Another good boat dog

Pretty cool footage of an Iceberg collapsing offshore of Labrador. The dog seems to be enjoying his day at sea. Watch his tail wag.




Is it me or does this guy really sound like Kermit the Frog?

A personal observation:  Here we are in sunny Florida and I keep posting about boats in the ice. Weird.

Not exactly a pleasure cruise.

Since we're not doing much here in Stuart other than passively enjoying ourselves and about the only adventure we've had recently was last night's dinner at a bad Tex-Mex restaurant; we'll point you in another direction for a little excitement.

The crew on Bagan are having one intense boat ride.

Cut from Bagan's blog:

The next morning we awoke to find that we had, of all things, drifted our way south 7 miles. With renewed energy and refreshed determination we once again set about using this good ship as an ice breaker. By three that afternoon we had broken our way clear into thinner and less dense ice packs. Simply put, I would not have tried any of this if I had not been on a Nordhavn. Her strength and integrity is unsurpassed and it’s no exaggeration when I say she, and she alone, got us out of a situation that was in a lifetime of boating worse than anything I’ve experienced to date. No qualms about saying that at times I’d never been more terrified or more despondent. I think that at one point or another we all were and the amazing thing about this crew is that we pressed on regardless and did our best to keep these feelings of abject horror to ourselves. I’m very, very thankful to be posting this as I am and in the last few days have learned more about myself than all my combined fifty-eight years have taught me. Hands down, the best crew, for the best boat on the best trip.

incredible testament to the build of the 57 Nordhavn.

If you're not, we strongly suggest you follow this blog. It's really getting good.

I can't wait to see this documentary.

Adios,


Istaboa

How to make a Hurricane.

The eye of Hurricane Bill

3 Minute clip that explains it all... We need to find this little girl and tell her to stop doing that.

Birth of a Hurricane

Adios,


Istaboa

No blows for now.

We were very happy to see the storms, Ana and Bill, turn in to non-threats... for us anyway. But tis the season so a watchful eye will always be out. The weather prognosticators are all watching something off of Africa. Some are predicting Ana will reform in the Gulf of Mexico and threaten those to the west of us. Time will tell.

Wonder how that anchor holds?
Probably sleepless nights.

Meanwhile, the crew of Bagan are way up north and breaking ice to make way. Not much worry of tropical storms up there but...

Cut from Bagan's blog:

After reading ice charts and making our way fairly smoothly down Peel Sound for the past few weeks, three days ago Mother Nature decided to shake things up a bit. Not only did we have to push, plow, and break our way through ice, we also had fog and zero breeze (which didn’t help move the ice). Our radar was one big green blob, and we could only find leads heading the opposite direction we wanted to go!

Read more here...

Push, Plow, and Break Through Ice

For us here in Stuart? life remains good.

Adios,


Istaboa

R.I.P. Jim Dickinson

Jim Dickinson
1941-2009
I'm just dead, I'm not gone.

Famed musician/producer Jim Dickinson died on Saturday at the age of 67.

Cut from Livewire.com

One of the pioneers who helped define the Memphis sound—a mixture of rock, country, R&B and soul—and the father of Luther and Cody Dickinson, two-thirds of the Grammy-nominated North Mississippi Allstars, Dickinson’s career highlights are numerous and span over four decades: he recorded the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” in Muscle Shoals, Alabama; formed the Atlantic Records house band The Dixie Flyers to record with Aretha Franklin and other R&B legends; inspired a legion of indie rock bands through his work with Big Star; collaborated with Ry Cooder on a number of movie scores, including Paris, Texas; and played with Bob Dylan on his Grammy-winning return to prominence, Time Out of Mind. He recorded with and produced greats like Aretha Franklin, Lucero, Mudhoney, The Replacements, T Model Ford and Sam & Dave. Dickinson released his final album, Dinosaurs Run in Circles, in May.

Cut from the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

What Dickinson understood was both the impermanence of his own life and the enduring power of the music he made. It’s a sentiment reflected in the epitaph he chose for himself: I’m just dead, I’m not gone.

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Pretty much every Memphis musician who ever worked around Jim Dickinson has a few Dickinson stories.

Mine goes...

