Our 2018 summer was mostly unremarkable, the bulk of our time spent at our “home” base at Stansbury, tending to aging parents, enjoying crabs from Frank’s crab outings, lots of dog swimming, Mexican Train, and enjoyable times with good friends. We planned to depart Sept. 15, much earlier than our typical end of October departure, […]
A Change of Scenery
With a favorable forecast for the Strait of Georgia, we reluctantly say goodbye to Rekindle and Navigator and depart Van Donnop anchorage at first light for a 62 mile run down the strait to our anchorage in Tribune Bay on Hornby Island. Seeing several whale spouts, we make a stop to see what is going […]
Akrafjorden
Langfossen gushes into the Akrafjorden from 2,008ft (612m) above, with a vertical drop of 400ft (122m). The waterfall was rated the best in Norway in the World Waterfall Database (and the best in the world using an earlier rating system). After a 60-mile run from Bergen to the Romsa Islands, the following day we made…
Oct 5 – Boundary Breaks Vineyard
Wine is sunlight held together by water. — Galileo Galilei
Friday was beautiful day so we took advantage of having one last picnic on the lawn of a winery. We chose Boundary Breaks Vineyard on Seneca Lake. They have a gorgeous place over looking the lake. The wine was wonderful, the scenery amazing, the food was enjoyable, but company was the best part of the day.
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Mt. Floyen to Mt. Ulriken
A popular outing for Bergen residents is the 8-mile (13km) hike between Mt. Floyen and Mt. Ulriken. With a funicular railway at one end and a cable car at the other, you don’t have to climb up or down to take in the sweeping city views at each summit. The cable car at Mt. Ulriken…
On The Road Again
The Red Head crew left Solomons this morning to begin the slow ramble south. Everyone was happy to be on the move again. Each crew member found the perfect spot.Dee Dee positioned herself in the shade with a cool breeze.Dora found the sunny spot.Handso…
Subscription Preference Control
MVDirona.com subscribers will have noticed our richer new subscription emails, giving pictures and details for each event. What is less obvious is that you can now select how often you want to receive updates and what you want to be notified about. The bottom of the subscription mail shows the current settings: To add yourself…
Bergen Arrival
Seven mountains surround Bergen and the city rises up from vibrant Vagan Harbour into the steep hills behind. We moored right downtown and spent our first day on a walking tour of Norway’s second-largest city. It’s easy to see why many consider Bergen to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Below…
Change of Seasons
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
Fall brings all kinds of changes…the weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing color, the days are getting shorter and it’s almost time for us to put The Pearl away for the winter. We feel like we have the best of two worlds, a beautiful place to escape the hot Texas summers and another to escape the long cold winters of upstate New York. The bonus is we have family in each place that we can play with and share our life with. I thought I’d share a few pictures of our marinas…we like them both.
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Herdla
Herdla, a small island north of Bergen, is full of military ruins. During World War II, the occupying German forces turned most of the island into a military base and built an air strip and torpedo battery there. Norway kept the torpedo battery in operation during the Cold War, modernizing it several times until it…
