View allAll Photos Tagged AllinOne
Be on the lookout for pirates!
Inspired by the legendary Tall Ship, Preussen, the new Royal Clipper has the proud distinction of being the largest and only five-masted sailing ship built since her predecessor was launched at the beginning of the last century. With her complement of 42 sails, Royal Clipper is a splendid sight to behold. You might think she was an apparition from the grand age of sail, but Royal Clipper is as new as tomorrow. She boasts state-of-the-art navigation systems and all the comforts of today.
For connoisseurs of sail cruising, the 439 foot Royal Clipper offers the ultimate sea-going experience, balancing the grandeur, adventure and tradition of sailing with the superb service, amenities and accommodations of the finest modern yachts. Royal Clipper carries just 227 guests in luxurious style.
A full 18,940 square feet of open deck and three swimming pools create a wonderfully spacious and expansive outdoor environment. Find your secret hideaway on one of the hidden balconies on either side of the bow.
From the Royal Clipper website:
www.starclippercruises.co.uk/ships/royal-clipper
The Royal Clipper was docked in Barbados, taking on supplies before heading out on her next adventure. Definitely not the kind of cruise that Niccy and I would enjoy but for those who are looking for a true "sailing cruise" she just might be the way to go I do have to admit though that climbing the mast (with safety harness provided) to one of the passenger look-out "crow's-nests", thoughtfully furnished with comfortable settee does sound like fun!
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. It's a well known issue and for some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!
I could have danced and danced and danced...
One of the many things that surprised us on this cruise was just how popular ballroom dancing was. It's not something you see a lot of on an American cruise, you're more likely to see Grandma and Grandpa on the floor trying to shake it to Bon Jovi's "Living On A Prayer" which is a cruise ship staple.
Niccy and I went to the lounge every evening to play in the General Knowledge Trivia (which we had no chance of ever winning) and before the trivia there was a ballroom dance session so we got to watch a bit.
Everyone was taking the dance serious but some more serious than others. It was easy to see that the super serious folks had been at it for awhile and more than likely had taken lessons at Arthur Murray or some other dance school. They were very graceful as they circled on the dance floor and it was very nice to see them enjoy themselves. We saw waltzes, tangos, foxtrots, and a few others that we didn't know but what we do know is that Fred and Ginger would've felt right at home.
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!
One of the highest licensing standards in the US (and I would imagine Barbados as well!
Here comes the pilot to guide us to our safe berth in Barbados. One of the toughest jobs around in my opinion since you've got to be a ship's Master first and will have been at sea for 15 to 25 years to satisfy this requirement.
There's a lot of people (cargo, etc) depending on you and your knowledge to get them safely to your destination. Me, I'm barely responsible for myself so I doubt I could take on a job like this!
As a cruiser I certainly am glad they're there to help me reach my destination!
I imagine things got pretty heated up!
The storm that blew through last night (30 July) was a real nice one. Came from the East, headed West, and stayed South of the city so no rain for us but plenty of show!
Started out real slow but once it decided to kick in it certainly had some flair to it. Bolts were hitting regularly, some brighter than others. The only bad thing was that i started to smell smoke, hopefully it was just a bush getting vaporized and not a fire.
This is a combination of 2 shots, both @ f/8 with 36 combined seconds on the clock, ISO 100 and 44mm zoom. The bolts seemed to linger right over the prison so I took a chance with the zoom and it payed off.
If you're represent Prince's Estate please don't sue me, I can't afford it!
Sometimes it pays to wait the storm out!
Once the storm from the previous shot had decided to blow over the light show started. Kind of surprising since the majority of the lightning I've seen has usually been at the leading edge of a storm, not in the middle of it. What happened is that two different cloud banks came together on the far side of town and I'm guessing they didn't like each other and started to rumble!
This was shot at my old stomping grounds, not far from the house. I've found a couple of other great spots but they were getting hammered with rain last night so I decided to stay close to home. Glad I did, the show was fantastic!
