Desmobile and the Captain Gale Tie In

Many of you might like to know who, what, how or why The Adventures of Captain Gale are posted (4 years later) on the Desmobile Blog. Well Captain Gale is an old buddy of mine to decided to retire early and buy a sailboat and travel to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Both of us are Sun, Surf, Sand, Boat Drink and Jimmy Buffett fans. He sent back e-mails of his travels week in and out over the 6+ months he was there. I kept every post and told him that when he got back he should add pictures and write a book using his posts - maybe a TV pilot or even better a screenplay. Anyway Captain Gale is back and working in the Telecom industry back East. I'm out West and I re-post his old e-mails cause the writing is funny (especially if you know Captain Gale) and I hope to inspire others to stop running the Rat Race they're in, throw caution to the wind and do something fun before you miss the chance to do it. Not everyone can sail - maybe you want to drive across country, backpack through Europe or even run The Amazing Race...just go for it before your life is over!

Here's the e-mail Captain Gale sent back to me the first time I came up with the idea!!!


From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 8:31 AM
To: Desmond.Smith@T-Mobile.com
Subject: Screenplay

Hello my brutha - I like your idea, geting rich and famous for slacking in the Bahamas for six months! If this works out, perhaps next year's movie will be Baja, California!

Actually Herman Wouk and Jimmy Buffet got together a few years ago to make a musical out of Wouk's book "Don't Stop the Carnival." I guess it did well off-broadway. A good book - about a New Yorker who's fed up with NY so he buys a hotel in the Caribbean. VERY funny!

Well, I'm just hanging out here in the Abacos for a few more days. There's a storm coming Thursday which has the ocean all kicked up for the rest of the week. I hope to head south at the end of the week.

Keep bothering Robert and Dan for me -

Brian

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: The Suprise Visit

From: BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 11:27 AM
To: celebration_news@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [celebration_news] The Surprise Visit

Hello hello. When last we met our intrepid hero had fearlessly crossed the dreaded Devil's Backbone Reef, with his knees barely knocking...

I spent about a week in the waters near Harbour Island. Harbour Island is a good place to see the Cluster Effect in action. When a boat comes into a harbor, they look for where the other boats are and immediately anchor there, regardless of wind, waves, tide, holding, scenery, etc. When I reached Harbour Island, I unwittingly fell int this trap and spent the night off the town docks. Endless water taxis zoomed by at all hours of the night, and their wakes, combined with the 2 mile fetch the wind had to create waves, created a restless night. The following morning I wised up and sailed two miles to the southern end of the bay. I found a beautiful sand ancorage in 7' of water, with my own private beach an easy swim or dinghy ride away. It was a ideal location, exactly as I had dreamed this vacation would be like. I would dinghy over to Beagle's Beach in the morning with my book and chair, and spend the morning reading. If it got hot, I'd move the chair under a Palm tr!
ee. If it got hotter, I'd go for a swim. At lunch I'd swim back to the boat for lunch and a nap. In the afternoon, more reading, swimming and napping. If I wanted t go to town, I had an easy half hour sail. Paradise. I could have stayed there forever. I might have, in fact, were it not for a certain friend of mine.

I decided one afternoon that I was in need of an ice cream, so I sailed over to town. On a whim I checked my email on the way to the creamery. Not much mail, except for the three emails from my buddy Brian.

Number one, written on Friday, telling me he lands in Nassau on Saturday.

Number two, written on Saturday, letting me know that he'll definitely be in Nassau on Saturday.

Number three, written Sunday morning, letting me know that indeed he did fly in on Saturday to Nassau.

I was reading these emails Sunday afternoon.

I never did get my ice cream. I managed to make it to Nassau by Monday, and Brian and I, together with two of Brian's friends from North Carolina, left Nassau directly for the Abacos, where we spent the rest of the week. I taught the Carolinians about sailing, and they taught me about such delicacies as canned Vienna Sausages and Beanee Weenees. (For those of you who have never tried these canned delights, they taste about as good as they sound, which is to say not very.)

The North Carolina contingency left a week ago Saturday, and on their heels were three days of incredible storms. Marsh Harbour, where I was holed up, got up to 8" of rain between Saturday and Tuesday morning, and when one boater asked another what the wind got up to in one particularly violent squall, the boater replied, "well, my anemometer reported up to 67 knots before it blew away!"

