Santa Lucia in Naples

Quarter Santa Lucia of Naples is very beautiful. You have to go for a walk there if you visit this city. And it's unpossible that you miss it, if you decided to walk there. Because this quarter is situated just behind the Royal Palaceabout a km far from thje port where your cruise ship waits for you. By the way, I've just wrote about the restructured port of Naples ( �New� Port of Naples and Mariner of the Seas in Naples ) and went in the city to see the ship of Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas. Because the weather was so good and I had free time, I decided to spend some hours to see the places I like there.



I wanted to visit the fortress Castel dell'Ovo (on the photo, in the sea) to take some photos in this incredible medieval building, but did not want to walk all that way from the port to the castle -about one km, I think. So, I asked one man that was clearly from this place about a short way. He said me that there is only one but not very nice street, and, at the end, decided to accompain me. You can see the mountain road we took just behind the 5-star hotels of the sea front. You will see it, that road, on my next photos closely.



All the street was this way: go and return. 100 meters forward, 100 meters back.



And the castle was just under me, so near but so far... The first Greek sailors decided to leave on that rock in the sea and they used this mountain to excavate the caves for their needs and for their gods.



One of the bends of the street opened a splendid palace. Abandoned. The man that accompained me told, the residents burned it once to protest when the muni?ipality wanted to transfer them from the caves where they live (you can see them on my next photo)

 

These "houses" and "apartments" are the caves in the side of the mountain. Did you ever claim your house? Look at this photo in the period when yoou are not content with your accomodation. But they are sure, I think, that their houses can not fall down during the earthquackes...

 

Ashore On Fire Island

Tuesday morning, Will from Tugster and I ventured out to Fire Island to get a close-up view of Le Papillion, beached upon the sands of Saltaire. The 48' LOD Colvin "Pinky" schooner had run aground last Thursday while sailing from Baltimore to Harrington, Maine. We had hoped to witness an attempt to pull her free, but the high winds, rough seas, and poor visibility had other plans.

We parked at Robert Moses Beach and made the one-mile hike, east of the lighthouse to where she was beached. Fire Island is an interesting place: the 30-odd mile, barrier beach includes a national seashore, and many stretches are car-free from May through September. A handful of park rangers and off-season contractors were the only vehicles we saw along the service road which parallels the beach.

Reaching the hamlet of Kismet, we cut over to the beach and continued east. Even without a grounded schooner, the beach had an inhospitable feel about it. Aside from the cold, windy, and wet conditions, visibility was poor, and Le Papillon did not come into view until we were nearly upon her. High tide and heavy seas kept us far back from the water; her green steel hull shrouded in fog and sea foam, was getting pounded by the surf.

As a teenager, did you ever take your parents' car while they were out of town? Me neither, but I've seen plenty of John Hughes movies. If you replace sports car with schooner, that seems to be what happened in this case. There is a lot of rumor and misinformation floating around, but it appears that while the owner of the vessel was in South America, his 19 year-old son and two friends decided to sail the boat north to Maine.   They narrowly avoided disaster from a light grounding at Absecon Inlet, New Jersey, before landing hard on Fire Island days later. There was no one keeping watch!

Le Papillon has sailed over 80,000 nautical miles, including a circumnavigation, and three passages to Europe.

There is no insurance coverage for this incident*.

As each day passes, her chances of being saved  grow dimmer.

Wikipedia: Fire Island

Tugster: Ashore

Tugster: Ashore 2

Saltaire38: Wreck of Le Papillon

Fire Island Lighthouse Society

* I am not sure whether the boat is uninsured, or if the policy did not cover this particular voyage.

A fresh coat of snow brightens our landscape today, courtesy of Mother Nature. The storm that was predicted for Sunday and Monday looked to be a bit of a bust initially, with a mix of rain and snow on the first day. That night, it had pretty much stopped. I wasn't surprised, as it had often been like that this winter. But by Monday morning, I could see that this time, I was wrong. It had snowed through the night, and by the way the trees were frosted, it looked more like December than April. I had been commenting previously on how gray and dirty our snowbanks were looking. Someone heard me somewhere, and decided to change that. By midday, the snow had stopped falling, but the wind was blowing it off the trees, and it looked very much like a blizzard. We ended up with about six inches of heavy wet snow, yet another welcome contribution to our collection for filling up Gunflint Lake in a few more weeks.

Last year, our ice went out on April 10th. We were gone to Hawaii at the time, and so missed seeing the earliest ice-out in anyone's memory. This year, I think we will be on a more normal track, since the cold temps last week brought out the usual groaning sounds of ice-making. In December, we hear cool spaceship type sounds--pings and such, as the ice thickens. This time of year, it is a heaving noise, deep and guttural. I have seen new cracks, some almost a foot deep, the walls of ice about an inch apart. Down at the bottom, there is more ice, so I know it is still safe to walk on it. The other day, we ran an errand down to a neighbor's cabin, and we took the little truck. It was safer on the flat lake than the extremely icy road, with hills, twists and curves. Funny that I should be feeling that way, as I've not ever been fond of seeing vehicles larger than snowmobiles on the ice. It was, however, a fast, efficient and safe way to go.

