Cooking for a Living

This is where all the 'magic' happens aboard Horizon Yacht New Horizons. It's a 39 foot Bavaria and the galley is in the salon starboard side so no hiding from the guests while preparing food. No putting dropped food back in the pot!

I had my game plan ready - a 7 day menu with 7 breakfasts and lunches and 4 dinners. The guests were a honeymoon couple and they decided to eat out 3 evenings to taste Caribbean island food as well. My dinners were good old fashion baked chicken, bbq steak, fish, and spaghetti. Nobody starved and better yet nobody got sick.

Here is the honeymoon couple: Lisa and Tim also known as Timmy. They are from London and this 7 day charter is one of 3 weeks vacation for them. After the charter they are staying 2 weeks at an all inclusive resort on Grenada so they really know how to live. A lovely couple who were very excited to sail, snorkel, kayak, play cards, laugh at jokes and in general have fun.






This is Captain Andell, a 14 year veteran of the charter fleet world who really knows the islands (no need to refer to the charts since he has them memorized) and has many entertaining stories to accompany the 7 day tour we took from Grenada to Bequia and back.







This chart shows the route from the northern tip of Grenada at the bottom of the chart to Bequia Island near the middle of the chart.




After snorkeling the underwater statues near St George's we headed into the Lagoon where we spent our first night at anchor. Nice and calm. The next day's sail was quite sporty with a significant heel to the boat so it was good to have a good night's sleep beforehand. Although the main halyard kept playing its tune on the mast throughout the night which kept Lisa mostly awake. What's music to one ear is a pain in the neck for another. Halyard pulled away from mast at night from then on.

Just because it's your honeymoon doesn't mean you get to sit on your arse all day.........
Tim and Lisa did their fair share of trimming sheets while tacking and jibing our way around the islands. Faster Timmy.....faster!






New Horizons moored at the Anchorage Yacht Club, Union Island. A good place to replenish ice, buy a few fruits and fresh baked bread, and have dinner out on the island which Tim and Lisa did. Nice and clear this night and we were able to see many constellations including my favorite - Orion.





The Bavaria 39 is a well laid out boat with a large forward cabin including head and 2 aft cabins with a head in the salon to share. On this boat there is no freezer however and so a cooler is kept in the cockpit with ice and drinks.
After a day and a half this is all that's left of the Heinekens. Sorry Timmy........only the labels remain! (Not really.....many more bottles in the cockpit locker, but it was a funny joke).



Just off Union Island is Happy Island - a man decided to put conch shells around a small sand dune which caused the sand to continue to pile up. He continued to add conch shells which caused the sand to continue to pile up until this island was formed. St. Vincent took him to court over ownership but the guy won. St. Vincent owns the land that is officially documented on the charts and since Happy Island isn't on the charts, they can't own it. And so the guy is very happy on Happy Island where he has a house and runs a tiki bar for visitors.

After Union Island we sailed to Bequia - a nice beam reach all the way. Andell said, "Ok Lisa it's your turn". Really? Of course. She was a natural helmsman. So much so that she got promoted to co-captain in no time.














Tim also had his turn at the helm. Calm.....cool......collected.
Until ---- it was time to sail through a very narrow reef. Yikes! Don't worry -- no problem!!















The blissful couple kayaked many places - Salt Whistle Bay, Bequia, Tabago Keys - and sometimes even rowed in sync with each other.








It only took a few days to fall into a routine. Breakfast was always around 7 - 7:30; lunch around noon (depending on how the sailing was going); and an appetizer and dinner in the evening.

One evening Andell drew lines and marks on a tablet of paper, had 6 coins - 3 small and 3 large, and taught us how to play the game that he invented. Lisa picked it up right away and never let Timmy win. Andell would say 2 or 3 moves before even the winner or looser knew: 'You win' or You loose'. Well he did invent the game so of course he knew what was going to happen on the next moves. Your turn to play Sue - not against Andell - he always wins!

We sailed 7 days straight and around the 3rd or 4th day Tim was getting relaxed and really enjoying the ride when.......










the Big Kahuna hit! We snagged George the Baraccuda. And just in time. The menu called for fish for the next night.