On Tuesday the weather returned to normal, I've spent much of the remaining week with my friend Ben and his family in Hopetown on Elbow Cay, where Ben and his family rented a house for the week. They treated me to some fantastic homecooked meals and let me use their even more fantastic shower! Also while with Ben and the fam, I saw the most incredible sight I have seen in my five months on the boat.

While we were floating along in a motorboat, a five foot manta ray leapt out of the water about 100' from us. I have often seen the splash of a ray landing, or out of the corner of my eye the flash of the sun reflecting off a ray's back while in midair. But with this ray I happened to be watching the water at the exact spot he took off from, and was able to see his entire trajectory, from surface to the crest of his arc about five feet above the water to the crash-landing 10 feet from the take-off point. To see this ray soar to remove parasites from his body was absolutely incredble, though since manta rays can grow to over 22 feet and 3000 pounds I have decided I do not need to see a larger one jump!

Ben and his family left this morning, and this afternoon my friend Robin shows up for the Abaco tour. After Robin comes Josh from Burlington, and then I reclaim my boat for another month or so of solo saling before i begin my trek north. I hope all is well with you all.

Brian

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: The Land of Unfinished Dreams

From: BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 10:56 AM
To: celebration_news@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [celebration_news] The Land of Unfinished Dreams

Greetings from the land of sun and heat! It seems that all of the United States' heat has been sent south to me in the Bahamas. It has been cloudless with highs in the 90s and lows in the mid 70s for the past week and a half, ever since I left Tom and Ryan in Nassau. A bit warmer than I like it - I'm more of an 80s/60s person myself. But I have broad shoulders with which to carry this burden, so I shan't complain.

After leaving Nassau I headed to Royal Island, an island 3 miles long whose center is carved into a nice cove that offers 360 degree protection from the winds. I spent several hours exploring the ruins of what was once someone's vacation home.

A man on a neighboring boat called the Bahamas "The land of unfinished dreams," and I can see his point. I have seen dozens of abandoned buildings in my time here: some are simply foundations; some were near completion when abandoned, with the stickers still on the windows; and some, like on Royal Island, long abandoned and being reclaimed by the island. This one is more of a vacation complex than a vacation home, more than a half dozen buildings with tile walkways between them. There was a two story main house and several smaller houses, perhaps for the employees, perhaps guest houses. There were small storage buildings, a covered porch, and a large building serving as a great room, with vaulted ceilings and enourmous fireplace. The occupants had built roads across the island and ringing the harbor. There were 5 foot high, 3 foot wide stone walls, an enormous concrete pier on each side of the island, and the side of one hill had been terraced for what I imagine must h!
ave been incredible gardens. I always wonder what might have happened to cause such a place to be abandoned - the death of the owner, a loss of wealth, perhaps a former hideout for a former drug lord!

From Royal Island I made a day trip to Spanish Wells, an immaculate little town with perfect little houses and their perfect little gardens in the perfect front yards. I visited here three years ago with Nisa and Truman, and aside from the appearance that everyone's name seems to be Pinter here, my strongest memory was visiting the grocery store. A little backgroung info - Truman has an enormous love of icecream. Whenever I talk to Truman on the phone, I like to ask "How many containers of icecream are in the freezer?", to which the reply is someting along the lines of, "Only 6, and one is Nisa's!" Well, on their trip three years ago, we went to the grocery in Spanish Wells, and when we got to the ice cream freezer - well, it was like a kid at the mall just before Christmas. Truman stood agog in front of a 12-pack of those cheap icecream sandwiches with the fake chocolate cookie that are soooo good. Now, Truman and Nisa don't haverefrigeration on their boat, it's 90 deg!
rees outside, and we're a mile or so from the boat. I say, "no way - ther'es no way I'm gonna let you buy that, it would be 4 sandwiches per person!" To which Truman replied, "are you Kidding?? I could eat two before we got to the register!"

Fast forward three years, and I'm looking at a six-pack of ice cream sandwiches (a denomination they did not have in 2000). Heartbroken, I left he store ad island empty-handed. And now Truman, with all these witnesses, I offer my apologies. Next time we have an ice cream party in Aisle 11!

