Video: Oralcle's Pitchpole and Aftermath

Gettting Ready to Depart for the Baja Haha

We depart on Friday to meet our Cabo bound boat for a 750 mile sail down Baja coast from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas.  This will be my 3rd trip in a row.  We have almost 150 boats going and 500 folks.  The itinerary has sailing for three days to Turtle Bay, a small fishing village.  We stay for 2 days and end with a huge beach party.  Then another 3 days of sailing to Santa Maria Bay.  This beautiful bay is huge and only a few fisherman live on a nearby river.  The families of these fisherman throw us another beach party with a band and great food.  Our last sail is about 24 hours to Cabo where we have a few more events and then my friend John (who is also crewing with me on the same boat) and I will fly back home.  Our boat will continue around the planet on a 5 year lap.  I will be keeping a log and will post upon my return to this blog.  The trip takes 2 weeks so look for it mid November.  I leave you with a few vids that will knock your socks off.  Wish me a bon voyage.

Video: Oracle AC boat badly damaged in pitchpole

Oracle's 72' AC boat pitchpoled in the SF bay and was badly damaged.  Raw video here.

AC boat floats off, Rescuer wants $200k

The French 45' AC cat broke it's mooring and floated to a nearby island in the SF bay.  A local boater saw it on the rocks and towed it in on his Whaler.  Now he wants lots of money for his salvage rights.  The French say $25k is the reward for their "outdated" cat.  Interesting story.  Read the full account here.

Busiest Weekend of the Year for Bay Area

Just returning from a family trip to France and Spain.  Great weather, fantastic food and drink and fun for all.  Thanks Cyn and Ray!  We will be sailing on the bay today to kick off Fleet Week activities that include the Blue Angels Air Show, bookended by fleet racing with the America's Cup 45's.  The show and racing continue through the weekend.  We also have two play off games between the Giants and Reds, SF 49'ers play Buffalo on Sunday, the hugely popular and free Hardly, Strictly Bluegrass Fest, a Madonna Show in San Jose, Castro Street Fair, and the Italian Heritage Parade in North Beach.  The weather looks seasonable for this time of year and no rain is forecast.  It's going to be crazy...and fun!