Atlantic Crossing

Half way across the Atlantic Ocean on a Clipper Tall Ship - Canaries to Barbados Transatlantic crossing sunset at 19.13N & 42.06W

More navel business in Marrakech

On a trip across the ocean it is sometimes to easy to confuse naval exercise with navel exercise.... our overnight trip from Casablanca to Marrakech featured the inevitable belly dancing performance while we ate dinner.  Mohammed the guide was a high pressure connection dude detouring us through many of his cronies stores in the medina souk of Marrakech hoping for high kickbacks.  He did not bargain for this group's reticence in making yet more useless acquisitions and nearly had a revolt on his hands. 

Taking the Pilot onboard at Tenerife, Canaries

On November 13th we approached Santa Cruz de Tenerife, one the main islands of the Canaries in the Atlantic. The pilot climbs aboard to guide the Royal Clipper into Tenerife harbour.

Tram #28 is full of pick-pockets

Throughout Lisbon's streets these small and ancient one car trams navigate their way along their rail tracks. Tram line #28 is the line that goes through the area with the most tourist appeal and hence has the reputation for being favoured by local pickpockets as the line with the richest pickings!!

 

More photos from Lisbon click here

Lisbon's famed Fado performance

The rich sadness of the Fado singers comes from the huge sadness of the loss of husband or lover who left Lisbon on a voyage of exploration and never returned. 

Torre de Belem - Lisbon, Portugal

The Tower of Belem symbolizes the great age of Portuguese World exploration - built 1515 it is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.....

Waiting for Hurricane Sandy....

Obviously Channel 8 News out of Richmond knows something we don't! Their news truck stood by waiting for high water by the condomimium on Prince Street and were sorely disappointed - they should have gone North a couple hundred miles... thank goodnes for us!

Here comes the Bride

Jahantab and Laree nuptials celebrated on the Inner Harbor at Baltimore one day before Hurricane Sandy sweeps in - married in the nick of time!

Weather station for Harborside

Another Digital Wisdom project installing a Davis weather reporting station at Harborside Storage and Garrett's Marina - see http://www.harborsidestorage.com/weather/Current_Vantage_Pro_Plus.htm for the current weather conditions in the area!

West Coast Treats HQ

Treats at the FurBall.....

Nothing quite like dessert at the Jefferson scene of the annual FurBall fund raiser by the Richmond SPCA - this white and dark chocolate dessert was a play on dog treats for the owners.

Another Beautiful Morning.... After the Disaster

Squashed Pontoon Boat!

Remains of the Devastation!

Over the House......

Last Trunk Removed Showing Boathouse Damage

Inches to spare!

Oak Trunk Disease Revealed

Tree Removal at RYC

Autumn foliage at RYC

Dock Forested

Remaining Oak Leans Over House

Catastrophe at RYC

CBF alongside

Chesapeake Bay Foundation work boat Bea Hayman Clark, a fifty foot Evans 50 captained by Jimmy came alongside RYC dock overnight before taking aboard a bunch of Teachers on the Bay for a trip upriver to Wheatlands Wharf.

RYC menu today

Specials today - tarragon & olive drizzled grilled soft shelled crabs over Strugatsky sourdough slices, frisée and strawberries from the farmers market!

Woke up too early this morning...

Birds having a conversation in the Galapagos....

Птица с клювом открытом говорят ... Сын, это время дляэтого разговора о птица и пчелы ..

Welcome to a New Day!

Almost every day we are treated to a stunning sun rise looking South East down the Rappahannock River....

Flying over Andros Island in the Bahamas

Some days wonderful vistas just come along as in the afternoon flight
to Miami, we cross the Western shore of the main Bahamas island of
Andros and strat our descent to MIA.

Sailing off the mooring

Ukrainean captain Sergei shows off his skills by hoisting anchor and the main jib and staysail to aweigh at Antigua

Headless man found on Gustavia street

Should I call the Gendarmerie and report this crime?

Wearing my navigation chart just in case

Last evening on board SPV Star Clipper at St Barthelemy, Gustavia harbor. The Swedish shipping line owner, Michael Kraft, has just come on board to do quality control over Christmas week!

Le Select

St Barth's famous cafe offering the Burger in Paradise as the Jimmy Buffett song promised...

