I will be posting this week! But… not about boating. Roberta and I are doing an insane trip, to the North Pole!
It was an idea of Roberta’s. She and a friend were talking about bucket list items when the idea came up to “see an eclipse from the north pole.” To make a long story short, on Thursday we will fly to Iceland, then to Oslo, then to an island which is the northern most populated island on earth — Spitsbergen. And… look at an eclipse. I did explain to Roberta that there is an eclipse in our closet at home, but she was not amused.
So .. anyway…. I will blog as we go, and hopefully there will be nothing exciting to write about.
Speaking of which, there is some boating news.
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Our GSSR group of three boats that crossed the Bering Sea a few years back (Seabird, Ocean Pearl and Sans Souci) has been speaking about how to reunite the team. Currently Seabird is in Sicily (the south side by Malta), Sans Souci is just outside Monaco in San Remo, and Ocean Pearl is in London. Our common goal for this summer is to unite in Mallorca Spain and then venture to the Caribbean to cruise together this winter (starting in Jan 2016). Many thousands of miles separate our group, so it may not be practical, but there is a good chance it will happen.
I have signed up Sans Souci with a shipping company called Sevenstars to ship our boat from Mallorca to St Thomas. Ocean Pearl and Seabird are leaning that direction, but may decide to run across the Atlantic on their own bottoms.
I did think about taking Sans Souci across the Atlantic. The chance to do it with Ocean Pearl and Seabird was very compelling, and speaking of bucket lists, the Canary Islands are on mine. I do hope to cruise there some day. But .. this will be a very unusual year. Normally we are only on the boat four or five months. But, because of the need to cruise the Med in the summer, followed by the Caribbean in the winter, we’ll be seven or eight months on the boat. We need to see our family once in a while! Also, the truth is that we’ve already crossed the Atlantic (in 2004) and we just don’t really enjoy the super-long ocean passages that much. So, we’ll fly home while the boat is delivered to the Caribbean and let a freighter move the boat for us.
There is a whole trip to the North Pole and a lot of Med Cruising (France and Spain) ahead before I need to think about the Caribbean!
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Thank you!
Ken and Roberta Williams
ken(at)kensblog.com
MV Sans Souci
Nordhavn 68
10 Responses
Ken: change of e-mail…OLD: bkawasi55@s…: bkawasi55@a…
SUBJECT: Re: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
Many thanks, Ken, for subject plans! You and Roberta (and dogs!, one
trusts), as the old saying goes, really don’t let any moss to grow on the
north sides of your trees! And let me say again, Ken, thanks for keeping
us on your blog list!
With all best wishes for a safe and enjoyable realization of your plans
for 2015,
Bud Byers hannelorebud@ juno.com (http://juno.com)
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SUBJECT: RE: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
WHAT? Good going, Roberta! What a great thing to do! Have fun!
Keep us posted.
SUBJECT: Re: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
Welcome back….I look forward to your your 2015 blog in great part because my wife, Eva and I have visited most of the Med a number of times but never on a private vessel. The cruise ship experience does not capture the essence of it all as our land cruises have…. Have a safe trip to the North Pole and beyond.From a loyal fan, Neil wrote:
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 9, 2015, at 8:39 AM, Passagemaking with a Nordhavn
SUBJECT: Re: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
Great to receive your Email, Stay Happy thank you Ken and Roberta. Kind Regards Greg Klease Gladstone Queensland Aussieland.
Sent from my iPhone wrote:
On 10 Mar 2015, at 1:38 am, Passagemaking with a Nordhavn
SUBJECT: Re: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
Thank you for sharing – I always enjoy hearing about your adventures!!!
Philip Coulson
Sent from my iPhone wrote:
On Mar 9, 2015, at 5:39 AM, Passagemaking with a Nordhavn
SUBJECT: Re: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
Thanks Ken for the update. As an airline captain with Fedex my Nordhavn at the moment is a Boeing 777. What you and Roberta do at 8kts I get to do at 400kts. Currently in India and heading for China tomorrow. Love your post and love the Nordhavn line. Looking forward to your blog.
Sincerely
Capt. Alan Cheak
Sent from my iPad wrote:
On Mar 9, 2015, at 9:09 PM, Passagemaking with a Nordhavn
SUBJECT: RE: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
What a spectacular trip. Take great photos, and I know you will share with everyone.
Safe travels.
LindaXXXOOO
SUBJECT: Re: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
Sounds like a fantastic trip, Ken. My wife and I and our two teenage kids just returned from a three week cruise to Antartica in December/January. It was absolutely incredible, perhaps the grandest place we’ve ever been, on any continent. Whales, icebergs, penguins, and incredible landscapes. I hope to add the Arctic to our list of adventures one day, so will be paying keen attention to what you write in your blog.
Sincerely
Dan Freedman
On Mar 9, 2015, at 8:39 AM, Passagemaking with a Nordhavn wrote:
SUBJECT: RE: 2015 Cruising Plans – Plus a surprise
Wow! Sounds like the episode of Top Gear a few years ago when James May and Jeremy went to the north pole, although James didn’t really want to be there!
Safe travels.
Doug Illinois