Oaklander Wren, a retired insurance exec who knows his way around The Town, has completed his first mystery book, which stars Casey, a 20-something sailboat bum caught up in a mysterious murder after delivering a boat under somewhat mysterious circumstances. The scenery is all Oakland, Alameda, and the East Bay. Right down to West Marine and Latitude 38. This yarn has a cranky motorcycle gang leader, crooked cops and corrupt pols, plus a touch of romance and plot twists and turns. What more could you want for a little pleasurable reading? Kidnapping, blackmail, arson? You got it. So get it and enjoy the read. – Oakland Magazine January/February 2012
Casey's Slip by Richard Wren available at:
www.poorrichardpublishers.com
Direct benefits
It’s easy! With your new sail order from North Sails Direct you measure, you Save, you get the best. Contact us today! ONE YEAR SAIL CARE &REPAIR with purcha
se of a new Nor th sail*
*Restrictions may apply. ask your North Sails Direct representative for details.
northsailsdirect.com or call 888-424-7328 Boat size restrictions may apply. Page 58 •
Latitude 38
• February, 2012
LETTERS days — weekends included — at the keyboard are still par for the course near deadline. We started a number of charity sailing events from La Paz to Zihua in Mexico, where a little money can go a very long way in helping truly needy people. In '94 we started the Baja HaHa, which has hosted something in the range of 10,000 sailors on over 2,000 boats. It took us a few years to appreciate it but, if you will pardon our conceit, we think the Ha-Ha has evolved into one of the great What gives us deep satisfaction? Other than sailing events in the our family, it's the joy so many people have world. Once again, it gotten out of the Baja Ha-Ha, perhaps best wasn't planned that expressed by this 'jumping for joy' shot of a way, it just sort of bunch from last year's 'barely legal' Ha-Ha. evolved. And it's almost all because of the quality of the participants. Since we were put on earth to help people have fun, particularly with their sailboats, the Ha-Ha has been an ideal vehicle for us. We've owned about a dozen boats, from an Ericson 27 to three Olson 30s to an Ocean 71. We went over to the dark side in '96 by having the catamaran Profligate built in Long Beach. She's been the perfect Ha-Ha mothership, and our goal is to take 500 — maybe 1,000 — people sailing on her this year, hoping all guests will donate at least $20 to their favorite charity. We also own the Leopard 45 'ti Profligate in a yacht management program in the British Virgin Islands, and we use it in St. Barth during the high season. Knock on fiberglass, but to date the program has worked out better than we expected. People always ask us how much longer we're going to do Latitude and what we want to do next. We still love sailing, we still love writing about sailing, we still love sailing photography, and we still love doing layouts, so we'll probably maintain our course. But we want to do at least a couple of the four major regattas in Southeast Asia next winter, and we're planning on writing a book and making a supporting documentary, both of which are to be titled 4-3-12. Or maybe 3-4-12, we still haven't decided which we prefer. The book and documentary will be about the rewards of living in different cultures for significant periods of time each year. Although we think of ourselves as being very liberal socially, we're also huge believers in personal responsibility. On the other hand, we're ultra-conservative fiscally, and believe that the noble calling of public service has, over the last couple of decades, devolved into a cesspool of racketeering and corruption on both the right and left. God help the future generations. In a more pleasant vein, our favorite sailing manuever is gybing the symmetrical spinnaker. We hope that covers it, because it's the last history we plan on writing. We sincerely thank everyone for their many years of astonishing support.
LATITUDE / RICHARD
GREAT BOAT READING!
In a typical month, we receive a tremendous volume of Boat size restrictions may apply. letters. So if yours hasn't appeared, don't give up hope. We welcome all letters that are of interest to sailors. Please include your name, your boat's name, hailing port and, if possible, a way to contact you for clarifications. By far the best way to send letters is to email them to richard@latitude38.com. You can also mail them to 15 Locust, Mill Valley, CA, 94941, or fax them to (415) 383-5816.