Our northernmost goal this trip was the state of Maine. From our stopover in New York and vicinity, we daytripped up the coast, stopping over in small New England port towns and enjoying a more rural atmosphere after NYC and the Hamptons. Historic lighthouses, serene anchorages, spectacular sunrises and sunsets, and opulent mansions from a bygone era offered a kaleidoscope of sightseeing opportunities. A never-to-be-forgotten highlight was an elegant evening dining at the historic New York Yacht Club’s Harbor Court mansion overlooking Newport harbor, courtesy of another FPB owner (thanks, Chris).

We had started our trip with a new autopilot system that had not been completely installed and tested, yielding to time pressures. Unfortunately, after about three days of cruising, the autopilot started hiccuping, suffering adrenalin-inducing lapses in which alarms started beeping and the boat lost all steering and voluntarily turned 90 degrees to port! This happened infrequently at first, but more and more often as time went on. As a result, we gave approaching yachts a very wide berth, and maneuvering into a marina for an overnight berth required more than usual vigilance. Rod became very accomplished at racing down two flights of stairs to the main console to hit the reset button, after which all would return to normal (until the next time). Our recorded navigation track shows some very interesting squiggles.

(As I write this, at the conclusion of our trip, the issue is being addressed and the installation is being properly completed according to factory specs, which should make these exciting episodes a thing of the past!)

The new autopilot can be controlled by a small remote that looks much like the electronic key fob for today’s modern automobiles. It’s possible to take a comfortable seat on the fly bridge and steer by the press of a button, port or starboard. As we approached Maine waters, famous home of the lobster, we had to start evading lobster pots with more and more frequency, dodging left and right with our little remote buttons to avoid tangling them in AVATAR’s stabilizers or prop.

Even miles offshore we encountered occasional lobster buoys, and as we approached the Maine coast the waters became absolutely littered with them. A lobster pot is a large wire cage weighted with a rock or brick to sink to the bottom but still tethered to the surface by a cluster of small colorful buoys much like plastic balloons. Viewed through binoculars, the ocean’s surface appeared to be blanketed in colorful confetti from literally thousands of pots set to trap lobsters.

With such an array of lobster harvesting paraphernalia, it’s hard to imagine that these tasty creatures are not already extinct! However in conversations ashore we learned that the opposite is true – the lobster population is thriving! Reason #1 is that the fish species that feed on young lobsters have been depleted over the years and are no longer a threat to them. #2 is that sea urchins, also lobster predators, have dwindled for unknown reasons. Thus the lobsters are safe from their natural enemies.

And finally #3 – baby lobsters are practically hand-raised. Undersized juvenile lobsters crawl into the pots, drawn in by the bait. They are pulled to the surface by the lobstermen and then released. A lobster can easily be caught and released multiple times in it’s young life, all the while enjoying generous handouts of free meals – until the day the measuring stick declares it a legal catch and off it goes to the pot.

Despite due sympathy for the plight of the lobsters, we thoroughly enjoyed the wide selection of recipes with which they were prepared on Maine menus – at bargain rates compared to the usual ‘Market Price’ seen in most fine dining establishments in other parts of the country.

As I write, our voyage has ended and AVATAR is currently ‘on the hard’ in Newport, Rhode Island, getting a new coat of paint on her bottom after the bumpy trip through the Dismal Swamp, and making sure the autopilot is performing without detours!

Click on any photo below to open a full screen slideshow. Photos are copyrighted and registered with the US Copyright Office. Enjoy, but please respect.

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As related in my last blog, we abandoned our Chesapeake cruising plans and fled north to escape excess heat and humidity! Hindsight showed us that by doing so we avoided a perfect storm of violent thunderstorms, flooding, and record breaking temperatures!

From Virginia we sailed 30 hours nonstop to New York City and booked into a marina on the Jersey shore of the Hudson River. We had tried for a New York City berth and failed, but this turned out to be a serendipitous alternative. Our base across the river gave us an awesome panoramic view of the city skyline, perfect for photography!

I was dying to try for a night shot of the city lights, so when we went out for dinner at a nearby waterfront restaurant, I took my camera along too. The sun set while we ate, and about dessert time I started craning to peer through the windows and see how the light was developing. Finally I abandoned my dinner companions and switched into photographer mode.

