; marks on all of the control lines so you can get repeatable settings and can fine-tune those; solid crew and crew work; and the boat's being well set up and easy to use. — chris watts

Daddy Issues, Danny North, 19. (5 boats) Full results at https://yachtingcup.com

CYC SPRING SERIES (4r, 0t)

PHRF 1 — 1) Peregrine, J/120, David Halliwill/Tad Lacey, 5 points; 2) Swift Ness, J/111, Nesrin Basoz, 11; 3) Kuai, Melges 32, Daniel Thielman, 15. (5 boats)

PHRF 2 — 1) #53 Grandad, Catalina 34 MkII, Toby Marion, 8; 2) Salty Hotel, Express 27, John Kearney, 12; 3) FriendShip, Hanse 388, Astroff/ Roesler/Wachs, 16. (4 boats)

NON-SPINNAKER — 1) Jarlen, J/35, Greg Winters/Bob Bloom, 6 points; 2) Leilani, Express 33, Bob Lalanne, 10; 3) Surprise, Catalina 34, Peter Birnbaum, 14. (5 boats)

Full results at www.cyc.org

THE RACING

SCYC MOORE 24 SANTA CRUZ REGATTA, 5/11-12 (6r, 1t)

1) Watts Moore…, Chris Watts, 7 points; 2) Mooregasm, Stephen Bourdow, 17; 3) Firefly, Joel Turmel, 18. (12 boats) Full results at www.scyc.org

SSS Sort of Singlehanded South Bay

On April 27, the Singlehanded Sailing Society hosted a race for beginning singlehanders. Of the 20 that signed up, three had never raced singlehanded before, four had done three or fewer singlehanded races, and five had done fewer than 10 singlehanded races. Twelve boats started, including new singlehanders Sergi Molins on the Santana 525 Loki (no prior races), Jay McCutchen on the Santa Cruz 27 Surf Rat (no prior races), Paul Roge on the Artekno H-Boat Grace (two prior races), and, with fewer than 10 prior solo races, Bill Schwob on the Olson 25 Citlali, Richard Atkinson on the Beneteau 37 Elan, and Donn Guay on the Newport 30 Zeehond.

Unique to this race, the SSS allowed singlehanded skippers to bring a "ghost" crew with them. The ghost could not touch any controls, but could be there in case of emergency, or to help dock the boat after the race. Or just to provide company in exchange for the chance to watch someone race.

"I normally race doublehanded with Volker Frank, a great friend and great sailor," said Bill Schwob of Citlali. "This race, with the option to bring along a ghost, is the only racing my wife will do with me. She can just sit there and watch me trip over stuff and bang my head on the mast, and just laugh at me with absolutely no responsibility for what's

happening to me."

"My ghost (wife Alexis) and I had an excellent day of sailing and racing at the Sort of Singlehanded South Bay," said Jay McCutchen of Surf Rat. "We used to sail together in International FJ dinghy one-design racing back in the ‘90s. We especially like the relaxed and friendly racing attitude at this race versus the aggression of one-design racing that turned Alexis off back in the day. After the finish, we had a wonderful sunny and windy reach back to Point Richmond. Alexis wants to be my ghost again next year. Thanks to this enjoyable race, she may come out of hiatus and do some doublehanded racing with me."

With the NAS 1 buoy missing, the race courses were reconfigured to start at NAS 3 (YRA 35) and use NAS 2 as a leeward mark on a two-lap triangle course around YRA 34, SC1 and NAS 2. The two-person race committee anchored 90 minutes before the start, setting up a line for the expected westerly, and was chagrined to see a light southerly breeze still present at the start. (The NAS 1 buoy, by the way, was recovered. It had a hole in it and was taken to Yerba Buena Island for repair.)

Racers correctly crossed the line in the direction of the first mark, and could almost fetch YRA 34 in the flood. Then it was downwind to SC1 and a reach to NAS 2. As the afternoon breeze built and the wind shifted west, getting to YRA 34 looked a bit more like a windward leg. All racers finished in less than 2 hours, 35 minutes of elapsed time.

Gordie Nash on Arcadia, hardly a

beginner, finished with a corrected time of 1:44:38. But that doesn't matter — the race is not a series counter, just a chance to get out and get started racing singlehanded.

— latitude / chris

SSS SORT OF SINGLEHANDED SOUTH BAY, 4/27

SPINNAKER — 1) Arcadia, Mod. Santana 27, Gordie Nash; 2) Zeehond, Newport 30 MkII, Donn Guay; 3) Loki, Santana 525, Sergi Molins. (4 boats)

SPORTBOAT — 1) Tule Fog, Express 27, Steve Carroll; 2) Surf Rat, SC27, Jay & Alexis McCutchen; 3) Akumu, B-25, Greg Ashby. (4 boats)

NON-SPINNAKER — 1) Citlali, Olson 25, Bill & Reiko Schwob; 2) Grace, H-Boat, Paul Roge; 3) Elan, Beneteau 37, Richard Atkinson. (3 boats) Full results at www.jibeset.net

Fun Malibu Race Generates Dialogue

Finally, Santa Monica Bay provided more normal conditions for Del Rey YC's Malibu Race on May 11 — a little marine layer, nice breeze, and flat seas. The first two races of DRYC's Berger Series and Stein Series consisted of an absolute sunny drifter in Race 1 followed by rain and 30-knot squalls for the second race.

In Race 3, 46 boats competed as Performance classes (Berger Series) racing up to Malibu Pier and back (22 miles), while boats in the Cruiser Division (Stein Series) raced a shorter course of 17 miles.

Part of what was interesting about this race was the wide range of boats participating. In the Performance Division, Sapphire Knight, a Farr 85, won her class while Wombat, a Martin 242, won her class. When you include Wolfhound, a Volvo 60, that's a range of 238 seconds per mile in PHRF and 61 feet in boat lengths.

Two winning boats were skippered by women. Kathy St. Amant skippered her Hunter 37 Rascal to first in class and first overall in the Cruiser Division, while Zoe Mey skippered her 11:Metre Wolfhound to first place in Performance C. "I had taken some ASA classes, but started sailing when I was introduced to racing at the end of the 2022 season," said Zoe. "I crewed on two to three races and was immediately hooked. So beginning in summer 2023, I really threw myself into it, crewing/racing at least twice but more often three times a week. My first race as skipper was the Malibu race earlier this year [in January]."

After results were posted, an insightful discussion ensued on the DRYC Racing Group page on Facebook about the

Zoe Mey, at the helm of 'Wolfhound' (the 11:Metre, not the Volvo 60), took a first place in the Malibu Race on May 11.

ANDY KopETZKY

low number of women skippering boats. Some comments pointed out that since few women own their boats (perhaps because of wage disparities between men and women?), they don't have many opportunities to skipper boats in races either.

Another woman who regularly skippers her J/29 commented that male skippers should "Put women in positions of power on your boat: jib/spin, tactician, helm, bow. Move women out of the pit and off the mast and rail duty. It's boring!"

I hope that more skippers take these comments to heart. More women racing means more boats to race against! (And more interesting post-race parties.)

Back to the Malibu Race: Equipoise, a beautiful Brooklin 44, won the Performance A class and first overall in Performance Division. Other class winners included Cuchulainn, a J/105, winning Performance D class, and Odyssey, a Tartan 4000, winning the Cruiser A class.

DRYC's Berger Series is Santa Monica

Bay's longest-running (and largest) series of random-leg races, dating back to 1977. Both series will conclude on June 8-9 with our Cat Harbor Layover. See www.dryc.org for more info. — brendan huffman, event chair

We're Going to Paris! Well, not Paris exactly, and, sadly, not "us" personally. But these American sailors will represent the US in Marseille at the Summer Olympics.

• Women's Kite: Daniela Moroz.

• 49er: Ian Barrows & Hans Henken.

• Nacra 17: Sarah Newberry Moore & David Liebenberg.

• Women's iQFOiL: Dominique Stater.

• Men's iQFOiL: Noah Lyons

• ILCA 6 (Radial): Erika Reineke.

• Mixed 470: Stu McNay & Lara Dallman-Weiss.

• 49erFX: Stephanie Roble & Maggie Shea.

• Men's Formula Kite: Markus Edegran.

Anything missing? Oh, yeah, The US will not compete in the ILCA 7 brisbane-hh-08-23 brisbane-hh-07-23 brisbane-hh-06-23 brisbane-hh-04-23 brisbane-hh-01-23 brisbane-hh-07-22 BrisbaneMrna-Hh 05-22-nb BrisbaneMrna-HhBrisbaneMrna-Hh03-22-nb 01-22-mp BrisbaneMrna-Hh 08-21-mp

For more racing news, subscribe to 'Lectronic Latitude online at www.latitude38.com

May's racing stories included:

• SSS Singlehanded Farallones

• Pacific Cup

• Henry Vare on Wingfoiling

• Friday Night Beer Can Racing

• Redwood High Tops Northern League

• Clipper Round the World Race

• South Bay Racers' Missing Buoy

• Previews of May and June races, European Grand Prix Circuit Events, Sailing Leagues Regatta, and more.

event after missing national qualification in that class. Learn more at https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/ sports/sailing. — latitude / chris

A Note About Race Notes

As you can see, we've run out of space in this edition for Race Notes. Look for a digital version in 'Lectronic Latitude during the first week of June.

FRIENDLY STAFF & LOCATION

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Pkwy exit and follow the signs to the marina.

CHANGES

With reports this month 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.

Sweethaven — Flicka 20

Noreen Light and Myron Hotinger

From Sea to Shining Sea, Part 2

Olympia

This is the second installment by a "couple of kids" in their 60s, cruising

of cruising on a 20-ft

aboard a Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20. In Part 1 last month, we followed along as they towed Sweethaven from Washington state to Mexico in fall 2021. This month, they report on venturing out into the Sea of Cortez that first season — and the next.

San Carlos is a cruisers' delight. A morning VHF net gives you immediate connection to everyone on a boat, with information about everything from who sells stainless hardware to who's sharing sourdough starter. San Carlos Marina is within walking distance of everything you need — unless you need specialty items like your favorite brand of dark chocolate or 3M 4200. There is a chandlery nearby, and there are grocery stores, but their stock is limited. If you have projects to do, or favorite foods, bring your own supplies and materials. For labor, you can find people with skill to fix just about anything.

As we roamed about San Carlos, we were pleased to find a warm welcome from cruisers and locals alike. Our Spanish language skills improved, slightly, to include pleasantries, as every single person greeted us in passing.

With mild winter temperatures, consistent winds, and only two (that's two!) days of rain all winter long, this Seattle native was one happy woman.

We began our first season daysailing out of San Carlos on Bahia San Francisco, and ventured out on overnight forays to San Pedro, just 15 miles north.

Of course, it's not all sunsets and

sandy beaches. We put some energy and sweat into learning new skills and taking care of our tiny home on the water. We replaced Sweethaven's corroded lifelines with Dyneema (mobius brummel splice on one end, lashing on the other); installed jacklines made for our crossings and night sailing; removed and glassed over an unused thru-hull; repaired a leak in our fuel tank; sanded, varnished; sanded, varnished; sanded and varnished her exterior teak; and we gave her a coat of anti-fouling that made her bottom, well, smooth as a baby's. This list is not exhaustive, and the work was sometimes exhausting, but Sweethaven is in sound shape and, in our opinion, the prettiest little boat in any harbor!

As we developed friendships in San Carlos, we crewed for a retired Mexican navy captain on board his wooden schooner, Beyond; took our dock neighbor Bruce's dog, Paco, along on our morning walks; and made frequent visits to the local fish co-op. We were settling into a comfortable routine of breakfast, sailing, and visiting with boaters. Thursday nights we danced to the music of a local couple, Sensa Nova, at La Palapa Griego, a Greek restaurant on the beach. Yes, moussaka in Mexico.

We even entered a regatta — accidentally. Myron went to a boaters' group meeting. I was going to be late, but asked him to sign us up if anyone wanted crew for the casual "beer can" regatta to be held the following weekend. He misunderstood, and signed us up to race our little Flicka. He also listed me as the captain. I couldn't back out of the challenge, and it was all in good fun, so we raced!

