A fish, which you can’t see, deep down in the water, is a kind of symbol of peace on earth, good will to yourself. Fishing gives a man … some time to collect his thoughts and reaarange them kind of neat, in an orderly fashion. Once the bait is on the hook and the boat is anchored, there’s nothing to interfere with thinking except an occasional bite. - Robert Ruark, The Old Man and The Boy

It’s not often that we see something like this…

Hurricane Gustav special discussion number 24 NWS tpc/national hurricane center Miami fl   al072008 200 pm edt sat aug 30 2008

So much for a slowdown in the intensification rate of Gustav.Yesterday at this time we conveyed that rapid intensification over The northwestern Caribbean was possible…but this is a little more than what we had in mind in such a short time.  The hurricane has reached category four status with an intensity of 125 kts…having been a strong tropical storm just about 24 hours ago.  The maximum surface wind value is based on a flight-level wind at 700 mb of 141 Kt…since the 90 percent adjustment to the surface usually works Rather well for intensifying major hurricanes.  The aircraft fixes Indicate that a northwestward motion has resumed…and the initial motion estimate is 315/12…right along the previous advisory track.  No changes to the 1500 utc forecast track have been made…but the intensity forecast has been adjusted upward through 96 hours.  Gustav could intensify some more during the next few hours over water…and one cannot rule out category five intensity before crossing Cuba.  The forecast now calls for a peak at 140 Kt…category five intensity…over the southern gulf where ocean heat content will still be high…followed by a very gradual weakening over the northern gulf where ocean heat content is less.

From NOAA
Atlantic overview as of Aug 30th. 2008

A friend sent me this article a few days ago; he thought it was interesting especially after reading James W. Hall’s “Off The Chart.” For those that are not aware of modern day pirates, search the phrase in Google, you might be surprised.

Official: Warship tracks 3 ships seized by pirates
Fri Aug 22, 1:56 AM EDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A navy coalition warship has been dispatched to track three vessels that were hijacked this week by armed pirates in an unprecedented series of attacks off the coast of Somalia, officials said Friday.

The Iranian, Japanese and German vessels and their 57 crews members were seized in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday.

A multi-coalition naval force, based in the region, is monitoring the movement of the ships, said Noel Choong, the head of the Kuala Lumpur-based piracy center of the International Maritime Bureau. “All the three ships are still moving and appear to be heading toward Somali territorial water. A warship has been dispatched to monitor and track the vessels,” he told The Associated Press. The naval force includes the United States, France, Germany, Pakistan, Britain and Canada, which currently holds the rotating command. No other details were immediately available.

Pirates on Thursday seized an Iranian bulk carrier with 29 crew and a Japanese-operated chemical tanker with 19 crew. Then, a German-operated cargo ship with 9 crew, flying the Antigua and Barbuda flag, was hijacked nearby, he said.

The attacks came two days after a Malaysian palm oil tanker with 39 crew was seized in the vicinity and raised the number of ships hijacked in the Gulf of Aden to seven since July 20. Choong said there has been no communication so far with any of the four vessels hijacked this week. He said little can be done at this stage without endangering hostage safety, with pirates likely to demand ransom for the release of the ships and crew later.

“Somalia has no central government. We are worried that more may join the pirates to hijack ships because it’s very lucrative and there is no deterrent,” he said.

“The United Nations is the only agency that can stop this menace. The international community has to agree to find ways to solve this worsening problem. That is the only way forward,” he said. Choong said this week’s attacks have generated huge alarm among seafarers using the Gulf, a busy waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Somalia is the world’s piracy hotspot, with 35 attacks now. Twenty-nine of those were in the Gulf of Aden, he said.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and foreign vessels are frequently seized for ransom by armed pirates armed, making it difficult and expensive to deliver aid to the impoverished region.

In June, the U.N. Security Council voted to allow international warships to enter Somali waters to combat the problem. But its 1,880-mile coastline — the longest in Africa — remains virtually unpoliced.

