October 2009 eBook all pages (free PDF, 36.6 - Latitude 38

SIGHTINGS
Page 84 • Latitude 38 • October, 2009
coincidence — cont’d
their checklist. In the end, they said the rule was a state statute so
they wouldn’t cite us, but that they’d ‘be happy to call the sheriff, and
they won’t be as understanding as us.’ Like I said, truly bizarre.”
Then came a report that a BBS race committee boat was boarded
for a safety inspection — not only during the middle of a race, but in
the middle of the race course. One person onboard told us that the
Coast Guard vessel Tern stayed on station in the middle of the course,
forcing racers to go around them. Perhaps not a big deal normally
but, combined with these other incidents, a potential red flag.
“There’s no mandate to crack down on sailing vessels or the racing
community,” insists Sector San Francisco Public Affairs Officer
LTJG Jeremy Pichette. “If there’s some disconnect between the Coast
Guard and the boating public, that’s something we’d like to address.
We take complaints very seriously. Our top priority is to ensure the
safety of our crews and the boating public.”
Lt. Pichette reports that an internal investigation of Zarwell’s complaint
was completed at the end of last month. “It was found that all
Coast Guard personnel abided by training and instructions,” he said.
“The boarding occurred north of the race location, so Mr. Zarwell’s
safety boat was not near the scene of the crew overboard.” He noted
that the officer aboard Pike relayed the mayday to Search and Rescue
who then gained contact with Roxanne. “They were told no other Coast
Guard assistance was needed.”
It’s worth noting that no complaints were filed in the other cases,
and Lt. Pichette confirmed that the crew of Jabberwocky were not
violating any laws. “That rule only applies to powerboats,” he said.
So how can the “disconnect” that Lt. Pichette mentioned — if there
even is one — be fixed? “Maybe they should put together a panel with
members of the boating community,” suggests Jeff Zarwell. “It doesn’t
seem that they know who it is they’re supposedly serving.”
If such a group were to form, one point of discussion would be
how to avoid the inspection of race committee boats during active
racing. A reasonable solution would be annual inspections that would
exempt them from further boardings. That simple change would have
prevented two of these incidents.
Whatever the solution, it’s clear that the Coast Guard is willing to
play ball — the boating community just has to step up to the plate.
— ladonna
the birth of a new nereida
In the wee hours of June, 19, 2008, British solo circumnavigator
Jeanne Socrates slept as her Najad 361 Nereida veered toward the
shore of Playa Michigan, situated between Acapulco and Zihuatanejo.
Socrates had left Zihua 15 months earlier on a west-about circumnavigation
via the Panama Canal, and
was just 60 miles from crossing her
outbound track when her autopilot
failed and Nereida was lost on that
desolate Mexican beach.
Jeanne spent days recovering
what she could from the wreck, giving
much of it to local fishermen, and
sending the rest to San Francisco
aboard another cruiser’s boat. There
she stored the gear in a friend’s
garage as she began the process of
finding a new boat to call home.
Socrates, a veteran of the ‘06
Singlehanded TransPac, had signed up for the ‘08 running of the
race, but she didn’t let the loss of Nereida, just a month before the
start, stop her from joining her old friends at the finish line. It was a
continued on outside column of next sightings page
baja ha-ha draws
Much to the surprise of the Baja Ha-
Ha Rally Committee, the number of paid
entries for the 'Sweet Sixteen' Ha-Ha blew
by the old record of 183 boats to a total of
191 boats. Who would have thought?
There will be some new twists to this
year's pre-rally activities. A consortium of
San Diego port staffers, business people
and Harbor Police have been working to
make the fleet's visit more fun and more
high-profile than ever.
On the way out to the October 26 start,
Ha-Ha boats will parade past the tip of
Shelter Island at 10 a.m., where a San Diego
fire boat will salute them with a cloud
of spray, while local print and TV news
outlets record the procession — your
Spread, Jeanne Socrates aboard her new
‘Nereida’. She oversaw nearly every aspect of
her build, making dozens of small changes and
several larger ones, such as changing her sail
plan to a cutter. Inset, the original ‘Nereida’ as
she lay dying on a forlorn Mexican beach.