Thursday, January 31, 2013

Sometimes the fisherman wins...

Sometimes the fish.


A fisherman off Panama was battling a huge black marlin when the battle took a turn for the worse. The fish sank the boat.

Or as Marlin Magazine put it on its Facebook post, "Marlin Wins!"

Not all the details are in, but apparently the captain began backing down on the huge fish, a common practice in big-game fishing when a fish is taking line. He puts the boat in reverse to chase the fish.

One commenter on Marlin Magazine's Facebook post who apparently had some knowledge of the incident said that the captain fell as he was backing down on the fish at full throttle. The boat took on too much water and, finally, there was no correcting the situation.

Marlin Magazine reported that the boat went to the bottom of the sea and everybody on board was rescued by the photo boat. And, of course, the fish got away.

Today's Pic


Compass Cay's Lone Rooster

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

We don't need no stinking divers!

Palm Beach has skilled Mullet that keep our bottom clean.


Not sure why these fish congregate around our bulbous bow, but they seem to enjoy it... they're here all day, everyday.
The end result is a clean bulbous bow at all times. We haven't seen it this clearly since we left the Exumas.
Unfortunately they don't eat the barnacles off the running gear so I guess a diver is necessary.


It's kinda of a rainy day here today... went out for a jog/walk before it started to sprinkle.
In South Florida one learns to appreciate the rainy overcast days. Constant sun gets old. (I know our friends in Memphis wish we would keep that to ourselves.)

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Mr. Radar

Monday, January 28, 2013

Da Boyz

In order of hierarchy.

Radar will not relinquish that top step.
These guys are excellent boat dogs... Not gonna stop an intruder, but they'll certainly let you know they are there.

Shot In The Dark

Took the camera out last night trying to capture the full moon over Lake Worth... no  tripod to be found so pics are a little shaky.


Our resident Mega-Yachts are pretty sensational when all lit up. Everything is shiny, everything is in it's place, the lights glisten, and all is ship shape.


Mine Games is leaving tomorrow and the crew is polished and ready for a stint in the Bahamas.
Privacy just returned yesterday and will probably be here for a few weeks... so fix up, clean up is about to begin.
It's really interesting to watch these professional crews as they go about keeping these boats up properly. Expense is not an issue.

Hmm... gotta find that tripod.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Sunset over the Mississippi from a Memphis perspective.
We're kinda missin' Memphis, though not the 30ish weather.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Today's Pic

Mel said... "Fish in jail?"  
So I thought I should explain.
iPhone pic, using an app, of the fretboard inlays on one of my guitars.
 Rainsong

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Friday, January 25, 2013

Dog and Dolphin

Came across this video on the Taking Paws blog from Crew aCappella.
Seems Dylan is quite the dolphin alert.


Yellow Labs are our favorites. Kind, sweet, and, most times, quiet dogs.

We're still in Palm Beach and enjoying it, lots to do here. Great shopping — Carmines, a Publix just down the street, Downtown at the Gardens, and the insanely crowded and equally obnoxious Apple Store.

I think the best part of being tied up at Old Port Cove, for us anyway, is that it's quiet and a convenient place for the dogs. Plenty of grass to run around and they're kindly accepted by the residents in the condos... and for the most part the only folks at the marina are mega yacht crews. They're pleasant young people who seem to enjoy striking up a brief conversation with this old crew as they go about their busy day. I'm sure if we do go to the islands this year we'll see them all from time to time.

Other perks of staying here? Free broadband WiFi that works well, parking's not an issue, and the boat fixers we've run across have, pretty much, been good. That may be because we're under the Yacht Tech umbrella and James Knight has quite a bit of influence down here.

Next weekend is TrawlerFest so we think we may do that. TrawlerFest, for those who don't know, is a small boat show that is dedicated to our kinda boats that do our kinda thing. Just the right size for us.

So that's about it for now... nothing very exciting, but as Preston, our friend from Compass says, "Everything Good" .