An Incredible Fishing Tale
by Kelly Hayes - Story: 40592
Jul 16, 2008 / 5:00 am

I ran accross this the other day and had to laugh…

Kelowna, BC
Canada

He was over the limit in more ways than one and can credit local conservation officers for saving his life.

Conservation officers patrolling Wood Lake Monday stumbled upon an elderly man who was literally clinging to life after falling out of his fishing boat.

Officer, Greg Kruger, says they approached the victim’s boat after noticing that no one was in it.

“We couldn’t see anyone in the boat so we approached it and this elderly gentleman was clinging to the side, at the back.”

Kruger says the boat’s electric motor was running in reverse and the victim wasn’t wearing a life jacket — although he had one tucked away in the boat.

He says the 78-year-old man told them a fishing tale.

“He had a fish on, stood up and tripped over his fishing gear. When he went over the side, he had both his lines tangled in his legs, so he had to take off his pants and shoes to free himself from his fishing line and in doing so he lost his keys, his wallet and both his fishing rods.”

Kruger says the man was suffering from hypothermia and is lucky to be alive.

“We likely saved his life. He was in bad shape. He was so fatigued that when we approached him he made no attempt to give us a signal that he was in distress. He wasn’t going to last much longer.”

He says it was obvious that alcohol was also a factor.

“When he was talking to us, we detected an odour of alcohol so we got him to shore and had a look in his cooler and we found a 40 ounce bottle of vodka that was nearly empty.”

What makes matters worse for the victim, he told Kruger that people were catching more than the allowable limit which is two Kokanee a day. Upon further inspection of the man’s cooler, Kruger found three Kokanee and the man was issued a ticket. Kruger adds that the man has been ticketed before for over fishing.

What a great vacation; we started out with a Marlin vs. Braves game in Miami and then caught our flight out of Ft. Lauderdale the next morning to Boston. We loved Boston; we stayed in Charlestown for four days and took in the Museum of Science, Museum of Fine Arts (fantastic), The Aquarium, Old Ironsides, Haymarket, Chinatown, the Common, the Gardens, tour of the city in an amphibious “duck,” legendary Italian food in the North end, Mikes Pastries and finished up with the Red Sox/Yankees at Fenway.

(Click any image for a full size view)

Marlins vs. Braves

Boston's "Duck Tour"

Loyal Fans

More Loyal Fans

On the Road

After our stretch in Boston we visited Gloucester, an interesting little town with lots of maritime history. We visited the monument dedicated to local fisherman who lost their lives to the sea, including the poor boys who were victims of the “storm of the century,” on the ill fated sword fishing vessel Andrea Gail. I looked for the Gorton’s fisherman but couldn’t find him… in all probability out fishing. We then drove north on the costal route and spent the night in an unassuming little fishing village with lots of art galleries called Rockland, ME. The kids said it was spooky but I couldn’t dig up anything on-line in Rockland’s history to substantiate their claim.

Gloucester fishermen's memorial

Monument to fisherman who lost their lives at sea.

Liza Leigh

Vessel used in the movie "Perfect Storm" note: 'Andrea Gail' painted over.

Acadia

We then headed further up the beautiful coast of Maine where we rented a seaside cottage for a week in Seal Cove on Mt. Desert Island. Acadia National Park was infinite and beautiful, covering most of the island; never-ending, kayaking, biking, hiking and places of interest with incredible seascapes. We didn’t care too much for Bar Harbor which offered lots of shopping, galleries and restaurants. Bar Harbor is primarily geared towards tourism not unlike Key West but there were lots of small harbor towns close by that we fell in love with such as Southwest Harbor, Manset, Seal Harbor and NW Harbor. All were close by and had great little restaurants, galleries and very friendly folks. We also rented some bicycles and took the ferry out to the Cranberry Islands only to get very wet due to torrential rain.