Here's Sailor Sue with the catch of the day.
Tim caught it, Andell cleaned it, and I baked it. Never had barracuda before. It was light and flakey and not 'fishy' at all. As Lisa would say, "Very lovely".

However, George didn't give up easily.....






As Andell was cleaning George and ready to make the final slice to free the fillet from the head and body.....OOOOPS......the whole half of fish dropped into the sea!
Oh, Andell it's ok. Don't worry we'll have something else for dinner.
Bloody hell we will....not after all that work.






Throwing off hat and sunglasses and donning snorkel and fins, he quickly found the remains of George and so there was plenty of fish for all.









It's true that I cooked more in 7 days than I have in the past month. But look at all the fun we were having and the beautiful places we visited.

This photo is at the Tabago Keys where Lisa and Tim snorkeled and saw 7 or 8 huge turtles. Nice.

While they were snorkeling Andell decided to leave the mooring ball and anchor instead. What a surprise they had when they headed back to the mooring to find the boat 'missing'. SSSSWWWWTTT (that's the sound of a whistle) Hey guys - we're over here now. Just as Andell was about to dingy over to them they spotted us and headed over. No problem.

The last dinner ashore Tim and Lisa treated Andell and I to dinner at Palm Beach Restaurant on Petite Martinique. Terrific food and a fun water taxi ride from our anchorage at Petite St Vincent.








Our last day was a long, rock - and - rolling one. We sailed down the east coast of Grenada in 8+ foot swells and confused seas. It was rough and hard to hang on. But in the middle of it all Lisa snagged a huge barracuda and hauled her in.







Tim had a turn with a smaller barracuda....













and Andell put both of them (the fish not Tim and Lisa) on the stern 'swimming' in the water to stay fresh.










The last night was spent at the 'lagooniest' anchorage ever - Hog Island on the south side of Grenada. Very - very - very calm.

Early on Tim and Lisa taught Andell and I how to play Black Jack (very similar to Uno) and we played this game almost every night after dinner. Everybody usually had a turn to win during the course of several rounds.

This last night Andell hadn't yet won. He kept saying, 'Just one more'. And so it wasn't until almost midnight when he had won 2 in a row and then agreed to call it a night.

You never know what's going to happen when traveling and sailing with 3 people you don't know. As it turned out we all got along very well. Tim and Lisa were great sports and now are salty sailors. Andell was always calm and cool and ever-ready with an interesting story to tell. We all laughed until we stopped.

Now when people ask me what the 'C' stands for on my hat I say - CHEF.

What???????

As regular readers know we are in Grenada. I was hoping to work here and in fact did for several weeks thinking that my work permit was on the way. That has not come through yet and so we thought it better if I stay away awhile while it either gets sorted out or not. Since Wednesday Sue has been working on a charter as cook. The boats I knew in this harbor have sailed away. Everyone knows I'm no good at just living on a boat and not sailing her. Work made it all do-able. So, I while away the time reading, writing, working on this and that. Sometimes a story catches my interest and I write a bit of silliness as I did yesterday about "close-knit" communities.

Now I love getting comments. Especially now. But what does the comment, 'What??????" mean? Which part? The satire? The part about the Chicago Tribune now being a tiny advertising rag? The story itself is true and from the Trib. Me not believing that every community with bad news is "close-knit" (and should that be closely-knit?)? Well, I'd love to comment back but I don't know where to go with "What??????" So, Anonymous, feel free to elaborate or just wait for the next bit of silliness. Shouldn't take too long.

A Tight Knit Community

I don't know. Is it just me or does it seem like all the bad stuff happens in 'tight knit communities'. And, what does that even mean? (the following from the formerly big city newspaper, the Chicago Tribune).

Authorities say John Weatherspoon, 34, of the 18000 block of Edwards Avenue, was killed at about 10:20 p.m. after he and his wife had returned home from a shopping trip. The boy allegedly came out from behind a door with a knife in his hand, stabbed Weatherspoon in the neck and then fled on foot. A neighbor said she heard the woman scream over Weatherspoon's moans.

He died about an hour later at a south suburban hospital.

