Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

Boat Trip Update

For those of you following my Florida to Virginia boat trip, a brief update.

After 60 hours at sea, covering 600 miles, we ducked into Southport, North Carolina, for 36 hours. The wind was building up significantly, so it was an easy call.

I hoped today would be a good day photographically, and my expectations were exceeded. Unfortunately our Internet connectivity here is nonexistant, so I cannot show pictures yet. This update is being sent from my phone.

So stay tuned, and in the meantime enjoy the posts I prepared before leaving.

This just in: Luck Officially Changed

 Good Luck Omen

Dolphins on the bow are a well known symbol of good luck, and I'm happy to say these three appeared just a few hours after we departed Ft Lauderdale.  The trip is going well and the boat is running great.

Click on the continue link and I'll show you around, both before and after we left.

Flying - NOT!

So I'm still on the ground in Sacramento.  Should have landed in Phoenix by now (well, almost).  Bad tire on the plane.  There are about 100 people on this plane that are connecting out of PHX, and everyone has to be re-routed, including me.  I have no idea if I'll make it to Florida tonight or not.

How do people that fly all of the time deal with tihs?

Gone Boating

Voyaging on Oasis, British Columbia

Canon D60, 16-35 F2.8L, f8.0, 1/1000, iso 200

A couple of days ago I hinted about a major announcement involving boating.  Well here it is.  Today I wing my way east to Florida, to join my friend Cliff and a few others on board the yacht Oasis.  Over the next week or so we will make our way North, up the Atlantic coast.  Our destination is the Chesapeake.  Where we will get to while I'm on the boat (2 weeks) is basically weather dependent.

I have about 2,500 miles voyaging on this boat, in the Pacific ocean.  Ocean voyaging is a passion of mine, and there's no better way than a well equipped small vessel like Oasis.  72 feet in length, displacing 110 tons.  It's a powerboat, but it only goes a little faster than a sailboat, and burns relatively little diesel fuel, at least for a boat.  There will be five of us on board, making a voyage of about 700 miles or so.  I'm lucky to have friends with these great boats, and feel fortunate to be asked to help on ocean passages.

I don't really know what kind of connectivity I'll have, but I'll put up as many posts as I can from the the ports we visit, where there is generally wi-fi.  But never fear, I have posts scheduled to auto-post every day while I'm gone!  I have built up a nice backlog for you readers. 

Here I am a few years ago, on board the boat.   I'm a water person, and I feel my best when on a boat, preferably in salt water.   So I'm looking forward to the vacation, the boating, meeting up with old friends, and of course hopefully some great photography every single day.  Let me know how you like the adventure!

Pt Reyes - for the Animal Lovers!

Llama on guard

Canon 1D Mk III, 400mm f5.6, f5.6, 1/800th, iso 200

Doesn't this shot look like it could be in the Andes?  Nice hilly terrain, you can even see the mountain wind blowing the fur.  There is a lot of wildlife to see in Pt Reyes, as we saw a couple of days ago with the elk.  Now these animals are not wild, but fun to photograph nonetheless.  Click on the continue link and I'll show you what I mean.

Pt Reyes - the Abstracts

Eucalyptus

Canon 1D Mk III, 70-200F4L, F8.0, 1/400, ISO 400

We are back home now, and are reviewing the images on the home computer/monitor.  Our last day had the worst weather yet, overcast and a lot of rain.  We didn't get a lot, but did get a few good ones.

I think one of the ways you can combat the elements is to look for abstracts.  Pretty patterns and colors that people will respond to, and these are often not weather dependent.  Here we have a gorgeous couple of tree trunks.  I'm a sucker for tree trunks, but I admit most of my images aren't too pleasing!  By adding some saturation and curves adjustment to this image, I brought out the colors already there, that maybe would have shown themselves if we had some sunlight.  I like the texture and moody lighting here.

While this one just barely crosses the threshold for "digital art," click on the continue link for a couple more that leave no doubt!

Pt Reyes - Day two

Tuscany in Marin County

Canon 1D Mk III, 400mm f4.5, F5.6, 1/1250th, iso 200

On Day two of our Pt Reyes trip, most of the Pt Reyes park was shrouded in overcast.  So we took a drive up Hwy 1, as far as the town of Tomales.  There are many places along the road that are photo worthy, and fortunately many places to pull over.  You are on the water of Tomales Bay nearly the entire time.

This particlar vista was looking west ,as we headed south. Some fairly unique lighting I must say! Simple and sensuous curves. The scene totally reminded me of the images of Tuscany that I love so much. I'm so glad now that I pulled over to give this scene a try.  This image also really makes me happy I bought the 400mm lens.  These "distant vista" landscapes are very compelling.

We also drove to the south reaches of the park, to Bolinas CA, where we encountered total overcast, and I regret to say the sunset was a non-event as well.  But we had one fabulous lunch, and that will be the subject of a future blog post no doubt!

What do you think of Tuscany in Marin County? Leave a comment and let me know!