Leaving Guadeloupe

Splendid maneuver by the captain as he raises his anchor at Les Saintes and sails out of the anchorage.... although he does have the engine running ! The Star Clipper sails out at sunset between the rocky outcrops guarding the little bay and we steer W by NW leaving the main island of Guadeloupe to starboard. Then we settle down to captain's dinner with Lobster and Baked Alaska in the lee of the island!

Ziplines in the Antiguan rain forest

A dozen Zipline transfer lines slice through the rain forest canopy across deep ravines and jungle - this line is over 350 ft - just a little faith needed! Two stainless steel cables and two trolleys lend some confidence to the venture - it seems to improve considerably before the short last transfer and your safe return back to the good ship Star Flyer....

Star Clipper at anchor in Antigua

Time to experiment with my new App called Hipstamatic. This photo enhancing iPhone app has about a dozen different lenses that can be selected and then another 6 to 8 films style to select. There are several other options but just messing about with the combination of films and lenses gives enough variations to swamp you! After much experimentation there are two lenses I like and a couple of different films I keep returning to. This is a combination using Hipstamatic Kaimal Mark II lens and Kodot XGrizzled film.

For more fun Hipstamatic results check out http://www.panoramio.com/user/2134453/tags/Hipstamatic

Sugar Cane Central

Nevis small footprint in the Caribbean owes much to its bygone fame as one of the main sugar cane production centers hence the iron cauldrons for sugar reduction. Now it is left with converted mills into splendid top chain resorts such as the Hermitage, the Golden Rock, and Montpellier - once a Lady Di retreat.

Cruisers are worked hard

The inmates are running the ship... passengers are put to work hauling the main staysail as we leave Nevis. No grog being handed out here!

How do you make a Maltese cross?

Stamp on his foot ... of course!

Last time we were onboard the Star Flyer in Tahiti, we sailed under a Luxembourg flag... some deal with the EU benefits from having a ship built in Belgium. Now we are under the flag of Malta with the Maltese Cross flying on the stem of the Star Clipper. Apparently Malta is one of the few Euro zone countries where payroll taxes are not mandatory for the multi-national crew on the ship. Our crew hails mostly from India (engine room and deck hands), Thailand (dining and kitchen), Sweden (sports and social), Russia (sail riggers), Polish and Ukrainain (captain and officers who trained in the Soviet Navy tall ships) - and us the common cruisers mostly from US, UK, Canada, Germany, and a few other motley sources.

Moored alongside Eclipse

Sharing the dock at St. Marten is the mega-yacht Eclipse with Larry Ellison's Oracle II moored right behind her.... have we arrived at the right dock? Almost... Star Clipper awaits us... 98 passengers on this trip!

Made it across the beach to the runway

Always fun landing at St. Maarten and frightening the living daylights out the people tanning themselves on the beach... runway starts 50 ft from the beach and it is a short runway so they have to get their little wheels down as fast as possible!

Landing on the sea at St. Martin

ETOPS waypoint Bermuda

Two engine jets are regulated by ETOPS rules which limit the distance
to the nearest airport should one engine fail (never mind two
engines!). The flight from Philadelphia makes a direct course to
Bermuda, and with the island in sight in the distance makes a gentle
right-hand turn towards the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean.

Experimenting with Hipstamatic filters

Next flight and time to waste sitting in Philadelphia and experiment with the John S lens and Kodot XGrizzled film... after they removed the lavatory pumping truck!

Breaking hard at Philly

City o Brotherly Love does not look so welcoming at 7 in the morning, however we are only here for a few minutes then onto our long ETOPS flight down to SXM.

Early morning flight out of DCA

Always a lot of anticipation at the start of a trip, will we make the flight, will we get bumped, will the flight be delayed, etc, dozens of things to go wrong which we have experienced most of in our recent travels. Nothing like a weight lifting off you as the plane gets airborne, at least you are now on your way. Here we are at Reagan National waiting for baggage to load in the wee hours of the morning....

Kofte on the grill ce soir!

Playing with Hipstamatic filters

RYC Visitor

This little creature got greedy and found himself trapped in a crab pot! There was a small amount of fish bait left in the trap which attracted this possum.... he went in the trap the same way the crab does, had his fill, and proceeded to the second chamber where I found him. After consulting with animal control and Google we decided his fate... release.... he does more good than harm! Not the fate reserved for groundhogs!

Bumper Blue Crab Haul: 40!