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Schooner America 2.0 ~ 3500 Feet of Sails ~ Sunset Sail
Florida Keys ~ Key West Harbor ~ Key West, Florida U.S.A.
(one more photo 'of the America 2.0' in the comments)
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History: Designed and built by Scarano Boat Inc. in Albany, N.Y., the America 2.0 had big shoes to fill. Its 1995 predecessor, the 139-foot America, now berthed in Santa Barbara, won the hearts and minds of many islanders on and off the docks. That ship replicated the original America, a 101-foot sailing vessel that won an 1851 race against 15 yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron, what would become known forever as the "America's Cup" in honor of that ship. The original America ended up a blockade-runner for the Confederacy and, after the Yankees seized her, became a blockade-buster for the federals. She remained government property until falling victim to a shed collapse in 1945, and with the shed was scrapped and burned.
The America 2.0, the Adirondack III, the Western Union, the Appledore and other tall ships are credited with helping keep
Key West's maritime traditions alive for years to come.
Sunset Cruise on the America 2.0 www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwafAYA32Ek
Sailing the Schooner America (w/ great music!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Wm0NQnfKY
America 2.0 - by Classic Harbor Line (w/ great sunset!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq-KIhBdQsE#t=78.783416
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West,_Florida
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_keys
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Mr. Ray's original schooner America 1995 maiden voyage www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aw3Fokh32s
[On a personal note; I did work on Mr. Ray's two yachts and his hotel before he built his replica of The America. I always remember him talking about his dream of building it. On a sad note, he passed away shortly after fulfilling his dream, and I deeply miss him. When his vessel arrived in Fort Lauderdale, I met with him and we made arrangements for me to do work on its interior when he returned from South America in the Spring. He passed away and never made it back, and the vessel was sold to a charter company in Key West, shortly thereafter. A great man. He had a dream...and he made it happen. Thanks for the memories, Mr Ray. RIP, my dear friend.]
America 2.0 (105 feet) replaces Mr. Ray's original schooner America (139 feet). (The original is now berthed in Santa Barbara, California)
Crow in the spotlight ...
Sony ILCE-7R
300mm F2.8 G
The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species found in East Asia. It is medium-sized, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix. Aix is an Ancient Greek word used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and galericulata is the Latin for a wig, derived from galerum, a cap or bonnet.
The adult male is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange "sails" at the back. The female is similar to female wood duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye, but is paler below, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.
Both the males and females have crests, but the crest is more pronounced on the male.
Like many other species of ducks, the male undergoes a moult after the mating season into eclipse plumage. When in eclipse plumage, the male looks similar to the female, but can be told apart by their bright yellow-orange beak, lack of any crest, and a less-pronounced eye-stripe.
Mandarin ducklings are almost identical in appearance to wood ducklings, and very similar to mallard ducklings. The ducklings can be distinguished from mallard ducklings because the eye-stripe of mandarin ducklings (and wood ducklings) stops at the eye, while in mallard ducklings it reaches all the way to the bill.
The hooded crow (Corvus cornix) (also called hoodie is a Eurasian bird species in the Corvus genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch crow and Danish crow. In Ireland it is called grey crow, just as in the Slavic languages and in Danish. In German it is called "mist crow" ("Nebelkrähe"). Found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East, it is an ashy grey bird with black head, throat, wings, tail, and thigh feathers, as well as a black bill, eyes, and feet. Like other corvids, it is an omnivorous and opportunistic forager and feeder.
It is so similar in morphology and habits to the carrion crow (Corvus corone), for many years they were considered by most authorities to be geographical races of one species. Hybridization observed where their ranges overlapped added weight to this view. However, since 2002, the hooded crow has been elevated to full species status after closer observation; the hybridisation was less than expected and hybrids had decreased vigour. Within the hooded crow species, four subspecies are recognized, with one, the Mesopotamian crow, possibly distinct enough to warrant species status itself.
Except for the head, throat, wings, tail, and thigh feathers, which are black and mostly glossy, the plumage is ash-grey, the dark shafts giving it a streaky appearance. The bill and legs are black; the iris dark brown. Only one moult occurs, in autumn, as in other crow species. The male is the larger bird, otherwise the sexes are alike. Their flight is slow and heavy and usually straight. Their length varies from 48 to 52 cm (19 to 20 in). When first hatched, the young are much blacker than the parents. Juveniles have duller plumage with bluish or greyish eyes and initially a red mouth. Wingspan is 98 cm (39 in) and weight is on average 510 g.
The mallard or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae.
The male birds (drakes) have a glossy green head and are grey on wings and belly, while the females (hens or ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black speculum feathers which commonly also include iridescent blue feathers especially among males. Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domesticated ducks.