The following day, another boat that I met at royal I. and I rented a guide to get us through the maze of reefs known as The Devil's Backbone. We had waited for a calm day, and it wasn't too hairy, but with a reef 50 feet to port, a limestone and sand beach 75 feet to stadrboard and swells on the beam rolling the boat through 60 degrees and pushing the boat toward shore, it certainly kept me on my toes! An engine problem on this windless day would have been, well, bad.

Once over the Backbone I entered a nice 5 mile long, 1 mile wide bay enclosed by Harbor Island, a fancy tourist town with posh hotels and villas, all unobtrusive and very nice. There are little stores to shop in if that's what you fancy. There's a lovely 3.5 mile "pink sand" beach, though pink might be a generous description. Best of all, however, is the rumor that there's a place to get an icecream cone here!
I'll let you all guess what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Brian

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: Fishing with Tom

From: BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 11:27 AM
To: celebration_news@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [celebration_news] fishing with Tom

Hello from Nassau. The boat is getting quiet, with Ryan having left on the morning BahamasAir flight and Tom leaving on tomorrrow's. We pulled into Nassau yesterday afternoon, taking 6 days to do the run from Georgetown. As I said last week, we expected Tom to improve our fishing technique, as we kept catching barracuda. I had asked Tom to bring a couple lures, and he came on board with half a fishing store's worth - hooks, swivels, leader, line, and lures in every color imaginable.

Our first day was a long one, 40 miles or so to Farmer's Cay. But we had great wind for sailing, and we trolled for fish at 7 knots, catching 5 barracuda but nothing edible (though the islanders tell us differently). On day 2, however, Tom proved his worth with a mahi, which, cooked three ways proved to be quite a feast! The next day while sailing we caught another edible fish, this one a bo. Many of you may not be familiar with a bo, and I had not seen one until we caught this guy. We!
were sailing along and got a bite, the biggest of my journey. It hit the lure, ran out some line, stopped, and then the line started SCREAMING off the rod. Definitely not a barracuda! Ryan was on the rod, and for some reason the fish no longer had any fight left in him, and when we got him close to the boat he was just skipping along the surface of the water. All became apparent when we got him in the net.

The fish that ate the lure turned out to be a bonita. After the initial small run, something big - Tom's guessing a mako, but in any event, a LARGE shark - decided he liked the looks of our bonita, and with one giant bite he took the back 2/3 of our fish. After that, all we reeled in was a head and a bit of body. It was absolutely incredible to see these enormous teeth marks and realize the speed and power involved in turning our bonita dinner into a bo- for a snack.

We had another great sail, but after listening to the weather forecast we realized we were in for 25 knots for the last two days of the vacation. We tucked into Norman's Pond, which I knew to be well protected. We tucked ourselves into a little cove, with 100' between ourselves and the shore where the prevailing winds would be and 50' behind us to a dock. We set two anchors and started playing hearts.

Tom and I are marathon hearts players. We have often played hearts all night, gone out to breakfast and straight to work. We taught Ryan to play at the beginning of the vacation, and by now he was pretty good. We played hearts for hours, finally throwing in the towel at 5am. We were tide restricted in our anchorage and couldn't leave until noon, so we could sleep the morning away.

At least that was the plan. But at 7:00 I woke up to screaming gusts of winds. I lept out of bed and jumped into the cockpit where tom was sleeping. We looked at each other and Tom said, " I think we're moving. Yep, we're dragging." With a lee shore 50 feet away and, as we later found out, 40 knot gusts, that's bad.

Tom got the engine going as I worked my way to the bow against the wind and rain. When I got there I looked back to see the dinghy wrapped around a piling at the dock. Tom finally got the boat going and, broadside to the wind, slid past the dock with five feet to spare. The dinghy was able to untangle itself and I pulled up 2 anchors in 30 seconds. We headed for a different anchoring location - less protected but with a half mile of water downwind in case we should drag again! Tom and Ryan were back asleep 20 minues after the excitement began. Me, I was to jazzed up to sleep again that day. We pulled our anchor up a few hours later and motored to Highborne Cay for a night at a marina while the front blew through later that day.