The sun is out, and feeling warm, so that should go a ways towards melting this new batch of snow off of the road. Ever mindful that spring truly will return, Greg is busy working on his dock project today, putting new decking on top. He started last fall, doing a lot of welding and reinforcing on the framework. It seems funny that he should have to shovel off snow in April, just to get back to work. But quite possibly, a month from now, it will be time to be wheeling it into the lake. So I guess today is as good a day as any to get the job done. Some projects know no season, it is just that some days are better than others.

Any day is a good one to catch the sunset. Lately, as the sun moves more to the west from the southwest, we've been seeing great color in the sky. Another treat as we move towards the warmer time of the year.

Rennes visit - 10.30, Tuesday 12th April

We have a visit to Brittany's capital city Rennes next Tuesday (12th April). There will be a guided walk around the main places of interest in the morning, then free time for exploring, shopping, eating, drinking, etc. Rennes is a powerful blend of ancient and modern, with a lively street atmosphere, stunning architecture, great restaurants and plenty to see and do. There is a one-line metro system which can cut down walking between the sights. Recommendations and information will be provided on the day.
The meeting point (10.30am) is the caf� near the cathedral entrance. This is a short walk up the rue des Dames from the Tourist Office. Park north of the river (Place des Lices underground car-park is well signed on entering the city) or park and ride (metro) into the centre from one of the peripheral parking areas.

Greenwich Boat Show

The 4th Annual Greenwich In-Water Boat Show is taking place this weekend at Beacon Point Marina in Cos Cob. This is a powerboat show consisting of nine regional dealers and the 16 boat manufacturers they represent. With the sun shining brightly early this morning, I decided to give summer a jump start by paying a visit.

While most shows in the region are held in the fall or winter, this one hopes to capitalize on the spring-fever  boat buyers have this time of year. There are no tents with booths selling electronics and fishing gear; it is the boats themselves that are the main attraction. Billing itself as a "show for serious buyers", the models are available to sea trial throughout the weekend. I know of no other show which offers this.

The show occupies three docks at Beacon Point, so I spent the morning hours kicking the tires (okay, fenders) and trying to familiarize myself with many of the new models. No matter how many boats you may  know about, there are always new ones you discover, and familiar ones which have been changed.

Getting acquainted with a boat, however, can take on many forms. For many of the visitors, sitting aboard seemed to be an important test. Steve Shabet of Darien, along with his son Matthew and daughter Sarah, felt  especially comfortable aboard a Grady White, while others aboard a Chris Craft seemed to already be thinking about summer days afloat.

While most boats at the show are in the 20-32 foot range, there were a few larger ones. I had a nice talk with Paul and Sharon Barton of Portland Boat Works aboard  a 36-foot Tiara they have for sale. This is their first year at the show and I made sure to take a tour of the cabin. Very nice!

Another boat that caught my eye was a World Cat 32. This is a catamaran with twin 300 hp outboards offered by Twin Hull Boats of Black Rock, CT. When an opening became available for a sea trial, I couldn't resist. We cast the lines, made our way down the Mianus River, underneath the bridge, and out into the Sound. Once past the Riverside Yacht Club, we opened her up! Stable and dry, this was the perfect boat for an early April excursion.

The Greenwich Boat Show runs through Sunday, April 3. Admission is free.

Greenwich Boat Show: website

I'm Thinking of Changing the Name of This Blog From Sitzblog to Catzblog

Kitten, originally uploaded by Andrew Tallon.

I came across this funny picture from one of my Flickr contacts. 

But this is even funnier: When I showed it to Angela, she said, "Oooh! It's like he's praying!" And then she broke into a free-verse recital of that famous "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change..." prayer, made famous by (countless) counted cross-stitch decorations throughout the United States. Although I have no idea where she learned that prayer.

That totally cracked me up, so I thought I'd mention it.

Norwalk River Rowing

Spring comes early for the Norwalk River Rowing Association. Since the second week of March, the team has been practicing on the Norwalk River for their upcoming season which kicks off with the Greenwich Invitational on April 9.

Meanwhile, across the Sound, the first high school sailing regatta of the season was held in Port Jefferson last Saturday.

Yes, I know there is freezing rain in the forecast today, but spring is in the air. You just need to look in the right places.



Shelter Island Reporter: Cold Conditions for First Spring Regatta

Norwalk River Rowing Association: Website

Greenwich Time: Himes, Frantz to Faceoff at Greenwich Invitational

Maritime Rowing Club: Website