It didn’t seem polite to bring a tripod to the restaurant, but by balancing my camera on a railing I was able to hold it still enough to compensate for the low shutter speed needed to capture the night shot, complete with an almost full moon – delighted with the result! Thank you, New Jersey!

The marina was actually in a great location – walking distance to shops, grocery stores, restaurants and more, as well as the PATH underground transit system that passes beneath the river and delivers passengers to the New York side, up to and including the World Trade Center. We were a little slow figuring out the system first time through what with coin operated ticket dispensers, automated turnstiles, and no human assistants, but by the end of our short stay we were pros, although Mike did have to duck under a turnstile once when it rejected his ticket! We all played the tourist, hiking for miles along city sidewalks, hailing cabs, and checking out the sights. I dragged Mike to the B&H Photo Video Superstore – an unbelievable camera and electronics store, with huge inventory and a fascinating automated track system throughout the store that transports purchases to the checkout kiosks.

We also spent a few hours perusing the Whitney Museum of Art, where my favorite part was a rooftop patio with water gardens in galvanized tubs. Soon I was engaged in photographing the water lilies, captivated as much by their maroon striped leaves the size of dinner plates as by the crisply symmetric blossoms. Grey skies overhead helped to soften the light and damp down distracting reflections in the water. As we exited the museum, a squall hit our city block with gusting winds and a downpour that forced a cheerful crowd under cover for the duration and sent a line of food truck vendors scurrying to take down their awnings and umbrellas.

Rod and May had never seen a Broadway show, so we organized a night out, purchasing last minute tickets to see one of the iconic productions, Chicago, preceded by dinner at a Cuban restaurant and followed by a walk through the night lights and crowds of Times Square back to the PATH station.

It was a whirlwind tour of the city, and we were footsore and ready to continue on our way two days later. With a scheduled early start, I was looking forward to be able to shoot at sunrise from AVATAR’s foredeck, capturing harbor scenes lit by golden light and framed by a cooperative cloud formation. I was especially thrilled to successfully pull off an AVATAR selfie with New York’s iconic lady of liberty! But this sunrise shot of a cruise ship arriving during the uncrowded early morning is another favorite, especially once I zoomed in and saw she was christened ‘Carnival Sunshine’!

From New York we headed to the Hamptons, where we caught up with old friends, Angie and Eric Firestone, previously from Tucson but now residents of East Hampton where he owns an art gallery and she keeps her two horses. Eric Firestone Gallery is responsible for much of the artwork on my walls at home in Tucson, and even the watercolor seascape that hangs over the bed in our master cabin aboard AVATAR.

We invited Angie and Eric to join us in a tiki tour (that’s New Zealand slang, by the way) of nearby islands, sailing on an idyllic day of sunshine and calm water to an island with an abandoned lighthouse. We enjoyed lunch aboard the boat, several hours of relaxing cruising, and great conversation catching up with each other’s lives. Our guests arrived laden with a care package of farmer’s market goodies that kept us provisioned for days after.

After the sail, Eric gave us a tour of his gallery and Angie drove us around East Hampton, with a brief stop to walk through a creekside park where I lucked into an off-the-cuff shot of a belligerent swan. He unexpectedly charged a terrier pup on a leash with much hissing and posturing, and I was barely quick enough to swing the camera around in time and catch him full frame in his fury. I never realized until this trip that swans were native to this part of the world, or that they were aggressive! I invested some time pursuing a flock by kayak, trying for a good photo without invading their space and inviting another attack!

More to come, plus a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Stay tuned.

Click on any photo below to open a full screen slideshow.

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The original title of this blog was going to be “Indecision” until I processed the above photo and just had to headline it! My favorite saying that I picked up somewhere along the way is:  “We don’t have a plan, and we’re sticking to it”.

About 10 days ago we caught up with AVATAR, flying from Tucson to Morehead City, North Carolina, which is about as much work as flying to Fiji, involving two changes of plane, layovers, weather delays, a rental car for the last leg – but at least no customs clearance. Early next morning we were underway with the vague plan of cruising the Chesapeake and perhaps hanging out in the Tidal Basin in downtown Washington DC for a week or two.

The weather quickly changed our minds – hot and humid, one day it hit 97 degrees, mild by comparison with Tucson summer temperatures, but with the humidity the heat index transformed into a “feels like” 105! Our aluminum hull was like a hot plate and we gave up on our usual barefoot fashion and wore deck shoes outside. Luckily AVATAR does have air conditioning, but shore excursions were exhausting.

