I wasn’t going to do a blog entry today, just a video but decided to call it quits a bit early and enjoy the remainder of a nice, but cool day.I know you’ve all been waiting anxiously for the next Sandinsanity Video so here it is!Had to tape my GoPro t…
hot, hot,
Hi everyone, I have been having problems with the computer and this blog site but will attempt anyway. So far i am still at Mangoes Marina my parts arrived yesterday so will be in the engine room this aftermoon attenpting repairs to th generator, yes …
hot, hot,
Hi everyone, I have been having problems with the computer and this blog site but will attempt anyway. So far i am still at Mangoes Marina my parts arrived yesterday so will be in the engine room this aftermoon attenpting repairs to th generator, yes …
THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGES OF MADONIE REGIONAL PARK
Our last posting included a picture of a classic-looking 90 metre older-style ship. A reader informs us this is in fact a vessel called Nero, built in China in 2007 and currently for sale at 60 million Euros. But although a replica she still looks great.
With Doug and Mary we hired a car and driver for a day tour of mountain villages near Cefalu within the Madonie Regional Park on Sicily’s central northern coast.
Morning coffee in the village of Glatteri with our guide, Marco
The Gibilmanna monastery and its church dating from the 17th century were of special significance to Marco as he got married here
The monastery’s stunning gold altar
A beautiful archway leads into a hidden courtyard
The mountains of the Regional Park rise to nearly 2,000 metres
At the village of Pollina we came across a group of young boys playing soccer and Mary asked them to line up for a group photo – they were happy to oblige
Pollina is set on a mountain top
View of Cefalu area from Pollina
Laurie, Di, Mary and Doug at Pollina
Nuvarra is yet another stunning village
Our favourite village was Castelbuono where we enjoyed a sumptuous lunch of wild boar hocks in the stunning wood-paneled Ristorante Nangalarruni, set in the middle of a maze of cobbled lanes – we’d never have found it without our guide.
Wild boar hocks for lunch
The castle here was built in 1316 and remains in great shape, supposedly haunted by a ghostly apparition of Queen Constance Chiaramonte.
After leaving Cefalu we’d planned to berth at Marina Capo D’Orlando. Arriving outside the marina with a 20 knot onshore wind and one to two metre swells we peered inside but couldn’t see any yacht masts or larger motor vessels, but did notice some sand banks and apparent silting. Not wanting to take any chances in the adverse lee-shore conditions we cruised on to anchor inside a lagoon sheltered by an extensive sandbank south east of Capo Tindari, near the village of Marinello. While most of the anchorages along this coast are fully exposed except to the south, this one had reasonable shelter from all directions except the east, and we stayed a couple of nights.
August is peak holiday time and ashore is busy with mostly local tourists, while large RHIBs between five to nine metres predominate on the water. There are no apparent safe boating regulations, such as we have in New Zealand, so all day long RHIBs, jet skis, ferries and other vessels travel at speed close inshore and close to other vessels, creating large wakes and making us thankful for our flopper stoppers.
TECHNICAL – nothing to report
But What About Istaboa?
Once again, Istaboa is our dream being realized. Some will remember…
And, yes I know, there are those who feel there’s no better life than full time living aboard our boats, but we’ve been doing the cruising thing for many years. We like to think of the boat life as a dream being realized, but sometimes, for us anyway, it’s fun to hop on the bus and say — there’s no place like home — and our dream remains floating somewhere awaiting our return.
Istaboa also has a new home in Jupiter where we bought her a slip. She’ll only be a couple of miles away and when we’re not cruising, I’ll enjoy her everyday as my office.
She’ll return to her previous role, no longer home, but our escape.
And a great escape she is.
Adios,
Istaboa
Memphis Downtown
9/22/2014 – Monday – New Orleans Play Day
The weather is not looking too good for our crossing to Biloxi on Wednesday. They are calling for 15 to 20 kts wind with 3 to 5 foot seas. This is not good for our kind of boat. We don’t do rock and roll!!!! It looks like we wil…
9/21/2014 – Sunday – New Orleans Pontchartrain Landing
Today was “boat chore” day! We did laundry, I cleaned the inside of the of boat, cleaned a little outside of the boat, Josh cleaned out the dinghy and we went grocery shopping.Early evening, we stopped by More Good Timin’ for a shared drink and s…
Day 255…Autumn Equinox
Welcome to day 255 of 365 photos…The Autumn (Autumnal) Equinox is here!! Well, not quite yet, as I am writing this in early afternoon and the official time that the equinox begins in 2014 is 10:29 PM (EDT). I am originally from Pennsylvania and I also lived in Maine for a lot of years. Autumn, […]
The post Day 255…Autumn Equinox appeared first on Moosetique Musing.
Sony Alpha 7 Camera Series – Further Evaluation
With the day-to-day pressure on the FPB 78 Series winding down we’ve had time to do some more camera testing. The goal is maximum quality for minimum hassle, with a high degree of portability. We loaded up the four wheel drive Honda Pilot and meandered north. Although we had our Canon pro DSLR camera bodies […]
Our House
Our house is a very, very fine house
with two dogs in the yard…
Okay, I took liberties with the old CS&N tune and the rest of it doesn’t apply, but you get the point.
Picking up from the last post — Like the tide, change is rising and about to wash over us part?
Well, the little house in the above photo is the catalyst for these changes.
Meet ‘Spearfish’, our little bungalow by the sea in Jupiter, FL
Going on 15 years now, Crew Istaboa has cruised the watery stretches between the Gulf Coast, the Keys, the East Coast, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Bahamas. All along the way, in every marina where we’d tie up, Mel and I would take time to imagine what it’d be like to reside in that particular place. We explored each one thoroughly and they were all contenders in the hunt for the eventual/inevitable dirt dwelling where we knew one day we’d settle in.
Yes, we’ve unintentionally annoyed many realtors throughout the course of our travels.
For the last couple of years, The Jupiter area has become our home-port to return to.
For Florida, Jupiter’s a fairly progressive/live and let live kinda place. We enjoy it’s good food, the nice folks, and it’s seemingly kind attitude. Even during season the traffic’s not too bad, and the water’s truly beautiful.
Jupiter has one of the best beaches on the East Coast. It’s a dog friendly stretch of shoreline and seems pretty human friendly as well. We’ve found we like it here much. The Boyz love the beach and they’re really gonna enjoy the freedom that comes with the small fenced yard.
So unless something unforeseeable happens with our real estate transaction, it appears, on dry land anyway, we’ve finally found what we’re looking for. Or, maybe it found us.
And, we’ll call this home –> ‘Spearfish’.
Another chapter in our story.
More later —
Adios,
Istaboa
Memphis Downtown