The killing has sent new shock waves through the tight-knit south suburb of 16,000 residents, which was already reeling from four other slayings in a little more than a week. Previously, there had been only three homicides in the last decade, said Mayor Dwight Welch.

What happens in a 'tight-knit community' that doesn't happen in one that is more loosely knit. Or one that even had dropped a stitch here and there. How about one that wasn't knit at all but instead was made out of Titanium? Think about THAT!

Well, all I know is every damn hurricane, tornado, mudslide, wildfire, volcano, mass murder, nazi invasion, locusts, flood, baby in the well, tsunami, or republican landslide has happened to 'tight-knit communities'. Maybe it's time to loosen the ties that bind a little.

Sue will be back on Wednesday and these posts may return to normal. Stand by!

Come Mr. Taliban. . .

I read a headline that said that the Taliban had executed a Polish Engineer. Those nutty Talibans. I thought we got rid of them just after 9/11. So a little reading ensued....(italics from Wikipedia)

Well, as you may remember, they ARE a fun bunch. Here's the short list of things they outlaw:

pork, pig, pig oil, anything made from human hair, satellite dishes, cinematography, and equipment that produces the joy of music, pool tables, chess, masks, alcohol, tapes, computers, VCRs, television, anything that propagates sex and is full of music, wine, lobster, nail polish, firecrackers, statues, sewing catalogs, pictures, Christmas cards.

I have to say that I'm with them on the human hair and lobster (especially served together) but firecrackers? Who doesn't like firecrackers? Crazy.

Sewing catalogs?

Furthermore,

Possession was forbidden of depictions of living things, including photographs of them, stuffed animals, and dolls

Imagine the trouble you'd get in if caught with a photograph of yourself with your dog Sparky while holding your favorite doll (Elvis of course) and stuffed animal.

The women got the worst deal of all:

Women in particular were targets of the Taliban's restrictions. They were prohibited from working; from wearing clothing regarded as "stimulating and attractive," including the "Iranian chador," (viewed as insufficiently complete in its covering); from taking a taxi without a "close male relative"; washing clothes in streams; or having their measurements taken by tailors.^[54]

Employment for women was restricted to the medical sector, since male medical personnel were not allowed to examine women. One result of the banning of employment of women by the Taliban was the closing down in places like Kabul of primary schools not only for girls but for boys, because almost all the teachers there were women.^[55]

Women were made to wear the burqa, a traditional dress covering the entire body except for a small screen to see out of. Taliban restrictions became more severe after they took control of the capital. In February 1998, religious police forced all women off the streets of Kabul and issued new regulations ordering "householders to blacken their windows, so women would not be visible from the outside."^[56] Home schools for girls, which had been allowed to continue, were forbidden.^[57] In June 1998, the Taliban stopped all women from attending general hospitals,^[58] leaving the use of one all-women hospital in Kabul. There were many reports of Muslim women being beaten by the Taliban for violating their version of the Sharia.

Yeah this is one fun bunch of guys. Now what in the hell would provoke a bunch of guys to start a club like this? I want to be a fly on the wall where these guys decide that they do NOT want their women to look stimulating or attractive. What's with that? Maybe these guys always got turned down when asking for dates (try bathing!). Just shows to go you how twisted things can get when it comes to religion.

Interestingly they ruled Afganistan (or maybe it was Scotland) from about 1996 -2001. Only 3 countries recognized them in that time: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Hmmm, notice anything? There it is again, Saudi Arabia, the nationality of nearly all of the 9/11 terrorists. The same country that the Bush family is so buddy buddy with. Now count the letters in Saudi Arabia. OK, I already did. It's 11. How many letters in John Kennedy? 11! Conspiracy theories have been based on less!

I rest my case.

You know if they'd treat women like equals and stop beheading people they might want to come to America. You can have the craziest damn religion you want here in the good old U.S. of A and you won't have to pay taxes. It's pretty easy to avoid lobster and human hair here. Satellite dishes do tend to intrude but you don't have to own one. You might occasionaly run into a woman who looks stimulating or attractive though (hmmm, maybe better settle in Fort Wayne then). So, come on Mr. Taliban come to America. Enjoy the good life and you can hate Americans close up!

Moving Anchor....