The Bahamas does not generally experience much rain, and in fact it had not yet rained in February. But as we tied up at Highborne it began to pour and continued for the next 24 hours. We were time constrained by Ryan's flight, so yesterday we motorsailed through the rain and 20+
knot winds with a double-reefed main. We were able to run safely around the coral heads and arrived safely in Nassau at 3:00

Ryan left first thing this morning, and Tom leaves tomorrow at noon. I'm sorry to see them go, but I'm happy to have a few weeks to myself. I'm heading to Eleuthera for a few weeks before I have to be in the Abacos for the next wave of visitors. I will be taking it slow and easy, making sure I don't keep any schedule whatsoever.

Thanks again to all who have written recently. You can reply to this message to write to me, but please remember to delete my original message
before sending it to me. Let me know how you're doing!

Brian

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: Switching to Yahoo! Groups

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 5:59 AM
Subject: Yahoo group

Faithful email readers:

With my email machine allowing me 25 subscribers per email and an ever-expanding distribution list, it's become too ponderous (and expensive!) to send out my periodic emails via pocketmail. My friend Truman has set me up with a yahoo group, and will be signing everyone up to be able to continue to get my newsletters. I'm in another yahoogroup, and its been my experirnce that yahoo sends virtualy no junk mail after the intro letter. Truman and I are the only ones able to send mail to the list, so the only mindless emails you get will be from me. There is an option when you receive the initial email to opt out of the distribution.

I hope everyone is coping with the "coldest winter in xx years", depending on your locale. Fear not, according to the Nassau Met Office we are experiencing the coldest winter in 60 years. Why, just yesterday I was forced to cut short my snorkling after only 20 minutes. I swear it wasn't because of the 4' sand shark hat suprised me...

Again, sorry about the Yahoo group thing, but the cruising kitty just doesn't allow for 20 minute email sessions.

Brian
Little Farmers Cay
23 deg, 57' N
76 deg, 18' W
Sunny and 75 degrees, winds North at 10-15

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: A couple of personal e-mails

Des here - Captain Gale and I are good friends and every so often he dropped an e-mail directly to me. Typically it was in relation to a Jimmy Buffett song he heard while on his adventures or Bruce Brown's surf Film, The Endless Summer (many boats with this name - and I love the movie ES I, ES II & ES Revisited by Dana Brown (Bruce's son). Here are a couple that came along at this time of year back when Captain Gale was sailing the Caribbean!


From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 7:22 PM
To: desmond@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Wassup?

Hey. I haven't a choice but to think about you. I spent the night with a boatload of older people, and as usual I ended up looking at their music. Older people must invite me aboard their boats, its practically the law, but they have no compunction to actually talk to me. if they EVER do, they see me at the cd pile and assume (incorrectly) that I'll do the least damage there.

This evening I'm looking through the pile when I find a certain surfing music player that you like, one connected to Endless Summer. I throw on his Christmas album which is awesome, he has 16 guitars overdubbed on some songs. God bless, it is AWESOME...

hope all is well in the non-work world. I wish I could have made it to your big 30 party last year. say hello to Michelle for me.
Brian
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From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 9:20 AM
To: desmond@xxxxxxxx
Subject:

1st sighting of a boat named Endless Summer...
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The Adventures of Captain Gale: The Tropics

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 9:03 AM
Subject: The Tropics

Hello again! Thanks to all who have written - please remember when replying not to return my message to me, it helps keep the phone bills at a less painful threshold.

I am writing from Georgetown on Great exuma island. Georgetown lies on the Tropic of Cancer and therefore I have officially made it to the Tropics. My friends Truman and Nisa have just left, leaving my boat quiet. I had an action-packed 10 days with Nisa and 2+ weeks with Truman. I picked up Truman in Nassau and we had a great 5 days sailing and snorkling along Eleuthera Island (25 deg N,76.5 deg W, for those with the home game). The most memorable anchorage was Hatchet Bay, whose entrance is blasted out of the cliffs and cannot be seen until you are upon it. The guide book claims that the entrance is 90' wide, but Truman and I put it more towards 60 feet. And when you're boat is 10' wide and you have a following sea pushing you into the rocks, well, the chanel gets even skinnier. Truman (who is twice the sailor I am, was at the helm for this entrance, waited until the point of commitment for this entrance before he says (just to needle me, I'm sure), "Do you think thi!
s is it?" Thanks Truman, great thing to say as we're getting blown upon the rocks...

