It now seems likely that Hawaii will be dropped as a stopover on leg 5 meaning that the 09-10 crews will experience a gruelling 6 week crossing of the pacific without seeing any land whatsoever. Crews will see some dramatic weather changes again as they sail out of Qingdao. It is quite possible they will see some snow when they leave China and it will be quite chilly at sea. The precise location of the stopover in California is likely to be between Santa Cruz, where Clipper stopped in 07-08, and Saulsalito.
Ironically the term Pacific Ocean comes from the Latin for peaceful sea. The reality is quite different. The Pacific is prone to many typhoons, the equivalent of Atlantic hurricanes, that batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes and tsunamis. That aside, the journey east to Hawaii and beyond to the west coast of California should be relatively easy going! Well at least it looks peaceful from this photograph taken as an orbital sunset.
The Pacific is truly huge and by far the worlds largest ocean. It accounts for nearly 46% of the world's oceans on its own and reflects 1/3rd of the earths surface in total - greater than the total land mass. If you turn your globe to the correct position, you can hardly see any land facing you!
In 05-06 the Clipper fleet endured a particularly challenging passage across the north Pacific to Vancouver Island with horrendous seas, ice, snow and sub zero temperatures. The route for 07-08 and 09-10 provides a slightly more moderate route.
Santa Cruz, is 100% American and provides a gateway to the many attractions of California from San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ukiah (!). Well maybe. Get beyond the city limits to the north of San Francisco and you come to Sausalito, a beautiful town that is the gateway to the Napa Valley and some serious wine tasting.
California is not particularly a world leader in environmental issues but is pretty strong on organic farming and has previously promoted a moratorium on engineered crops. Their main strategies appear to focus on renewable energy sources.
Benchmark data for the 07-08 race showed the fleet leaving Qingdao on 24 February and arriving in Hawaii on 20 March. They left Hawaii on race 8 around 26 March with an arrival in Santa Cruz around 9 April. With no Hawaii stopover in 09-10, I would expect the fleet to arrive around 1- 4 April 2010.
Ironically the term Pacific Ocean comes from the Latin for peaceful sea. The reality is quite different. The Pacific is prone to many typhoons, the equivalent of Atlantic hurricanes, that batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes and tsunamis. That aside, the journey east to Hawaii and beyond to the west coast of California should be relatively easy going! Well at least it looks peaceful from this photograph taken as an orbital sunset.
Santa Cruz, is 100% American and provides a gateway to the many attractions of California from San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ukiah (!). Well maybe. Get beyond the city limits to the north of San Francisco and you come to Sausalito, a beautiful town that is the gateway to the Napa Valley and some serious wine tasting.