I'm into my second day with no crew as Sue is off cheffing on a charter. Mismo's here and while she's rotten company, at least it's better than no company at all. I was up at 4. Internet is fast then and I get reading and writing done. Then at 7 I here the thrum of larger engines. Oh no. . . my worst fear. The Coast Guard is out moving boats again out of their "channel". The quote marks are because there is no marked channel. They just like to come out every couple of weeks and move a dozen or so boats out of their pretend channel. Why they don't lay a few buoys is beyond me. I guess there's no fun in that.

So here I am with no windlass and no crew. Coast Guard guy tells me 'Big boat coming in. You have to move NOW!' Seems like he means it this time and he didn't even swear at me so I go for it. Luckily there is very little wind for a change. I can haul the chain by hand without driving the boat forward. I do have the engine running however. When I get right above the anchor I go back to the helm and drive forward a ways to pop the anchor loose. Now I'm hauling a little faster so as to not drift into anyone but it's no problem with the light breeze. I manage to stay on this western shore but re-set the anchor and drift back nearer said shore and hopefully out of the 'channel'. The wind is so light it is hard for me to tell if the anchor set well. I'm trying to slip back between a couple of boats that didn't have to move. I get enough chain out and set the snubber. Drive backwards at about 1200-1500 rpm to set the anchor. Looks good!

After a little breakfast and some straightening up I return topsides to find myself nearly on top of one of the boats I had been between. Damn! He has two anchors down so doesn't swing like the rest of us do. I should have allowed for that and gone nearer the other boat.

Crap.

I don't like how close I am so now that the wind is up I'll probably get Kerry on Bellagio to help me move to the other side of the harbor or somewhere. I may also lose the wifi signal if I have to mover too far from the anntenna. So this could be goodbye for awhile!

OK, I hailed Kerry and he came over and we move Enee. Much better. Now I'm too close to his boat rather than a boat I don't know so well! That's progress! We're fine with it and it is such a bitch to haul this nasty chain that I'm not for moving again. A fine day ensues. Great weather. I read and relaxed. In the evening I went to Bellagio (Kerry and Kathy's boat) for burritos ala' Canadian...that means moose meat I guess. Good fun with them and their visiting friends from Saskatoon. Saskatoon. To me that should be a musical instrument! Yes, I play the saskatoon.

HA!

Happy 35th Grenada

Well, one more February birthday I guess. GRENADA! Feb 7 is their 4th of July. In 1974 they split from England. This island used to be attached to the mighty Brits but in 74 they sliced it off and towed it to the Caribbean. Residents of what was formerly know as "Scotland" said they were just sick of the stinking weather.

On On! *

*Grenada motto

A Rising Star in Photography

Hey gang, That lovely person on the left (well the only person up there actually) is my daughter, Leah. The photo is one of hers of downtown Chicago. If you'd like to see more of her photography go here. You can leave individual comments on the pictures. Leah would really love any constructive criticism.

(and yes, she gets her looks from ME!)

musings from the unemployed

I'm still waiting for my 'work papers' here in Grenada and in the meantime, well, I guess I'm laid off. So, random thoughts etc..

Zimbabwe removes 12 zeros from currency

Brilliant! Just remove the zeros. It could work! Maybe this is the way out of our financial mess. Just get rid of the zeros! OR. . .

Since the government owns the money printing presses how about printing, say, about a trillion dollars, put it in a big bag (Oh, I just heard Tupelo Honey in my head) and GIVE IT to whomever we owe! There.

U.S. becomes top wind producer
this is too easy. . .

Hamas leader praises Iran's help in Gaza 'victory'

Death toll to date: 900+ Palestinians (400 women and children)
14 Israelies

wow, If this is victory I wonder what losing looks like?

Two men found in cooler want to stay in Australia

(CNN) -- Two men found floating in a giant cooler off the Australian coast say they want to stay in Australia and don't want to go home, immigration officials said Friday.

Let's see, how the hell do two guys end up floating around in a giant cooler? Maybe they both went after the last beer shoving the entire cooler into the sea. Yeah, I can see that happening.
















Contest Time: Write a clever caption for this picture and win a free ride on my sailboat (you'll have to come to Grenada to collect). Put your entry in the comments section. Good Luck!