We returned to Nassau to pick up Nisa, and immediately headed southeast towards the chain of islands known as the Exumas. The first stop was Allen's Cay, which is well known for its agressive locals, the rock iguana. I swam ashore and within a few minutes the locals were beginning to hiss and surround me, at which point I bravely fled to the safety of the water.

The next morning on the way out of the anchorage we finally did the inevitable; I finally ran aground. I was at the helm and Truman was on the bow looking for shallow spots. Truman turned around and said, "It looks ok, what's the depth?" "10 - 6 and a half...(reversing engines)" Bump. We bounced a couple times over what locals now call Truman's rock, and we were on our way. I earned a good hard look from Nisa, who was brushing her teeth at the time. 2055 miles without grounding , a good run, though some might say I'm not trying hard enough.

We had a great week together. Truman and I did an AMAZING wall dive - the coral shelf just drops vertically from 65 feet to probably 200 feet, before it drops further into the depths. We went through an amazing archway and down to about 100' where I saw the most incredible and varied coral I have ever seen. Later in the week we went to Thunderball Cave, a natural grotto which was used in such movies as the James Bond movies "Thunderball" and "Never Say Never Again" as well as the timeless classic "Splash". To enter the cave you have to snorkle underwater through an archway, arriving in a round opening approximately 30 feet across and 15 feet tall. There are holes in the limestone roof with moss dangling and the water is teeming with fish waiting to be fed. We had brought a few scraps of bread, and when offered the swarm of fish was so intense that it had a clostrophobic effect. I had a grand time tossing bits of bread across the grotto to where Truman was swimming and !
watching him squirm. Sailing further south, we managed to land a 35" mahi mahi, great eating for two dinners.

We finally arrived in Georgetown (23 deg N, 76 deg W) on Great Exuma Island, a town of 900 residents and 200 cruising boats, quite large by Bahamian standards. We rented a car and toured the entire island, from the town of Rolleville on the nothern tip to Rolletownn on the southern tip. Who is this Rolle guy, anyway?

With my guests gone, I am provisioning and waiting out a bit of weather before I turn my attention to the far out islands where towns and cruisers are scarce. I return to Nassau to pick up more crew on February 10, but until then I'm free to cruise as quickly or slowly as I wish.

I hope this email finds everyone well. Please send a line when you have a moment.
Brian
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"The Bar" photos now available

Boat Drink - under construction
Originally uploaded by mauiss7.

These photos are of "The Bar". Lots has happened at and around this bar, my father in law had it for years and years andnow it lives at my house. I asked him for my wife's han over this bar, his answer..."Are you sure you want to do that??? She's quite a handful..." appearently I had no idea what I was getting myself into - LOL.

Please enjoy the photos!

The Adventures of Captain Gale: Let the Vacation Begin

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 10:55 AM
Subject: Let the Vacation Begin

Yes, I know, a long delay between emails. When last I wrote, our young hero was about to take on Charlestown, SC. I coerced my friend Bri to come down from Charlotte, NC for a bacchanal evening. We took the night by storm, and as always, the day took us right back by storm. I'm beginning to hurt just thinking about it. Let's move on.

Once past Charlestown I hit Georgia and more weather delays. With the weather forecast of 35kt winds with and higer gusts along with scattered instances of 6+" rain, I decided topause for a bit. I headed for a marina.

Now, I don't want to disparage this "marina" in rural (read: deserted) GA, especially when everyone I met was nice and helpful. But let's just say that when the wind would calm I could hear banjoes play, and I expected Burt Lancaster to paddle down the river at any minute.


One of the nice things about all these weather delays is getting to meet my fellow cruisers. People seem to be drawn to a young guy going it alone in a small boat. I think I remind the moms (remember that everyone I'm meeting is 55-65) of their children, and they worry about my culinary talents, and they fear I may be starving, a thought I try to encourage. Some might call that deception - I call it steak and potatoes with all the fixins' instead of hot dogs and lights out by 6:30

At the Deliverance marina I meet 3 nice couples, two of them from RI of all places (Portsmouth and Charlestown). Fun people. Good cooks, too!