The mallard is a medium-sized waterfowl species although it is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks. It is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long (of which the body makes up around two-thirds), has a wingspan of 81–98 cm (32–39 in),[16] and weighs 0.72–1.58 kg (1.6–3.5 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 25.7 to 30.6 cm (10.1 to 12.0 in), the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in) and the tarsus is 4.1 to 4.8 cm (1.6 to 1.9 in).
The breeding male mallard is unmistakable, with a glossy bottle-green head and white collar which demarcates the head from the purple-tinged brown breast, grey brown wings, and a pale grey belly. The rear of the male is black, with the dark tail having white borders. The bill of the male is a yellowish orange tipped with black while that of the female is generally darker ranging from black to mottled orange. The female mallard is predominantly mottled with each individual feather showing sharp contrast from buff to very dark brown, a coloration shared by most female dabbling ducks, and has buff cheeks, eyebrow, throat and neck with a darker crown and eye-stripe.
Owing to their highly 'malleable' genetic code, Mallards can display a large amount of variation, as seen here with this female, who displays faded or 'apricot' plumage.
Both male and female mallards have distinct iridescent purple blue speculum feathers edged with white, prominent in flight or at rest, though temporarily shed during the annual summer moult. Upon hatching, the plumage colouring of the duckling is yellow on the underside and face (with streaks by the eyes) and black on the back (with some yellow spots) all the way to the top and back of the head. Its legs and bill are also black. As it nears a month in age, the duckling's plumage will start becoming drab, looking more like the female (though its plumage is more streaked) and its legs will lose their dark grey colouring. Two months after hatching, the fledgling period has ended and the duckling is now a juvenile. Between three and four months of age, the juvenile can finally begin flying as its wings are fully developed for flight (which can be confirmed by the sight of purple speculum feathers). Its bill will soon lose its dark grey colouring and its sex can finally be distinguished visually by three factors. The bill colouring is yellow in males, black and orange for females. The breast feathers are reddish-brown for males, brown for females. The centre tail feather is curled for males (called a drake feather), straight for females.[citation needed]
During the final period of maturity leading up to adulthood (6–10 months of age), the plumage of female juveniles remains the same while the plumage of male juveniles slowly changes to its characteristic colours.[citation needed] This plumage change also applies to adult mallard males when they transition in and out of their non-breeding eclipse plumage at the beginning and the end of the summer moulting period. The adulthood age for mallards is 14 months and the average life expectancy is 3 years, but they can live to twenty.
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.
A noisy species, the female has a deeper quack stereotypically associated with ducks. Male mallards also make a sound which is phonetically similar to that of the female, but it is a deep and raspy sound which can also sound like mek or whak. When incubating a nest, or when offspring are present, Females vocalise differently, making a call which sounds like a truncated version of the usual quack. They will also hiss if the nest or their offspring are threatened or interfered with.
The mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimize heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare, as they lack external ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and is vulnerable to cold.[citation needed]
Due to the malleability of the mallard's genetic code, which gives it its vast interbreeding capability, mutations in the genes that decide plumage colour are very common and have resulted in a wide variety of hybrids such as Brewer's duck (mallard × gadwall, Anas strepera).
Source:
Wikipedia
monday afternoon's weather conditions were perfect for finally raising ALL the ship's sails -- inlcuding the two square sails (topsail and course) plus a strange boomerang-shaped sail at the top of the foremast, called the raffi (sp?)
to see what she looks like from the water with all the sails up, click here
Skopelos Island is full of lush vegetation, making it an emerald amidst a sapphire sea: Aegean Sea.
The waterfront of Loutraki port, near Glossa village, during sunset.
The dying sun painted the cloud-laden skies with colours imbued with magnificence. The slopes are covered by pine trees.
CSX's NMMA/L073(?) passes the abandoned Maine Central depot at Lincoln, ME on 10/6/2024 with CSX 9280 and the last active CSX C40-9W, 9025 and 0x0 for EMR. Due to a several day outage while crossings in Bangor were being replaced, CSX ran light up to Mattawamkeag to clear what traffic was sitting on the interchange.
The depot here was last used about 15-20 years ago as a MOW base before things were consolidated to Old Town. From what one of the MOW guys told me a few years back, Guilford was still using motor cars to patrol the tracks here in the early 2000's, being the last section on Guilford to do so. These were kept in the side of the depot which has the garage door.
CSX
Train: NMMA-6/L073(?)
10/6/2024
Lincoln, ME
CSXT District 1 Freight Main Line
Found during a sail from Chester to Cape Sable Island (not to be confused with plain ol' Sable Island).
Sunset sail ~ Vessel: Spirit of Independence
Key West Harbor ~ Key West, Florida U.S.A.
(one more photo in the comments)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West,_Florida
Happy New Year!
I gave you my heart
And I tried to make you happy
And you gave me nothing in return
You know it is not so hard to say
Would you please just go away
I've thrown away the blues
Im tired of being used
I want everyone to know
I'm looking for a good time
Sail on honey
Good times never felt so good
Sail on
Part of Maldives set