Added to the mix was the threat of violent thunderstorms, apparently a staple of the weather during July/August in the middle Atlantic states. Rod, who grew up in New Zealand where this kind of weather is rare, has gained new respect for lightning having experienced a couple of blockbusters close up, as well as witnessing first hand a bolt of lightning strike the mast of a sailboat underway in Puerto Rico. Heading towards higher latitudes started looking more and more appealing, and ultimately we decided to go for it. The plan now is to head north as far as Maine, then circle back and perhaps transit the Chesapeake later in the fall.

Still our trip north was scenic and entertaining. We took the Intracoastal Waterway through North Carolina, traversing the scenic coastal salt marshes until they opened into a network of rivers and sounds. We overnighted one night in Belhaven, an old-fashioned laid back waterfront village, and the next night in Elizabeth City, which promotes yacht layovers by offering free overnight dock space and welcomes newcomers with wine, cheese, and a red rose for the ladies. Sadly we missed out on the latter, but enjoyed the gratis parking space.

Elizabeth City is the gateway to the Dismal Swamp Canal which we had selected as our route of preference. En route to the canal we enjoyed a peaceful meander up the Pasquotank, a blackwater river winding placidly through verdant forests and lined with waterlilies and drowned trees. The waters here are the color of molasses, permeated with tannins from decaying vegetation, hence the term blackwater. Sightings of black bear, deer, and the occasional alligator are possible, but we only spotted a snake swimming its way to shore. We experienced a cruising first – scraping our lifting booms under low hanging branches as we squeezed past a newly toppled tree, not exactly an every day occurrence for our ocean-going AVATAR!

Before civilization encroached, the Great Dismal Swamp covered some million acres in the east. In the early 1700s a consortium of entrepreneurs that included George Washington and the father of Robert E. Lee purchased much of the land and built a 22 mile long canal through the swamp to expedite commercial shipping from Virginia to North Carolina. Clearing the original “ditch” was done by hand (slave labor), a torturous task hacking at the dense growth while immersed in swamp water waist deep or more. The canal itself is borderline for a boat our size, offering a six foot depth minimum (we draw five), which is compromised by invisible submerged logs or trees that have fallen and sunk out of sight below the surface. A maintenance boat comes through every eighteen months or so – apparently the next pass was scheduled for only a couple days after our passage! Mike counted the number of log bumps against our hull – thirty! Fairly harmless against our tough aluminum skin, but always a worry for our hydraulic stabilizer ‘wings’ protruding underwater.

The canal is accessed by locks on either end with an 8 to11 foot change in water level. On exit we were regaled by the lockmaster, who launched into a tour guide’s spiel about the history and specifications of the canal, traded ballcaps with us (New Zealand for FPB), and when we gifted him with a queen conch shell we had gathered on a beach in the Bahamas, he launched into a four-step tutorial on how to blow the shell like a trumpet, complete with demo and a little tune as the finale. Having given away our one and only conch, we are unable to put his instructions to the test!

We spent two days in the canal, overnighting at a state park which also offered free docking, a museum, and walking paths into the woods. Apparently the swamp boasts the highest density population of black bears in the U.S., but the real health threat here is the prevalence of ticks carrying Lyme disease. Bug spray is highly recommended, as is a careful body check after any traipsing through the woods!

After our serene and bucolic journey through the swamps, it was a shock to exit into Hampton Roads where multiple rivers and the Chesapeake merge to create a huge harbor opening to the Atlantic. Norfolk Naval Shipyard, one of the largest shipyards in the world, is situated here. We sailed past towering gray painted warships, aircraft carriers, a hospital ship (snow white emblazoned with gigantic red cross emblems), and military helicopters throbbing overhead, not to mention the convergence of commercial traffic – barges, container ships, giant tugs, and more. We were delayed at one bridge that served as a railway crossing – with a long train stopped dead on the tracks on front of us. We spent a lengthy period of time floating in place watching the train and its six engines start and stop, moving forward (cheers) and then backwards (groans). When it finally cleared the bridge, a second train immediately took its place. Eventually we were able to pass under this last obstacle and head to an overnight berth in Hampton, Virginia, our last stop before departing the next morning at crack of dawn, heading offshore into the Atlantic Ocean for a 30 hour overnighter to New York City!

More to come, from the big city and points north!

To open slideshow, click any image below, Photos are copyrighted and registered with the US Copyright Office. Please respect.