My birthday was eventful. I woke up in southern GA next to Cumberland island, a nature preserve. I watched wild horses grazing in a foggy field as I ghosted past. A couple hours later a Coast Guard helicopter started buzzing me. Strange. Finally a 25' Naval gunship approached at mach 1. I stopped my boat and the boys let me know I must halt untl a nuclear submarine exits the river I'm in. What a sight, following this masive ship.



That night I hit Florida, and by the beginning of this past week I was finally in shorts. My father met me in West Palm Beach on the 19th, and we cooled our heels for a couple of days waiting for a good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. We spent our time hassling the extremely wealthy of Palm Beach during the day by daring to walk on their streets - him dressed like a hiker model for L.L. Bean, me in my bright red Hawaiian shirt. At night we locked ourselves in the boat. Hey, we were in Riviera Beach - I got solicited by a hooker at 9:30 one morning, and dad was offered drugs the next!

Finally this morning 12-22, the first day of winter, the 12 footers in the Gulf Stream subsided to 5-6 footers. We left at 1:45 and made it to Wes End, Bahamas just after noon. We cleared customs and Dad was in a cab towards the airport by 1:45. I'm currently enjoying a rum and coke whilst the sun disappears. 39 days and 1683 miles later, the vacation has begun.


I hope everyone has a happy holidays. My mom comes to the Bahamas on the 25th and my sister on the 26th, so we'll be celebrating a day or two late. My sister claims that as a minister she has to perform Chrismas services. But mom and I know the real reason - the Dollar stores have the best deals on the 26th.

Take care,
Brian
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Vacation - Part 2

So when I last wrote (a couple of days ago) I was recounting my trip through the Caribbean. I had left off on the island of St. Thomas,in the US Virgin Islands. We had taken a shore excursion that ran us over to some of the highlights on the island. We went to Blackbeard's Castle which snaked and wound it's way down the hills from the top of the island right down into the main shopping area on St. Thomas. If you are a fan of jewelry and high fashion, this place will be right up your alley. I am not a big purchaser or Coach bags and Rolex watches, so we continued on down through the art shops and knick-knack stores and eventually found a surf shop. We picked up a couple of t-shirts, spent the afternoon taking in some more of the sights, said "no" to the 400 times we were asked if we needed a taxi and eventually made our way back to the ship.


The next day (Thursday) was another "sea day". The weather wasn't so great so we took it easy, visited with our friends and went wine tasting in the Pinnacle Grill. I think I forgot to mention that we had dinner in the Pinnacle a couple of nights previous - The Pinnacle is a fantastic restaurant on the ship that requires a reservation and a small extra charge. The Ship already has excellent food, but the Pinnacle takes to the next level. It reminded me of a very high end steak restaurant - and the Fillet was superb. I highly recommend the Pinnacle Cut fillet, with a couple of side dishes and the Molten Chocolate Cake to finish up.

Thursday night was a big show entitled "Stage and Screen" and the cast members did a fabulous job! Afterwords was a comedy show and then some late night schmoozing with friends and Dj Sparky again in the Northern Lights club. This night our new friends we had met on the ship -Amy and Joel and Geoff and Erika- came out with us and had a great time. Friday morning came a little soon for some of them but luckily it was just the private island of the cruise line.

We went ashore on Friday the Half Moon Cay and laid in the sun, did some Jet-skiing (in the open ocean mind you - it was wicked!) and then came back to a huge on-island Bar-b-Que lunch. We visited with friends the rest of the afternoon...everyone knew that the trip was quickly coming to and end. 3:30 came and the "All-Aboard" blew and it was time to head back to the ship.

The wife was tired and took a nap so I spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around the ship taking most of the "stock" photos you see on the Flickr page. It was nice because the vast majority of the guests were either packing or resting for one last night of fun!

Dinner was excellent (as usual) and we said our good-byes to friends we had met and to the wonderful crew that had helped us all week. It was sad to have to good-bye because we had such a great time...but we had made some great friends and we hope to hear from them soon. We had seen an old friend and we will miss her, but she'll come home to visit in a few months.