Big Find in Jeruselam

CNN: Archaeologists in Israel have discovered what they believe is the bust of a Roman boxer from the second or third century.

The figurine is small -- about 6 centimeters high by 4 centimeters wide -- but very detailed, archaeologists say.

At first the archaeologists thought that pieces and parts had broken off the sculpture but x-ray analysis shows that the sculpture is intact and, well, being a boxer, some parts are bound to be missing.

Also while seeming small it is known that Roman boxers were bred to have unusually small heads so as to make smaller targets for their opponents. This one, while only being 6 x 4 cm (2.5 x 1.5 inches) was probably the real head size of a six foot four, 240 pound heavy weight.

Hmm....Interesting.

Don't go Changing!

Yesterday Sue spotted this wonderful caterpillar on our way back to our dinghy. Take a close look (by clicking on the picture) and you'll see this guy looks like he's wearing galoshes on his back 6 legs! He also has a tail not unlike Mismo! Is it true that all caterpillars turn into butterflies? If so I bet this one makes a pretty one!

Other big event yesterday was me putting my new reading glasses into the sea. I'm heading into town today to get some real glasses and maybe have them screw them to my head!

We got an e-mail from Luperon, DR telling us that now the Comandante requires all anchored boats to inform the Comandante if they want to move their boat. This includes moving your anchor within Luperon Bay! Moving without permission results in a $100 fine. This is already the only country that makes you check out of a CITY and then check back in if you go anchor in another city within the SAME country. Of course their are fees and pay-offs involved at each end.

Hey, I got to get to work!

Bellagio Sailing

Yesterday we all went out sailing on Bellagio with are very good metric friends, Kathy and Kerry AND Kathy's daughter Mel. A fine day for a sporty sail south of Grenada. Wind was 15+ knots with easy swells of 3-4 feet. We just reached out and back to remember how all the lines and giant pieces of material work. A fine time was had by all...Mel didn't even get sick!

Here's the whole fam-damly >>>>>>>>>>



Friday we went to the 'Fish Fry' at Goayve (sp?). This is a much publicized thing to go to. It is said that they close down the streets and have a bit of a festival with lots of fish to eat and so forth. Sounds like fun so we went. It's about an hour and fifteen minute car ride though on very twisty roads. Ug. Once we arrived we find a couple of streets blocked off and many little booths making some sort of fish products. There wasn't much of a festival. No where to sit. The music at one point seemed to be a compliation of bad disco (that's really the only kind) from teh 70's. After about 30 minutes we had seen everything but we had another hour and half before the bus was due to go back. There was a drummer group that was pretty good though but I didn't get to sit in. Well, looks like we're having fun anyway according to this pic. Just not worth about 3 hours in a van though.









As reported earlier, Sue is going to be 'Chef' on an
upcoming crewed charter. As such she thought she might practice making fish for all of us. That starts with a trip to the Grenada Fish Market. She found some Red fish and for an extra couple of bucks a guy cleaned and filleted them for her. Great meal this made! Nice job Chef Sue!

Finally, what's a post without a Mismo picture? Our strange little cat is in love with our giant 'noodles' that we swim with sometimes. It's like cat nip to her. Strange are the ways of the cat indeed.

Back from the Frozen Tundra!

Hello to all. I just got back from the frozen north. Here's a great pic of the frozen north taken by my daughter. Lots of other great pics there as well. A great trip to Tampa and Chicago but holy hell was it cold in Chicago! -14 one morning. Ouch!

And a crazy trip it was. Here is my itinerary. ..

Grenada - Trinidad (supposed to go to St. Vincent but that plane 'wasn't there') change planes
Trinidad - St. Vincent
St. Vincent - Dominica
Dominica - San Juan (change planes)
San Juan - Miami (change planes)
Miami - Tampa Stayed in Tamp for a couple of days and visited my dad then on to Chicago
Tampa - Chciago

Return trip

Chicago to Charlotte
Charlotte to Tampa (spend the night at the 'comfort Inn')
Tampa to San Juan (change planes)
San Juan - Antigua (change planes)
Antigua to St. Vincent
St. Vincent to Grenada TA DA!