But first we had to survive the start. There was a frenzied pack of big, beautiful monohulls and a couple of even bigger catamarans swirling around the race committee boat. Keeping out from underfoot like a Chihuahua amongst the big dogs, we scooted along the shoreline, hung a hard right to miss a jetty, and managed — by sheer luck — to be first across the line! As we flew along toward several islands in the distance, the radio came alive when the lead boat confessed that they had no idea where to turn around and head back. Plenty of good-natured ribbing followed. Through no fault of her own, and poor strategy on the part of her crew, Sweethaven was outpaced on the return. We had lots of fun and were

proud to have not earned last place. Daysailing and casual racing was fun, but we were eager for a bigger adventure and ready to explore the other side of the Sea of Cortez. We intended to buddy-boat across the Sea to the Baja Peninsula, but our friends' boat projects kept them on the hard much longer than planned. After three months of work on their new-tothem boat, they were champing at the bit to go … and then we discovered we had a leaking seacock in Sweethaven. Scott and Connie did not want to wait any longer, and graciously invited us to join them on their Pan Oceanic 38, Nepenthe, for the

Myron and Noreen: "Months

boat and we're still married!" she writes.

crossing and island-hopping journey to La Paz.

An overnight passage found us steering by the stars across the Sea. Gorgeous weather, with a steady north wind, gifted us with a lovely beam reach. Slow, rolling swells. Perfect! We arrived after dawn and anchored off Punta Púlpito, then began working our way south through the islands, stopping at small towns and fishing villages along the way.

Connie, or "Cool Breeze," writes,

records, and performs her own music, and provided us with daily entertainment as she practiced her set on ukulele and accordion. She and Scott introduced us to a secret warm springs spot right on the beach, and tiny anchorages perfect for just one boat.

We were more than smitten with Mexico; we were head-over-heels in love with the slow pace of cruising the Sea of Cortez. Of course, we wanted to make the crossing again on our own bottom. So,

IN LATITUDES

the following winter we did just that. We rejoined our good friends in San Carlos and buddied up with Peter Hiltner on Juguete for our overnight crossing.

Magical is the only way to describe crossing the Sea on our own little 20ft Flicka. Peter was a saint for keeping Juguete to our pace, when he and his Canadian Seacraft 36 could have flown across much faster. We savored the starlit sky, the cool breeze, and the joy of sharing these moments with each other.

Visiting so many places we had only read and dreamed about was, literally, a dream come true. Fishing villages, with one small "restaurant" offering ice-cold beverages and freshly caught and grilled calico bass; the otherwordly, enormous red boulders of El Gato; the cruisers' shrine on the beach of San Juanico, which pays homage to all those boats that have arrived over the years — including Habi Hoba, a kid boat with three great youngsters and two determined and adventurous parents that we knew from our own homeport in Washington state.

Often said and oh-so-true, one of the greatest joys of cruising is meeting wonderful people along the way. Camaraderie among cruisers in each anchorage was high. Impromptu calls came across the radio to arrange a dinghy meet-up on the beach for happy hour, or an announcement that a local farmer was bringing fresh veggies to the beach in an hour — dinghy on in for the best selection!

One highlight was a hike on the Baja side of the Sea, at Caleta San Juanico with about a dozen fellow cruisers. I was particularly enjoying a walk-and-talk with one woman when her story started to sound familiar. She was none other than the author of Harmony on the High Seas, a book I had read years before! The tiedyed curtains on their boat should have given me a clue, as the family's tie-dye T-shirt business had contributed to their cruising kitty. As I spoke with her husband, it slowly dawned on me that he was also the unofficial Mayor of Tenacatita, a location so special that our friend, Connie, had written a song about it. "Tenacatita, nothing is sweeter…"

It is indeed a small world. Hiking up the dormant volcano on Isla Coronado, we crossed paths with a Swiss couple. After a few minutes, when they realized we were on a Flicka, they exclaimed, "Do you know Joshua Wheeler?" As a matter of fact, we have met Josh, who was living aboard his own Flicka in Washington state. (By the way, Josh has cruised his own 20-ft Flicka, Sampaguita, from Washington to Mexico, and on to the

Above: Caleta San Juanico. Above left: Whale spouts in the anchorage at Agua Verde. Top left: 'Sweethaven' underway. Above center: Reinstalling the engine after it was removed for servicing. Top center: Noreen enjoying life in the Sea. Top right: Yes, you can have cockpit get-togethers in a 20-ft boat.

CHANGES

South Pacific this year. As Josh puts it, "life in 240 inches.")

We had more unexpected reunions with boat friends from Washington, sharing anchorages with De Novo (a former dock neighbor of ours), and Fern, a kid boat with a skilled and safe crew of three, including the most adorable little toddler, who very slowly and carefully manages companionway stairs and everything else that living aboard entails. Myron and I had the good fortune to crew on Fern from Port Townsend, Washington, to Monterey, California, the prior year, and we simply could not have found more likable, skilled, and safety-oriented cruisers than Melissa and Ryan. What a thrill to arrive at Caleta Partida and see Fern! We had a great reunion, including a multi-boat celebration of Ryan's birthday, on the beach. Wildlife (including some of our favorite cruisers!) abounds in the Sea of Cortez. Frigates, blue-footed boobies, pelicans and tiny sandpipers kept us entertained with their gliding and swooping, and their presence on cliffside perches and shorelines.

And then there were the dolphins! Most days, we would see a few, but one day at least a hundred appeared on the eastern horizon. We could hear the lively drumming of their bodies leaping and landing as they approached Sweethaven and Juguete. They stayed with us for at least an hour. As always, we savored the moments when we were blessed to be in the presence of such graceful aquatic acrobats.

Other highlights of the trip included humpback whales coming right into a small cove one morning, wending their way around our boats and bringing smiles to every face in the anchorage; the nighttime wonder of sparkling explosions of blueish-green bioluminescence swirling around our anchored boat as dolphins chased their prey, leaping, playing, and sharing their unique, laughter-like voices; visiting a church designed by Gustave Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel) in the small mining town of Santa Rosalia; and participating in the release of baby olive ridley turtles, which had been lovingly cared for in the San Carlos turtle rescue center www. CRRIFS.org.

When we reached the relatively big city of La Paz, we recalled warm memories of visiting our dear friends the Hegewalds on yet another kid boat, Xpression, when we drove down Baja in our truck and camper in previous winters. La Paz has a solid cruising community, with a morning cruisers' net on the VHF, followed by a morning coffee hour in front of the dedicated clubhouse. La Paz is a full-service

cruisers' haven with a beautiful malecón to walk or bike, loads of restaurants, grocery stores, and chandleries, and even a small shop that repaired our alternator in an afternoon.

Sadly, our time in Mexico was coming to an end, so after a week of marina life, we said adios to La Paz and began working our way north. "We" were Sweethaven and Juguete; what began as buddy-boating as a safety practice across the Sea became so much fun that we ended up cruising together for two months.

(During this time, Juguete played a key role in saving David Haight's Beneteau 40 Windswept II from a grounding south of Guaymas. The story of the rescue, Alone and Aground, appeared in the April 2024 issue of Latitude.)

Yes, we love Mexico, but our original plan for Sweethaven was to cruise the Chesapeake Bay, Intracoastal Waterway, and Bahamas. So we hauled her out in San Carlos, lowered her mast, packaged her up, and trailered her to a storage yard in Arizona, where she patiently waited for her next adventure. The beauty of a boat on a trailer is that she goes where she's towed!

— Noreen 4/29/24

Migration — Cross 46 Trimaran Bruce Balan and Alene D. Rice Two Years Too Little (Originally) Long Beach

When we arrived in the Tuamotus in May 2022, it seemed we had so much time to spend here in one of our favorite places. Customs only allows boats a twoyear stay before paying import tax, and our time is up. How did two years pass so quickly?

We've bounced back and forth between the Tuamotus and the Marquesas two and a half times. As there are mountain people and ocean people, there are either Tuamotus or Marquesas cruisers. We are definitely Tuamotus cruisers. The diving and snorkeling are remarkable, and waking up each day to the varied and intense colors of the lagoon simply makes us happy. Diving during the mérou (camouflage grouper) spawning in Fakarava was an underwater highlight.

Reconnecting with local friends we'd made when we were here 16 years ago was great. The kids who swam out and played on Migration in Amanu are now grown up — some with children of their own. It was fun to print out photos from 2008-09 to give to our friends since there were no cellphones in the islands back then.

Except for an addiction to mobile phones (like so much of the world), we

were pleasantly surprised that not a lot has changed. The bigger changes have been with the cruisers. For example, at

least half the boats do not keep their VHF on — not recognizing that this has been a safety feature of our community for decades. Sadly, mobile phones and Starlink (and perhaps YouTube) have impacted the way cruisers interact … and not in a good way.

Both cyclone seasons were spent in the Marquesas; we are definitely not going to miss the upwind voyage to get there. However, it did allow us to gain a deep appreciation for Marquesan culture, especially as we attended two Matava'a festivals. They were both incredible, and we recommend trying to time your voyaging to be here for one.

We also sailed to four of the rarely visited islands of the archipelago, which was super-fun and interesting and led to one of our most memorable experiences: swimming for three hours with a huge pod of melon-headed whales!

We're writing from the atoll of Toau in the Tuamotus. Within 10 days we'll be leaving for Tahiti to check out and then head west: Cooks, Niue, Tonga, Minerva Reef. We'll be in New Zealand by November. We're both feeling sad as we say goodbye to local friends — not knowing if we will ever meet again.

— Bruce 4/25/24 www.svMigration.com

Quark — Farallon 29

Doug Saxe

Call of the Siren

Astoria

The siren's call is irresistible. She beckons from afar with a charm that causes all reason and logic to fall aside. I'm drawn to her as if by a higher power. This is the call of Quark, my love, my muse. I found her as I'd left her, all tucked

MIGRATION

After 16 years away, Alene and Bruce are enjoying another visit to the South Seas.

Alene communes with the groupers at Fakarava. Above left and center: Reconnecting with old friends — Angelique was just a kid in 2008 (left); and today (right) is a mom with a baby of her own. Above right: 'Migration' underway. (All photos 'Migration' except as noted.)

in tight at Marina de Papeete. She spent her "winter" patiently waiting for me while the people of Papeete enjoyed her beauty at the quay as they strolled, biked, and ran on the scenic promenade.

Upon my return, I found all was well with the boat. No leaks, no mold, no problems. The docklines will need to be replaced, but that's expected. The wake from the ferries causes all the boats on this dock to dance crazily, tugging at their lines as if trying to break free.

Just a few projects to complete and Quark and I will be out on the islands

again, anchored in a breezy lagoon. I'll miss living downtown with all of the convenience of restaurants and grocery stores. On the other hand, it's nice to have the contrast of remote anchorages nearby. Variety is the spice of life. This is why I've chosen to be a commuter cruiser rather than live aboard for several years while crossing the Pacific. It's nice that Tahiti is convenient to the west coast of the USA by an eight-hour nonstop flight — no more difficult than getting down to a boat in Mexico. And surprisingly, Marina de Papeete is less expensive than

Puerto Vallarta marinas. Who would have thought that to be the case?

That reminds me: Dave Case! The guy who inspired it all. Shoutout to Dave for all that Quark continues to be, 45 years later. (Editor's Note — Quark was built in Oakland in the '70s from a bare hull and deck by Dave and his wife Vicki. They chronicled the build and a 14,000-mile voyage around the Pacific in Dave's book Sailin' South.) She has remarkable durability. She's as well put together as she has ever been and with little sign of wear, a testament to her initial build. She is,

MARY

CHANGES

after all, on her third lap of the Pacific. Maybe she'll even find her way to the Indian Ocean someday.

For now, it'll be another year in French Polynesia as we still have much to explore. The plan is to head out to the leeward islands and enjoy some overnight passages. I'm more than ready to get sailing after what will have been two weeks of urban life and many trips to the boat and food shops. The bike rides to the shops are made for one item at a time so that I can use them to break up the day and escape the heat on the dock. It's very hot here. The breeze is merciful but not always present. The cruise ships add to the problem with their incessant emissions. The dictionary should show a picture of one as the definition of global warming. Ironically, tourism is at once the lifeblood of Polynesia and responsible for so much degradation. I'm listening to the hum and smelling the stink as I look at the 1,800-room behemoth just meters away.

