sailing ships

I have been following the story on the cruise ship that lost it's main engine at sea.Now that I know everyone is safe back in San Diego, I have had time to think about what was being said about the cruise. They had only cold showers, warm drinks, tolites that didn't work,and the food was spam and poptarts.
When we went for a cruise on our sail boat, and I am in no way makeing light of their plight, we took showers on deck either salt water over the head out of a bucket or a rain shower.We had cool drinks till the ice ran out. The tolite broke down a few times and had to be rebuilt at sea. And yes,we did eat spam along with a lot of other can goods. I guess the main dfference was our expectations of the cruise. I did not expect cool drinks and expected spam. The people on the cruise ship did expect ice in their drinks and fine dinning. That is a good thing for me to keep in mind, what are my expectations?

sailing ships

I am sorry for the long pause from sailing ships.I was working with Tate Publishing; we were getting my new book ready for publication- MOM FROM DOWN UNDER- It is about my mom's childhood in Western Australia. I hope everyone will pick up copy- it will soon be released. Pick up a copy through Tate Publishing, Amazon or you local book store and don't forget you can still get a copy of-SAILING SHIPS AND THEE.
Meg

why sailing?

My father pick the best place for repeated shake down cruises, the passage between Hampton Roads and Bermuda and back. We took this trip every summer till my parents left for their around the world cruise. We exerienced a hurricane, tropical storms, flat calms, terrific squalls,being struck by lighting.... We all learned immense things about the boat and how she handled in all kinds of weather. And during these cruises my love for sailing burst forth. I was hooked forever. Sailing had become a passion. One of my favorite times on board was the last watch of the day..... and the dawn that came at the end of the watch.Meg.

why sailing( sailing ships and thee)

We have been painting the inside of our house- or should I say my husband and son have been doing the painting I have been taking on the role of decorater. Boy ,these blistering hot days remind me of our trips to Bermuda and living aboared during the summer.As I recall the trips to Bermuda, espescially the long ones, were particulerly hot with lots of storms. Coming into St. Georges harbor was always exciting and the anticipation of the harbor was great fun. On a long trip we would take bets on our arrival time with a promise to the winner a dish of rum and raisen ice cream from Robertson's phamacy which also served the best hambergers. Delcious,thick hambergers with a slice of Bermuda onion and all the trimings. My parents sailboat and Bermuda became my second home. Sailing to Bermuda became an experience some of which you can read about in my book-- Sailing Ships And Thee--like getting struck by lightning or the hurricane we encoutered. There was also a tropical that pushed us incredily close to Diamond Shoales off North Carolina. Most of all ,it is the first time I saw the green flash . When the sunsets and you have an unobstructed view of the horizon, as the top of the sun just kisses the horizon there is a green flash.It is one of the most amazing things I have seen.I know there is a scientific explanation for it(my father was a physicist), but it makes you realize there is a God.meg

why sailing?

As I had mentioned before, my father left a legacy of sailing. I seem to be the only one of his girls that inherited his love of sailing. He taught me everything I know about sailing. He was a natural teacher and not only taught me, but any crew member who was willing to learn. Teaching maintence of boats was critical to him, especialy since our sailboat was wooden. We made about 8 trips to Bernuda.The last trip was the first leg in their trip around the world and Bermuda would be the culmination of the trip. Going to Bermuda was a good shake down cruise. It took us anywhere from 5 to 15 days to go from the Chesapeake Bay to Bermuda. The trip lenght was dependent on the weather and we encoutered all kinds of weather! I know this blog seems a bit rambling, but I would like to use it as a springboard for several topics, So if you can hang in there, soom you will see...... I would like to talk about Bermuda, my summer home; the weather,the green flash; boat maintance......

why sailing?

Getting back to my passion for sailing.... I had a few eyebrows raised over my statment about hating sailing. It started about age 11.This was my first ocean voyage; and my one and only encounter with a hurricane at sea. That event alone made me hate and fear sailing. But, against all the arguments I could present, we still sailed to Bernuda every summer. Our perpetual shake down cruise for around the world trip, one day. My hate for sailing grew. I wanted to spend the summer at home playing with my friends. Slowly as I entered in my teen years, Bermuda itself became a drawing factor. And I was allowed to bring friends along sailing. The hate began to lose it's edge. And then one day there was a love and a passion there; like the day I realized I loved the man who was to become my husband. It was like a veil being removed and I could see clearly....meg

why sailing?

A thought about the American girl sailing around the world. I want to offer her my encouragement on a job well done. What I understand happened, is she encountered a storm with gale force winds, and a rogue wave that de-masted her vessel. What I can discern she stayed calm and appropriately responded to her circumstances.