So, my advice...don't book with LIAT airlines! Stick with American.

But, a good trip it was. We didn't even have to land in the Hudson! While in Chicago I visited Columbia College. They need a part time physics teacher in the fall and it looks like that's going to be me! We've been thinking and looking for a good way to "bi-locate" in the coming years. This will give us September - December in Chicago. Sue will be able to teach at Columbia as well as that's where she was working when we took off in 05. So we can be in Chicago for the end of baseball, the beginning of football, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. We're working on variations of the plan from there. One is to leave the boat on the hard at Spice Island Marine in Grenada, return to Grenada in January and work for Spice Island another 3 months. Then sail north as far as St. Maarten or maybe Puerto Rico until hurricane season and again return to Chicago for Sept - Dec. Returning to, let's say St. Martin in Janurary and sail south for 4 months in time to work for Spice Island again before returning to Chicago. In this way we can be Caribbean yo-yos. It would work out to working 4 months in Chicago. Working 4 months in Grenada and sailing 4 months in the Caribbean.

Why work? Have you seen the economy? And Enee has needs! Also, while I do NOT miss public schools with all their testing, testing, testing and departments run by little minds who think that middle management is the cat's ass, I find that I do miss physics itself and the strange desire to explain things. My classes at Columbia will be Physics for Film Makers which has many interesting possiblilties attached to it.

I also had the chance to meet up with the guitar player from the band I was in in College (Cheyenne). We hadn't spoken or seen each other in about 38 years! How strange to get with him. We have plans to get with nearly all of that band come fall. Should be fun. In the picture, I'm on the far left and Guitar Ken is on the far right. We look just the same to this day! We think this pic is from about 1970. ". . . what a long strange trip its been".

(as usual click pic to blow it up)

January Birthdays & How to do a Workshop in Grenada

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE JANUARY BIRTHDAY BUNCH:

Mike H on the 9th (just blogged in time on that one!)
Sarah H on the 13th
Enee (the real person Enee Marie) on the 22nd
Luke T on the 25th
Kim B on the 27th

Who will be in the Super Bowl this year? Nobody from Chicago I hear.

How to do a Workshop in Grenada OR Sailor Sue Finally Gets to Work!

So here I am a few weeks ago on the #2 bus into St. George's when I suddenly see a Montessori School. Now that's interesting. Wonder if they'd be interested in a workshop........ So I emailed the director of the program a list of workshops presented by SLB Collaborations (Sailor Sue's former life).

She was interested! And invited another child care program associated with St. George's University to join in.

Now what? All materials and supplies used in workshops formerly living in the office and basement in the house in Des Plaines no longer exist. They certainly aren't aboard Enee Marie!

What to Do?
Recruit your sailing friends to walk the hills and shores of Grenada collecting wonderful and interesting things. The workshop is about exploring artistic and natural materials. We got busy finding the natural materials. And what a good way to get exercise at the same time.








So thank you Wendy, Manon, and Kathy for forging through the hills and valleys with me to find some beautiful treasures.











And thank you Mismo the wonder cat for guarding my treasures once aboard Enee. Of course Mismo also had to taste a few of the items as well.


The next thing to do was to get some digital slides from friend, colleague, and super artist Rachel Weaver-Rivera. I needed slides of children exploring different materials and expressing different ideas to give teachers at the workshop some new ways of thinking about this. Thank goodness for the "internet" and digital world. Rachel emailed many wonderful images and I was able to build a presentation of slides that the participants found very inspiring.


Twelve people participated in the workshop. They discovered new ways of using water colors, acrylics, oil pastels, and natural materials. They also created representations of their ideas of teaching. They were a very thoughtful and creative group. I hope there are more workshops possible with them in the future.

Monday Astronomy Minute

This is today's broadcast from Prickly Bay, Grenda. . .

Today, well tonight after about 8 or 9, we turn our attention to the two brightest stars in our sky. The brightest is Sirius also called the dog star as it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major. Hard to miss Sirius. Just follow the belt of Orion down to the east. And no wonder it is the brightest star in our sky. . . It is twice as big as our sun and ONLY 9 light years away. nearby!