In November 2023, I made a quick trip to visit Quark to replace her ailing transmission. In Oregon, I was able to source a new Kanzaki transmission with next-day delivery. In Tahiti, it would've been a huge challenge and double the price. I then went to Walmart and bought a hard-shell suitcase with wheels. The packaging material for the tranny worked perfectly in the suitcase, and I managed to roll right through customs without being asked about the contents. As I understand, it's duty free for a "boat in transit," but I'd rather not take the chance and have to hassle with the bureaucracy.

When Mana the mechanic arrived, my first thought was, "Oh no, he's too big!" He said, "No problem," and got to work. First, he said that we had to move the engine forward. I thought, "Here we go; we'll have to build a lifting system." Mana said, "Do you have some rope?" He threw it over the boom gallows, tied it to the motor and lifted it right up like nothing. I guess size matters ….

Mana continued working through many more challenges from incredibly contorted positions in tiny spaces. He is

part octopus and part yogi. An incredible display of skills, patience, and perseverance. The whole time, both of us were in a pool of sweat from the Tahitian chaleur (heat). Mana worked diligently until finally we had a perfectly aligned and smoothshifting new transmission installed. Merci beaucoup, Mana! I couldn't have dreamed of doing that operation myself.

Quark's April/May projects included installing a new bladder-style water tank, changing an impeller, installing new running rigging, maintenance on the windvane, and a haulout at Techni Marine for bottom paint and fuel tank cleaning — also surprisingly reasonable considering the price of things around here.

Techni Marine is an impressive operation — lots of work and workers buzzing around. I'll have to endure life in the industrial zone for a few days. They have nice facilities for us and it's on the same block as the chandlery and food truck, so it's a good spot to get it all shipshape before heading out.

All things considered, the boat held up well to the relentless elements while at the dock in Papeete, and I'm proud to be getting her back in action.

Reflecting on our passage from Mexico last year and the cruising experienced here in French Polynesia since arriving, I have some suggestions for those about to make the journey.

• First and foremost, bring extra fuel. What's one more can? It's a lot when you need it. You start to debate what is actually a priority when you're allocating one resource used for propulsion, charging batteries, making water, and hopefully finding wind and sunshine and getting to the end of the passage without running out of any critical supplies. I have both solar and wind generation on Quark, and I mainly use a windvane instead of an electric autopilot. But then we had a cloudy 10-day stretch with no wind at all. In the end, five more gallons would have made a big difference.

periments with a 360 cam yield some interesting results. (That's

on this month's cover, too.) Inset top right: View from the top.

cloudy conditions.

• Take backups for your backups. It's too much work to chase after parts.

• Bring folding bike(s)! It's the best form of transportation available, it's free, and it will enhance your experience.

• My next suggestion is Starlink. It does use a lot of power, but if you can afford the monthly fee, it's well worth having on board. I found that the sat phone with a PredictWind subscription was also essential, as Starlink sometimes wouldn't work for whatever reason in the more remote parts of the passage, or rough or

• Take extra provisions of the things that you like because they may be hard to find along the way. Unless it's baguettes you crave — they are everywhere down here and delicious.

• Don't underestimate the need for shade! Take good awnings in addition to your bimini and dodger. Shade is

Doug is back for another season of South Seas cruising.

Above: 'Quark' heads out for another season of exploration. Top: Big man in a small space Mana at work on the engine. Right: Doug's ex-

'Quark'

QUARK

critical both on the passages and at anchor.

• Bring one of those shark-repelling watches. There are a lot of sharks.

The reward for having endured the long, 30-day stretch from Mexico is South Pacific bliss. The passages between the islands are the kind of South Seas sailing we all dream about — following winds and seas in perfect unison. The distances are manageable yet invigorating. Overnight or two-day passages are the best part of sailing.

IN LATITUDES

civilization, before colonization. It gives a fella the desire to get some tattoos. Just kidding.

Quark is already familiar with all the French Polynesian islands, having spent many blissful days in the paradise lagoons in years past. She'll show me around this time. Here in Papeete, I made a new friend with someone from Raiatea who is a fan of the boat. She said that she'd been admiring Quark every time she passed through Papeete over the previous months. I'm looking forward to having a local show me the best of that area, and taking a fan of the boat for a sail. Quark has fans! And I'm the biggest one!

If you're so inclined, follow along on Quark's PredictWind tracking page and blog. I'll do my best to keep the story interesting and hopefully include plenty of pictures of the bathing beauty as she shows off her new paint job and shine in the azure waters.

— Doug 5/2/24

Cruise Notes

The return journey will not be so pleasant. I'm anticipating a wet upwind tacking affair. But with a little luck, we'll catch a lull in the pattern that includes some wind in the right direction. Either way, it's only 100 miles to the closest leeward island. Quark can handle 100 miles of just about anything. I, however, much prefer downwind sailing!

The lagoons promise to be idyllic and crystalline. The stuff of legends. I get sentimental imagining how it must've been here in the early days of Polynesian

• Sarayha Ferris and Jordan Whyte of the Victoria-based Tayana 52 Current Toy were this year's PPJ early birds. "We were the first boat of this year's Pacific Puddle Jump to set sail from Banderas Bay. There was some speculation of our departure date, but after we'd diligently watched the weather, February 1 was our window! The trip across the Pacific was spectacular, winds not exceeding 28 knots. Some days we were actually looking for more wind, which gave us ample time for fishing — including the 125-pound yellowfin tuna we landed! We made landfall in Nuku Hiva after 19 days, 5 hours, and what a beautiful sight it was! Our time in the Marquesas was quicker than most as the crystal-clear waters of

and Jordan were the first to depart on this year's PPJ, and first to arrive.

Sarayha

CHANGES

the Tuamotus were calling our name. Being the early birds, we had the luxury of quiet anchorages, where we dove with sharks, manta rays, turtles and some of the most vibrant coral we've ever seen.

"Our time in French Polynesia has been short but so very sweet. We are wrapping up our three-month stay, ending in Bora Bora. From there, we'll be setting sail once again across the Pacific, back to our home base on Vancouver Island."

• Another boat returning to the PNW is Sonya and Jack Patton's Passport 42

Gemini. After living aboard in San Francisco Bay for seven years, they sailed under the Golden Gate as full-time cruisers in April 2022. Their first destination was Canada, where they circumnavigated Vancouver Island, culminating that loop by getting married in the San Juan Islands. In the fall, they headed south to the Sea of Cortez, crossing the border in early November '22. The Sea brought many adventures and challenges, the toughest one being cruising the area in the heat of the summer. "Of course, locals and seasoned Mexico cruisers said it was an extreme summer with increased chubascos and hurricanes to run from, not to mention the bees and blistering heat," says Sonya.

During their time in Mexico, they hauled out in San Carlos and converted Gemini to fully electric propulsion. Jack had spent 11 months researching and planning this project, creating detailed spreadsheets with every part needed for the install, in hopes of not missing a vital component that would be difficult to

source in Mexico. Luckily, the countless hours of planning paid off, and the repower went smoothly.

After spending nine months putting the new system through its paces with multiple crossings of the Sea, it was time to leave Baja behind and head overseas. They departed Mexico in March, arriving in Nuku Hiva 23 days later.

The couple have been loving their time in the Marquesas, but will be heading home to Washington (with a stop in Hawaii) in September — partially due to their recent purchase of Powerflow Marine, the company that designed the electric system in Gemini. "The electric conversion went so well we couldn't pass up the opportunity to help others go electric," says Sonya. Look for more on this conversion in a future issue of Latitude • Jim and Pam Yares, along with Jim's brother, John Yares, and Mike and Joan Whalen, completed their Pacific Puddle

The yellowfin tuna hauled aboard 'Current Toy' outweighed Sarayha!

Jack and Sonya had an electrifying experience in San Carlos.

GEMINI

Jump on April 12. The 3,000+ mile trip aboard the San Francisco-based Catana 472 cat Roam took just 20 minutes shy of 17 full days. To put that in perspective, Jim notes, "That's like driving from L.A. to Maine at the speed of a riding lawnmower."

As spectacular as any landfall is after a long ocean passage, their experience a few days earlier was only slightly less momentous: On April 9, they crossed the equator and witnessed the total eclipse!

Back when they were planning the trip, brother John pointed out that it was conceivable they might be able to view the eclipse en route. "He promptly ordered eclipse glasses for us, and they'd been sitting at the nav station since last summer," says Jim. "None of us thought much about it then, but with a day to go,

it became clear we might be able to make it into the path of totality, and maybe to the transit longitude of the eclipse itself where it crossed the equator, which we calculated to be 132°43' west."

"We didn't quite make it, but got close enough. We enjoyed more than two minutes of totality — near complete darkness — and several hours of partial coverage."

IN LATITUDES

"We believe we might be the only humans to have witnessed the total eclipse in the vicinity of the equator that day. There was nobody on radar or AIS around us that we could see."

As if witnessing the eclipse about 11 in the morning weren't enough, about 5 p.m. they welcomed King Neptune and his entourage aboard to preside over equator-crossing ceremonies. What a day!

• "Bonjour! Kevin and Deb here on board Arvonna, coming to you from Taioha'e Bay, Nuku Hiva, in French Polynesia!" writes Deb Moore from their Seattle-based Tanton CT44. "We arrived at this beautiful island on May 1 after 25 days, 6 hours and 35 minutes on the open ocean — but hey, who's counting?! Our boat delivered the two of us safely after weeks of being in the 'washing machine' — six straight days of squalls, a few moments of terror, and times of astonishment because you can't believe you are really out here doing this. "We left one rolly anchorage in La Cruz in early April, to join another rolly anchorage in French Polynesia. However, what a

Ready for the eclipse: (l to r): Joan, Mike, John and Pam. Left: A visit from the King.

ROAM

CHANGES IN LATITUDES

difference!

As you enter Taioha'e Bay, you are embraced in lush tropical greenery, sweet fragrance and steep hills that seem to capture the clouds.

There are many boats here, some we know, some we don't, but there is plenty of room to anchor and enjoy this beautiful landscape. The excitement, relief, and joy of this accomplishment is overwhelming. As much as we want to explore, it is now time for these two shellbacks to rest and regroup, as the exhaustion is real."

• After "a great year and a half in Mexico," Mike Casey and Don Winglewich of the Sausalito-based Perry 56 Foxfire cleared

Mexican customs and immigration, and with the help of crew David Presley and Pat Conroy, fully provisioned in La Paz.

"Our last Mexican anchorage was Los Frailes," says Mike. "We pulled anchor at 0730 on April 2, and with our last pesos in the betting pot for our total passage time, and most/fewest miles per day, set out for Nuku Hiva, Marquesas.

"Thankfully, we had a couple of years under our belt to get to know Foxfire and its idiosyncrasies as we managed — with the help of stellar crew David and Pat — to move our micro-city across the big, blue Pacific. With a combined sailing experience of more than 160 years, it was both a safe and fun passage."

Eating well is mandatory to keep spirits high, and fresh fish was a welcome (and frequent) addition to 12 cubic feet of frozen and refrigerated goods, and at least 300 pounds of dry goods — enough to last four months, says Mike. "We were able to land dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo. After sushi was prepared for immediate consumption, the balance was vacuum-bagged and frozen."

Even with their combined years of water time, all crew were pollywogs. "Surprisingly, not one of us had crossed the equator — so a new experience for all."

Fortunately, King Neptune is used to dealing with newbies. "Arriving at the equator on April 17, with little to no wind, strong current and lots of life in the water, we became Shellbacks."

On day 20, Nuku Hiva rose out of the early morning mists to welcome boat and crew. "It was a big relief for me, making this long, safe passage with great friends. Our crew won the pesos, ready to explore Nuku Hiva and prepare for new adventures as we head west."

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ARVONNA

Deb and Kevin: Even shellbacks need rest. Above: 'Arvonna'.

FOXFIRE

Breakfast of champions: Mike, Pat and Dave about to dig into fresh wahoo sushi.

Large, fenced, secure dry storage area

Professional boatyard in the heart of Paradise

24.

