Happy New Year

We're going back to our old boat home... Pickwick Lake, Tennessee.
Old friends and a New Year, should be fun.

Hope everyone has a fun night.
Stay safe.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Christmas Has Past

And if you've survived, (relatively), unscathed — Watch This

You still have the weekend ahead.

Happy Friday.





Cheers,

Istaboa

Merry Christmas

Dominic, The Pit Bull

Love this story.

Dominic the pit bull is a pro cuddler, and he's using his gift to help comfort injured and sick animals at the shelter that saved him.

 

Story continues below.


Dominic, who is just 18 weeks old, was rescued along with a litter of other puppies when police raided a Denver home, according to the Greeley Tribune. Due to Denver's pit bull ban, the then 7-week-old pup was sent to the Denkai Community Veterinary Clinic, in Greeley, Colo., which rescues domestic and farm animals.

Vet tech Stephany Haswell agreed to foster Dominic and was soon won over by his sweet nature.

Haswell soon adopted Dominic, and when the pup accompanied Haswell to the vet's office, it was as if he could sense the discomfort of animals that had just come out of surgery. Without prompting, he would snuggle with them on his red pillow bed.

You gotta love dogs.

The complete article here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/23/dominic-comfort-pit-bull-_n_4468767.html

Merry Christmas,

Istaboa

Global Wind Map

... and it could be quite useful for us boater types who's lives revolve around the wind.

 

Click here for a real-time moving wind map.

 http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=-76.41,28.36,1024

I placed a point at West End, Bahamas, but you can cursor to wherever in the world you please and zoom in. Pretty cool.

Right now it appears to be rather breezy down south where Istaboa is docked.

These two shot shows the frontal system that's about to push through Memphis. 

Looking at the radar image below the wind map, it seems to right on the money.

This is worth a bookmark for future cruises.

Slate article here. Global Wind Map

Cheers,

istaboa

10 Bizarre Christmas Traditions From Around The World

 Saw this and thought it was funny.

Wonder what Fox News would think of these Christmas traditions?

#1 reminds me of Christmas with the in-laws back in the day.

Testing — 123

Just making sure everything still works.



Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

We're just trying to stay warm in Memphis and doing a good job of it.

Check out the Istaboa-Cams on the side bar for a glimpse of real-time sunny Florida.
Also, these cruising blogs being written by folks who are actually cruising.

http://mvbroulee.blogspot.com/

http://bkomeara-travelblog.blogspot.com/

Cheers,

Istaboa

Tragic News From Bermuda

Some of you may remember a post from back in April regarding Steve Cummings and his boat 'Silent Thunder'. Steve and his wife Rose were on a mooring ball at Sunset Bay in Stuart, FL for years. Original post here http://istaboawaypoints.blogspot.com/2013/04/todays-pic_15.html

Sadly, I received an anonymous comment this morning informing us that Silent Thunder sank off the coast of Bermuda and Steve has perished.
I Googled and found this article.

Tragic end to sailor’s journey home

By Gareth Finighan
Published Dec 12, 2013 at 8:00 am (Updated Dec 11, 2013 at 11:50 pm)

Tragic solo sailor Steve Cummings — whose body was washed ashore at Shelly Bay yesterday morning — was an experienced yachtsman who had sailed around the world and had spent his entire life “messing around boats”.
But the veteran skipper had to be towed into Bermuda two months ago after his vessel — a 65ft former US Army tug boat — developed mechanical problems.
Mr Cummings, from Stuart on the west coast of Florida, is understood to have been attempting a single-handed voyage across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean island of Malta — a journey he made last year with his wife, Rose.
But he was forced to detour to Bermuda and remain on the Island for several weeks while his boat — Silent Thunder — was repaired.
It is not known when exactly he left the Island to begin his final fateful journey to reunite with his wife, but authorities received a distress call shortly after midnight yesterday and a desperate search-and-rescue mission, involving marine police, divers and the Bermuda Regiment, was launched.

Complete article here.  http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20131212/NEWS/131219901

Our hearts go out to Rose and Steve's family and friends.

Adios,

Istaboa

Couldn't Sleep

and found this while surfing aimlessly. Thought I'd pass it on.

Weather Update

Armageddon averted, just cold.

Back to hiatus.

It Has Begun

Hope it doesn't last.


From the rooftop of our building.

Looking south over the Mississippi River

To the north

Guess we should have hung out a little longer in Florida.

