Knots

Mariners used to toss a wooden log overboard, and while its line spooled out, they would count each of the knots that passed through their hands. After 28 seconds, they recorded their boat's speed in knots, or nautical miles per hour. Today, 200 years later, boaters look at their digital instrument panel and still see their speed in knots. That tradition was nearly subverted when the Newport Beach Harbor Commission voted in April to change the city's municipal code to measure speed in miles per hour, a slightly slower measure than knots.

This corrects an earlier version of the story. Christine Shively didn’t know the bald woman she saw coming out of the hospital’s cancer ward last summer, and she hadn’t crocheted in more than 30 years. Still, with time on her hands, and the woman’s image fresh in her mind, Shively went home, brushed up on her skills and began crocheting brightly colored “chemo caps” she would then donate to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Knots-Of-Love, the organization Shively founded in her Newport Beach home, was born within days.

ABOARD THE ALASKA EAGLE, off Cape Horn — We are anchored in Martial Cove on Herschel Island, just eight miles north of Cape Horn. The wind is howling through the rigging at a steady 40 knots, with gusts up to 50 knots. The Alaska Eagle is sailing back and forth on her tandem anchors and heeling over in the gusts. Sometimes a blast shakes the mast and the whole boat vibrates. Even in this well-protected cove, 2-foot foot waves are rolling past us, and the lead-gray sea is covered with streaks of white.

Expect it to be partly cloudy today, with patchy dense fog near the beaches in the morning. It will be a much cooler day than Sunday was, with highs from 62 at the coast to 82 inland. Tonight should be mostly clear early with areas of low clouds and fog spreading inland. Lows in the 50s. Clouds and some fog can be expected to hang on into Tuesday burning off later in the day. information: o7 www.nws.noaa.gov. f7 BOATING FORECAST Patchy dense fog will be found early today.

Weather forecast Expect mostly sunny skies with high temperatures from 68 to 75 and light winds. Tonight, it will be partly cloudy with lows from 42 to 49 and light winds. Information: www.nws.noaa.gov Boating Forecast On inner waters, winds will be northwesterly at 10 knots in the morning, becoming variable at 10 knots or less, creating wind waves of 2 feet or less on a west swell of 3 to 5 feet at 11 seconds. Tonight, winds will be northerly at 10 to 15 knots, making wind waves of 2 feet or less on a west swell of 2 to 4 feet at 11 seconds.

TODAY'S FORECAST Expect clouds and fog this morning, with gradual clearing to mostly sunny skies by afternoon and a high of 70. Tonight, clouds and a low of 57. Information: www.weather.com FIVE-DAY FORECAST Sunday Mostly cloudy 70 ° high/ 58 low Monday Mostly sunny 66 ° high/ 59 low Tuesday Sunny 67 ° high/ 60 low Wednesday Sunny 72 ° high/ 61 low Thursday Sunny 72 ° high/ 60 low ALMANAC One year ago today The high was 70 and the low was 60. Total precipitation was 0 inches.

Mariners used to toss a wooden log overboard, and while its line spooled out, they would count each of the knots that passed through their hands. After 28 seconds, they recorded their boat's speed in knots, or nautical miles per hour. Today, 200 years later, boaters look at their digital instrument panel and still see their speed in knots. That tradition was nearly subverted when the Newport Beach Harbor Commission voted in April to change the city's municipal code to measure speed in miles per hour, a slightly slower measure than knots.

Editor's note: This corrects the day the crews were expected to arrive in Ensenada. NEWPORT BEACH – Amid a light breeze and sunny skies, racers set sail Friday afternoon in the 64th annual Newport-to-Ensenada International Yacht Race. Winning the first start was defending champion Taxi Dancer, a 68-foot bright yellow yacht from Santa Barbara. Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes, from San Diego, followed close behind. While the breeze showed promise early — at about 6 knots in the morning — by the time the gun fired at noon, it had dropped to about 3 or 4 knots from the west.