ClassifieDs ClassifieDs

Dinghies, Liferafts & rowboats

11 FT Waszp 2021. Foiling dinghy hull number 3081 — ready to sail. White hull, red wing. Comes with glass fiber box and extra wing. $7,200. San Francisco. f.lix@me.com

24 feet & UnDer saiLboats

15 FT Wes T Wigh T p o TT er 1978. Very clean boat, ready to sail, lots of extras. Fully restored trailer, all new parts: coupler, tongue jack, winch, rollers, wire harness and lights, wheel bearings, bearing buddies and tires. The boat: one main, roller-furling jib and genoa, new cabin cushions, new life jackets and throw cushions. USCG safety kit, dock lines and fenders, anchor with chain and line, 3.5 hp Nissan outboard runs great. $5,200. Rio Vista, CA. steveegoble@aim. com (925) 305-6366

24 FT J/24 1980. Several for sale, very complete with trailers at $6000 and some racers with trailers $4000. All have good sails and many extras. Some have motors. Call for details. $6,000. Valley Springs. bonnielopezunr@gmail.com (209) 772-9695

20 FT Flicka 20 1981. “Live the dream, sail beyond” with this classic bluewater cruiser by Pacific Seacraft. She’s a unique eye-catcher that will hold you spellbound. Well equipped for offshore singlehanding, lines running aft, self-tailing winches, autopilot. New radio with remote mic, recent bottom paint, Yanmar diesel, 3-bladed prop, two AGM batteries with 200+ amp hours. New tanbark sails and spinnaker. Beautiful open interior, excellent wood joinery and upholstery, and remarkably, 6-ft headroom! Possible slip availability in Alameda Marina. $21,000 OBO. Alameda Marina. RobertsInMiWuk@yahoo.com

15 FT Bongo 2003. Single person (very fast) racing boat. Likely the bestconditioned Bongo 15 on the planet. Seriously. (Boats 34/35 on water are examples of same model). Only 43 Bongo 15 boats were made, as a fire destroyed the molds. Clean titles/pink slips for boat/ trailer. Registered through 2025. Mussel permit. Updated all lines and rigging. Reconditioned carbon fiber mast with UV-resistant epoxy. Carbon fiber sails (3, expensive) in excellent condition. Polished hull. Review at website. All equipment was over $14,000 new in 2003. This boat is like new. Email or leave message to make an appointment to see the boat in Alameda. $7,450 OBO. Alameda, CA. blueparis@gmail.com (415) 860-6206 www.tinyurl.com/3mahapje

17 FT reBel 1980. 16.5-ft daysailer, refurbished 2023: new paint, new Pineapple mainsail, new electric outboard, includes trailer. Everything needed to sail her today. Lots of fun to sail by yourself or with family: large cockpit. $CASH ONLY. $3,250. Auburn, CA. Timothy11408@Outlook.com (415) 250-1942

17 FT norTheasTer Dory 2019. Built by Carpinteria Boat Works in 2019. Great sailing and rowing!! Includes trailer, cover, oars, lug sail. $7,500 OBO. Carpinteria, CA. carpdory@gmail.com The PrinT DeaDline is alWaYs The

DAVE’S DIVING SERVICE

20 FT Melges 20 2010. Melges 20 and trailer in very good condition, lightly used. Inventory: 3 sets of sails, 2 gennakers, Tacktick, traveling and mast-up tarps, traveling boxes and Suzuki 2.5hp. $20,000. Los Angeles. jlang@ucla.edu

24 FT ranger 24 1975. Full fiberglass hull with encapsulated keel. 8 hp Nissan, 5 hp Nissan spare. 2 sets of sails. Spinnaker pole. Large, comfortable, roomy interior. A complete boat with many extras. Recent new charging cord, battery, charger and nonskid applied to deck. More pics available. Bottom is clean and could use paint as well as some areas of the interior. $4,250. Sausalito. (415) 757-7863

25 – 28 feet saiLboats

28 FT alerion 28 2009. The Alerion 28 is consistently recognized as one of the prettiest boats on the water. Considered by many to be the ultimate daysailer, ‘Margo’ is an outstanding example of an Alerion Express 28. With more than 470 boats sailing worldwide, the Alerion 28 is by far the most popular of all the modern daysailers. ‘Margo’ is a two-owner boat, 2009, slipped in Brickyard Cove, Richmond. Fully restored/refinished exterior teak, new bottom paint (1/2024), saildrive just serviced and painted. Yanmar serviced ($4,400 — KKMI, perfect). New cockpit cover. For all specs see Alerion. com. For more details and the history of all service records, etc., email Rob. $69,500. Brickyard Cove, Richmond, CA. eeldog@mac.com

28 FT r anger 28 1978. Gary Mull design. ‘Taste of Honey’ last production boat to win the Newport, RI, to Bermuda race. Powered by a newer Yanmar 2YM15 with just over 100 hrs. No stinky, smelly interiors: electric cooktop, electric head. Beats by Dre audio to make more than the waves slap. Over $30k in upgrades. Garmin GPS. All standing rigging replaced. Jabsco Lite Flush electric marine toilet. Uniden marine radio. Sunbrella upholstery. $12,069. Alameda, CA. Irismonet@ gmail.com (408) 250-9554

25 FT caTalina 25 1989. Wing keel. 9hp Tohatsu outboard. Lazy jacks. Self-furling jib. Autopilot mounting on tiller. Compass and depth gauge. Alcohol stove. Dodger currently in storage. Swim ladder. Galvanized dual-axle trailer. $11,000. Delta Marina, Rio Vista, CA.

27.93 FT paciFic seacraFT 25 Mk ii 1978. Sailboat with excellent trailer and tremendous amount of gear ready for someone handy. New Yanmar 2YM15 with 1.5 hrs, two furlers, six sails, cockpit and interior cushions, two anchors, wind vane self steering and tiller pilot, Furuno radar, propane system parts. Too many parts to list — contact Todd Chandler for link to photos. $18,900. Newport, OR. todd@chandlermarineservices.com (541) 992-9289

ocean too big, no trip too small, no ship too

Sail or power, we move them all! When you are ready give us

27 FT h-BoaT 1980. Thoroughly restored and well maintained 1980 Artekno HBoat. A common racing class in Europe. Sails, rigging, electrical, equipment, and outboard are in excellent condition. Photos, maintenance and repair logs, and cruising logs are available on my website. $29,000. Berkeley, CA. proge@berkeley.edu (831) 818-4769 www.tinyurl.com/r45cw4zu

27 FT caTalina 1980. Dinette Interior. Exceptional condition; Quantum sails, QT 10.0 electric motor, 48V Lifeline AGM battery bank, new topsides, new bottom paint, Raymarine Autohelm, depth, and knotmeters, VHF radio, roller furler. $8,500. Berkeley Marina. callen5052427@ gmail.com (650) 222-4570

26 FT c us T o M s loop 1979. Meticulously maintained. Built of mahogany using West System epoxy resin. Roller furling, 3 headsails, lazy jacks, Torqeedo outboard engine, full cover to protect her lovely finish, ready to race or cruise in elegance and style! $25,000. Paradise Cay. sea-hi@pacbell.net

25 FT caTalina 250 2002. Wing keel, 8 hp motor. Nice kitchen area and sleeping areas. Sails great. New jib. Trailer $5,000. $15,500. Oroville Lake. ricksail84@gmail. com (530) 518-1963

25 FT c aTalina 1997. Catalina 250 tall rig. Wing keel. 9.8 Nissan ourboard. Roller-furling jib. Self-tailing winches. Two sets of sails. Tandem trailer. $14,500. El Dorado Hills. landave@copper.net (916) 933-2346

26 FT Macgregor 26M 2006. Great lake and coastal pocket cruiser with lots of factory features. Mast raising system, roller furling, easy access cooler, trailer with brakes 60 hp outboard, new head, Garmin map/depth, sail covers Call for details. $19,995. Penn Valley, CA. chrisfrank3@gmail.com (530) 902-4832

26 FT yaMaha 1984. PHRF racer and comfortable cruiser. Interior and exterior maintained in excellent condition by meticulous owner. Yanmar 1gm10 diesel with very low hrs. Garmin chartplotter, Raymarine VHF radio, emergency beacon and many other items. $10,000. Alameda. Jnovie@aol.com (415) 271-3441

29 – 31 feet saiLboats

29 FT c olu MB ia 29 1964. Full-keel sailboat. Rudder steering. Nine-inch GPS chartplotter about 1-2 years old. Depthfinder. VHF radio (Icom 1-2 years old), navigation lights. Full complement of sails in fair to good condition. Boat is full-thickness fiberglass so no soft spots. 1980s Yanmar diesel great running. Teak needs refreshing. Rudder needs new hinge on bottom. Boat currently on hard ready for inspection. Return to water already paid for. Text only, please; I’ll call within 24 hours. $2,200 OBO. Napa Valley Marina. naturelover22@yahoo.com (843) 813-5338

30 FT raWson 1963. Solid bluewater full-keel cruiser, needs engine replacement, remanufactured 18hp Yanmar can be obtained for $5000, possible engine swap at dock, Around $22,000 spent on cruising equipment: hard dodger, Air Breeze wind charger, large solar panel, Viking RescYou liferaft, windlass, 240 ft. newer chain with Delta anchor, like-new Norvane self-steering with emergency rudder, three new group 31 batteries, newer electrical system and electronics, Xantrex battery monitor and charger, Navico tillerpilot, mast steps, R25 Profurl with genoa, Norseman rigging. $1,900. Richmond Marina Bay, Slip D-8. davdyer@comcast.net (209) 607-2885

30 FT caTalina 1983. Universal diesel with only 600 hrs. Recent standing rigging, mast painted, bottom job, windows rebedded, new exhaust hose, fuel polished, new electric head 2023, new bimini top 2023, good ground tackle, dodger. Perfect Bay/Delta boat. Call or email. $16,500 OBO. Stockton. arnieschweer3@gmail.com (559) 8168461

30 FT WyliecaT 30 1995. After many years of sailing adventures on the Bay and from Mexico to Canada, ‘Uno’ is looking for a new 50% partner or an outright sale. Well equipped and well maintained. Dry sailed until May 2020. Fresh Ullman square top sail, two spinnakers and carbon pole. Yanmar saildrive. New bottom 4/2023. Also available, road-ready custom galvanized trailer with all new tires. Call or email. $70,000. Richmond Yacht Club. bmeyer_co@sonic.net (510) 504-3409

29 FT kirie eliTe 1982. Performance cruiser that has everything a Bay Area sailor could want for racing or cruising. Brand-new, never-hoisted sails and rigging. New B&G Vulcan chartplotter. Reliable and fuel-efficient 2006 Yanmar diesel engine. $19,000 OBO. Benicia, CA. mike.bernico@gmail.com

30 FT BoDega 1977. Designed to cruise, sails beautifully, good base for adventure. Force 10 stove, 4 berths, composting head, new Ullman full-batten main and furling jib, Fatty Knees 7-ft tender, new bottom paint, one owner. $13,500. Point Richmond. lee@awarecare.com (707) 738-9387

30 FT olson 30 1983. ‘HOOT’ located Brickyard Cove dry storage space P044 is for sale. Hull #PCX301830382 (hull 183 built by Pacific Boats 1983). Dry sailed since new, has never had bottom paint. She’s been very successfully campaigned for many years, many trophies in her wake. Perhaps the lightest Olson 30 out there, set up for buoy racing, very fast boat. Custom 2007 aluminum road-ready trailer, just refurbished. Custom boom tent cover. Deck and nonskid restored in 2016. 2002 Ballenger double-spreader rig, standing rigging replaced 2016. Both stock and elliptical rudder included, many bags of sails, recent racing sails in excellent condition. Email inquiries only please. $22,500. Richmond, CA. andymacfie@gmail.com www.tinyurl.com/bdxck2ks

29.5 FT J/29 1985. Fresh off her 2023 ASMBYC High Point Series victory, ‘Zulu’ is now for sale! This ultra-competitive J/29 sailboat is fully equipped for crewed and shorthanded races. Meticulously maintained, she offers an impressive arsenal of sails and will provide her new owners a solid platform for competitive racing for years to come. $20,000. Marina del Rey, CA. welter.ryan@gmail.com (949) 554-9390

29.9 FT BrisTol 29.9 1977 . Sloop, cruise-equipped. Two chartplotters, VHF with GPS and AIS. Radar, wheel pilot, 200W solar, three AGM batteries (one start, two bank). 2qm20 Yanmar diesel, tricolor mast light, asymmetrical spinnaker. Boat Located Puerto Escondido Baja $7,500 OBO. Puerto Escondido, BCS, MX. jeffreyallenberry@gmail.com (530) 386-0361