Lots of people had told me that cruising, especially on a Holland America ship was meant for old folks, but if you're young at heart, you trip is what you make of it. The service, cast and crew were second to none and the only thing I found wrong with the trip was our fault...we only booked a 7 day trip. I guess that means it's time to start saving for that 10 day cruise next!



Take care and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Next up, a special Christmas edition of the Adventures of Captain Gale-

Vacation! - A brief retrospective

Hello all! I have just returned from a week's vacation with the lovely Ms. aboard the ms Zuiderdam!

What can I say...it had to be the best vacation I have had in a long time! Vacations are great, but we had the time of our lives while visiting an old friend on the ship. We were introduced to the entertainment cast and crew and partied like rock stars every night. I have included a few pics here in the post, but if you'd like to live vicariously then click on my Flickr link down on the left to see all 800-and-something photos!

Our trip started Friday night December 8th at around 10:00 PM PST as we took a red-eye flight from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale by way of Dallas/Ft. Worth. There is something rather odd about wandering through DFW at approximately 5 in the morning looking like the living dead (no sleep on the first leg at all). Finally arriving in Ft. Lauderdale (Hollywood FL actually) we took a crappy taxi ride to Pier 26. We are now at about 10:30 AM EST. It was spitting rain ever so slightly and we were trying our best to get in line and on the ship as quickly as possible. They processed our paperwork and had us in-line to get on the ship in pretty short order, but then when they let us on they wanted to take photos of us as we were going aboard..mind you this is the photo that people were going to see every time we boarded or left the ship, every time we purchased something on the ship, etc etc etc...it wasn't pretty.

Once aboard our good friend Krista was waiting right there for us! We had a private tour, she decorated our cabin door and told all of her friends and co-workers we were coming on board. The first day was tons of fun! We had a quick bite of lunch, took a brief nap to recharge since we had been up for some 30+ hours and then off to lifeboat drill before the ship set sail. Nothing like seeing a bunch of strangers in silly life jackets before you even leave port to break the ice. Next we were off dinner and the opening night show! Nuri & Nur were our dining room staff and Paul, our Wine Steward. All three of them worked so hard to make our entire trip an experience of a lifetime and I can honestly say they excelled in every way. We had an excelled dinner and the show (called a "Bumper" - kind of a preview of the week) was excellent. After the show our friend Krista came out with us for a bit and introduced us to Carlo and the team up in the Crow's Nest lounge. Have you ever noticed that there is a bar or lunge everywhere you look on cruise ships????Something tells me they planned it that way.

The second day brought us a "sea day" where the ship was sailing full steam to the island of Grand Turk, but not just yet. Sea days also bring lots of goofy activities, a chance to laze around the pool and meet your fellow cruisers. We had a ball - I for one visited the Bloody Mary bar at the Lido pool as soon as I could see. We goofed off all day and tons of fun and eventually headed out to dinner. Formal night and the wifey was dressed to kill. Dinner was fantastic and then off to watch Krista and the cast in a Broadway style show! the show was spectacular and the cast had energy to spare. Such professionalism is rare to find these days and it was such a treat to see a performance of this caliber while aboard such a fantastic ship. After the show I dropped by the cabin to leave off my jacket and freshen up to go party the night away. Our Cabin Steward Comang had fashioned (what we would later learn was a nightly treat) a Elephant out of rolled towels. Comang was just a stud and he worked so hard to have good conversation and remember our names each and every time he saw us - If hew was clear down the hall he would welcome us and come down and have meaningful conversation any time of the day or night! (well ok not at 3 am when we usually returned but come on!)


The third day (Monday) brought us to the cute little island of Grand Turk which is part of the Turks and Caicos Chain of islands in the British West Indies. We had signed up to take the "Island Safari" excursion and along with 8 other passengers set out on our island adventure with Michael, our guide. Michael was from Jamaica and had brought along with him plenty of "Medicine"...Fruit Punch and 151. It'll fix anything that'll ail ya - or at least make you so rummy that you wouldn't remember your troubles. Michael took us by the local prison where his tour company buddy kevin worked. Kevin reminded me fo the guy from Police Academy - you know the one who could make a million different sound effects with his voice - only Kevin was crazy - perhaps a previous condition caused him to have a long term prescription for that 'Medicine" I was talking about!