Thanks for checking in.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Abaco Full Moon

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Today's Pic

As we're leaving the Exumas last year, we receive this double rainbow as a parting gift.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Dolphin Rescue

A dolphin tangled in fishing line sought help from a diver in the waters of Hawaii.
The amazing encounter on January 11 was captured on video and the diver, Keller Laros, spent the better part of eight minutes tending to the needy mammal who readily accepted the help.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266794/Stricken-dolphin-asked-Hawaii-diver-help-Moment-mammal-stuck-fishing-line-pushed-scuba-instructor-waited-patiently-freed.html#ixzz2IntjL1fU



Today's Pic

Radar rocking a new do...

The exciting life of a live-aboard canine.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Today's Pic

Release the Spinnaker!


Not sure who to credit for this shot, but damn it's pretty. Would love to have it on a wall somewhere. 
I found it on Reddit.
Speaking of sailboats; yes, we were sailors before we we weren't... I ran across a blog and a comical post about a young couple and two cats aboard a 34 Catalina as they try to head across the Gulf-stream towards the Bahamas for the first time. Reminds me of us in our younger days.
Check em' out... Turf to Surf

Have a good MLK Day.

Cheers,

Istaboa

ps... Go Niners!! 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Remember Bagan?

I barely do... It was way back in June of 2009 when I first heard of the mission to travel to and through the Northwest Passage. We kept up with Bagan's mission through their blog, but when they were done it just went away.
I wrote about it here before they started and here after they had passed through.
We hadn't heard anything else about Bagan's passage for a couple of years and thought the project may have gone south and the documentary was never to be seen.
Well, today we received the Nordhavn Newsletter via email and it seems they're premiering The Other Side of the Ice in New York City next month.

Cut from the Nordhavn Newletter:
Nordhavn on the big screen The documentary The Other Side of the Ice produced and directed by Nordhavn owner Sprague Theobald, will make its premier in New York next month. The film follows Theobald and his able-bodied crew (including son, stepson and stepdaughter) aboard his Nordhavn 57, Bagan, as they attempt to transit the Arctic's infamous Northwest Passage. The journey began as a cause-driven adventurer’s calling to not only fulfill the failed mission of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845, but also shed light on the environmental and political impacts a proposed industrialized invasion of the strait would have on the native people and endangered Polar Bears that inhabit the region. As the film plays out however, the drama shifts focus on to Theobald and his crew, who not only face the dangers of being trapped in large ice fields but also the perils of onboard unrest.
Theobald has spent five years on his labor of love, from filming to painstaking editing of the film and is thrilled about its impending debut. The official opening of The Other Side of The Ice happens March 8 at The Quad Cinema in New York City where it will run for a week. Nordhavn president, Dan Streech, had the opportunity to screen an advance copy of the documentary earlier this week. “It was as riveting as you would expect a film about something of this magnitude to be,” he said. Streech, along with other P.A.E. management, spent months prior to departure discussing the Arctic exploration with Theobald – with very real intentions of accompanying him. But circumstances thwarted those plans so he was forced to watch and follow the adventure online with awe, envy and often great concern. And when Bagan successfully and safely completed its mission, an overwhelming sense of relief and pride filled Streech, who identifies Theobald as a close friend. “Watching the film took me back to those months that I followed Sprague via his blog, sometimes communicating with him on SAT phone, just hoping and praying for his safety, and being completely riveted – and quite honestly – jealous of his journey,” said Streech. “It was all that but magnified 100 times. You can imagine all that he’s going through, but it’s never quite like the real thing.

“It’s a very inspiring film and I have an even greater admiration and respect for what Sprague did – if that’s possible. I referred to him before as a Nordhavn ‘home-grown’ hero. After seeing the film, those words were never more true.”
 Short Trailer:



The Other Side of the Ice (Teaser) from HOLE IN THE WALL PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

I really, really look forward to watching this documentary, it should be incredibly fascinating on so many levels.
Not to mention this will attest to the seaworthiness of the 57 Nordhavn. Can you imagine days and days of smacking the Arctic ice with that bulbous bow? Scary!
Can't wait to see the completed work.
According to Nordhavn: For those unable to see the film in the theater, the full-length version will soon be released on video and available through Amazon, Netflix and other VOD services.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Cracked these guys up!



