Ensenada

MIKE WHITEHEAD Ahoy. The winter storms have finally arrived in Southern California, and this morning I'm in Ensenada, Mexico, loading a yacht onto a transport ship. I received a last-minute call this week to deliver a Carver 500 motor yacht from Newport Harbor to Ensenada. Unfortunately, this week is not a good time to be on the ocean with the storm systems, high swells and posted small craft advisories. However, a time clock is ticking, as the Dockwise Yacht Transport ship loads Friday morning, and if the yacht is not in Ensenada, then the owner forfeits the entire ship's transport fee. Joining me on this delivery is Capt.

Ahoy. I'm off this morning on another voyage to Ensenada, Mexico, but I promised to tell you about my uphill voyage last week from Ensenada to Marina del Rey. What an adventure! It starts with trying to get down to Ensenada by public transportation, using just about every mode of transportation from car to train to trolley and, finally, a bus. We left the dock just before sunrise, and the seas were at least 5 feet pounding the boat as we punched out of Bahia de Todos Santos -- translated the Bay of All Saints -- to round Punta San Miguel.

Ahoy. It's summertime. Have you been in or on the water? I cannot believe what is occurring in our ocean waters, between the never-ending red tide, the jellyfish invasion, the red tide, the drop in temperature -- and did I mention the red tide? The red tide is not leaving our shores, and yesterday I could see it floating outside the surf line as I cruised up the coast. Nevertheless, sea conditions lately have been in the cruisers' favor all along the Pacific Coast.

1. Which first lady spoke in Newport Beach last week? A. Hillary Clinton B. Barbara Bush C. Laura Bush D. Libby Pataki 2. What kind of animal has been keeping residents of Newport Harbor up at night? A. Great white sharks B. Teenagers C. Sea lions D. Crows 3. Which car dealership gave $100,000 to the Newport Beach centennial celebration? A. Theodore Robbins Ford B. Fletcher Jones Mercedes-Benz C. Newport Lexus D. South Coast Toyota 4. Newport Beach resident Don DuBois won what award recently?

The 50-member Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club, in connection with American Youth Soccer Organization Region 57, will be holding its annual pancake breakfast for the benefit of Region 57 and the club's youth activities. The breakfast will be held at Costa Mesa High School today from 7 a.m. to noon. Breakfast is $4 for an individual or $13 for a family of four. Everyone is invited, said Fran Ursini. You will enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast and Kiwanis fellowship.

The banker ... the tennis player ... the career Navy man ... the property appraiser ... the staff commodore (make that two) ... the veteran (make that five) ... the newlywed ... Basically a great group of elderly gentleman who meet at least once a week (usually more) and gab “like a bunch of old ladies” (their words, not mine). Betty Kilmer called me after last week’s column on the Omelette Parlor (“Give me my home”)

Amid a gentle southwesterly breeze, 448 boats set sail Friday, some in a quest for the top prize, others just wanting to finish in the 60th Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race. Several local sailors, including Newport Beach's Jim Madden and his Stark Raving Mad III, hoped for a stronger wind at the start near the Newport Harbor jetties. But despite the calm waters, which stayed rather settled from 3 to 5 knots of wind, the atmosphere remained in high spirits for the world's largest international yacht race.

In 65 years there had been just one boat that finished the Newport-to-Ensenada Yacht Race before sundown. Now, make that two. Loe Real, a Jenn 60 trimaran, completed the 126 nautical miles from Newport Beach to Ensenada in 7 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds Friday, nearly breaking the record set by Stars & Stripes in 1998. Stars & Stripes finished in 6:46:30, 17 minutes, 21 seconds faster than Loe Real. The Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. sent out a special report shortly after Loe Real arrived to Ensenada.

At the end of a week of overcast, gray skies and shiver-inducing winds, Newport Beach found itself blanketed in the sun’s warmth Friday afternoon. It was as if the weather cleared to honor an event that’s been smooth sailing for 63 years: the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race. Even with participation at a low not seen in years, everyone who crowded onto Balboa Pier to watch the beginning of the race was confident that it’d be around for years to come because of one word: tradition.

In any other year, Steve Ellsworth said his family would make the drive down to Ensenada to meet him at the finish line. But this isn’t any other year, and with Mexico’s current string of drug war-related violence, his, and many other sailors’ families, aren’t taking any chances. As the oft-claimed “World’s Largest International Yacht Race” approaches, the hundreds of sailors who compete in the annual event are making other arrangements for their family to join them south of the border.