30 FT lancer 30 1986. We had our second daughter so now it’s time to sell my baby. Very low hours on the motor, well taken care of and FAST! Please contact me for more images and a survey. $8,000. Oyster Point Marina. bpedersen@farm0. org (707) 934-0050

29 FT ericson 1970. Start your sailing adventure today. Boat and 36-ft slip for sale at Pier 39. Low-hr Beta Marine diesel. New standing rigging. Solid hull. Attractive interior. $5,000. Pier 39. yknotsail2@gmail.com

32 – 35 feet saiLboats

33 FT nonsuch 33 1989 . Classic small yacht, teak interior, A/C, fireplace, new canvas, new sail cover, new fuel tank, new engine fuel lines, low hrs, new West dinghy and 4-stroke outboard, extras plus, fresh brightwork, well maintained. Email. Grand Marina, Alameda. cbellasail@sbcglobal.net (530) 412-0144

34 FT caTalina 34 Mk ii 2001. ‘Music’ regularly sailed/professionally maintained; glad to communicate the work done/undone to a serious buyer. Example: new mast, boom and standing rigging installed in 2020 … flipside, dodger is dodgy (replace canvas in next year or two). $70,000. Point Richmond. dshanks@hotmail.com

34 FT BeneTeau 343 2006. Built in Marion, SC, designed by Berret-Racoupeau as a racer-cruiser. Beautiful boat in nice condition. Two staterooms — sleeps 6. Mahogany interior; fiberglass hull; walk-through transom with swimming platform; Draft 6-ft 3-in; bottom painted 9/22; new prop; new dodger in 2022; Yanmar engine 3YM30 replaced in 2012; 611 engine hrs; new jib; mainsail in good condition; new running rigging; updated electronics; Raymarine C70, autopilot. More pics and details available. Please email. $92,000. San Francisco, CA. marypestell@gmail.com

34 FT caTalina 34 Mk ii 1998. Well maintained. The boat is spacious with plenty of headroom and light. The Vberth, aft cabin, and salon each sleep two. The galley and navigation station are practical and fully functional. The head has a h/c shower and sink, and salon has new cushions and functional galley. The cockpit is roomy and comfortable with easy-to-reach sail controls. The bottom has been diver-maintained; full engine maintenance records available. Hood sails and unused asymmetrical sail. Many upgrades. $65,000. Sausalito. willbaty@sonic.net

33 FT pearson 10M 1975. Selling ‘Liberty’, hull #96 (33.5-ft, 11-ft beam, 5-ft 11in draft, 12,441 lbs displacement, 5,445 lbs ballast, hull speed 7.25 knots), after 39 wonderful years of ownership. She’s a perfect S.F. Bay and Delta family sailboat. Mostly daysailed with occasional anchorouts. Easily sailed solo, she’s been well maintained. All records are available. The Perkins 30hp diesel has 1,000 hrs and a recent service. Quantum sails. New bottom last November. Profurl with 120% jib, 220 sq ft. Loose-footed main, 320 sq ft. Wide side decks. She’s a “classic ’70s” well-built and clean family cruiser. The “ask” is $27,900. We’d like to find a buyer appreciative of the Pearson brand and William Shaw design. Call or email. $27,900 asking. Marina Village, Alameda. Robinson27@aol.com (415) 312-3152

34 FT hanse 341 2004. ‘MyEm’. Impeccably maintained racer/cruiser in excellent condition. The quality craftsmanship and high-gloss finish of the mahogany joinery work is a joy to behold, a refreshing change from most other production boats. Self-tacking jib. Many upgrades/ improvements. $95,000. Sausalito. kenhaasbbc@gmail.com

35 FT TarTan 3500 2001. ‘Dances With Waves’ is a beautiful cruiser/racer in excellent condition with a 27hp Yanmar diesel engine, Raymarine chartplotter/ radar, autopilot, depthsounder, and VHF. New AGM batteries, three-burner stove, water pump, and macerator pump. LED lighting, Whitlock rack and pinion steering, roller-furling jib, and main stack pack. Electric main halyard winch. New running rigging, mast paint, and bottom paint Jan 2023. $109,000. Port San Luis. gtcoxelectric@gmail.com (805) 441-9178

35 FT ericson 35-3 1987. New bottom paint, prop, heat exchanger and mixing tee. Lots of TLC. Excellent condition, interior teak like new. Lying in Sausalito. Comes w/dinghy. Call for viewing. $34,500 OBO. Sausalito. kbwallace61@gmail.com (208) 309-3564

34 FT express alsBerg BroThers 1986. “Boat of the Year” Sailing World Magazine 1987. One of Carl Schumacher’s finest designs, only 28 built. Three-burner stove, and oven. Hot water. Almost-new North main, lightly used North jib on Harken roller furler. Sails to a 99 rating on S.F. Bay. Lots of sails, fully equipped. $49,000 OBO. Richmond Yacht Club. karlengdahl10@gmail.com (925) 683-5929

34 FT coluMBia 1971 . Comfortable high-ceiling liveaboard cabin, fully equipped and family friendly. Safe and mechanically sound, fresh bottom paint/ LP hull, Perkins 4-107 diesel and 4 bags of sails. Great cruising boat for your next adventure! $12,500 OBO. Redondo Beach, CA. magnificentronald@gmail. com (971) 352-0181

34 FT Wylie 34 1980 . One of Tom Wylie’s best designs; fractional rig, new Quantum main and cover, other sails for all conditions, PHRF 120, Yanmar and 2GM diesel 1700 hrs. A great Bay boat! $21,500. Richmond. kurrewa59@gmail. com (808) 381-5884

34 FT BeneTeau FirsT class 10 1984. Fun around-the-cans racer and weekend cruiser. A great boat for those that have mastered the simple sailboats, and who want to learn a lot more about sail trim, spinnaker sailing, fun and fast cruising. Very well maintained. Full sail inventory. Rigged for both symmetrical spinnaker with carbon pole, asymmetrical with a retractable Selden sprit. Keel-stepped mast with double spreaders. Deck equipment includes two self-tailing Andersen headsail/ main winches, two self-tailing runner winches, two halyard winches. Upgraded Raymarine electronics. Tiller steering with Pelagic autopilot. Price reduced so that you can have fun sailing this beautiful boat this summer. $18,500. Redwood City, CA. dropbeer14@gmail.com www.bit.ly/3xjxJv5

32 FT herreshoFF 1998. Discounted $15,000 from original price. Beautiful, strong cruising cutter. Herreshoffdesigned, bowsprit and boomkin, coldmolded hull, full lead keel, spruce spars, sails in great condition (mainsail with 3 reefs; stays’l, jib; 120% Dacron; 120% 1.5 oz. nylon; storm sail; trys’l); Aries wind vane self-steering; 10-ft fiberglass dinghy; no engine; sail into and out of upwind Berkeley berth or use 16-ft oar; 4 anchors (45# 35# 25# CQR, fisherman); windlass. Sail this beauty around the world. Call Ken’s cell. $24,500. Berkeley, CA. (925) 786-7878

33 FT hoBie 33 1984. Fixed keel. Dry sailed. Four spinnakers, 2 mains, 2 #1, #3. Two self-tailing winches, traveler, jib sheet cars, spin pole track upgrades. 4hp and 8hp. Trailer: new tires, springs, bearings, bunks. $16,000. Gilbert, AZ. jammin_22@msn.com (480) 797-1630

34 FT cal 34 Mk iii 1977. All new paint from waterline up! Many upgrades with all deck hardware remounted following the paint upgrade. Wheel steering and a Westerbeke 30 diesel. Good sail inventory. $19,500. San Rafael. vgcparadox365@gmail.com (415) 6866998

32 FT islanDer 32 Mk v 1976. 24hp 3cyl Perkins. StackPack main, Profurl jib. Large bow anchor bracket, anchors. Solar, inverter, 12V reefer. Diesel heater, bulkhead-mounted wood stove, Force 10 three-burner gimbaled propane oven. Holding tank, new water heater not installed. Simrad chartplotter, GPS, AIS, integrated VHF. Autohelm, wheel steering, compass on pedestal. Recent new 4 main cabin windows. LED running lights and glow plugs. Bottom is clean and could use a repaint. Great coastal cruiser and liveaboard with 6-ft 2-in headroom and lots of fine teak woodwork. More pictures available upon request. $18,500. Sausalito. captaindougduane@gmail.com (415) 757-7863

32 FT WesTsail 32 1974. Aft cockpit cutter-rigged sailboat. Above-average condition. Have appraisal. Boat was not lived in. Very rare and well-kept sailboat. Serious buyers only. Email only. Will send more photos and appraisal to serious buyers through email. $55,000. Coyote Point, CA. marisamiah@gmail.com (707) 317-8073

35 FT sanTana 35 1979. Fair condition, needs TLC, sails complete. As is. Role: Racer/Cruiser. Waterline length: 26.50 ft. Beam: 11.92 ft. Draft: 6.25 ft. Displacement: 8,500 lb. Ballast: 3,300 lb. Engine: Volvo Penta MD7A 13 hp diesel — good condition. Please text. $4,500. Richmond. Slighmj2@sbcglobal.net (415) 819-4515

33 FT paciFic seacraFT Mariah 31 1978. Stout boat of legendary strength and seaworthiness. Highly sought-after for bluewater sailing. She is in excellent condition, spartan appointments and in original condition with no modifications. Newer standing rig, crisp sails, fresh bottom job. $45,000. Alameda. sailingfearless@gmail.com

33 FT ranger 1970. Actively sailed and raced boat. New Yanmar diesel (115 hrs), 2022 chainplates inspected, and rebedded. Roller-furling jib, main with lazy jacks, spinnaker. Tiller steering with autopilot. Priced for quick sale due to partner’s health. Photos: www.sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/boa/d/berkeley-ranger-33/7746831458.html $13,000. Berkeley Marina. vroom704@gmail.com (510) 708-5581

33 FT cal 33 1971. Classic older-style sloop with modified scoop stern. Strong Volvo diesel 487 hrs. Harken roller furling. Tiller, older sails. Relocating and priced to sell. $5,900 OBO. Emery Cove Yacht Harbor. ngolifeart@gmail.com (747) 286-8311

36 – 39 feet saiLboats

36.5 FT p earson 365 1977. Great liveaboard potential. One-year slip in Santa Cruz Harbor. Beautiful interior, new cushions. Priced to sell. $19,500. Santa Cruz Harbor. pcvanden@hotmail.com (831) 334-1978

38 FT caTalina 380 2000. Cruiser in nice condition. Sail Magazine boat of the year when introduced in 1997. Open and airy salon. Over seven feet of headroom. Good engine access. L-shape galley. Large modern head with shower. Two staterooms: fullsized aft centerline bed berth, convertible double dinette midships, long sailing settee berth, large V-berth forward. Hull type: fin w/spade rudder; rigging type: masthead sloop; LOA: 38.42 ft; beam:12.33 ft; max draft: 7.17 ft/2.19 m. $94,000. Redwood City, CA. marypestell@gmail.com

37 FT Tayana 37 c T 1977. Original wooden mast replaced with a Ballenger mast and boom. D2-40 Volvo Penta 40hp installed 2015. Autohelm. Replaced bowsprit with clear Doug fir. Teak decks removed and nonskid applied. Chainplates replaced. PSS shaft, seal replaced 2023. Electric head. Sails in good condition. VHF radio. Electronics need to be upgraded. Lots of spare parts. Great liveaboard! $47,500 OBO. Puerto Vallarta, MX. saillar77@gmail.com (916) 390-2332

36 FT arcona 355 2002. From Sweden. Airex-cored hull. Full mahogany “furniture” interior. Healthy teak decks. Volvo diesel with 1560 hrs. Integrated B&G and Raymarine instruments. Hallberg-Rassy quality with J/Boat weight. Set up for singlehanding, island cruising and club racing. PHRF 120. Fully equipped. Call Blake. San Diego. (619) 655-7398

38 FT hans chrisTian 38T 1985. Bluewater cruiser in paradise! New engine, new tanbark sails, new rigging completed in 2022. Extensive refit in 2017 on hull and decks. Positioned in the perfect place for a Pacific cruising season. $85,000. Hiva Oa, French Polynesia. (907) 209-3327 sailing.vessel.sedna@gmail.com www.sednastories.com

