Wednesday, November 21, 2018

GIFT FOR SAILORS: TIDES: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean

Holiday gift giving time is just around the corner and if you are looking for a gift to give to a sailor   I have a great suggestion.
A book called TIDES: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and learning about tides all over the world and what makes the depth and current values different in various locations. It is a fascinating and informative read that I'm sure anyone who sails or just enjoys the sea will enjoy reading.

 In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes readers across the globe to discover the science and spirit of ocean tides. In the Arctic, White shimmies under the ice with an Inuit elder to hunt for mussels in the dark cavities left behind at low tide; in China, he races the Silver Dragon, a twenty-five-foot tidal bore that crashes eighty miles up the Qiantang River; in France, he interviews the monks that live in the tide-wrapped monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; in Chile and Scotland, he investigates the growth of tidal power generation; and in Panama and Venice, he delves into how the threat of sea level rise is changing human culture—the very old and very new. Tides combines lyrical prose, colorful adventure travel, and provocative scientific inquiry into the elemental, mysterious paradox that keeps our planet’s waters in constant motion. Photographs, scientific figures, line drawings, and sixteen color photos dramatically illustrate this engaging, expert tour of the tides.




Sunday, November 11, 2018

A FRIEND SAYS GOODBYE FOR THE SEASON


I had just finished storing the Porta Bote dinghy in the shed for the winter when I spied a Great Blue Heron land in one of the trees. I had often seen Great Blue Herons while I was relaxing  on BIANKA at the mooring. The Great Blue Heron is a shorebird I had never seen one this far inland. So it was surprised to see it land in one of my backyard trees. I like to think it came to say goodbye for the season before it headed south.  Anyway it was still a nice way to end the season seeing it.