Now turn your gaze to the south and down a little and the next really bright star you come to is the second brightest star in our sky - Canopus in the constellation Carina. Although it is the second brightest star it is a whopping 300 light years away. What does that tell you? That Canopus is a HUGE and extremely bright star. In fact it is 15,000 times more luminous than our sun.

You’ll notice that both Sirius and Canopus twinkle and show a myriad of colors especially through your binoculars. This is due to the light coming through the atmosphere. Any changes in density and temperature along the way bends the light and bends different colors slightly different amounts just like a prism. This is especially true for stars low in the sky as Sirius and Canopus are as the light has to travel through more atmosphere than a star overhead.

Interestingly, Venus is very bright right now and is low in the western sky but does not twinkle. Why? The reason is that Venus is close enough to be an actual disk rather than a point of light. The various bendings of light from venus all stay within the disk of Venus so we don't see it as twinkling

Thanks to Kevin on Exodus for getting me to research Canopus!

Those of you north of 38 degrees latitude. . .don't bother looking for Canopus. It never rises above your horizon. Sorry!

A great question!

Hello Scott- Love your blog and your book. Question: According to US Naval Observatory charts, we're getting more daylight after winter solstice since sunset is later every day. But sunrise is not earlier until January 6, at least here in Flint Michigan. Why is that?

This question appeared in the comments on a former post. It's such a good question I thought I'd answer it here. Thanks to dfrank in Flint MI for the question. Now here goes!

This is a tough one! There are two effects going on. First there is the equation of time. Due to our varying speed in our orbit (mainly) noon on a clock will differ from noon as measured by a sun dial. Sometimes the sun is ahead and sometimes behind depending on the time of year. In late December into January the dial shows noon before the clock does. So the sun is 'slow' and sunrise would occur later and sunset later.

When the graph is above the line the sundial is ahead of the sun and when below it is behind.

The other effect is that sunrise should be ocuring earlier and sunset later due to the changing of the seasons. The sun is getting higher in the sky. So there is a bit of time when one effect is trying to make sunrise later and the other effect is trying to make sun rise earlier. These can then cancel. For the sunset though, both effects are making the sun set later. So that's why until about Jan 6, sunrise in Flint Michigan stays about the same while sun set happens later and later.

Here's a pretty good link to this effect

Here's one about the equation of time

Rock Throwing

OK, we all know that I rarely go political on this blog and I’d like to think that I’m really not in this case. I read the ‘paper’ in the morning every day like everybody else and lately I’ve been following the war between Israel and the Hamas in the Gaza strip. So, the Palestinians launch rockets into Israel over several days. What did they think was going to happen? Of course Israel retaliates ten fold like they always do. Don’t they teach history over there? Well there you are. Nothing is probably being taught over there except hatred.

Now I read that there are world wide protests going on over Israel’s actions. (Oh and a lot of "down with the USA". What did WE do?) I’m not condoning them. I think it’s mean to drop bombs on people but where were the protests when the rockets were landing in Israel? Interestingly some of the protesters in the mid east and in Greece were throwing rocks. . .

Throwing rocks. Who was the first proto-human to throw a rock at another? Since then we haven’t really gotten past that. You throw a rock. I retaliate with a sling shot. You invent gun powder so your rock goes even faster and is more deadly. I invent a rock that explodes upon impact. Then I can shoot them out of even bigger guns or drop them from planes. You make a rock that wipes out an entire civilization.

Bottom line: We’re still throwing rocks at each other. This ‘civilization’ has not progressed one inch past that and until we do I have a dim view of our future as a planet-wide species.

When people were first roaming around the plains of Africa we were a small percentage of the total animal species on the planet. Not only are there a lot more of us now, we are the only species that via our industrialization we have world-wide effects on our own environment. Now we can’t stop throwing rocks at each other and therefore at some point we’re going to run out of food and water because we never learned to share. Then the rock throwing will really get nasty.

How in the hell do we put a stop to this madness?

Oh yeah....happy new year

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

AND TO ALL A GOOD . . . . .

BONGO!


AND SAILOR SUE HAS SOME CARIBBEAN PHOTOS ON SMUGMUG.
YOU CAN PURCHASE PICTURES, MUGS, AND MORE.
CHECK IT OUT HERE!