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I’m enjoying a day of rest today after tramping all over the place yesterday sight-seeing in Puerto Rico. We sailed here a few days ago when the weather forecast was favorable, enjoying a mellow 40 mile cruise from St. Croix to Culebra Island (culebra translates as ‘snake’) in Puerto Rico. Capt. Rod’s timing was impeccable, as the following day saw storm winds that churned up our new anchorage in the town harbor into a froth of whitecaps. The yacht just in front of us dragged anchor, and another had its dinghy flying in the breeze like a kite from a halyard until the owner got it back under control!

Even though the US Virgins and Puerto Rico are both US territories, it was still necessary to clear in. This involved motoring to shore in our dinghy and tying it to a rickety dock, then hiking down the road for fifteen minutes to the nearby airport where we presented our documentation to the customs officials and answered a few questions, before being officially welcomed to Puerto Rico.

Sailing here requires some caution as the waters are hazardous, studded with offshore reefs of coral and rock. We have a fair amount of experience with navigating these kinds of conditions from our years in the South Pacific, but still it requires travel by daylight, while the sun shines down to illuminate underwater hazards. Between 10 am and 4 pm are the best hours for the optimum sun angle. Polarized sunglasses contribute to the ability to see into the depths as well. Cloudy days are a no-go. But as a wise precaution, on our first sightseeing foray in AVATAR, Rod sailed an exploratory course from anchorage to anchorage, recording our track on the GPS chart plotter, a fallback in case a hasty exit was needed in less than optimum conditions. This held us in good stead one evening when the anchorage turned rolly and uncomfortable, and he decided to relocate for the night to a more protected bay. With the track to follow, we were able to safely sail to a new location even though the visibility was not at its best late in the day.

So far our favorite anchorage was Culebrita, a smaller island very near to Culebra, and a national wildlife refuge. On its summit is the ruins of an 1800s lighthouse, while the beaches welcome nesting sea turtles in the night. Kayaking one morning I counted seven turtles popping their heads out of the water for a quick peek before submerging again to disappear. At one end was a bluff and generous tide pools called ‘The Baths’. The main beach offered soft sand and clear water for swimming. At the other end of the island was the so-called Snorkeling Beach. Everything was a quick hike along well marked trails, and at sunset we had a clear view to the west to enjoy the vibrant colors.

The Snorkeling Beach was almost a disappointment. Mike and I loaded up with masks and fins, and I refused to go without my heavy underwater camera – just in case. The scenery was very average, water cloudy and the outcroppings of coral dull under a coating of sand. But in the end my decision to lug the camera along paid off – as we found a stingray in the shallow water escorted by a trevally that resulted in a photo that strikes my fancy. The rays always seem to have a fish accompanying them; in this case another trevally tried to join in, but the first fish drove it off with conviction.

Making up for the Snorkeling Beach, very nearby were some world class dive sites. We dived one spot called “The Caves”, but we never made it to the actual caverns as we were so smitten by the scenic gardens of sea fans, thousands of them, in a multiplicity of colors ranging from mint to lavender to mustard. They coated tumbled oversized boulders that created swim-throughs and alleyways and hosted a colorful collection of reef fish and a barracuda or two. The diving this entire trip has been excellent, from Cane Bay Wall, to the astounding cruise ship pier and nearby sunken wrecks in Frederiksted, USVI – all encrusted with colorful coral growth and infested with fish, lobster, shrimp, and other sea life.

At the moment we are in a marina at a residential community called Palmas Del Mar on the main island’s south coast. Yesterday we rented a car and did a drive-by tour of Puerto Rico, realizing as we did so that we hadn’t allotted enough time to truly take in some of the sights. San Juan itself, the capital city, is a big, bustling metropolis accessed by a good tollroad system that covers the main island. The historic Old San Juan section is bounded by the twin fortifications of Castillo San Felipe del Morro (‘El Morro’) and Castillo San Cristobal, Spain’s massive six-level defense works that were under continuous construction for 10 generations (250 years) starting in the 1500s. They guarded the fabulous wealth that Spanish treasure ships ferried between the New World and the Old. Old San Juan, the historic old town, is a walled city still charming with narrow cobbled streets, overhanging balconies, and ornate Spanish architecture. It would take days to explore the museums, shops, galleries and restaurants in this inviting city and our quick visit didn’t do it justice.