The band I was working with, circa mid 70's, was splitting a gig with Jim; Mudboy and the Neutrons I believe, down on Beale Street before it's rebirth. On our break we all snuck out back to relax in my luxurious 1970 Plymouth van. I remember feeling honored to have the infamous Jim Dickinson hanging out with us.
I had just returned to Memphis after a long stint in New Orleans and was lucky enough to be playing with one of the world's most famous unknown Memphis blues guitar players, Glenn Cammack, along with the funky Phil Durham on drums, and singer/songwriter/piano playin' George Parks.
Dickinson was holding court to a pile of us there in the back end of that van, telling stories about songwriters and other artists when he smiled and said (of course I paraphrase), "Man, I like your band. It's like New Orleans funk covered in Memphis blues guitar, that's crazy! Kinda like Barbecue Oysters." We all cracked up, put it out, then went back to finish the gig.
Actually, he said a lot more but we won't go into all that here.

I wasn't around Jim much after that and had filed my little memory of Jim Dickinson under -funny old musician stuff- until I heard news of his death. in hindsight I have to say, he was right, we were like Barbecue Oysters. Interesting, pretty good, but not for everyone.
The man had a way with words that was a bit acerbic, but with sweet, and damn funny undertones. Like the real Memphis music. The kind you don't hear anymore.

Dickinson always had an opinion if you liked it or not. Most times I didn't understand what the hell he was about. But... He was and will always be authentic. He was a one of the ones that put the Memphis in Memphis Music.
He will be missed by many, in many ways.

Worth reading.

The Gibson Interview

Adios,


Istaboa

Not what we were hoping for...

But you play the cards you're dealt.

We were playing down this first storm, now called Ana, then out of the blue comes Bill right behind her. Bill is being predicted to become a full blow Hurricane in the next couple of days. Not sure yet how we're going to react to this new situation but we are a bit pensive to say the least. Working on Plan A, B, and C right now. We will all know more tomorrow.

In the meantime, we have been enjoying Stuart. Had drinks and dinner last night aboard Sand Pebble. She's an interesting boat, a steel trawler built in China. Nice company that we will go into more about later.

Not much to do about the storm thing.
So... guess it's time to drink a bit.


Adios,


Istaboa

GSSR Update: Shelby gets out of jail

We are very happy to read that the whole crew of Sans Souci is able to go freely about their way in the beautiful country of Japan. If you read Ken's post here... It seems they may have been doing an occasional jail break--as needed.

Adios,


Istaboa

Silas Rui Taylor

So.... This is our new grandson. Silas Rui Taylor. A handsome little guy. Born July 31. A Leo, like his dad.
Rui is an interesting name. Not sure, but betting it's after the Portuguese football (soccer) star, Rui Costa.


Then there is this little guy. Don't know his name but click here to see a lot of water dogs pics. If you're a dog lover, you will love this.

We are still enjoying life here in Stuart. The 3 of us went out to Wahoo's last night for crab legs. The staff there is very dog friendly and Radar was fussed over. Took the little boat and had a very nice ride.

The weather, though hot, has been good here. We are keeping a wary eye out for the dreaded "h" word. Hurricanes. So far, so good. But there is the possibility of somethings coming together next week. We have our fingers crossed and our eye on the forecaster websites.


That's all for now.

Adios,


Istaboa

Great Siberian Sushi Run update

Well... That adventurous group of Nordhavn's has made it to Japan. What a sense of accomplishment they must be enjoying.

But sadly, when Sans Souci was checking in they ran afoul of Customs. Some problem with paperwork and their dog Shelby. This would be very upsetting to put it mildly.
Cut and pasted from Sans Souci's blog: ARGH! He brought out a steel cable, attached it to Shelby, affixed it to a barstool in the boat’s salon, and said she would have to stay chained until we could get an original form, from Olympia Washington, properly filled in and stamped.

Hopefully this problem has been resolved by now and Shelby is free to be with her peeps in Japan.


Our congratulations to the folks of the Great Siberian Sushi Run. Salute!


Adios,



Istaboa

Having fun in Stuart

Radar checkin his facebook page.
He's hoping Sissy sends him a cupcake

Life has been good here in Stuart. We did put the Albury in the water and have gone out in it every afternoon after the thunderstorms dissipate. It does cool off then and the sunsets have been nice. Took the little boat over to Manatee pocket late yesterday afternoon and had a quick dinner at Shrimpers. It was a nice ride to and fro but when we got back, the railroad bridge was closed and we had to hover for almost an hour. Not complaining...
We have made friends here at some of the restaurants that allow dogs. So Radar is becoming well known. Tonight we are meeting friends at Pelicans. Radar is also invited.

The baby deer from Rocky Point

I finally found my camera cable and was able to download pics; these are our babies from Rocky Point. They're probably getting big by now.

And this one is just a few starfish Mel found in the Exumas and stacked them up. I just thought it would make a nice picture.

So, all in all... we are enjoying ourselves here. Stuart is definitely a "boaty" town and seems to be a nice bunch of folks.

Adios,


Istaboa