This was 30 seconds in BULB mode @ f/7.1 and ISO 100. I had a discussion with a friend about using a lightning trigger VS 30 seconds on Manual. I said that a lightning trigger felt like cheating to me, he said what about 30 seconds, isn't that cheating? I don't know, what do you think?
It's possible you'll find a hot pixel or two, I tried to get rid of most of them. Since the T7 isn't a high end camera I guess I've got to expect them, along with a bit of grain even at ISO 100.
For those who are curious the lights you're seeing are coming from the prison complexes we have south of town. The facilities contain the Arizona Department of Corrections facility, the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Center, the Tucson Police Department Academy, the Police Academy Driving Course, the United States Penitentiary - Tucson, and the Federal Correctional Institution - Tucson (Women's Prison). Yep, we're neighbors with some bad MoFos!
I'm guessing there's a LOT of veterans living in Quail Creek!
On our way up to Madera Canyon we stopped at the Quail Creek Veterans Park. Full disclosure, Quail Creek is a Robson Resort 55+ community but the park is open to everyone.
We didn't stop because it was a veteran's park, we stopped because we'd been driving for a half hour or so, Niccy is a lady, and she'd just polished off her Starbucks and needed to spend a penny.
I have to say I was really impressed with this park. They had some really clean facilities, pickleball courts. a dog run area (big and small dogs), picnic area, and a playground. The grounds were really well kept and to top it off they had this signage to let you know that this was definitely a veteran's park! Good job on this park Quail Creek and the town of Sahuarita.
Had to do a bit of work on this shot to make it presentable to me. The sky is a replacement since the original was that dull flat summer sky we tend to get in Arizona. There were some yellow bollards in front of the sign that I cloned out, if you're a pixel peeper you'll probably see exactly where, along with a couple of rooftops.
The one thing I didn't do was bump up the saturation. I'm not a fan of oversaturation, it's got a place in the photography world but this definitely didn't need it, in fact I dropped it down a bit!
All in all a really nice stop at a really nice park. If you're a fan of pretty parks and you're in the area I'd recommend you stop for a moment and check it out.
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
CERRO PANDO is a Tug boat built in 2013 by ASTILLEROS ARMON - NAVIA, SPAIN. Currently sailing under the flag of Panama. It's gross tonnage is 484 tons.
It really was a treat to see so many tugboats on this journey! I feel a real connection to them, they're what I'd call a real blue collar boat.
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming aro
It's a simple thing to do, just turn around!
Saw this young lady taking a shot of the setting sun and it reminded me of another shot I got:
www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/52519570950/in/photolist-2o5S...
I'd give her the same advice I would've given this other fellow which is turn around and look behind you. There's a plethora of light and color in the setting sun and it's all shooting right past you, reflecting on the scenery behind. Now if you want a shot of a bright blazing star that's disappearing over the horizon then carry on. It's not going to be a shot that reminds you of a great time had in a foreign land, it will remind you that staring into the sun really isn't the best idea!
"On 20 January 1989, during an improperly authorized gunnery experiment off Vieques Island, Iowa fired a 16-inch (406 mm) shell 23.4 nmi (26.9 mi; 43.3 km), setting a record for the longest-ranged 16 in (406 mm) shell ever fired. "!
The USS IOWA represents the largest — and last — class of battleships built by the United States Navy. The IOWA class battleships served in every US conflict from World War II through the Gulf War in 1991.
I knew about the Iowa being a museum and right next door to where we were docked in the port. My plan was to check in on the Coral Princess then jump off and walk over to the Iowa to spend a few hours. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men....
In my planning I forgot to factor in one crucial element, that being we were docked in a working port. Evidently the government doesn't exactly like everyday folks just wandering around on the docks and they put up some BIG fences to prevent it so I had to settle for a couple of photographs.
The Iowa is definitely on our (actually my) list of places we need to visit once we get on the road.