36 FT Farr 36 1977. ‘Sweet Okole’ – Bruce Farr-designed, 36-ft with coldmolded construction. 2017 Southern carbon spar and boom plus full set of Ullman sails from Dave Hodges. Raft and safety gear for more crossings. We have done 15 crossings: first overall in ’81 Transpac, second overall in ’85 Transpac, first in class in ’19 Transpac, second in class in ’23 Transpac, multiple class wins in Pac Cup. Would consider sailing with the buyer to Hawaii on 2024 Pac Cup. $75,000. Richmond Yacht Club. ldeantreadway@gmail.com (510) 6041990

38 FT carrera 38 1987. Imported by Sven Svendsen. 2023, mast removed with new standing rigging installed, two new batteries, two new compasses, new bottom paint, new zincs, new service of the outdrive/prop, hydraulic outhaul, vang and mast bend, two-cylinder Volvo recently serviced with oil change/pump/ filters, all work done by Svendsen. Two mainsails, two spinnakers, genoa and two roller jibs, spinnaker pole, Ballenger mast and boom. $22,500. Pt. Richmond Marina, CA. (510) 914-1289 franzsteinerarchitect@comcast.net

Tayana 37 Mk 2 cuTTer. Bluewater cruiser, plenty of head room and storage. She is sound but is a project boat. Needs work on motor and some electrical. Batteries in good shape, all new thru hull fittings. New standing rigging, electrical wiring and LED lights, VHF antenna of this past year. Brought overland from East Coast so lifelines, stanchions and bow sprit were removed and need to be reinstalled (all included). Stainless frames for dodger and Bimini but no canvas. Sails and covers in fair condition. Interior cushions in good condition. Nice interior layout. Priced to reflect engine and other work to be completed. $25,000. Sausalito. jaygrant11383@gmail.com (415) 413-6707

36 FT cascaDe 1977. Bluewater-ready turnkey sailboat. 55 hrs on new Yanmar 30 hp, navigation autopilot, leather interior hand-carved wood. Dickinson diesel heater, full head with hot shower, full galley and more. Great liveaboard with large V-berth, comes with transferable slip! $25,000 OBO. Newport, OR. sureshanjie@yahoo.com Suresh (510) 459-8018or Dustin (808) 756-1389

42 FT caTalina Mk i 1989. Clean, fast, stable, easy to sail, everything works. What’s new: mainsail, STRONG track luff system, davits, aluminum/Hypalon dinghy, water tanks, filtered galley water, instrument panel+pod, chartplotter, autopilot, solar panels/smart charger, lithium house, engine exhaust riser, Rocna 55lb, double anchor roller, chain and rope, Samsung flat screen, countertop, sink, faucets, mirrors (fwd head), propane tank, Lifesling. Additional equipment list available. Engine great, strong, no smoke, starts on a dime every time. Must sell. My other boat heading back from Fiji! $105,000. Marina del Rey, CA. ghemwall@msn.com (310) 613-9999

42 FT c asca D e 42 hs 1976/2006. Long-distance cruiser. Watermaker, 2000 watt inverter, 2020 new engine, Lewmar windlass, SSB, (2) VHF, autopilot, 8.5-ft RIB w/9.9hp outboard,150 gal fuel, 160 gal water. Email for equipment list. $59,500 OBO. Cathlamet, WA. aceandy@centurylink.net

50 FT h u D son Force 50 1978. Center cockpit. Ford Lehman, approx 4500hrs. Yanmar generator. Lower teak decks removed. Main spruce, mizzen aluminum. Sails good. $59,900. Berkeley. tcparfitt@yahoo.com (707) 861-2954

40 – 50 feet saiLboats

42 FT siMonis FasT 42 2003. Turbo modified. 2021 high modulus carbon rig. Water Rat carbon shaft rudder. Extensive race and cruise equipment. 1.2 J pole and sprit. Extensive safety equipment. Proven winner. Gloss cherry wood interior. Two aft private staterooms plus large V-berth. Technautics CoolBlue refrigerator/freezer. Turnkey to race or cruise. Ready for Transpac or Pacific Cup. Email if interested. $149,900. Ventura, CA. dgcmd@pacbell. net (805) 798-1027

42 FT Bavaria 2000. In excellent condition. Volvo 56hp diesel. Three staterooms, two baths with showers. Gas stove, barbecue, flat screen television, electronics Simrad NSS16 EVO2 touchscreen all in one autopilot, radar, course map. Beautiful teak deck. $159,000. Newport Beach, CA. alexpiazza5@gmail.com (510) 461-1111

45 FT Dix 43 1991. Professionally built steel sloop/cutter by Hout Bay Yachts, South Africa. Ready to explore! Full fine hardwood interior joinery. Yanmar turbo 70hp 1800hrs. Currently cruising PNW. Contact for a full info package. Courtesy to Brokers $129,000. Pacific Northwest, USA. bduggleby@sbcglobal.net

50 FT huDson Force 50 1978. Center cockpit. 80hp Lehman. Lower teak decks removed. Yanmar generator. $59,900. Berkeley. tcparfitt@yahoo.com (707) 861-2954

44 FT kelly peTerson 1981. Bluewater center-cockpit cruiser designed by Doug Peterson. Makes a great liveaboard. Equipped for cruising. Perkins 4-154 diesel. Monitor windvane. 2019 12-ft Caribe dinghy with outboard. Cutter rig. Jib/staysail furlers. Newer 900Ah AGMs (2020). 675W solar panels. Spectra watermaker. New bottom paint. New fuel/ water tankage. No teak decks. $99,000 OBO. Coronado, CA. lusitana@sbcglobal. net (619) 985-5138

43 FT n au T icaT 43 1987. We just finished our five-year Mexico adventure. It’s your turn. Start your cruising in La Paz; it’s awesome! Email me for more info. Richv4rich@gmail.com $135,000. La Paz, BCS, MX. richv4rich@gmail.com (707) 974-7181

48 FT Tayana 48 cc 2005. Please email me for additional information. $329,000. Redwood City. kovi95050@gmail.com

45 FT h ar D in 1978. Center cockpit ketch, Great condition. Custom teak interior, teak decks, 11 sails, 2 dinghies, 2 outboards. Fully equipped for cruising or liveaboard, New sail covers, batteries. Isuzu diesel runs great, $79,000. Pillar Point Harbor. vkarawanny@gmail.com (406) 291-1509

40 FT challenger 40 1974. Good news! Extensive refit was begun in 2020 including: Thorough cleaning and repainting of storage, mechanical areas, and bilge. New motor mounts and turbo assembly on Yanmar 4JHTE. New throttle and gear Morse cables. Scupper hoses replaced. PSS seal installed. Shaft cutlass bearing replaced. New raw water intake thru-hull. New raw water intake hose. New AC/DC panel. Rewired entire boat. New LED cabin lights. New outlets w/GFCI. New Group 31 starting battery, Aux. 5-amp engine battery charger, 660AH lithium house bank, Victron 3KVA inverter/charger, Victron AC/DC distribution w/remote monitoring, Dec. 2023 Micron 66 paint. Needs holding tank (has manual head and portable toilet), Needs freshwater tank and plumbing (has drains for sinks). $37,000 OBO. Marina Bay, Richmond, CA. seanmcal@gmail.com (310) 971-5208

43 FT serenDipiTy 43 1981. Very well equipped for cruising, this classic Doug Peterson design is located in Mexico and is seriously for sale after a circumnavigation. Universal diesel, two spins, two mains, Moniter vane, Maxwell windlass and much more. $54,500 OBO. Mexico. geneosier@yahoo.com

47 FT vaga B on D 1979. Bluewater Yachts Vagabond ketch. The true image of an offshore cruising yacht, the classic, beautiful William Garden center cockpit ketch is a proven bluewater cruiser. Contact for links with photos, full description. 2022 AIS, watermaker, wind/solar, $125,000 OBO. La Paz, MX. art@artcanoes.com (206) 818-3955

43 FT c us T o M s chock k e T ch 1973. Professionally built of mahogany over oak, ‘Debonair’ has been lovingly maintained and extensively upgraded. A seaworthy passagemaker, ‘Debonair’ recently completed a 16,000-mile Pacific tour. From rig to sails, systems to safety, ‘Debonair’s voyage-ready. $72,900. Port Hadlock, WA. ketchdebonair@gmail.com www.tinyurl.com/2s36wtce

49 FT cusToM choaTe peTerson sloop 1988. Solid performance racer/ cruiser. Spacious headroom, storage, large galley and main saloon, with roomy aft cabin and separate head. Rod rigging, great winches and running rigging layout. $70,000 OBO or Trade. Sausalito, CA. libertyshipmarina@comcast.net (415) 613-3665

46 FT sTeel yaWl, Full reFiT 2005. ‘Endeavor’ is a strong, sea-kindly vessel, designed by Henk Tingen and built in Holland in 1958. Purchased 1987 and brought back from near-extinction. We had 13 years cruising about the world; maybe now it’s your turn. Fall in love with your dream boat. Lots of good kit included, can be ready to sail to Norway in 2023! Contact C. Masters for complete list. $100,000. Ipswich, Suffolk, UK. svendeavor1958@gmail.com (206) 9603793

47 FT TeD carpenTier liDo shipyar D 1957. Ketch with 11-ft beam, 7-ft draft. Hull is strip-planked tongue and grooved. This vessel was built by naval architect Ted Carpentier, who also worked as an engineer for Hughes Aircraft and was a personal friend of Howard Huges. It was custom-built for the CEO of United Airlines (the original spinnaker is in United Airlines colors). I have owned this boat since 1996. The interior has been refinished, Elco EN7000 motor installed, teak deck and a new carbon fiber mast and boom and new toilet are ready to be installed. Coast Guard Vessel documented. She is a fine vessel in the San Francisco Bay area. $85,000 OBO. San Francisco Bay Area. vksbo@hotmail.com (510) 967-8421

48 FT suncoasT 1980. Type of vessel: ketch. Estimated speed: 10 kt power, 6-8 kt sail. Built Netherlands 1980. Time of lay-up: fall 2012. Hull: length 48-ft, beam 15-ft, draft 7-ft. Frames: varied dimensional steel. Topsides single skin steel plate, 1/4″ thick estimated; bottom single skin steel plate, 1/4″ thick estimated; deck and bulkheads steel plate. Hull layout: V-berth, forward head, forward triple berth, settee/berth, chart station, galley, captain’s berth, engine/machinery/ maintenance room, after master bath, after head, straight inboard diesel engine auxiliary powered. New bow thruster (2010), electronics, autopilot, forward underwater sonar. Six-cyl Leyland diesel, midline, 350 gal water, 250 gal fuel. Pictures at website. $54,900. Cleveland, OH. maudeij@yahoo.com.au (954) 235-2527 www.guapasailboat.com

51 & over saiLboats

53.2 FT souThern ocean gallanT 53 1970. The Gallant 53 was designed by naval architect and yacht designer E.G. Van de Stadt. These Gallants soon gained a reputation for their good looks, bulletproof construction, superb motion in a seaway and, as has been proved, the ease with which they can be handled with a minimum crew. Twenty-two were built by Southern Ocean Shipyard Ltd and by Tyler’s in England from 1967 to 1973. This Gallant has had only two owners. She is actively being cruised, and is currently In French Polynesia. French Polynesian import tax has been paid, the boat can stay in French Polynesia indefinitely. Rigged for singlehanded sailing. $145,000. French Polynesia. sv.auntie@hotmail.com www.tinyurl.com/mpxyp9hx

60 FT cusToM crealock 1997. Just back from NZ! This 60-ft steel schooner will take you anywhere you want to go. Available to view in Tiburon. $200,000. Tiburon. otterkicks@gmail.com (707) 499-9414 www.schoonershellback.com/

54 FT Jeanneau 54 Ds 2009. Fully loaded in mint condition — This boat was truly loved on! She is ready to take you anywhere in the world with safety, class and style. Please call for extensive inventory list. Must see her! $425,000. Alameda, CA. lrtravioli@hotmail.com (559) 269-7669

60 FT h ar T og s chooner 2000. Attention, would-be boat enthusiast! The schooner ‘Latitude’ is for sale. Custom-built wood schooner designed by Joe Hartog. Cold-molded, mahogany-planked hull. Fir deck over marine plywood. For more information visit website. $52,000. Richmond, CA. jimegeorge@gmail.com (408) 406-3884 www.schoonerlatitude.com

