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
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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.