All the way to Memphis

We left Jupiter at 4:30AM and did a non-stop drive to Memphis. 999 miles! 15 hours!
Won't do that again.

And... we arrived just in time for the most dreaded of all winter storms, an Ice Storm.
We may be on the fringe of this system and it could just be an annoyance. That's what usually happens here.

Memphis doesn't do winter storms well. The local media has a field day.





We're hoping this is just another case of media hysteria, but...

 

We shall see.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Happy Holidays...

We're taking hiatus.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Holiday Season.

Adios,




PS. I've installed a couple of wireless IP cameras so that while we're away we can keep watch on what's happening at the marina.
Dropcam.
Kinda fun if you care to look, but beware... it'll eat up some bandwidth.

Normality

A repost from our old blog, August, 2007. 
We'd just returned from a run to the islands and were adjusting to life after the loss of our sweet old Lab, Sadie, and life away from Istaboa after 7 months aboard.
For those who don't know, Rocky Point was our home for almost 20 years. Lot's of good things happened there; not many bad.
I like this old post.
Normality
--------------------------------------

I seem to be quoting Mark Twain a lot these days. I kinda relate to the iconoclastic old southern riverboat captain... He grew up on the river not far from Memphis; he was a boat pilot like my Pop, he also loved hoppin' on a boat and traveling to his favorite places. He once wrote in a letter to a friend, "There is no unhappiness like the misery of sighting land (and work) again after a cheerful, careless voyage." and God knows we felt that way leaving the islands and returning home.
But... home is our favorite place to come home to and work provides us with the most excellent justification to escape to that cheerful, careless voyage - again.

Things are getting back to normal for us here at Rocky Point. We're both back in the gym trying to sweat off some of that island fun we consumed while enjoying the Abacos. Kind of a do it yourself rehab. Work is good. It's nice to be back in the saddle and fighting the good fight. (Creating that most excellent justification)

The pain from losing Sadie is getting better and slowly turning into an itch to find a new pup. We're trying to resist, but we're not sure if Radar will let us. He's been awfully lonesome.

It's been incredibly hot and dry around Memphis. 100+ degrees for a couple of weeks now. We put out water for the critters in the woods - they truly seem to appreciate it.
The deer have become fairly comfortable with us. They're cautious, but they don't mind us getting close... just not too close.

We posted earlier about the doe that didn't want to leave Rocky Point. Now we see why. This is her fawn.
We see Lucy (Yeah... Mel named her.) every evening when she brings her fawn by for a drink and a nibble of the freshly watered green grass in our backyard.
Radar is our deer alarm... as soon as he spots them he gives a throaty little growl to alert us of their presence.
It's fun watching the little one grow up.
-----------------------------------------------------

Those were the good old days... these will be too — someday.

Adios,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Not mine, but a beautiful shot and processed nicely.

So that's what happened

Old, but always funny.

Today's Pic

A buddy from Newport, RI sent me a link to this photograph and a newsletter.

Watching the America's Cup Race. Mrs. Kennedy, President Kennedy, others. Off Newport, RI, aboard the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., 09/15/1962  

 

  RIyachting.com

Today's Pic

Sunset over the Sassafras

Today's Pic

Early morn sun lit the fall color along the Tennessee River. circa 2006

While we kept Istaboa on the Tennessee, we always enjoyed the fall and winter on the river. If we were lucky enough to be cruising at the right time, the colors were spectacular, but only for about 3 or 4 days then they would start to fade and as quickly they had appeared... they were gone.

The winter would turn everything gray, like cruising in monotone. The naked trees exposed the many eagles who could no longer be hidden by the forest that lined the shores. We were always amazed at how many there were. Watching them fish was like performance art.

I think winter was our favorite time to cruise there, we pretty much had the river to ourselves. The whole world outside of our warm and cozy pilothouse was like a huge black and white panorama that slid by silently, always refreshing itself, never the same.

Even better when it snowed.

I look forward to the day we cruise the river again.

Thanks for checkin' on us.

Happy Friday.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Anchored off Highborne Cay, Exumas

Doonesbury's Back

Today's Pic

Thunderheads building over Thunderbolt, GA

Today's Pic

From a long time ago...

Fort Lauderdale - circa 2006

Today's Pics

As we were leaving Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach, unbeknownst to us, Crew Duchess snapped off a few pics. We were pleasantly surprised to find them in our email inbox.
Thanks, Steve and Sandy.
Hope we meet again.