I shot this in AP, wasn't quite using Manual Mode yet so there's some motion blur from us sailing by. At least now I know how to fix it!
I'm sure they do a good job but I don't think the trip they make is really "epic", at least not in my book.
We were back on the ship waiting to sail away and I was out on the deck when I saw this little fellow coming in. Evidently they run a service between the mainland and Klein Bonaire, an uninhabited island. Evidently what they do is run folks out to the island so that they can do a bit of snorkeling or just hang out on the beach there.
Neither of those things are on our bucket list so we didn't partake but if you're ever in Bonaire and you're looking for a place to hang out while looking at fish and sunning on the beach you should look them up:
What else would you you expect from a "Floating Gin Joint"!
As we left Cabo San Lucas the bartenders set up an impromptu Margarita mixing station on the back deck. Another one of those things that they don't normally do on Holland America.
I don't know if it was the thought of a cool tropical drink to celebrate Mexico or the 25% off price sign but people flocked to the station. Hopefully they read the fine print that talked about the 18% gratuity!
Either way they were quite busy and it was certainly a good training experience for the apprentice!
The party didn't go on forever though, the weather was changing and not for the best.
The community in the foreground is where I live!
The storm that blew in last night came from the Southeast and was a real slow mover. Moving slow is a benefit for me since it gives me time to figure out where the next strike might be but it's bad for the folks who are underneath it and getting all the downpour.
I was watching the progress and noticed that it was hitting in the same general area so I took a chance with a little bit of zoom, trying to get a little closer to the action. What I should have done was check my camera settings before I started firing away. Had I done that I would have noticed that my ISO was set to AUTO instead of the 100 I've been using. I really love this little camera but the sensor leaves something to be desired, especially in a dark situation. The AUTO decided that 800 was the appropriate setting so I wound up with a very noisy shot! I tried a little denoise in post but if you push it to far things start to look pretty fake and this bolt wasn't fake!
This was shot towards the Southeast, the community in the foreground is where I live. I would like to have included more but had I dropped the camera down I would have had lights from the cars going by and I wanted to avoid that.
This was shot @ f/13 with 26 seconds, Auto ISO and 32mm zoom. Yeah, I just turned the Auto off and set the ISO manually. Not planning on making that mistake again!
Apologies to The Piano Man Billy Joel
The song "Piano Man" is the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this gentleman sitting at the Lido Bar on the Zaandam.
The way he was looking at his drink, like a man would look at his lover, slowly stirring it in anticipation of the joy it would bring him was a story unto itself.
Now I don't think this was a gin and tonic but I don't think I've ever heard any songs about making love to a Bloody Mary!
Looking at the website:
it seems that these guys make a bunch of runs every day
This is the Bequia Express 1 coming into Kingstown St. Vincent on her first run of the morning.
BEQUIA EXPRESS 1 (IMO: 6929703) is a Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship that was built in 1969 (55 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of St Vincent Grenadines.
Her carrying capacity is 1101 Gross Tonnage and her current draught is reported to be 3.5 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 53.95 meters and her width is 10.65 meters.
BIG THANK YOU to Calum.Mackenzie1 and his eagle eyes for finding her name. It's not on the bow, it's on the upper left at the very back.
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!
As I said before, sunset dinner cruises seem to be the thing to do in San Diego.
As always, hospitality, fine dining and creative beverage service are on the fore deck of a cruise aboard the newly named “Admiral Hornblower.” However, playing a supporting role is a bevy of innovative technologies and must-have services demanded by a sophisticated and connected contemporary clientele: back lit fiber optic infused bars, Wi-Fi throughout the ship, our hip ‘boutique hotel’ style Captains Lounge and Pilot House view. Add to that three spacious, climate-controlled salons, expansive open-air sun decks offering sweeping panoramic San Diego vistas, three full-service bars, two dance floors and seating for up to 420 guests and the sum is pure memory making at sea.
www.cityexperiences.com/san-diego/city-cruises/our-fleet/...