Saturday, January 19, 2013

Bait and Switch


Photographer Dana Allen waited three days and used a dummy seal to get the perfect shot of a great white shark off the coast of South Africa. Pretty awesome.
From the New York Daily News:
“The strike, when it happens, takes just over a second, up and out and back into the water,” he explained, according to Cater News. “If you flinch you can miss it.”
At one point, just as his team was settled in, they heard a crash.
“In an instant the four-meter (13-foot) great white shark was up and out of the water, right in front of our eyes,” Allen said. “The water was streaming off its body and I pressed my trigger button.”
Photo credit: Dana Allen/Caters News Agency

Today's Pic



In the beginning...


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Moment of Zen, Again


Today's Pic...

...is a video... Been thinkin' bout our buddy Capt. Spooner so, once again, it's time to run this old video I did a couple of years ago whilst in the Chesapeake. Hope to be heading back up that way pretty soon.
Dave Grusin's arrangement of "Peter Gun" in the background... Video done with an iPhone.

Onancock Run
 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Underwater Crop Circles? + Navigation Software Rant!



Source:spoon-tamago, Deep Sea Mystery, A Love Story
Saw this surfing around a few days ago and thought I'd pass it along.

Aliens of the Deep? No... 

All done by a Puffer Fish. 
A very interesting article here.

Now it's back to rebuilding our whole computer navigation system... I've been an Apple guy for so long now that Windows is truly foreign to me. Drivers and virtual com ports? I'm relearning more than I ever wanted to know.
And... Oh Yeah! A bit of a  rant... 
Nobletec, with whom I used for more than 10 years and spent more than $10K with now informs me I must junk all my nav software and charts and buy all new stuff. No more updates! Start all over again!
So I will, but I'll go with Rose Point's Coastal Explorer instead. I'll still have to redo the whole system, but they're giving me an upgrade, from a package I bought back in 2002, for $99.00 instead of the 399.00 it normally costs. NOAA Charts are included for free and C-Map charts for the Bahamas are relatively inexpensive compared to Nobletec.  Who needs 3D charting anyway?
So there Nobletec, take that!

Rant over.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Just one more thing!


Today's Pic

 Seems Legit

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Not to make you feel old, but...

All these songs turn 50 years old this year.


Source:http://rachelandthecity.tumblr.com/ via 16 songs that are now 50

Today's Pic

Nope, not a damn thing to do with boats or cruising, but I love this picture. All that blue and the colors of that dudes turban contrast beautifully.



Our friends left us today only to return to Memphis in ice and sleet.
We all had a very large time and we're hoping to have them accompany us on a sea cruise soon.  Maybe a 2 day run from Marsh Harbour to Charleston after we show them around the islands.
Thanks Denis and April... We had a blast, hope Memphis doesn't stay cold long.
Adios, Mi Amigos

Cheers,

Istaboa


Saturday, January 12, 2013

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

And then there's this...


Source:S1mone via Rachelandthecity

...I found while drinking coffee and goofing off this morning.

Actually, I think it would be more difficult to explain Kim Kardashian.

Hell, in the 50s Dick Tracy was talking into his video watch and there were flying cars.
I loved the modern age.




Honestly we do, do some things besides search around for mindless crap on the internet and when I figure out what those things are... I promise to post them immediately.

We're excited to be having friends from Memphis come visit this weekend. It's always fun to take folks riding in the Albury and show them around the hood. They're arriving tomorrow so Istaboa is shiny clean and loaded up with goodies.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Thinkin' bout Memphis
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One picture has nothing to do with the other, just stumbled on it surfing around the web in bed last night before falling asleep.
A great photo from 1939.
Click to enlarge.


July 1939. Gordonton, N.C. "Country store on dirt road. Sunday afternoon. Note kerosene pump on the right and the gasoline pump on the left. Rough, unfinished timber posts have been used as supports for porch roof. Negro men sitting on the porch. Brother of store owner stands in doorway." 4x5 nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Mexico’s Haunting Underwater Sculptures: Art With A Purpose

The location is Cancun Mexico in the national marine park where coral reefs are suffering from being over-fished and over-visited.
How cool... would love to snorkel through all this.




The weather's been nice here in Palm Beach so today we took the Albury out for a sunny day Mimosa Cruise.
A nice day for a boat ride.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Little Mud

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Today's Pic

Farmers Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
Ocean Cabin has the best Lobster we've ever eaten in the Bahamas