In October of 1939, the German U-boat U-47 crept into Scapa Flow through Kirk Sound and sunk the British battleship Royal Oak. To protect Scapa Flow, Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, ordered the construction of barriers across the eastern side of Scapa Flow. 66,000 locally cast concrete blocks were dropped onto a…
Tag Archives | Nordhavn
Managing Fuel Quality
When we left Seattle on our trip around the world, we were expecting fuel quality issues to be common and carried 48 Racor 900 fuel filters. Surprisingly, we used less than ten on the entire trip. Most of the fuel we got world-wide was surprisingly good. We did encounter some minor fuel quality issues, but…
Scapa Flow Museum
Scapa Flow, a large bay in the center of the Orkney Islands, was the base for the British Fleet during the two World Wars. The former Royal Navy base at Lyness now is the Scapa Flow Visitor Center and Museum, covering the history of the area and it’s use as a naval base, plus lots…
Longhope
The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) is an amazing life-saving group. They are supported by donations, and most of those out there risking their lives in maritime rescues are volunteers. The RNLI serves the UK and Ireland, and operates in some very difficult sea conditions. The Longhope RNLI station on Hoy Island in the Orkney…
GREECE AND TURKEY’S WAR OF WORDS
Envoy is now in Lefkas Marina for the winter and we’re home in Auckland for the southern hemisphere summer.Turkey and Greece have fought each other for centuries and during the period of 400 hundred years or so when Turkey occupied large parts of Gree…
Orkney Islands Arrival
The currents around the Orkney Islands are among the swiftest in Great Britain. Currents in the Pentland Firth separating the islands from mainland Scotland can reach nine knots on spring tides and powerful tide rips form on the west-bound current, particularly in an opposing wind. We had lovely, calm conditions on our overnight run from…
Saying Bye To The Bay
We’ve had a great time on The Chesapeake this year and we’re somewhat sad to say it’s time to head South. Though on this day, the weather is beautiful and it’s forecast to be this way for a while longer, we know cold and colder is inevitable — so…
This year was just a continuation of our normal cruising habits, we carried on by revisiting our favorite places and discovering a few new ones, making new friends while catching up with a few old amigos.
We’ve really enjoyed connecting with Jenny and Ted, our running buddies aboard Southern Star. Jenny, a Kiwi, gave us Yanks an excellent tour of our nation’s capitol and it’s history. We’re all hoping to cross paths again before they start their long and epic passage back home to New Zealand. Yes, as it ofttimes happens, the last minute decision to ditch plans and run up the Potomac to DC was one of our all time better redirects. A large time was had, a capitol idea. (pun intended)
Mostly good experiences and nothing but great memories.
It truly has been a pleasant trip and at this point in our boating life, pleasant is what we’re looking for. No, our run’s not over; we’ve still got a lot cruising to do. As written in an earlier post, point A and point B is the same place to us and that would be Jupiter, but who knows where we’ll indulge an impulse and, again, alter plans for the better. With all that said, we do look forward to going home and spending some time by the beach. Life’s pleasant there as well.
And then there’s Memphis —
We’ll be adding more pics as we get the time and motivation.
Adios, Chesapeake — Good fortune and good health allowing, we’ll do it again.
…
Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
Saying Bye To The Bay
We’ve have a great time on The Chesapeake this year, but we’re sad to say, it’s time to head South. Today, the weather is beautiful and it’s forecast to be this way for a few more days, but we know cold and colder is inevitable — so…
I’ve collected a few pics of the Chesapeake/Potomac portion of this years cruise and posted them here.
Revisiting our favorite places and discovering a few new ones, we’ve made new friends while catching up with a few old compadres.
We’ve really enjoyed connecting with Jenny and Ted, our running buddies aboard Southern Star. We’re all hoping to cross paths again before they start their long and epic passage back home to New Zealand. Yes, as it ofttimes happens, the last minute decision to ditch plans and run up the Potomac to DC was one of our all time better redirects. A large time was had, a capitol idea. (pun intended)
Mostly good experiences and nothing but great memories.
It has truly has been a pleasant trip and a this point in our cruising life, pleasant is what we’re looking for. No, our run’s not over; we’ve still got a lot cruising to do. As written in an earlier post, point A and point B is the same place to us and that would be Jupiter, but who knows where we’ll make another last minute decision and alter plans for the better. With all that said, we do look forward to going home and spending some time by the beach. Life’s pleasant there as well.
And then there’s Memphis —
We’ll be adding more pics as we get the time and motivation.
Adios, Chesapeake — Good fortune and good health allowing, we’ll do it again.
…
Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
St. Kilda
Historic St. Kilda is on the edge of the edge. Lying 40nm west of the Outer Hebrides, the archipelago has no all-weather anchorage and is exposed to the full force of Atlantic storms. The islands are the first Scottish UNESCO World-Heritage Site and Scotland’s only Natural World Heritage site. The dramatic scenery there is enough…
Stornoway
As is often the case, once we’d arrived in Stornoway we liked our berth and the town so much that we immediately extended our stay from four days to a week. We toured the Isle of Lewis, walked all over town, reprovisioned, visited the excellent Museum nan Eilean and, of course, checked out the local…