This sure came out with some funky colors and I'm not sure why. I was using the Sunny 16 rule and the time shows as being 4:36 PM. The sun wasn't setting quite yet so I thought there was enough light but maybe not. Could also have something to do with the focal length on this lens but I just don't know.
Just remember, Carnival has the FUN ships, Holland America has the Old People's ships!
Since Carnival Corp. is the parent company of Holland America I figured I'd give them a little publicity. From the Carnival Website:
There just isn’t enough vacation time to do everything, so we go for the widest variety, make the most of the moments... and above all, try to have the most fun whenever possible. All of you with the heads nodding, hands raised, folks who just stood up and cheered at the office — you’re Carnival Panorama’s people!
Now my reason for posting this isn't altruistic at all. I figure that if people see how much FUN they can have with Carnival they'll stay away from Holland America, which definitely isn't a FUN ship but is definitely a CRUISE SHIP, just the way we like it!
PS: Ignore the junker off to the right, she'll be shown in her full glory in another shot!
My cholesterol went up just looking at that mountain of fries.
One thing the Pima County fair in Tucson is certainly known for is coming up with some pretty outrageous food items. A grilled turkey leg wrapped in bacon, deep fried candy bars, and this monstrosity, Megafries. Pretty much an entire fryer basket stuffed with fries (chips), cooked up crispy and dumped on a plate.
We didn't stick around to watch this fellow devour this mountain of curled potatoes, my heart couldn't take it.
It looks like he was documenting his gastronomic undertaking, maybe to impress his Facebook friends back at the Boca Del Vista Retirement Community and RV Park?
Apologies to Moe, Larry, and Curly.....
Had a storm blow through yesterday evening but it stayed well to the South and was headed West. There was nothing going on here at the ranch but I headed up to my shooting spot just in case something strayed our way.
Well, true to form the storm stayed South and headed West, put on a pretty good show that I was able to catch a little of. Very weird set of clouds, they were real flat and real spread out.
This is a combo of 3 shots with a combined total of 95 seconds on the clock, f/7.1, ISO 100 and 200mm worth of zoom! I had my Tamron 18-200mm glass on and had it sticking out as far as it would go. Rough measurements in Google Maps say these bolts were about 10 miles away (as the crow flies) so I'm pretty happy with the results!
Where the sky is blue, the pool is open, and the snow is only temporary!
Another shot from our "snowstorm" on the 2nd of March. The pool and hot tub is definitely open and warm, the snow is only on the roof!
Yeah, we do get a bit warm in the summer but for the rest of the year it's not a bad place to live. If you want to ski in the winter you could head up to Mt. Lemmon:
or up north to Flagstaff:
Or just enjoy the great weather the rest of the year!
I should've planned this out better and got the whole pool in the shot but that's the way I roll!
Nope, it's not a Phoenix freeway at 5 PM on a Friday afternoon!
On our way home from a Sunday drive on a Saturday we came across a bit of a mess.
Seems that a truck on the freeway (I-10) had decided to catch fire and block both lanes of traffic. One lane was finally opened to get the traffic flowing, however this took about 2 hours after the accident and with no exits on this section of freeway we found ourselves stuck in the middle.
Lucky for us we had packed a picnic lunch along with plenty of water since the heat was up to 102° F with a slight breeze from the East with a clear sky.
For reference this is Interstate 10 East of Vail Arizona, West of the Frontage Road overpass:
31.983552381672638, -110.54711529068143
Local News Article:
www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/i-10-westbound-closed-near-...
I like big boats and I cannot lie...
We spent the day with my daughter and her boyfriend in Port Townsend Washington which is where I got to see this beauty.
MV Kennewick is a Kwa-di Tabil-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. She entered service on the Port Townsend–Coupeville ferry route on February 14, 2012.
Sure, it's nice to spend time with family but seeing a big ship makes it even better, at least for me!