We’re headed off grid tomorrow for more outer anchorages, and finish our trip in the Dominican Republic next week.

For a full screen slideshow, click any image below:

This wildlife image holds the  most meaning for me of all the photographs I have taken over the past ten years. I have it hanging in my kitchen where I see and marvel at it each and every day.

My husband and I are fortunate to have had access to a cruising yacht based in the South Pacific over the past several years. One of my favorite destinations is the small Kingdom of Tonga, where humpback whales migrate each year from the Antarctic to give birth and mate. We have visited several times during whale season and each time I took the opportunity to go out with whale watching professionals, over time learning the basic elements of locating and interacting with the whales in the water.

On our last visit in 2013, we were out for a cruise and scouting for whales on the way. The ocean was empty, no whales or whale watching boats in sight. Then suddenly we spotted a blow quite nearby.
Luck was entirely on our side. We had found a mother and very young calf that were floating quietly near the surface. They showed no signs of avoiding us or moving on, and no licensed whale boat operators were in the vicinity to ‘appropriate’ our find. I couldn’t resist such a golden opportunity. I quickly peeled off my clothes down to the swimsuit underneath and grabbed my underwater camera, fortunately already assembled and leak-tested and ready to go. There was a mad scramble gathering the bare necessities – fins, mask and snorkel – and then I eased into the water off the boat’s stern.

The two whales were maybe 150 feet away and I located them instantly through my camera’s viewfinder. I swam slowly and carefully towards them, minimizing any splashing or sudden movement, and they allowed me to approach without showing any skittishness. After a few minutes, mom turned and started swimming slowly away, giving me a rear view of her tail. But as I watched her go, snapping my last few photographs, I realized that her path was curving back in my direction. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the pair drifted back towards me until I found myself so close that I started backpedaling to avoid making accidental physical contact with mama’s long pectoral fin.

I spent nearly twenty minutes eye to eye with this calm and generous whale, while her baby slept and breathed above her, as we silently communicated with each other. I finally cut the session short when a third whale, probably her escort, arrived on the scene.

In itself the opportunity to swim alone and close to a cooperative whale is a rare and awe-inspiring experience. For the whale herself to voluntarily initiate that interaction was such an amazing, incredible privilege, never to be forgotten.

I don’t often post photos of myself (especially in a swimsuit!), but my husband took this photo of the three of us from the deck of the boat.

Nikon D4, 1/180 sec at f/2.8, ISO 400, 35mm (17.0-35mm f/2.8)

Photo is copyrighted and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Please respect.

Eye To Eye is available for purchase HERE.

A brand new addition to my online gallery, this is Sea Fan Garden AE photographed near Culebrita Island in Puerto Rico just last week.

As we embarked on our month long Caribbean cruise in April, I assembled the underwater housing setup prior to our first dive of the trip, but when it came time to test it out, the camera itself failed irretrievably and was now a brick for the duration of the voyage. I had three more cameras with me, but the broken one was the only one that fit the underwater housing!

Nevertheless, despite its foreign flavor, one of the advantages of being in the US Virgin Islands (as opposed to the nearby British Virgins and Spanish Virgins) is the availability of at least some of the infrastructure of home, including the United States Postal Service! So I ordered a second underwater housing to fit a different camera, then lingered in port awaiting the arrival of our package. Interestingly enough, packages shipped USPS from the mainland to USVI are considered local and not subject to customs or duty. But for whatever reason, shipping via UPS or FedEx from the same departure point in California, is considered to be foreign transport and triggers the customs inspection delay.

With each dive I became more familiar with the operation of my new system, and by the time we made our dive at ‘The Caves’ near Culebrita Island, I had things well in hand. Fortunately so, because this was one of the most beautiful underwater scenes I have encountered since I started scuba diving in my teens! We never made it to the actual caverns as we were so smitten by the scenic gardens of sea fans, thousands of them, in a multitude of vibrant colors ranging from mint to lavender to mustard. In great profusion the fans coated an underwater landscape of tumbled oversized boulders, swim-throughs and alleyways, waving back and forth gently in the current, alternating between light and shadow as they caught the rays of sunshine in the watery depths.

In post process, this image leaped off the screen as it conveyed the essence of the scene as I remembered it.

Sea Fan Garden AE is available for purchase HERE.

Sony a7RII, 1/350 sec at f/2.0, ISO 125, 28mm (FE 28mm F2 lens).