Bar Harbor

Fishing vessel

Cadilac Mtn.

Seaside trail

Ben, Liza Leigh

Biking

Hunting

Kayaking

Cadilac Mtn.

Otter Point

Weary hikers

Acadia

Briar Island, Nova Scotia 

Finally we were on our way to St. Johns, New Brunswick to catch the ferry to Digby, Nova Scotia. Our first and only serious incident occurred when we thought we were one hour early only to realize that there is an “Atlantic” time zone. (One hour earlier) Who would have known that? We just drove our car on in the nick of time! Disembarking from the slow three hour ferry passage, driving an hour, and taking two more short ferry rides, our next stop was a small lodge on Briar Island, an island at the end of Digby Neck; a remote long narrow spit of land bordering the Bay of Fundy. We spent two days there whale watching; one time from a whale watch boat, the other was serendipitous; we saw Finbacks swimming a stones throw off the shore while we were exploring the Island. Liza was especially proud of herself finding whales without a guide!

After visiting two of Briar Island’s lighthouses, we took a long dirt road to visit the third one on the north end; what a beautiful setting with rocky bluffs bordering the enormous fifty foot tides, plenty of wildlife such as all types of shorebirds, seals and ducks. The fog was heavy with limited visibility and the conditions were dead calm in this remote location - not a soul around. The fog horns on all three lighthouses were sounding. The contrasting pitch of each horn would gradually diminish by echoing into the concealed Atlantic, never completely fading away until you heard another one off in the distance as if they were conversing like lonesome stone giants warning mariners of impending doom. A very impressionable moment, one I’ll never forget.

East Light

Blue Rocks

Whale tail

Whale eats tourist

More tail

Bad breath

East Light

East Light

East Light

The town

Seaside

Big tides

Cape Sable 

Reluctantly leaving Briar Island, we traversed the peninsula to the South side of NS, visiting Lunenburg, and Bridgewater, spending the night in Liverpool, driving through Barrington and then discovering a place called Cape Sable. Sable Island was one of our favorite places; miles of unspoiled sand beaches broken up occasionally by huge rocks and yet nobody there in early August! Clarks Harbor was the closest town, a no nonsense fishing village struggling to keep up with fewer fish and high fuel costs. We were so impressed by this area that we stopped at a real estate office to check on property. You can buy oceanfront acreage for example 20 acres a house and barn for a very reasonable price, we are seriously thinking about it. After hours of successful sea glass hunting we took off for Yarmouth, NS.

Miles of beaches

Cape Sable

Cape Sable

Crowded beaches

We then took a 300’ 55 MPH ferry called the “Cat” from Yarmouth to Portland, ME; that was a blast. The Cat had all the amenities from internet, multiple movie theaters, restaurants, bars, and casino. We didn’t visit the casino but it was a painless five hours of travel and very cool being on a ship going that fast! Customs wasn’t easy; after they interrogated the kids we ended up in our hotel around 11:00PM. Sorry to say we didn’t see much of the great city of Portland, ME - we’re saving that for our next trip.

The 55MPH Ferry, "Cat"

Yarmouth, NS Lighthouse

Following our night in Portland, we made the easy drive back to Boston, turned in the rental car and took the taxi to the North end once again to experience the great Italian food and Mikes Pastries… Can’t have too many cannoli’s. We caught our flight the next morning out of Logan into Ft. Lauderdale and made it home to the good old Florida Keys safe and sound only to experience tropical storm Fay the following week.

We would like to express our appreciation to Dr. Gary and Suze Starbuck, for giving us the inspiration to visit this great part of our country and Canada. We would also like to thank Ian and Gail MacRae of Bridgewater, NS whom we met on a whale watch trip out of Briar Island and later ran into again in Bridgewater; a coincidence we’ll never forget. Ian and Gail took the time to give us lots of great info on where to stay and what to see in Nova Scotia.