Going

 Going

Gone

Vero and Grand Harbor are on our short list of places to return to. They're not far so it may be sooner than later.

Adios,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

We're back!

After all that, we're right back where we started from... last July.

It's nice to have really fast internet.

It's nice to have a car.

It's nice to know the neighborhood.

So here we'll stay for a while.

The big Nordhavn to the left just sold... MacGuffin... the folks that bought her seemed friendly and had their captain showing them around the boat today... fortunate folks, she's a beautiful boat.

If You Like Water, Photography, And Music...

You'll love this post...

Harry Fayt – The Flood underwater photography

The Flood is a captivating series by Belgium-based photographer Harry Fayt that features Belgian soul singer Typhene Barrow immersed in an underwater world. Everything from a couch and coffee table to a chandelier and piano is submerged in Fayt’s surreal, alternate universe, presenting a beautiful symphony of the human form weightlessly hovering in what illusively seems like mid-air.

And this girl can sing... really worth a listen... I imagine you'll hear more of her in the near future.

Listen — Hear her here: http://www.typhenebarrow.net/#!typhenebarrow/c11bq

Today's Pic

BBQ— Solomons Island

Today's Pics

Sunrise - Titusville

 Next stop Vero Beach

Now where?

The Driftwood Inn

Bumpin' around Vero Beach, one must stop at the Driftwood Inn.

Established in the early 1900's by Waldo Sexton in Vero Beach, Florida, and named to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1994, the Driftwood Resort today offers accommodations accentuated with an abundance of fascinating artifacts from Waldo's personal collection and is rich in historical overtones.

It goes without sayin', it's a great bar.

Cheers,

Istaboa 

Today's Pic

Sunset over Daytona.
Daytona Boat Works in the foreground.

We came upon Aquamarina by accident.
Halifax Harbor, our usual stop in Daytona, was full. The manager there suggested we try Aquamarina... just next door.
We did and found a very nice, quirky/comical staff, who treated us very well. It's less crowded and much more sedate than Halifax. And... there's a great restaurant on-site... The Chart House.
This will be our first choice in Daytona from now on.

The wind is still howlin' like stink and out of the north. Vero Beach and Loggerhead Marina has been a nice respite and a great place to hunker down till this blow, blows away.

Adios,

Istaboa

RIP: Todd Christensen

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Former Raiders tight end and five-time Pro Bowl selection Todd Christensen died from complications during liver transplant surgery. He was 57.

One of the reasons I started watching NFL Football. 

After a stellar career at running back for BYU from 1974-77, Christensen was a second-round pick for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1978 NFL draft.
He was waived by the Cowboys after breaking his foot in training camp but landed the next year with the Raiders, where he played for 10 seasons at tight end and won Super Bowls in 1981 and 1984.

Article here

Today's Pic

I got nothin'
Cept this bouquet of bacon roses.

We're laying low... Exploring Vero Beach,

Today's Pic

Was taken by our old buddy, Captain Pete, from his balcony. overlooking Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
And, today is also Pete's Birthday.

So it seems fitting that we show a rerun of the video of Pete crossing the Chesapeake in his boat 'Morewater' (less dirt).
We were heading to Onancock, VA and Pete had his old buddy Bill aboard enjoying the crossing,
It was a beautiful fall day.



 
Happy Birthday, Peter

Hope it's a good one,
Crew istaboa

Today's Pic

Vero Beach today.... Almost done... for a while.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Make A Great Dingy

Jet Capsule

Like a Smart car for the sea, this 23-foot Italian made Micro Yacht gets you and a few friends on the open ocean for a fraction of the cost of those big rigs. The Jet Capsule is also well-equipped:  the dining area converts to a bunk plus there are options like a compact kitchen, & even a private bathroom. via

Though it would look a bit odd

Happy Friday...

For some — .

Have a nice weekEND.

Today's Pics

Are from Baltimore.

The outside of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

So, it appears we may stick around Daytona an extra day or so. Seems those northers have really picked back up.
I just looked out and noticed there were no lights or motion amongst the pack of boats we've been traveling with since Fernandina... the last place we got stuck.
Got a feeling everybody might be takin' a dirt day.
Oh well... need to make a few phone calls and do some biz anyway.

Adios,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Look who showed up.
We pulled into Camache Cove yesterday and Aphrodite was about an hour behind.

Think we may make it to Daytona today.

Good Day, Sunshine