Post Tagged with: "exploration"

A waterfall walk, St Pierre

By Cath Hough Anchoring in St Pierre, Martinique is an impressive sight with Mt Pelee towering over you, the peak occasionally appearing from the clouds. Once a thriving city St-Pierre has a fascinating history, making it a quaint place for a stopover. During May 1902 the town was destroyed when […]

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Yachting World Writes About Atlantic Adventures on Sea Dragon

Recently, Yachtmaster Ocean and Yachtmaster instructor Emily Caruso joined us on the SV Sea Dragon, and with a crew of marine scientists and environmentalists sailed from Senegal to Guyana, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. A very wise man once told me that there are two kinds of sailors: those who have been […]

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Writing at Sea – Impressions of Sailing and being on Sea

The proximity of close confines can bring with it bonding (as the days, move on) or it could work the other way. So far, it has been a good journey with each one displaying a keenness for peaceful co-existence in the time that Chance or Providence has brought us together. The shared laughter, the pulling together and the learning will stay with me for the rest of my years.

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Writing at Sea – Vacuum Cleaner

It’s a good end to a long day – we set sail from Great Inagua yesterday morning and have had a beautiful passage, champagne sailing in flat water with beautiful wind under the hot tropical skies, then worked our way in over some shallow sandbars to find anchorage here on the northern edge of the Georgetown harbor. Elizabeth and the crew headed straight to the windward beach on stocking island to do some cleaning and look for inspiration in the rack line, then we settled into a fantastic barbecue at “The Flip Flop Shop,” a collection of crude benches and palm frond canopies near a firepit on the beach – open to all, as long as you only “take what you brought with you.”

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Exploration Science: Marine Protected Area at La Caleta, Dominican Republic

Today was a first for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) here in La Caleta. We met with Dr. Rubin Torres again and conducted the first plankton tow in the park. A plankton tow consists of towing a cone-shaped mesh net alongside the boat. The mesh net is really fine, so that the plankton can be trapped and funneled into a plastic bottle.

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No Longer At Sea

We disembarked Sea Dragon three days ago, and waved goodbye to the most beautiful of homes. Since then, I have woken religiously in the middle of the night and it’s taken me a good while to realise that no, I am no longer at sea. And with this comes a deep thwack of regret.

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Following The Full Moon Through The Murky Darkness

We’ve had a great few evenings of talks, by the artists on board – chatting, collaborating and showing their work – and Rodrigo and Belinda, sharing their extensive experience around the world filming and researching whales. One of the best things I learnt, which I mused on last night as we followed the full moon through the murky darkness, was that humpback whales may navigate by the moon…

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The Oil Fields of the North Sea

We could be the last people on earth, if it weren’t for the fact that we are passing through the oil fields of the North Sea, and strange alien like constructions breach the horizon where a few days ago we hoped to see whales. The first rig I saw was named ‘Heather’. Orbited by the lights of protective supply ships, fire spurted from her innards, like dragons nesting.

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Whale Watching Outside the Faroe Islands

Last night at about 7:30 pm, when we most needed a boost, the whales heard our plea and we were joined by a pod of over 25 pilot whales and a group of dolphins. For about an hour, they followed alongside the boat, coming right up next to us and swimming around the bow. When we finally sped up at the end, they steamed after us jumping through the waves trying to catch up. For me, and for many others on the crew, it was totally magical. I had expected it to be amazing, but not quite to the extent that it was.

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