Tag Archives | trawler

Solomons Island and Irma

By on September 10, 2017 in Istaboa

Yep, another beautiful Sunday morning after a somewhat sleepless night.

There’s a loss for words when trying to describe the feeling while looking out the salon window. Out there, the reality is the beginning of another beautiful day within the protected shores of Solomons tranquil little harbor. Meanwhile, at home, in Jupiter, our house is being pounded and our friends, who have stayed put, are confronting Hurricane Irma that’s forecast to be bearing down on South Florida. (See live video of the effects of Irma here: NPBM)

Below, in the video that’s streaming from a front window at Spearfish, as I write this, not much is happening. It looks just like last year’s Hurricane Mathew that passed by without doing much damage.

Hope it stays that way.

Guilty is certainly not the descriptor that comes to mind, though anxious is definitely in the mix. Conflicted doesn’t seem to fit either.
Is there a word that combines fortunate and grateful? If so, that’s it.

And then I turn and look out the salon window again —

Yes, anxious, fortunate, and grateful applies.

Our thoughts are with everyone in the path of Irma. For those who stayed, please be safe. For those of us with property in Florida — it’s just stuff.

Adios,

Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa

It’s Time To Go

By on September 10, 2017 in aCappella

After 5+ weeks here in our beloved Castine, it is time to go. We have monitored the storms, checked the weather, and Red Head is prepped for passage. We’ll safely eke our way south, moving whenever we can.Goodbye Castine. Goodbye dear friends. We love …

Back the Trent-Severn

By on September 9, 2017 in M/V Maerin

    Campfire at Kirkfield Lock We left Swift Rapids on Tuesday the 29th of August, for a leisurely pace back through the Trent-Severn Waterway over the period of a week, stopping at some of the places we stopped on the trip west, with the difference that our stopoververs were overnight, moving on the next […]

2017-08 Prepping for a San Francisco Southbound Cruise

By on September 9, 2017 in Wild Blue

A quiet cruising summer aboard Wild Blue is about to change.

Boat cruising activity aboard Wild Blue has been in a slump over 2017’s summer.  We’ve made just three cruises to the California Delta including a short cruise to Half Moon Bay.  O…

2017-08 Prepping for a San Francisco Southbound Cruise

By on September 9, 2017 in Wild Blue

A quiet cruising summer aboard Wild Blue is about to change.Boat cruising activity aboard Wild Blue has been in a slump over 2017’s summer.  We’ve made just three cruises to the California Delta including a short cruise to Half Moon Bay.  Ove…

9 September 2017 Renwick Gallery Washington, DC

By on September 9, 2017 in Kindred Spirit III
                                               Renwick Gallery

     This gallery fancies itself being America’s Louvre and it is quite interesting.




      The most fascinating display is the Parallax Gap, made of separate layers, suspended from the ceiling, and occupying the entire length of the Renwick Gallery. It transforms the upstairs into a visual puzzle with its multiple vanishing points. The 9 layers depict different ceilings in iconic American buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries.



     Installed near or on top of one another, they create layers that, depending on my position, appear totally different and change as I walk about beneath this suspension, looking up. 

     It plays with the ideas of depth and perspective offering many vantage points to appreciate the work. Parallax is defined as how the distance or depth of objects appear to vary when viewed from different lines of sight and this is most certainly THAT!!!  

     

     Without a doubt, this is the focal point of the entire gallery but there are also other works of interest.

           This bench looked inviting and I really did want to try it out!


 This soft and inviting looking pillow is actually carved from a chunk of marble.




     At first glance, Ghost Clock, appears to be a Grandfather Clock covered with a white sheet but it’s a sculpture hand carved from a block of  laminated mahogany. Its silence suggests eternity—the absence of time. I need to feel things and was so tempted to touch even though the sign said not. I had no idea that there’s a motion sensor that would tell the entire gallery that I’d transgressed and I’d have been mortified.

    Nothing special–just interesting and pretty building I liked as I meandered. It’s now a bank.