She Floats!

Very Happy occasion down at the boat yard today. Silandra having sunk in hurricane Ivan was once again back in the water. No leaks and she got away from the dock just fine. She is now moored at Prickly Bay Marina where the work of putting her back together will continue. Some pics of the lift and splash below

Monday Radio Show

Hi all. I've started to do a "Monday morning Astronomy Minute" on our VHF net. Thought I'd start to share them with all the readers. Here's the one for tomorrow Dec 22.

Good morning Grenada Cruisers Net. This is Scott on Enee Marie. It’s Monday and time for our weekly astronomy minute for December 22.




So, Happy winter solstice to one and all! The moment of the solstice was yesterday actually but close enough. The winter solstice means a number of things.
This is of course the shortest day of the year for those living in the northern hemisphere. It IS the shortest day because it is the day when the sun takes it’s most southerly trip through our sky. That also means that a man could stand in the shade of his own sombrero by standing on the tropic of capricorn at local noon on this day.

And why is 23.5 degrees south CALLED the tropic of capricorn? It is because about 2000 years ago the sun was in the constellation Capricorn on this day. Due to the precession of the equinoxes the sun is now in Sagittarius. What THAT means for all of you who read your horoscope is that you’ve been off by one zodiac sign all this time!

By the by. . . Virtually EVERY newspaper has a daily horoscope column and virtually none have a regular astronomy column.

So here comes Dec 25 and you know what that means. . . YES! Happy birthday Sir Isaac Newton. Cheers! And Enee Marie is CLEAR!

Friday This and That

For those of you who may have wondered what Sue does all day while I'm at work. . .

'nuff said!

Our good friends Kathy and Kerry on Bellagio arrived early this week. Yea! They had a rough time making the crossing from Trinidad. Broken belt, lost the bitter end of the main sheet and all in rolling seas at about 3 AM. Gosh sailing is fun! Here's Kerry getting re-united with Mismo...

Work continues to go well. There's talk again of launching Silandra next week. We'll see. . .

Merchant Mariners

On Saturday we set up our table at the True Blue resort for their annual Holiday Bazarre. I sold 7 books and Sue sold 5 of her Caribbean calendars. Besides that we met a lot of people who we only knew by voice from the morning VHF cruisers net.

There's Sue setting up our table.>>>>>>>>>>

Our neighbors at the bazarre were some German ladies, Ursula and Lilo, who have actual stores on the island. They kept taking some tables near us and moving their stuff closer and closer to us until I finally said, 'Holy Crap, I feel like Austria with the Germans invading! They laughed. Yes! Germans with a sense of humor!

All in all a good day. Selling stuff and hanging out in a really pretty ocean side bar/restaurant.

The semi-famous author>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>













Santa even stopped by (but didn't buy anhting!) Look an actual person (Kevin from Exodus) reading my book!















Today then is my official day off. Silandra is not launched yet. They wanted to last week but the surveyor for the insurance company said that the bilge pumps really should be operational first. I've jumped from freezer door builder to bilge pump shelf builder/installer. This boat has 3 huge bilge pumps. One each for the forward, mid-ships, and engine room bilges. Each weighs about 20 pounds and can draw up to 3o amps!

December Birthdays and Holiday Shopping Time

First of all -- Happy Birthday to the family December birthdayers.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nick B., Liz T., Margaret T., and Brandi. Hope you get lots of presents and lots more on Christmas!!!

Speaking of Christmas -shopping time is near. This Saturday at the True Blue Resort just a bay over from where we are anchored there will be a Holiday Bizarre. And yes this cruising couple will be selling their wares.

Sailor Sue will have (if the printer cooperates) Caribbean Scene cards and Holiday cards AND a 2009 Caribbean Scenes Calendar! Yikes - only 2 1/5 days to make them. This photo is the cover of the calendar.

Scott will be selling his autographed Why Book of Sailing. Only 8 copies left on board. Of course the Why Book of Sailing is always available from Amazon. (See the link to the left.)

Sue's cards and calendar are not yet available on-line. However you never know when they might be. We'll keep you posted on that.


So happy shopping. Tis the season to spend money and enjoy doing it!