NEWPORT BEACH — The city is creating a special permitting process to allow sail and crew racers to exceed the harbor's 5-knot speed limit. Five knots equals 5 nautical miles per hour, or an approximate speed of 5.75 mph. After years of discussion and various proposals, the Harbor Commission, Orange County Sheriff's Department's Harbor Patrol, boating organizations and city officials appear to have agreed on a concept. It would allow groups such as yacht clubs and collegiate associations to apply for a permit before a given regatta — both for sailboats and crew boats — and any practices leading up to the races.

ABOARD THE ALASKA EAGLE, off South Georgia Island — With 30 knots of wind behind us, Alaska Eagle was flying along at 11 knots. Suddenly we found ourselves in fog with 200 feet of visibility. "Up for ice!" Peter called from the mast. As we quickly turned toward the wind, a golf cart-sized chunk of glacier slid by to starboard. In clear weather, the ice is easy to spot by our four lookouts, but the fog now demands more attention; hitting a ton or two of a bit of iceberg can do serious damage.

ABOARD THE ALASKA EAGLE, off Cape Horn — We are anchored in Martial Cove on Herschel Island, just eight miles north of Cape Horn. The wind is howling through the rigging at a steady 40 knots, with gusts up to 50 knots. The Alaska Eagle is sailing back and forth on her tandem anchors and heeling over in the gusts. Sometimes a blast shakes the mast and the whole boat vibrates. Even in this well-protected cove, 2-foot foot waves are rolling past us, and the lead-gray sea is covered with streaks of white.

Earlier this month, "Wedding Day Makeover" premiered on TLC. The show, which follows brides-to-be as they decide on their pre-wedding beauty regimen, will feature a local salon. Design Visage, a Newport Beach business near John Wayne Airport, was selected to style 21 of the 50 brides featured in the series. Owner Caren Lazarus is a pioneer in the bridal industry. In 1991, the Los Angeles Times published a story on her as the first to market specifically to brides. Now her salon, an Orange County institution since 1986, styles 500 weddings a year.

Our warm boating weather will take a slight change of course this weekend with cooler temperatures and the chance of showers. The weather system will cause the Pacific swells off Newport to build up to 6-feet and tapering off to more than 3-feet by Monday. If the rains hold off, sailing inside the harbor will be good, as the winds are expected to reach Force 5 on Saturday before dropping to Force 3 on Sunday. “Force what?” The Beaufort Scale of Wind Force was developed in 1805 by Adm. Sir Francis Beaufort as he would determine the wind force by conditions of the seas.

NEWPORT BEACH — No two days are alike, not even with seemingly perfect Southern Californian weather. The second day of the 43rd annual Governor’s Cup International Junior Match Racing Championship on Thursday was so windy that the Gov Cup race committee had to review how strong the wind had to be before the boats could not use their spinnaker sails. At 18 knots, the spinnakers on the Governor’s Cup 21, a boat designed by the Commodore of Balboa Yacht Club Alan Andrews, cannot be used.

More than 50% of marriages in California end in divorce. That’s a fact. Of the remaining 50%, about 40% are unhappy. That’s my speculation, based on years of observation (it doesn’t take much, just watch them bickering at the mall, at the beach, at amusement parks). Also: listening. When married folk get away from each other, and get a few belts in them, the nasty truth comes out. Yet everyone I know wants to get married at one time or another. In my book, that leaves a 90% failure rate and a 10% intelligence rate.

Many of the gay couples who walked up the steps of the old courthouse in Santa Ana to get married Tuesday have been committed partners for decades — perhaps none longer than Newport Beach couple Rich Videgain and Jim Carroll. The spouses exchanged golden wedding rings as younger men in a car overlooking the city lights somewhere on the Palos Verdes Peninsula 33 years ago. Tuesday, they exchanged the same rings in a far less idyllic setting. Cameramen swarmed the courthouse doors when they swung open at 8 a.m. A handful of protesters held signs and yelled slogans and the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, which grants marriage licenses and had taken 60 appointments — double its normal volume.