I had a debate with myself over whether or not this needed "oldifying" (Thanks to Jim Frazier for a new word) or not. I came to the conclusion that bits are cheap so I've uploaded a sepia toned version as well as the original:
www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/52685563833/in/dateposted-pub...
I personally like them both but I thought I would see what a jury of my peers had to say!
You know what the best thing is about the end of the day? Tomorrow, it starts all over again.
Douglas Coupland
Being a Pilot is one of the toughest jobs around in my opinion since you've got to be a ship's Master first and will have been at sea for 15 to 25 years to satisfy this requirement.
There's a lot of people (cargo, etc) depending on you and your knowledge to get them safely to your destination. Me, I'm barely responsible for myself so I doubt I could take on a job like this!
As a cruiser I certainly am glad they're there to help me reach my destination!
The vignette in this shot isn't added afterwards, I guess it was a combination of the settings and the light. Sometimes things just work out right.
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. It's a well known issue and for some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
The VASTASO (IMO: 9328443) is a Tug and is sailing under the flag of Italy. Her length overall (LOA) is 32.5 meters and her width is 10.8 meters.
In this shot she's helping out the MSC Caterina who was making a tight turn in the Civitavecchia Cruise Port area. There were actually three tugs helping her out, pretty sure I've got pictures of the other two as well!
This is what you get when you take the road less traveled!
I've got to credit Niccy with this shot, if not for her I wouldn't have got it.
For some reason she decided she wanted to stray off the paved path and have a look over the edge. Me being the dutiful husband decided to follow along so that I'd be able to identify the spot where she tumbled over the edge. Boy was I surprised....
Looking over the edge she said "look over there...". Sitting there were a couple of California Condors, just hanging out and enjoying the view. I fired off a couple of shots, this was the best of that series. There were a couple more that were sunning themselves on a rock outcrop and I got a shot of them too.
n 1982 there were only 22 California Condors left in the world. In 1992, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), with its public and private partners, began reintroducing captive-bred condors to the wild. In 2001 the first wild nesting occurred in Grand Canyon National Park since re-introduction. In 2002 there were only 8 pairs of wild nesting birds population-wide. In 2008, for the first time since the program began, more California condors were flying free in the wild than in captivity. Today there are nearly 500 – more than half of them flying free in Arizona, Utah, California, and Baja Mexico.
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
Acoording to mi amigo toddkeith533 this is an S-80 Plus or Isaac Peral Class boat.
This "whale" belongs to the Spanish Navy and was spotted in Cartegena, Spain. It was early morning and they were headed out of port. Caught me totally off guard without my camera in hand so I grabbed it and fired off a couple of quick shots.
The reason I call her a "whale" is because of an old Navy friend of mine. He was stationed at a tiny base on a remote island outside of the United States in the East China Sea. If you were to ask him what he did there he'd tell you that it was a "research" facility and they were logging all the "whales" that passed through the area.
Had to do a weird crop on this, had a lot of blank space on the left that didn't add anything. Guess that's what happens when you're not prepared!
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group (and anyone else with a technical curiousity) you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used. One thing I've noticed is this lens has a lot of vignette to it at a distance, not a bad thing when you're shooting lightning at night!
If you know Mott The Hoople they you'll know where I swiped the title from!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IqiRY60ZDE
There was a group of teenage boys on this cruise which I thought was unusual owing to the length of the cruise and the fact that it was during a school time. Also, Holland America isn't known as being family oriented. Maybe they were all members of the Billionaire Boys Club?
They were very respectful for being teenaged guys which was a good thing since I do remember my teenage years and all the things we got up to.
I saw them engaged in a traditional cruise ship game, ping-pong. They were across the ship from me and at an angle but i liked the way they were in the shadows and framed in nicely by the windows. I did have to do an oddball crop on this to get rid of a lot of extraneous bits and bobs.
