Apalachicola's Seafood Festival

Ok folks be sure to check out the Seafood Festival in Apalachicola, FL if you're in the area this weekend. Hey give me a pat on the back I was able to do the hyperlink without daughter Angie's assistance.

While I'm there I'll be checking on a Ranger Tug, this looks to be the perfect boat to search the shoreline for drift logs that need rescued and revitalized into a bowl, cutting board, or whatever the log wants to be.





Leave me a msg if you'll be able to make it!

Pilot Boat

This is a photo of the boat bringing the harbor pilot out to the ship next to ours. I am standing on the 11th deck taking the photo. The boat is about 40 foot in length, but looks to be a toy boat in comparison to the cruise ship. Check out how clear the water is!

October 2011 Cruise

Here we are on Dennis Connor's 1983 America's Cup boat the Stars and Stripes. The boat requires a crew of 14 to get the maximum speed from her. We had just finished racing the Canadian boat in the background - also an America's Cup boat. Needless to say the guy in the front and I (in the dark shirt) were the winch grinders (the bigger guys were always used). You can see the winch handle in the front right side of the photo of the one I was responsible for. The winch had 3 speeds or gearings to help tighten the genoa sail when tacking or coming about - pardon me - my sailing vocabulary is a bit rusty. The real crew were the captain Tony (UK) adjusting his cap, Joe (Argentina) in the white holding the line on the right. The rest of us were cruise line amateurs.


This is the Stars and Stripes with main sail up and the genoa sail still rolled up.


We sailed on Carnival's Inspiration - leaving Tampa on a Monday, headed to UK's Cayman Islands on to Mexico's Cozumel arriving back in Tampa Saturday Morning.

Never thought I would say this but I was ready to get home. Five days of lazy were too many for me. Three days next time. All in all I had a good time except for the weight gain.