Finally! We know.

Click the photo to enlarge please.

Now we have an answer for folks when they ask what Istaboa means.
My friend Angie, a very talented photographer from the Memphis area, is working on a project photographing hands. She likes the name Istaboa and thought it needed a definition. We like her definition. Very Cool! Thanks Angie.

WIred up Wirelessly

Now for my techie freinds...

Since we are tied up in Panama City waiting for a weather break.... I started tinkering with a WIFI router I picked up a couple of months ago at Best Buy.
It's the Cradlepoint MBR-1000. This thing is really neat for $250.00
I have both my AT&T USB Aircard and Melonie's Verizon USB Sierra card (We have a couple of months left on the Verizon Contract before we turn it off.. although it seems to be faster in more places so far) hooked up on this little box. Sometimes one is better than the other and the router will actually sense this and connect to the faster one automatically. Throughput is like any other wireless N router.
But to take it a step further in anticipation of WIFI only in the Bahamas... I hooked up the Port Networks MWB-200 which is a WIFI amplifyer.
It all works together very well so far.
If the AT&T Aircard has a weak signal the Verizon picks up the slack unless the MWB-200 has a better signal. How slick is that for 250 Bucks.
Next test will be to load up SKYPE on the Non-Cellular port and test that. I'm sure it will work here in the states just fine. Sitting at anchor just off Elbow Cay in the Abacos will be the real test. In theory it should work well.
Here is a review:
http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2259/63/

A bit blustery

The wind has really picked up this afternoon and has not let up yet. 25 to 30 knots. Lots of loopers arrived today and it was kinda crazy while trying to help them tie up. But all's well that ends well. No blood or loss of digits.

I saw this amazing picture today on the internet. Starry Night by Van Gogh. You have to follow the directions. Someone went to an awfully lot of trouble. But it is beautiful.

Adios,

istaboa

Sunday Morning

Radar soaking up some rays in San Destin

Red skies at morn... Sailor be warned.
This shot was at 6:30 am leaving Bay Towne
And yes it was foggy and rainy all the way from San Destin to Panama City

One of our great pleasures on Istaboa is to wake up on Sunday morning and savour our coffee while watching CBS's Sunday Morning. It's always enlightening, spiritually uplifting, and serves up the most positive stories one can find on network TV news.

On our last post I ranted a bit about what's wrong with society. Yes... I still think a portion of us have been dangerously led astray by whoever or whatever. But, this morning's broadcast demonstrated that we can be kind and good. Thanks CBS for bringing these stories to our attention at such disparaging times.

Good news stories

A local football coach, he never went to college and doesn't have any teaching or administrative credentials. Yet the school he conceived and runs, the Ginn Academy, is one of the most successful public schools in Cleveland.
For the full story click here

Other stories told of a 17 year old Concert Violinist named Jourdan Urbach who as founder and director of Children Helping Children has raised 1.5 million dollars to date for children's disease research.

Another was about an artist who through his art and teaching gives back the sense of worth to elderly and homeless folks.
"I came to Boston to die, not to live," says 81-year-old Peter Phelps. Phelps, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer, gave away all of his worldly possessions and moved from Springfield, Mass. to Boston to enroll in a clinical trial. Through a tragic misunderstanding, he ended up homeless, and spent 18 months living in a shelter.
He is now cancer free and donates the proceeds from the sale of his art back to the organization that gave him a home and helped him back on his feet.

Then there was the story that the sky really is falling.
On this day in 1954 a meteorite slammed through an Alabama woman's roof, striking her on the hip. The good news was that she was only bruised and she sold the meteorite for a lot of money that she needed to repair the roof.

Today we are in Panama City at Bay Point Marina. We see some of the loopers we traveled down the waterway with here. It's raining on and off, so it will be a good day to lay around the boat and watch football.

Adios,

Istaboa

Black Friday

The above pic was a nice sunset in Pensacola.

We didn't do much today. We rented a golf cart and rode around looking at the Resort.

Such a sad state of affairs in the world today. The poor folks in Mumbai. We on Istaboa are so saddened by such a horrible act.
Particularly bizarre and sickening to us was that folks in Long Island, NY could actually trample a man to death to get into WalMart to find the best deals for Christmas merchandise. As I read somewhere, "It's a statement about our society that we could step over the body of a dying man to save 20 dollars on an X-Box".
Whoa... What's wrong with us?
Truly the meaning of Black Friday.

BE KIND.... Damn it!

Adios,

Istaboa

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

The oysters were great.

Ernie loaned me his car to go to the store. On the way out I drove through Baytowne Village. This place is really nice. It's a beautiful day and everyone was out walking, biking, and just enjoying this great weather for Thanksgiving.

The pork shoulder is in the oven.

Adios

Istaboa

Got up very early this morning and caught the sun coming up. It was a beautiful morning with no clouds or wind. The water was like a mirror reflecting the sky.
We should have left then and taken the quick and easy Gulf of Mexico run to Panama City. But decided to enjoy my coffee and the sunrise instead.
So now we are in San Destin, FL and Baytown Marina. Nice place... kinda busy but lots of good restaurants to chose from. I'm thinking oysters.
We saw an old Pickwicker buddy... Ernie and Priscilla onboard Slo Movin Outlaw. Ernie recommends the oysters.

Also heard from Clyde today. He and Kirk made it to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. No problems with the crossing. Clyde said Kaiser was totally overjoyed to see Mia.
They have been there for a couple of weeks waiting for the weather to settle down before moving south to Belize then Gautemala. Said there was a nasty Tropical Depression over Belize. He said they would stay in touch in case we changed our minds and decide to head in that direction.
Who knows...

Oh well. It's a beautiful sunset here at San Destin as I am typing this out. I don't have much bandwidth so no pics today.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving... We are cooking a Pork Shoulder via a recipe Melissa sent me.
But now... Oysters!

Adios,
Istaboa

Pensacola

Like always, we stop at Palafox marina in Pensacola.
We had a problem with the propane system on the boat so our friend Tom came over to help me with a solution... Turned out we were out of propane... so no problem to solve.
Happy problem.
Today we aren't doing much other than trying to fight back the lingering threat of a cold.
Weather is pretty tomorrow so we think San Destin will be the next stop.
We'll see tomorrow.

2 nights ago as I walked Radar, I looked up into the southwestern sky and saw two very bright and very large lights that were hanging low over the Gulf of Mexico. I thought they were too big for stars so I watched for a few minutes to see if they moved. They didn't...... Knowing I am not lucky enough to actually experience a real life UFO sighting, I shrugged and walked away.
This little site shows these lights to be Venus and Jupiter.
Check it out... Nov 22...19:00 Southwestern sky when viewed from the Mobile Bay area.
Neave Planetarium

Adios

Bobby's fish camp

Today... we didn't do much at all. But, as we walked Radar around the marina we sauntered over to the other side of the bridge and ran into the folks we traveled down the waterway with. Jim, Barbara, and lily. Nice folks from Connecticut doing the Loop.
Jim took this picture of us rafted up at Bobby's and posted it on his blog. (yes, we all have blogs)
Golden Lily's blog

Then we went back to the boat and I managed to tune into the Tennessee Titan game in HD... but they lost....

But!! Holy Crap!! the Raiders beat the Broncos!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we will wake up and decide what to do then.

Adios
Istaboa

Change floats

A friend sent this to me today... I think it was taken offshore at Fort Lauderdale.
Now we really need change... now we really need hope... and if the market would start going back up... that would really be nice also. Could be Photoshopped but it's a nice thought anyway.
Makes me think of Dylan. (The answer is blowin in the wind)
be kind