                                          








                                                  Reagan Memorial






Till later–
Bill and Laura


8 September 2017 – A DC Day Out on the Town

By on September 8, 2017 in Kindred Spirit III
      


     

     This morning, at the Washington Post, I had the good fortune of attending a breakfast and interview with Wilber Ross, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. James Hohmann, interviewer for the Post, (of which I’ve become quite fond), is a national political correspondent who interviews decision-makers on the most relevant news having to do with their jobs. So this morning, it was 79 year old Mr. Ross on the stage with Mr. Hohhmann.



     The two discussed the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the playing field for international trade, the tax reform push, and other pressing economic issues, including hurricane recovery. Mr. Ross commented on the relationship between the White House and business leaders; the disbandment of the president’s manufacturing and economic councils. “What’s sad is for business leaders to give up an opportunity to influence policy over some singular issue with which they disagree. I don’t think that’s very considered.”

     This was to begin at 9 AM and it did—on the dot!!! It ran about 5 minutes over but no one seemed to object. It was a very informative morning.



Trump Hotel

                                                                                          Trump Hotel Lobby


     Long ago when the old Post Office was just that, Bill and I toured it and went up into the tower so I was curious as to what it looks like now as a Trump Hotel. I’d have never recognized it for what it used to be. Quite opulent but then what would you expect. The bar must have hundreds of bottles! I’ve never seen so much booze.

 I was happy to see that they kept the funny little circular radiators surrounding the columns. 


     It was suggested I visit the Willard Hotel and it is so classic and grand old elegance. I love the old teeny tiny tiled floor. I’ve never seen tiles so small. Can’t image “back then” the back breaking job of laying those.




     Charmaine invited me to her office for lunch in their cafeteria. This is an international legal firm of 2800 attorneys but in her building there are just a mere 1000. Instead of an office building it looks like a high end hotel and resort. Lawyer’s offices line each side of the halls—each of the 11 floors is laid out in a square, and are glass walls—no wood anywhere. The door to each office slides and when it’s closed, all mayhem could break out in there and you wouldn’t hear a sound. The cafeteria reminded me of the unlimited choices on a cruise ship. The good was quite appealing to my taste buds and tastefully presented. We took our meals and went to the roof where there are tables, umbrellas, comfy chairs, and a beautiful view accompanied by a cooling breeze. She works really hard but to come to work in a place this majestic and beautiful would be wonderful. The architects, decorators, and landscapers spared no cost to make this building a work of art.



     Day is done and tomorrow’s calendar is jam-packed so looking forward to another great day.

Sylken Sea Update

By on September 8, 2017 in Sylken Sea

Been awhile, no excuse. Home projects, family, golf…….you understand I’m sure.  We were hauled in Antigua, doing some really neat upgrades, will post details, stand by.

Irma

By on September 8, 2017 in Sylken Sea

It is painful to watch the destruction this storm has inflicted and we fear that many of our friends will be affected.  These are wonderful islands, warm friendly people many of whom do not have the resources that we take for granted. Many of the …

Wilderness – Not Wilderness

By on September 7, 2017 in M/V Alpenglow

Every year on our journey south from SE Alaska, one of the difficult adjustments we have to make is to the increased number of boaters in anchorages the further south we go. 

In SE Alaska, we become accustom to being the only boat in an anchorage.  Occasionally, we will share an anchorage with 1 or 2 other boats.  In the most popular anchorages, a half-dozen is a crowd.  The same goes for many of the northern BC anchorages if you aren’t on the main route of Grenville Channel/Princess Royal Channel (aka “the Ditch”).

The photo below is taken on a paddle from our anchorage in Tuwartz Inlet at the south end of Pitt Island which we had to ourselves.

2017-08-015_stitch

The closer you get to the major population centers of Vancouver/Victoria, the anchorages get more and more crowded.  The photo below was taken in Montague Harbour on Galliano Island on Labor Day weekend.

2017-09-004_StitchX

While we prefer the more secluded anchorage, the crowded anchorage can be lovely and pleasant.  The key is setting your expectations appropriately (e.g., don’t expect solitude on Labor Day weekend in the Gulf Islands).

Ultimately, it is the memory of that first photo that gives us the motivation to travel those many miles each season back to SE Alaska.