I saw this in B/W when I looked at it so it was shot in RAW and converted over. You know how it is, you see the scene and know it won't work in color but B/W will be just right.
Guess you should've gotten here earlier!
Once all the parking slots are sold it becomes a waiting game. What happens on parade day is we fill up early with people here to watch the parade. Once it's over we have a mass exodus which gives us spaces to sell to folks who don't really care about the parade but want to see the rodeo itself. On the other days once we fill up we're pretty much full till the rodeo is over, which means we don't have a lot to do. Sure, there's a few that leave during the day but for the most part they stay which means we get to sit around and wait!
You'll do anything to get your fix, even shooting from inside of the back of a Honda CR-V!
Well, it finally happened. Mother Nature decided to grace us with a proper monsoon storm last night. I'm talking sheets of rain, howling winds, and a lot of lightning.
Niccy came home from work and I asked her what the sky looked like on her drive home. She said there had been a good storm at her work but nothing spectacular in the neighborhood and she was going to go and have a shower. I'd just finished watching the local weather forecast and saw she was right so I figured it was another bust night.
Right about then my lightning app went off which means there were strikes within 10 miles so I decided to go out and have a look for myself. I walked out, looked at the sky to the North, walked back in, told her I was heading out and took off for my shooting spot. Nothing in the neighborhood my ass!
Got tripod set up, grabbed the camera and the sky opened up on me. Like I said above there was howling wind, sheets of rain, and lightning all around. I sat in the car, waiting for the storm to blow over. After about 15 minutes the major part of the storm had passed but it was still raining so I decided to go to my second spot which was under cover, figured I might get something from there.
Got to my second spot and the clouds opened up again! Waited in the car for about 20 minutes then decided that I wasn't getting anything but wet if I went out so I headed home.
Got home and the rain decided to slow down to a drizzle so I headed out again to my original spot. I figured that the drizzle would quit soon and I might get something yet.
The drizzle never stopped and neither did the lightning so I climbed in the back of the CR-V, opened up the hatch, set up my gear, and fired away. This is the end result.
This is a combination of 3 shots that I got. The storm intensity had decreased and along with it the lightning, hence the reason for combining the 3 shots. Tonight is supposed to be a good night so maybe we'll get lucky and get a few more!
This has to be the worst disembarkation we've ever seen!
The ship was docked and it was time for everyone to head back to reality and their humble homes but not before you go through immigration.
In Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, and every other cruise port we've been in the immigration process has been a snap. You walk off the ship, head into the terminal, walk through immigration and you're on your way. Not in San Diego, they've got to be different.
For some reason they decided to have the immigration process take place aboard ship. Everyone had an assigned time to show up but of course everyone decided to show up all at once which meant a conga line of people snaking through the ship. Lucky for us all we had to do was get off and pick up the car for the drive back but not so lucky for those who had to try and make their flight at the airport!
I feel bad for those folks who live under the landing path!
If you've ever flown into San Diego then this sight is nothing new. San Diego International’s steep approach path that brings pilots over the city and strong tailwinds in the area create an even bigger landing challenge.” Yep, they come in for landing right over the city. Supposedly it's one of the most difficult airports for pilots in the USA.
This was my attempt at catching a moving plane with my camera hand held in Manual. They seem to land pretty regularly so I had lots of opportunities, this one was probably the clearest one of all I took.
Looking for a 3 hour tour? Forget about booking the SS Minnow:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8jhb5NnADM
Book the Nerissa instead!
From our sojourn to San Diego.
We had the opportunity to see a lot of yachts passing by but the Nerissa was the only one with a Yacht Rental sign on her! Had a look at her WWW page:
zolnayachts.com/portfolio-items/nerissa/
and was pleasantly surprised to see that she only costs $1500 US per hour (sans gratuities). Since she can carry 49 paying passengers each would only have to pay about $30 US per hour. Not a bad price if you've got 48 other friends who want to take a cruise around the harbor on a yacht!