After our tour the only thing left to do on Grand Turk is to go to the new Jimmy Buffett's Magaritaville! I am just a little bit of a fan, so having the "Cheeseburger in Paradise" along with a Lattitude beer was right up my alley. We ran into some of the cast members there and had a great afternoon. After that a little swimming in the crystal blue Caribbean waters and then back onto he ship for another fabulous dinner and another show. Tonight's entertainment was a couple of brothers who call themselves Whyte. they were a Beatles cover team that were just out of this world. the show was spectacular and on to another night of late night parting at the "Northern Lights" disco with DJ Sparky (Daniel) until the wee hours. We made some new friends in the disco as well and had a blast!


Tuesday (Day 4) brought us (later in the day) to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Since we arrived a little late we got right on a taxi that took us to a ferry boat to get us out to Virgin Gorda to the Devil's Beach and the world Famous Virgin Gorda Baths. The ferry boat ride was long and the day was getting late. After the ferry another short bus ride to the top of the path to take us down to the beach and the baths. We took a short but fun hike down to tho the baths through caves, tunnels and lots of water - but the end result was paradise on earth (see my Flicker photos) The water was incredible and the sand was the softest I had ever felt. Our friend Krista was able to come along with us and I think she enjoyed it as much as we did. I took tons of photos and enjoyed a swim with the wifey.

On our way back up the path the wife kicked a rock like a soccer ball and broke her toe. She was in a ton of pain, but was a true sport "What can i do, I broke my toe, get me up to the top of the path so I can have some Rum" she said. She hardly complained and we did everything we could to help her out, buut she just wasn't going to let it ruin her vacation - **Important side note** She's a Dancer and Dance teacher - kind of a major deal for her. Back at the top of the hill Rum Punch and a fantastic view of the sunset over Virgin Gorda. Another ferryboat ride back (this time right to the ship) and on the ship to dinner...but...

My bloody phone is beeping and buzzing while I'm at the dock - You see I use a Sony Ericsson K790a camera phone for my camera and so it's getting reception when we gert back into town in Tortola. Who the heck is IMing me? Jayce - that piece of crap (just kidding jayce) is messaging me reminding me that I need to hook up with a friend of his while I'm in town. I was supposed to call her when I first got into town but because we were running so late it completely slipped my mind. He told me I could meet her at the a local pub just off the pier and that she had something special for me. Sun soaked and a few Rum Punches and Red Stripes later I was off the ship onto another adventure. Jayce and I were IMing (Thanks T-Mobile) and he was talking to her from his landline in Seattle to her mobile in Tortola (isn't technology great). I met Miss Simone just outside the treehouse and we had a nice, but short conversation. She was just the nicest lady (and very attractive might I add - hook it up Jayce). She had brough me all kinds of goodies and RUM to share and take home. We had a few laughs and I was on my way about a half an hour later back to the ship. Side note to Simone - Our good friend Krista is in Tortola once a week and it's always good to keep good people connected. I will be sure that each of you gets the other's contact information so you all can vist with each other!

Tortola was a late night sailing and of course there was fun to be had as usual after hours with DJ Sparky at the Northern Lights. I think this was also the night that I was yanked up on-stage to play family feud by our new friends Gary, Tammy, Auntie and Grandpa - sorry guys that I let you down, but did I mention there was lots of RUM this day???? What a ride!

Wednesday brought us to St. Thomas... where you can buy anything and everything. We took an "Ultimate Island Adventure" tour and saw more things than I can even remember, but Meghan's Beach was one of my favorites. Again beautiful crystal blue waters and incredible weather. We also went to Blackbeard's castle and, of course, the Cruzan Rum factory. St. Thomas had lots of shopping and we window shoppend and picked a few things up, but overall the downtown area was hectic and busy. Traffic was terrible.


More to come in my second post (tomorrow I promise)

Exciting News about The Adventures of Captain Gale!

I just got off the phone with said Captain and he liked the idea so much that he will be digging out pictures to support all of the posts!

Look for the next installment on November 22nd!