Photo Shorts

A few grab shots of a place we really like, taken in the course of getting other things done, or a few shots on a specific topic. Shorter than a photo essay.

A Foggy Point In Maine

by John April 4, 2010
Lobster pots on a fishing wharf on a foggy day in Stonington, Maine

I have long been meaning to do a full photo essay on Stonington, Maine, home of Billings Diesel and Marine, where Phyllis and I have spent so much of the last five years. First during the “Interminable Refit” and now while replacing Morgan’s Cloud’s engine.

Swans Island And Anchoring

by John June 17, 2010

We are finally out of the boat yard after the re-power and so I thought I would celebrate with a Photo Short.

A Great Photography Workshop

by John July 24, 2010
Sailboat at anchor in the sunset

This may be a little off topic, but then again many voyaging sailors are, like me, also avid photographers, so here goes. I just got back from an intensive one week travel photography workshop taught by Bob Krist, who is one of the best and most prolific travel photographers around.

Tropical Storm Earl Photographs

by John September 5, 2010
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While Earl was a pretty minor storm by hurricane standards by the time it reached us, we still saw steady winds of over 50 knots with gusts well into the 60s—a lot of wind by any standard. Everything held up fine on Morgan’s Cloud, including a new and better way to attach the boat to [...]

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

by Phyllis September 13, 2010
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Basecamp for Morgan’s Cloud is a cabin and mooring about 7 minutes’ drive from Lunenburg, a UNESCO heritage site, where we go regularly for groceries, the mail, the gym, etc. But we never take the time to wander around the town—our visits to Lunenburg are all about chores and errands.

Climate Change In Action

by Phyllis October 2, 2010
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John and I have a longstanding interest in collecting books on historical and present-day exploration of the high latitudes, or “death and destruction on the ice” as we call it. But it looks like climate change could put an end to this genre more quickly than we thought: This summer, for the first time in [...]

Closed For The Season

by Phyllis November 16, 2010
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Due to John’s and my penchant for sailing in the high latitudes, “Closed For The Season” signs have become somewhat of a theme for our cruises. In early spring we are on our way north and nothing is open yet, and by the time we turn south in the fall, it’s all over.

Sailing The West Coast Of Scotland, Part 1

by Colin December 14, 2010
If you don't like the weather on Skye, hang around for 5 minutes

A hardy perennial in sailing magazines has always been some well-known individual describing their ‘favourite secret anchorage’. I’ve never fully understood the rationale for taking part in such an exercise.  After all, if it’s no longer a secret, won’t that make it as busy as any other place as a result? As someone once wisely [...]

A Hidden Gem, Cape Lookout Harbor

by John December 22, 2010
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Over the years we have been privileged to visit some truly wonderful anchorages in remote places like Greenland, Svalbard and Labrador. But you don’t have to travel to the high latitudes to discover a real gem.

Sailing The West Coast Of Scotland, Part 2

by Colin January 15, 2011
North to Stornwoay

Sailing ‘off-grid’ is all about getting away from the crowds, and the west of Scotland can certainly offer that – during my first fortnight in charge of a charter boat in the Hebrides back in the spring of 1992 we saw one other yacht in two weeks. And in those days there was a kind [...]

North Bound From Charleston

by John April 24, 2011
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We left our winter berth at Charleston, South Carolina on 1st April—probably an appropriate day, given where we are bound this summer—and headed north using our accustomed way of transiting the east coast of this continent: A series of one or two night offshore passages interspersed with  a few days off to enjoy the stops. [...]

A Winter In Charleston

by Phyllis May 8, 2011
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Well here we are, back at Billings Diesel & Marine, Morgan’s Cloud’s “home” boatyard in Stonington, Maine—1000 nm, 5 overnights, and 21 days since leaving Charleston [I wrote this on April 21st]. We really thought that, after all the work we did on the boat over the winter, we’d be able to sail directly to [...]

Humpback Whale Encounter

by John July 12, 2011
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In the spring and early summer in the northern North Atlantic, a small herring-like fish called capelin comes inshore to spawn and many larger animals have a feast. During our trip north we had seen several pods of humpback whales feeding on the capelin, but only in the distance.

Labrador, A Cruising Destination, Not A Way Stop

by John September 18, 2011
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I first sailed to Labrador back in 1993, but even that visit was part of a cruise that included circumnavigating Newfoundland, which is enough all by itself for one summer.

Cruising, The Unexpected Fun Experiences

by John September 19, 2011
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We were tied up alongside a fishery wharf in northern Newfoundland when the roar of powerful engines brought us tumbling up from below to see two seine boats attached stern to stern by a thick line and both at full throttle.

The Best Camera Is The One You’ve Got

by John October 18, 2011
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[Written October 13th] This morning, Phyllis and I were out for a short walk in Northeast Harbor, Maine, where we arrived yesterday after an overnight sail across from Nova Scotia. We were more in search of sticky-buns than photographs, but I slipped the newest and smallest of my three cameras into my pocket, just in [...]

Photo Short—Meaningful Voyaging

by Phyllis November 21, 2011
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Marcel Proust wrote: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” John and I are slowly learning the lesson that exciting cruising doesn’t mean we have to go to the Arctic—we can take great walks, make cool pictures, meet neat people, and enjoy ourselves wherever we are. [...]

Happy Holidays to All

by John December 23, 2011
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Wow, it has been quite a year for Phyllis and me. Sort of reminds me of the movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral. Only in our case it was one wedding, a funeral and an incredible Arctic voyage.