SIGHTINGS sailing aboard the 42-ft yawl-rigged youth sailing hostel Clizia in the Med, and ever since have been dreaming of returning for an extended cruise. Now, thanks to Latitude 38 and the Bottrells, my dream will come true. But I’m pretty sure that, after a summer or two, it will be time for me to pass the Geja torch to yet another lucky Latitude reader.” — richard
The best way to view whales is from the deck of a whale watching boat, like this one in Banderas Bay.
whales — cont’d Pacific, specifically in Korean waters. Before we went to press with this story, NOAA's Farallones Sanctuary organization released a plea to Bay Area boaters to keep a lookout for migrating whales — especially at this time of year — and steer clear of them. From March to May, thousands of migrating gray whales make their way north from breeding grounds off Mexico to feeding grounds off Alaska, with mothers and their young calves often swimming very close to shore. "Keep a lookout for the gray whale's blow," the agency advises, "which looks like a puff of smoke about 10 to 15 feet high. A whale may surface and blow several times before a prolonged While it’s breathtaking to watch whales breach, dive, typically lasting from three it’s also against the law to get too close. to six minutes." It is further suggested that boaters stay a football field's length away from all whales, never cut across their path, avoid making sudden changes of speed or direction, and "never get between a cow and her calf — if separated from its mother, a calf may be doomed to starvation." — andy
brrrr, it’s chilly down here We hope the devil has some earmuffs and gloves because, late last month, Hawaii’s governor, Linda Lingle, released nearly $4.2 million to upgrade, repair and rebuild the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor in Honolulu. For years, we — and many sailors — have verbally spanked the state’s government for allowing what should be one of the premier marine facilities in the Pacific to fall into such disrepair that almost half of the slips were not just unusable but downright dangerous. The funds will go toward replacing B, C and D docks, as well as the transient docks, and Rows 500 and 700. The projects will take a couple years to complete but we have to give kudos to Governor Lingle for finally seeing the light. — ladonna
westpoint marina update If you think building and launching a boat takes longer than expected, try building and launching a whole marina. It was way back in 1988 that Mark Sanders got the idea of turning an old salt drying pond in Redwood City into a state-of-the-art marina. It would take 16 of the next 20 years just to jump through all the necessary government and environmental hoops before he turned the first shovelful of mud. Now all the mud and riprap are nearly bulldozed into submission, the basin is full, and three of the eventual seven big docks are in. What was little more than a pretty artist’s conception when we first learned about Westpoint Marina is now well on the way to becoming reality — and the first patient berthers on a long waiting list may start getting calls to come put their boats in slips as soon as . . . this summer! No one is more amazed — and happy — than Sanders himself, who has been a hands-on part of Westpoint Marina since its inception, down to driving a tractor every day alongside the small army of workers constructing the levee surrounding the new marina. The first few berthers will likely feel a bit of the pioneering spirit continued on outside column of next sightings page
April, 2008 •
Latitude 38
• Page 121
LYDIA MAZZIE
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