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group (and anyone else with a technical curiousity) you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used. One thing I've noticed is this lens has a lot of vignette to it at a distance, not a bad thing when you're shooting lightning at night!
Since the monsoons (and the lightning) have taken a hiatus I present for your enjoyment a nice yacht that I could never afford!
AMIXTLI is a 31.46 m Motor Yacht, built in the United States of America by Broward Marine and delivered in 1990.
Her top speed is 25.0 kn, her cruising speed is 21.0 kn, and she boasts a maximum cruising range of 2000.0 nm at 12.0 kn, with power coming from two Detroit Diesel diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 6 guests in 3 staterooms, with 4 crew members waiting on their every need. She has a gross tonnage of 157.0 GT and a 6.1 m beam.
Caught a glimpse of this beautiful lady down in Puerto Vallarta. As you can see on her bow it says "The Best Day" along with what appears to be a phone number which is probably the number for Seaside Pacific Yacht Group, her current owner. If you'd like to hire her for a week the current price is $99,840 a week which is only $16,640 per person USD when you split the cost between 6 guests.
BTW, I'm available to photographically document your fantastic week aboard her in exchange for my passage!
No offense but things are definitely different in the Golden State!
Niccy and I were walking down the Liberty Station Esplanade in San Diego when we came across this scene.
There's a place right on the water where you can rent a paddleboard for you and your dog to go out on. It seemed to be pretty popular but I didn't get to talk with any of the fur kids to ask them whether or net they enjoyed it! Nice to see that all the dogs had PFDs.
Niccy and I packed up the family (Tater Tot and Mushi-Mushi) and headed out on our first adventure!
We took the RV on a short shakedown cruise over to San Diego, specifically Point Loma Naval Base.
There's a nice camping spot on the base, right on the water. No electric, no water, but since we're self contained it wasn't a problem We spent a couple of days doing absolutely nothing except watching the world pass us by. Exactly the kind of experience we were looking for.
Something to contrast my shot of the Three Caballleros!
www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/54367445984/in/dateposted-pub...
Taking a flight brings out the gambler in you. You're betting that the flight is on time, you're betting on the captain to get you to your destination, and you're betting on your luggage arriving at the same time as you do. Now if all these bets pay off you'll make it to your destination on time with your luggage in hand.
From what I've seen the house has an edge when it comes to your luggage since they hire the luggage handlers. Hopefully they hire people who actually care about you getting your dainties in a timely manner and are not just there for a paycheck. In this instance I'm wondering whether or not I made a sucker bet!
Can you tell our vet works with horses as well as dogs and cats?
Had to take Miss Tiffany into the vet today for her annual tooth cleaning. I say tooth because she's only got a few left, the folks she lived with before didn't take the best care of her I suppose.
Anyhow, our vet is out in the country and this sign is at the end of the driveway, right before you pull out on the road. Stopping before you pull out is not a bad idea but the road they're located on is definitely not an interstate freeway! If you're a map person you can look here and see, you might come across an occasional tractor or two but that's about it!
www.google.com/maps/place/Marana+Veterinary+Clinic/@32.45...
I happened to have my camera with me, wanted to try out the new lens and thought I might get a horse shot or two at the clinic. Unfortunately the horses were nowhere to be seen so this is what I got! I do like that you can get the blurry background real easy with it. We'll see what she can really do in March when I'll have the chance to get some ship shots!
Home to the OK Corral, Boot Hill, and the World's Largest Rosebush!
One of the float entries was from the town of Tombstone which is about 1 3/4 hours Southeast of Tucson if you take the backroads, much better than the boring freeway route.
Tombstone has a pretty wild and wooly history and if you're interested you can read more about it here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombstone,_Arizona
The Tucson Rodeo Parade is believed to be the nation's longest non-motorized parade dating back to 1925. All the parade entries are horse pulled other than the street sweepers who always end the parade by cleaning up the landmines left by our equine friends.