LETTERS
DON'T MISS Lee Chesneau's Offshore Marine Weather Course at Strictly Sail Pacific
Sunday, April 13 • 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Waterfront Hotel, Oakland • Q&A time after class Course Fee: Special $125 (Normally $195) Note-taking guide will be offered separately at $20 2014 is the year for the Pacific Cup! “Marine Weather for the Offshore Cruiser” is designed not only for the offshore pleasure cruiser but to prepare entrants in the prestigious Pacific Cup race to take advantage of the readily available public weather information to formulate their own race strategies from San Francisco to Hawaii! The course reviews some important meteorological principles that govern what one will experience daily such as pressure and wind. The review also extends to the structure of surface middle latitude weather systems and their features, along with the specific symbols commonly found on surface pressure weather charts. The course will focus on typical marine-oriented weather charts, especially the geographic region that dominates the middle and subtropical latitudes from the U.S. West Coast to Hawaii. Newer topics for some of the offshore cruisers in attendance will focus on upper air 500 Mb charts. It is also important to understand what goes into a human intelligence originated forecast versus the unfettered GRIB files. Finally, the course will demonstrate how to document and verify all weather forecasts for confidence building and becoming self-reliant in offshore marine weather forecasting.
Register at: www.marineweatherbylee.com or call (206) 949-4680
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High velocity pump fuel dock, 46 gals./min. • Travelift: 88 tons, 100' length, 23' beam Dry storage for vessels up to 300' • VHF radio ch. 68 • 24-hour security • Dock rentals Sales & rent of used & new boats • Full service boatyard • Do-it-yourselfers welcome
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Latitude 38
• March, 2014
WEBB LOGG
MARINE WEATHER FOR THE OFFSHORE CRUISER
You sarcastic skeptics at Latitude! Global warming is easy to prove. Warmer globe = less ice = more run-off into the ocean = higher sea levels. To confirm this, just look at the tide tables from decades ago. Are average levels not rising? Has the zero level not been changed to keep up? Well? I, along with the taxpayer-funded sciRising sea levels will spell the extinction of entists, know global unicorns. warming is happening. This threat to the environment means our children will never have the thrill of seeing a living unicorn. Stan Murray Rinky Dink, Atkin 7 Horseshoe Bend, ID / Seattle, WA Readers — Sometimes we have a hard time knowing if letter writers are serious or not. In any event, isn't the proper term 'climate change'? After all, things like the Great Lakes having more ice than at any time in the last 20 years gives skeptics ammunition. ⇑⇓PREVENT CORROSION WITH NOALOX An excellent solution to the problem of dock cord fitting corrosion is Noalox, a paste in a tube designed to prevent corrosion on high voltage aluminum electrical cables. Just smear it on and coat the connectors. I'd had cord corrosion problems from letting a trickle through for the battery charger over a long time. When I'd put a bigger load on the cables, the connectors would heat up and scorch. Absolutely no problems the last 30 years. Available wherever electrical supplies are sold. It only mentions aluminum wire on the label, but works fine for copper. Ernie Copp Orient Star, Cheoy Lee Offshore 50 Long Beach ⇑⇓SIMILAR NAMES RESULT IN BIG CONFUSION I have enjoyed Latitude for many years and in many parts of the world. I have traded copies for lobster, booze, ice and steaks. I have also paid for copies with hamburger meat, ice, fresh fish and fishing gear. I understand that you guys are concerned that readers and others might get confused by the fact that a new outfit calling itself Latitude 38 Entertainment, LLC, is putting on something called the Bottlerock Music Festival in Napa over Memorial Day weekend. I think it would be advantageous to both parties if there could be a name change that would make it clear that Latitude 38 Publishing is not involved in live music productions. I have seen too many personal and financial shenanigans that have been perpetrated in the live music industry. Cap'n Jimy Fitch Tigre, Crowther Backpacker 39 Bethel Island Cap'n Jimy — One of our concerns is that the new group is taking over a festival that, in its first year, left workers and vendors not being paid the something like $5 million that was