Photo is copyrighted and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Please respect.

A week or so ago we embarked on our second Caribbean expedition of 2016, flying into St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands where AVATAR and crew were awaiting us. Before our luggage was even unpacked, the boat was underway to a nearby anchorage to spend the night. Our anchorage was just off the beach of a resort where we enjoyed tropical cocktails while 737 jets took off from the very nearby international airport! Beachgoers all raised their iPhones to catch snaps and selfies as the aircraft roared overhead within a stone’s throw!

We didn’t spend any time in St. Thomas which, according to Capt. Rod, is a mecca for the cruise ship trade with some three to five cruise ships arriving in port daily, disgorging their thousands of passengers to throng the city streets shopping in duty free shops for liquor, perfume, and souvenirs. Cruise ships have their appeal, but for trekking aboard AVATAR we avoid them and their crowds like the plague!

Instead we motored our way east, looking for a quieter environment. We meant to overnight at St. John, a national park, but the sea swells created rolly anchorages, so after dropping anchor and pulling it back up again about five times in search of a peaceful night’s sleep, we finally headed straight to St. Croix. Currently we are berthed at Green Cay in a laid back marina where flocks of iguanas the size of dachshunds roost in the mangrove branches lining the channel, in company with flocks of more elegant snowy egrets.

Here we have been utterly charmed by the multitude of attractions on this sleepy island. Only one cruise ship per week arrives on the pier in quiet Frederiksted, leaving the town somnolent the remaining six days. Meanwhile the huge pier built to accommodate the weekly cruise ship has a reputation for being an awesome dive site, replete with frogfish, batfish, octopus, and more. It’s on our itinerary to check out in the next few days.

St. Croix is an 84 square mile island and its eastern shore, Point Udall (named after Arizona’s own Stewart Udall), is the easternmost point of land in all the United States and its territories. On the morning of January 1, 2000, news crews from around the US thronged the Udall Point to film the rising sun dawning on the new millennium. Of interest, the westernmost point of land in the US is in Guam, and is also named Point Udall after Stewart’s brother Morris Udall, so that America’s day begins and ends at a Point Udall. We drove out there yesterday and took in the scenic view of turquoise waters, waves breaking on the longest coral reef in the Caribbean, and sweeping vistas of the cactus studded hills diving down to meet rocky cliffs and beaches. Endangered leatherback turtles nest here, and Rod found the tracks of a recent arrival scraped in the sand where one had come ashore recently to lay her eggs in a sandy nest.

Diving is impressive here, and we’ve enjoyed some pleasant snorkels and a spectacular, although exhausting, dive on the reef off Cane Bay. Astoundingly, there is a 10,000+ foot ocean trench just offshore. The Cane Bay Wall, only a 250 yard swim from shore, is a spectacular coral wall that literally drops thousands of feet before hitting bottom. The downside is that the 250 yard swim from the beach in full dive gear was rather tiring for us septuagenarians, but once we submerged and began the actual dive, we were only breathless from the spectacular scenery. The coral here is gigantic in scale, taking on a prehistoric, jurassic look that we have not seen before. So-called sand chutes create alleyways that lead from the sandy bottom inshore to the rugged landscape of the wall. They are lined with sculptural branching coral, waving feathery fronds of sea fans, and a healthy multitude of reef fish, Caribbean reef sharks, turtles, lobster, eels, and coral and sponge growth in profusion.

Sadly I made this dive without a camera. In anticipation, I had assembled the underwater housing the day before, but when it came time to test it out, the camera itself failed irretrievably and is now a brick for the duration of the voyage. I have three more cameras with me, but the broken one is the only one that fits the underwater housing!

Nevertheless, despite its foreign flavor, one of the advantages of being in the US Virgins (as opposed to the nearby British Virgins and Spanish Virgins) is the availability of at least some of the infrastructure of home, including the United States Postal Service! So I have ordered a second underwater housing to fit a different camera, and today we are lingering in port awaiting the arrival of our package. Interestingly enough, packages shipped USPS from the mainland to here are considered local and are not subject to customs or duty. But for whatever reason, shipping via UPS or FedEx from the same departure point in California, is considered to be foreign transport and triggers the customs inspection delay.