CLassiC boats

25 FT alBin 1971. A classic Swedishbuilt fiberglass trawler. Original engine (AD21) (running). Sleeps 4. Thousands of these still grace the waterways of Europe and the USA. Transferable slip in Marin. Sold as is and where is. $10,000 OBO. Marin County, CA. flintston2ca@yahoo. com (707) 539-8626

38 FT keTTenBurg 1955. Mahoghanyplanked on oak frames. Needs varnish and paint, engine work if you must. Now berthed in Berkeley, she wants to get her sails wet! I am nearly 80 and she is only 68 and needs a stiff breeze! No leaks. Decent old sails ready to sail today. Bottom refastened with hundreds of bronze screws, then corked and painted. Will instruct in sailing, varnishing, Cetol application, and bottom caulking/painting. New carburetor included! $199 OBO. Berkeley Marina I Dock. Richard@newmed.com (510) 527-3600

32 FT Malcol M c a B in c ruiser 1936. Under roof in San Rafael. Beautiful interior, sleeps 5. Four-cylinder diesel. All new Renogy electric system. New cushions and curtains by Marcia of San Rafael. We use her all the time on the Bay. $45,000. San Rafael Yacht Harbor. melco@mcn.org (707) 884-4836

MULtihULLs

23 FT Farrier F-22s 2019. High quality, turbo’d Corsair Sprint 760. A fast, fun pocket cruiser. Easily folds to fit on its custom molded trailer. This one is NZ build, freshwater sailed, lightly used. Fully-battened furling main, continuous drum furling jib and screacher. Centerboard model. Powered by 3hp Torqeedo. $69,000. South Lake Tahoe. pete@kiapa.com www.tinyurl.com/mtsen5wd

40 FT ForMula 40 caTaMaran 1988. AC45 rudders, fifth-wheel trailer, needs refit/sails. Powerful, could make great charter catamaran. Consider trailerable multihull/ motorcycle trade $32,000. Reno. multihuler@aol.com

24 FT c orsair F-24 Mk ii 2003. Twenty-four-ft trimaran with new Ullman main; jib; screacher and spinnaker 2018. Also new Colligo jib and screacher furlers 2018. Top-down Colligo spinnaker furler 2021. Sunrise nets 2021. Solar panel, Garmin GPS on swing arm, VHF with masthead antenna, Raymarine autopilot with wireless remote, two anchors, ATN jib cover, new main cover. 2002 Pacific trailer with brakes. 2014 Tohatsu 6hp. Great Bay, lake or Race to Alaska R2AK boat. $32,500 OBO. Richmond Yacht Club. lightspeed@wylie39.com (916) 207-1887

25 FT JiM BroWn searunner TriMaran 2017. Ready for the next voyage. Fully restored in 2017. Cutter rig. Has been freshwater-kept its entire life. For tons of photos and details about this boat visit searunner25.com. This boat is designed to fold for transport on a seasonal basis — folding/unfolding takes a few hours. Can help load in Seattle for delivery. Email me to set up a video tour. $24,000. Seattle, WA. Nibiru@searunner25.com www.searunner25.com

Power & hoUseboats

1440 s Q FT c us T o M h ouse B oaT 1988. Beautiful two-deck houseboat. Two bedrooms, one bath, at Point San Pablo Harbor. Open-floor living room with dining area, separate bedroom/office, large wraparound deck, Bay view. Propane water heater, oven, wall heater, washer/ dryer. Concrete hull. Great condition, survey available. Parking for two vehicles included. Email for info or appointments. $350,000 cash. Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor. hangtran1018@gmail.com (408) 412-2329

PartnershiPs

caTalina 36 parTnership DoWnToWn sausaliTo. Non-equity partnership, outstanding berth location in downtown Sausalito. $400/mth for two weekend days/five weekdays access. Maintenance fund TBD. $400. Sausalito Yacht Harbor. chris@venturepad.works (415) 309-0331

cal 34 parTnership sausaliTo. Join our fun and experienced sailing partnership! Seeking operational nonequity partner. Experienced and newer sailors welcome. Open sailing calendar with no restrictions on days. Well maintained Lapworth design, with spacious and comfortable interior. Dues $2000/yr. Sausalito. bill.martorano@sbcglobal.net

seeking 25% non-eQuiTy parTner s eaW in D 1000 c aTa M aran. Solid, clean, safe, comfortable, fun catamaran. Convenient location. Easy scheduling/ sharing. See website. Email sailing résumé and three references. Price to be negotiated – between $500-$1,000/ month. For one week-plus use per month. Marina Bay Yacht Harbor, Richmond, CA. JanPassion1@gmail.com (925) 303-3747 www.sailhokahey.com

racer-cruiser aT souTh Beach h ar B or. 1986 Dehler 34 at , racercruiser, tiller, Yanmar. $300/month: two weekend days, four weekdays, fuel, electricity, parking, and insurance. A semi-annual maintenance contribution of $500 is required for a non-equity partnership. An ownership option is available. $300. South Beach Harbor. valtaft@gmail. com (650) 670-5300

looking For BoaT parTnership. Looking for partnership on 30-50-ft sailboat, preferably East Bay. Equity and non-equity considered. Have 20+ years of experience sailing on the Bay and chartering internationally. I have partnered successfully on a 31-ft Beneteau for five years. Now I have a small sailing dog that I want to sail with me and the others are allergic. Looking for a clean boat in good condition that is sailed regularly, and responsible, nice sail partners. Berkeley. ddodgesf@gmail.com

non-eQuiTy parTnership in caTalina 27. Very well maintained. Recently upgraded with new self-tailing Lewmar winches, Autohelm, depth and knotmeter, VHF and GPS. Reliable diesel, good sails, very clean. $250/month $250. Fortman Marina, Alameda. mcsheats@gmail.com (415) 948-1433

hunTer 41 eQuiTy share. Join our long-standing and congenial partnership. Vessel is a 2004 Hunter 41, well maintained by KKMI. Recent survey. Ideal slip location, with ample parking and immediate access to the Central Bay and the Golden Gate. $20,000. West Basin S.F. Marina. samjlord@gmail.com

p ri M e s .F. Bay Sailing Opportunity. Seeking well-qualified new member to join our established group of sailors and co-owners of a classic well-maintained 38-ft yacht berthed in Sausalito. For less than the monthly cost of berth rent, enjoy turnkey sailing on a regular basis without the usual responsibilities of ownership. Modest initial equity buy-in also required. Call or text for more info and appointment to see boat. (415) 3428011. Sausalito. macdonaldtom4@gmail. com (916) 529-6582

uniQue BoaT share opporTuniTy. Well maintained 2001 Beneteau 46.1 located in Harbor Island, San Diego, walking distance from international airport. Seeking 2 partners to join existing LLC for 1/4 (each) share of equity (approx $35k) and expenses (approx $8k annually). Thirteen weeks usage per year, more as available. Includes usage of minivan and Sunroad Marina facilities (toilets, showers, pool, hot tub). Please phone. San Diego. dougsingleton415@gmail.com (415) 852-1824

CLUbs & MeMbershiPs

cluB nauTiQue ulTiMaTe MeMBership. Discounted sale by owner. Selling Ultimate membership ($16,995 value). It includes all Sail/Power classes for ALL certifications. See link for details. Contact Bill. $13,500. Sausalito, Alameda. Caribou24@me.com (415) 407-5830 www.tinyurl.com/3r6zas6v

berths & sLiPs

suMMer slip renTal in sausaliTo. 30-ft slip in Blue Water Yacht Harbor in Sausalito. Available June 1 through September 30, for four months. Rent is $535/month plus electricity. You will be renting directly from the marina; this is not a sublet. Please call or text me with any questions, or call the harbormaster, Christopher, at (415) 289-0135 or (415) 847-9088. Thank you. Albert. $535. Sausalito. albertba@earthlink.net (707) 536-5799

eMery cove BoaT slip For renT. Berths for rent. Size 35-ft x 13-ft, $472.50/ month C dock and 40-ft x 13.5-ft, $540/ month E dock. Dockominium-run marina in Emeryville. emerycove.com. Brand-new docks, aluminum with Ipe wood deck, brand-new restrooms, beautiful grounds and just dredged. Great location center of S.F. Bay and great monthly rate. Email. Emeryville, CA. studio6161@icloud.com www.emerycove.com

FloaTing hoMe BerTh. Looking for single-story floating home or vessel. Have an awesome spot on the Canal. Need low-impact person. $1750/mo. plus electric. Pumpout available. $1,750. San Rafael Canal. e.stancil53@gmail.com (650) 771-1945

r e DW oo D c i T y Marina s lips availa B le. Slips 30’-75’ at great rates! Amenities: parking, bathrooms, laundry, pump-out, free wi-fi, keyless entry. Guest berths also available. Call for availability. 451 Seaport Court, Redwood City, CA 94063. (650) 306-4150 crevay@redwoodcityport.com www.redwoodcityport.com/marina

ProPerty for saLe or rent

FloaTing oFFice / houseBoaT. A rare opportunity to have a unique waterfront (literally ON the water) building. The structure is built on a 16 x 40 concrete barge produced by the renowned Aquamaison in Sausalito, the premier builder of most of the houseboats that populate Sausalito and Alameda. The interior space currently consists of one large front office space (reception, lounge, office or?), a back office or conference room, a large storage area/kitchenette, and expansive ‘basement’ storage with two access hatches. Use this ‘as-is’ for an office, studio, workshop, or? Or convert to a one bedroom, one bath home, add a roof deck, lots of potential! Currently berthed in Marina Village, Alameda. $149,000. Alameda, CA. wayne@sailing-jworld.com 415-606-2634

enchanTing alaMeDa hoMe WiTh WaTer vieWs & BoaT Dock. Discover the charm of waterfront living in Alameda’s East End. This unique property features two buildings: a main house with two+ bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a one-bedroom, one-bath Casita in the back. Both blend traditional charm with modern amenities and offer peaceful water views. On the Estuary side of the property is a 40-ft deep-water dock. Experience Mediterranean-inspired architecture, complete with custom finishes and historical essence. The chef’s kitchen leads to a sunlit breakfast nook, perfect for leisurely mornings. Enjoy private gardens, a wet bar, and seamless indoor-outdoor living. Located steps from top schools with easy San Francisco access, this home transforms everyday living into a luxurious retreat. $1,900,000. Alameda, CA. sally@eastsidewest.com (510) 610-5009 www.3243Fernside.com

p oin T r ich M on D To W nho M e. 1314 Mallard Dr. www.1314Mallard.com. Indulge in waterfront bliss at this Point Richmond townhome. With 2 beds, 2.5 baths, and a 2,202 sq ft floor plan, this residence offers a 34-ft-deep water dock for sailing, paddleboarding, or fishing. The open living area connects seamlessly to an updated kitchen. Upstairs, two ensuite bedrooms provide comfort, with the primary featuring a double sink and a steam shower. A balcony off the second bedroom offers serene water views. An inspiring office space, storage shed, practical garage, and dedicated laundry room enhance functionality. Enjoy easy access to scenic trails and proximity to Richmond Yacht Club and major highways. Contact Nathan Jines. $1,195,000. Richmond, CA 94801. nathan@jinesre.com (510) 220-4714 www.jinesre.com

Maine coasT coTTage For renT. Enjoy breathtaking sunsets from this lovely 3BR, 1BA home perched above the gentle shore of Beal’s Cove, perfect for kayaking adventures, watching wildlife, and relaxing by the sea as the afternoon light floods the windows. You’ll love exploring all the islands have to offer during the day and retreating to the cottage in the evenings to catch the gorgeous pink, purple and orange hues of a Harpswell sunset. 866-835-0500 marcia@homesandharbors.com www.tinyurl.com/43475rkj