St. Croix has been populated for at least 2,000 years, and measures its European influence from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second trip to the New World. He landed at nearby Salt River, but was promptly chased off by the less that friendly natives. He named the island Santa Cruz, but the Knights of Malta later changed its name to the French version, St. Croix. Seven flags have flown over these islands across the centuries, sometimes multiple times – Spanish, Dutch, English, French, Knights of Malta, Danish, and finally the United States, which purchased the islands in 1917 for $25 million. Perhaps the strongest visible influence came from the Danes, who built the forts and associated towns at Christiansted and Frederiksted, where the architecture retains its Danish flavor with a great deal of charm, narrow winding streets, quaint shops, galleries of art and hand-crafted jewelry, and excellent restaurants.

Everywhere the island is littered with the remnants of more than a hundred sugar cane plantations that thrived here in the 1700-1800s, dependent on slave labor until the slaves were emancipated by the Danes in 1848 following a slave revolt on St. Croix. Crumbling stone walls, abandoned stone buildings, circular stone kilns and chimneys dot the landscape at every turn. We toured the inviting St. George Village Botanical Garden, built on the sprawling bones of one old plantation. The Cruzan Rum Factory on St. Croix is a thriving business, but it now imports the cane molasses needed to fill its bubbling million gallon fermentation vats from nearby Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.

We have much more to see on St. Croix, but Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are also on our itinerary this trip, so we don’t dare linger too long. But I imagine we will return for a second visit next year as we revisit favorite spots.

Click any image below to open full screen slideshow:

The story behind WAVE RIDERS…

The Best of Nature 2016 Photography Exhibition opens this coming weekend at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Since I’m off cruising in the Caribbean, I will miss the Opening Reception on April 30 from 11 AM to 2 PM. But if you’re in the area, the museum is a great place to visit. Stop by the Ordover Gallery on the 4th Floor to see my image ‘Wave Riders’ included in this exhibition of wonderful nature photography!

Pygmy Devil Rays are similar in appearance to their cousins, the manta rays, but much smaller.  Both belong to a genus of ray called Mobula or, more casually, “flying rays” due to a propensity to breach (jump out of the water) in spectacular fashion.  The pygmy rays are usually seen in schools near the surface of coastal waters.  I have often seen them leaping repeatedly out of the water, making a noise like popcorn popping as they splash down again.

On this trip we were traveling south along Mexico’s Pacific coastline. We stopped over in Ixtapa, which possesses a beautiful curving sand beach well used by local walkers, joggers, children and more all traversing the golden sand in the morning hours.  The surf rolled in, backlit by the early morning sun, and I was startled to see the rays gliding in the breaking waves.  With the sun backlighting the clear aqua water, the rays appeared suspended as if behind the glass of an aquarium.  Intrigued, I invested quite a bit of time trying to capture the shot.  As usual in these circumstances, I was shooting hand-held, kicking up the shutter speed to freeze action.

WAVE RIDERS available for purchase HERE

Nikon D4S, 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400mm, 400mm (80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6), hand-held.

Photo is copyrighted and registered with the copyright office. Please respect.

The 29th Annual Fund-Raising Gala for Salpointe High School here in Tucson is scheduled for this Saturday, April 23, at the elegant Cross Creek Riding Club estate. I’m pleased to support them by donating a 24″ x 36″ canvas gallery wrap to the text-to-bid silent auction. FRINGING REEF #4 WAVELET is one of my more popular images – I hope it generates a nice contribution to a worthy cause!

More information about the gala HERE:

‘Fringing Reef #4 Wavelet’ is an artistic interpretation of dawn rising over the Pacific Ocean as it meets the fringing reef surrounding a South Pacific atoll, as a small wave breaks over the shallow coral.

In 2009 we were sailing our sailboat Raven from French Polynesia to Tonga, a distance of some 1300 miles. Mid voyage we laid over in the remote Cook Islands. It was a pleasure to pause and take respite in the quiet anchorage of uninhabited Suwarrow Atoll, protected from the open Pacific Ocean by the shallow circle of coral reef that surrounded the inner lagoon.

Early one morning I paddled my kayak to the reef to catch the sun as it rose. The corals of the reef were only submerged by a couple of feet, and their vibrant colors were visible beneath the clear water. I came back with so many stunning photos from that session, I can hardly choose which is my favorite.

FRINGING REEF #4 WAVELET is available for purchase HERE.

Nikon D700, 1/45 sec at f/4.8, ISO 200, 14mm (14.0-24.0mm f/2.8), hand held.

Photo is copyrighted and registered with the US Copyright Office. Please respect.