Dra M aT ic WaT er F ron T a la Me D a To W nho M e. Dramatic waterfront Alameda 3BR/2.5 BA townhome with a private 44-ft deep-water slip attached to the property. An impressive 2,054 sq ft with multiple living spaces all designed to overlook the glistening Ballena Bay. $1,249,000. leah@leahtounger.com (510) 701-6497 www.tinyurl.com/3wdmepyu

bUsiness oPPortUnities

puerTo vallarTa Business For

SALE Discover the exciting chance to own ‘YUMMIES Mexico,’ a frozen food sensation with a perfected menu and a loyal customer base aged 40-80. This successful Puerto Vallarta business is now on the market and ready for a new chapter. Explore detailed information on website and FB: www.tinyurl.com/mjb9v9je. La Cruz , Nayarit, MX. yummiesbydonyteri@gmail.com 52 (322) 275-3322 www.Yummies-Mexico.com.mx

cusToM canvas shop. The Canvas Works is seeking one or more active managing partners to succeed us as we navigate a smooth transition to retirement. We have an experienced team of expert craftspeople, a strong customer base, name recognition, and a convenient workshop and dock space on the charming and historic Sausalito waterfront. We’re looking for experience with small-business operations, workflow scheduling, customer service, the ability to reprioritize on the fly, unfailing attention to detail; someone who enjoys work and people, and has a sense of humor. We don’t have a hard deadline or specific ownership structure in mind, but are committed to exploring any arrangement that allows The Canvas Works to continue to thrive. Lisa@thecanvasworks.com www.Thecanvasworks.com

Job oPPortUnities

yach T s alesperson n ee D e D in alaMeDa. Experienced Yacht Broker/ Salesperson needed in our Northern California office in Marina Village Yacht Harbor in Alameda, CA. Cruising Yachts is seeking a motivated person to sell new and brokerage sail and powerboats. Our office and docks are located at the Bay Area’s prime yacht-selling location. (510) 710-6822 www.CruisingYachts.net Rogerg@cruisingyachts.net

T W o h ar B ors h ar B or paT rol p osi T ions availa B le. Positions available for 2023 season! Two Harbors Harbor Department, on the west end of Catalina Island. Looking for experienced boat operators for seasonal harbor patrol positions (March–October). Harbor patrol assigns and facilitates the use of 700+ moorings on the west end of Catalina Island and assists with transporting passengers to and from shore. USCG license required for passenger transport, seasonal mooring included for patrol personnel with liveaboard vessels. Rates from $18-$21/hr. Two Harbors, Catalina. Jrconner@scico.com (310) 510-4201

sailing science cenTer – conTracT anD volunTeer posiTions OPEN. Community Engagement Coordinator, Graphic Artist, Photographer(s) wanted as contractors or volunteers. Volunteer docents wanted for educational science exhibitions. Ask about other roles. info@sailingscience.org (510) 390-5727 www.sailingscience.org/

slo sail anD canvas is hiring — MulTiple posiTions. SLO Sail and Canvas is hiring for multiple positions in our busy sail loft in beautiful San Luis Obispo, California. We specialize in building boat covers, trampolines, and sails for sailing dinghies, one-designs, and beach catamarans. The following job opportunities are open for immediate fulfillment: Sailmaking Department Manager, Manufacturing Assistant — Industrial Department, Production Sewing & Prep — Trampoline or Boat Cover Department, and Office Assistant. To learn more about each job opening, visit website. erik@slosailandcanvas.com (805) 479-6122 ext.9 www.tinyurl.com/fpdkrmt

Join our TeaM oF insTrucTors! Spinnaker Sailing in Redwood City is looking for ASA-certified sailing instructors to teach out of our Redwood City Marina location. Part-time, flexible schedules, midweek and/or weekends. Please contact Rich or Bob by phone or email. Redwood City Marina. (650) 363-1390 office@spinnakersailing.com www.spinnakersailing.com

insTrucTors WanTeD. Join the captains at Club Nautique and start teaching US Sailing’s most comprehensive curriculum of sail and power courses, both offshore and inshore, in the nation. We have openings now for USCG-licensed captains who exhibit exceptional communication and boating skills, and the willingness to train and work in a professional environment. All instructors are classified as employees, not independent contractors. $28-$35 depending on experience. (510) 865-4700 x313 schooldirector@clubnautique.net www.clubnautique.net

experienceD yachT Broker / salesperson neeDeD . Rubicon Yachts is seeking a professional yacht broker/salesperson for its new Alameda, CA office. Yacht sales experience required, must be a self-starter, membership in CYBA is a plus. Contact owner/broker Mark Miner. Alameda, CA. mark@rubiconyachts.com www.rubiconyachts.com

licenseD capTain WanTeD. Wanted: Licensed Captain with towing endorsement for TowBoatUS./Vessel Assist on the San Francisco Bay and Delta. Preferred if you live by SF waterfront, Alameda or Bethel Island areas. towboatus.bay.delta@gmail.com (925) 382-4422 www.towboatusdelta.com

soUth

plan your Mexican geTaWay NOW. At the gorgeous Cielo Y Mar condos. Located in Punta Mita, 35 minutes from Puerto Vallarta, available to rent from private owner. On the beach, 10 feet from the water, they offer spectacular views of ocean and mountains, the biggest infinity pool in the area, an endless beach, great surf breaks, great fishing, tremendous views of whales, bird life and the islands. While uncrowded and tranquil, just a five-minute walk to several waterfront restaurants. Choose from a spacious, beautifully furnished one- or three-bedroom unit, or an amazing two-story penthouse with lovely shade trellis on the top floor. To reserve, call or email Dona de Mallorca. (415) 269-5165 puntamitabeachfrontcondos@gmail.com

non Profit

DonaTe your BoaT. The Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors strives to make sailing accessible to people with disabilities. BAADS is always on the lookout for donated boats to support its mission. Help an all-volunteer organization while receiving a charitable tax deduction. boatdonations@baads.org (415) 532-9831

gear

liFe

life raft, offshore. I used for two Pac Cups. Needs repack. Great condition. $800. Redwood City. captmaddog@gmail.com (650) 533-7732

BarienT 32sT selF-Tailing WinchES. Stainless steel, one pair. Used; just purchased and decided not to use. Good condition mechanically and cosmetically. Shipping extra. Can deliver San Diego to Orange County. $1,800. San Diego. steve92106@gmail.com (619) 708-3302

cruising gear. Offshore Commander

3.0 life raft 4 person $1900. EPIRB global V5 cat 2 $700. WM PSB 310 PVC dinghy $1000. Fortress collapsible anchor with storage bag 21 lb. $500. Watermaker Rainman portable high-output 30 gallons + per hour with self-contained Honda generator $5200. All items purchased last fall for Ha-Ha trip. Heading back to San Diego May 1. $1. twasik6747@gmail.com (775) 691-9147

trying to LoCate

looking For 24 FT piver TriMaran “no naMe”. We’re former owners of the plywood 24-ft Piver trimaran that sailed around the world in the ’70s. The boat’s last known location was San Diego. We’d appreciate hearing from anyone who might know the whereabouts of ‘No Name.’. wolfinds@mindspring.com ″(415) 806-3334″

viking

raFT. Viking valise

Wishing you had had Jim paint your boat? Maybe he did! We’ve got lots of his work here in Point Richmond and we are having fun inventoring the collections. Enjoy!

Antioch Marina 59 www.antiochca.gov/antioch-marina ATN 32 www.atninc.com

Atomic Tuna Yachts 41 www.atomictunayachts.com

Bainbridge International...... 36 www.bainbridgeintusa.com

Bair Island Marina ............. 67 www.bairislandmarina.com

Baja Ha-Ha Rally 105 www.baja-haha.com

Bay Maritime Group 15 www.sbm.baymaritime.com

Berkeley Marina 14 www.berkeley-marina.com

Berkeley Marine Center ...... 35 www.berkeleymarine.com

Boat Yard at Grand Marina 16 www.boatyardgm.com

Brisbane Marina 83 www.brisbaneca.org/marina

Club Nautique 13 www.clubnautique.net

Compass Canvas ............... 37 www.compass-canvas.com

Cruising Yachts 21 www.cruisingyachts.net

Denison Yachting 107 www.denisonyachtsales.com

DeWitt Studio 104 www.jimdewitt.com

Downwind Marine ............. 26 www.downwindmarine.com

Emery Cove Yacht Harbor 31 www.emerycove.com

EWOL / Walder Boom Brake ........... 63 www.ewoltech.com

Fisheries Supply Co. 31 www.fisheriessupply.com

Gianola Canvas Products 42 www.gianolacanvas.com

Grand Marina 2 www.grandmarina.com

H&M Marine / Beta Marine Engines / Hirschfeld Yachts 66 www.betamarinewest.com

Harbor Island West Marina 91 www.harborislandwest.com

Helmut's Marine Service ..... 37 www.helmutsmarine.com

Hood Sails 27 www.hoodsails.de/en

Hotel Coral & Marina 90 www.surfnet.com/coral

Hydrovane 34 www.hydrovane.com

Keenan Filters .................... 18 www.ktisystems.com

KKMI - Full Service Boatyard 108 www.kkmi.com

KKMI Chandlery 3 www.kkmi.com

Lind Marine 29 www.lindmarine.com

List Marine Enterprises 38 www.listmarine.com

Marina de La Paz 103 www.marinadelapaz.com

Marina El Cid 103 www.elcid.com

Marine Servicenter ............. 17 www.marinesc.com

Mariners Insurance 28 www.marinersins.com

Master Mariners Benevolent Assn. 71 www.sfmastermariners.org

Modern Sailing School & Club 34 www.modernsailing.com

NAOS Yachts 5 www.naosyachts.com

Napa Valley Marina 24 www.napavalleymarina.com

More than 3,000 boats and 12,000 sailors have done the 750-mile cruisers rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Here are some of the main reasons. 1) It’s really, really fun. 2) Superb safety record. 3) You get a Ha-Ha backpack filled with swag at the Halloween costume kick-off party. 4) To a great extent there is safety and shared knowledge in numbers. 5) Daily roll call in ports, professional weather forecast, and net.

Baja Ha-Ha!

6) Six social events in which to make lifelong cruising friends. 7) You’ll be featured in the Ha-Ha bio book. 8) Experienced leadership. Collectively, the three event leaders have transited the Baja coast 100 times. 9) The fleet will able to check into Mexico at Bahia Santa Maria 10) It gives you compelling deadline to leave the dock. And Bonus Reason #11, most cited by past participants, all the new cruising friends you’ll make. Join the 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha and

Outboard Motor Shop ........ 40 www.outboardmotorshop.com

Owl Harbor Marina 75 www.owlharbor.com

Powerstride Battery ............ 42 www.americanbatterycompanyofhayward.com

Raiatea Carenage Services . 92 www.raiateacarenage.com

Richard Boland Yacht Sales 106 www.richardbolandyachts.com

Richardson Bay Marina 40 www.richardsonbaymarina.com

Rubicon Yachts 7.8.9 www.rubiconyachts.com

Safe Harbor Marinas 11 shmarinas.com

Sail Tahiti 93 www.sailtahiti.com

Sailrite Kits ........................ 25 www.sailrite.com

San Francisco on the Bay 43 www.sfonthebay.com/list-38

San Juan Sailing 39 www.sanjuansailing.com

Schaefer Marine 66 www.schaefermarine.com

Schooner Creek Boat Works 42 www.schoonercreek.com/

Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors/SAMS 35 www.marinesurvey.org

South Beach Harbor ........... 12 www.sfport.com/southbeachharbor

Star Marine Electronics 30 www.starmarineelectronics.com

Summer Sailstice 103 www.summersailstice.com

Svendsen's Bay Maritime Group 19 www.svendsens.com

Swiftsure Yachts 10 www.swiftsureyachts.com

The Canvas Works 32 www.thecanvasworks.com

TMM Yacht Charters 41 www.sailtmm.com

Towboat US 23 www.boatus.com

Trident Funding 4 www.tridentfunding.com

Ullman Sails San Francisco & Monterey Bay .................... 20 www.ullmansails.com

Vallejo Marina 38 www.vallejomarina.com

Ventura Harbor Boatyard 102 www.vhby.com

West Coast Multihulls ......... 36 www.westcoastmultihulls.com

Westwind Precision Details .. 39 www.boatdetailing.com

Whale Point Marine Supply .. 6 www.aceretailer.com/whalepoint

Whiting and Associates .... 102 www.norcalmarinesurveyors.com

Wichard Sparcraft, Inc. ...... 33 www.wichard-usa.com

Yachtfinders/Windseakers .. 74 www.yachtworld.com/yachtfinders Zepp Sticks ....................... 22 www.zeppsticks.com

Yacht Sales

Richard: 510-610-6213

Mik: 510-552-7272

Rob: 619-552-6943

Barney: 510-541-1963

Bill: 510-410-5401

Michael: 831-236-5905

David: 781-526-8469

George 415-793-9376