Simon's Cat, Christmas 2013

Here's an episode of Simon's Cat for Christmas 2013. Enjoy!




Ho Ho Ho, So It Goes...

It pays to be polite

This sign from a French cafe Tweeted by @tokai06, a journalist in Nice, shows that it is to your benefit to be polite...

The sign is giving the price of a standard small espresso when seated on the terrasse or sidewalk.

• If you only say "a coffee" the price is 7 euros
• If you say "a coffee, please" the price is 4.25 euros
• But, if you correctly order it by saying "Good morning, a coffee, please" you are rewarded with the price of 1.40 euros.

Such a deal...

Thank You Charter Yacht Trimaran PROMENADE

I would like to thank the charter yacht Promenade, a 65-foot Nigel Irens trimaran, for putting me up (and putting up with me) for the two Virgin Islands charter yacht shows held earlier this month (Nov.2013) in St Thomas and Tortola. It was very much appreciated.

Trimaran Promenade Yacht Charters - Sail/Dive the BVIs - Crewed Caribbean Charter Yacht

Virgin Islands Sailing Vacations

It was great to spend time aboard Promenade (one of our favorite charter yachts). After spending 5 nights aboard, I had a good feel for the boat and a better knowledge of the crew than just a 10-20 minute visit at the annual boat show.

Captain Chad, First Mate Felix and General Dogsbody Chris are excellent. Friendly and attentive but not pushy. The food was good, too! Very accommodating folks.

Promenade has 5 guest cabins and accommodates up to 10 (and possibly 12) guests. They offer all-inclusive charters. Chad is a dive instructor so diving is available for certified and non-certified divers. Promenade has lots of water toys, beach games, power lounger, exercise equipment such and weights and yoga stuff, fishing gear, dancing... etc!

AllAboutYachtCharters has a post with comments from a recent client and lots of information about Promenade, read this post.

They also have a cabin cruise week open beginning February 16, 2014. There are currently 3 cabins available. This is a wonderful opportunity for joining a group and charter only one of the five cabins. Great prices, too.  7 nights = $4000/cabin (price for 2 guests, not each person) or 10 nights for $5000/cabin. See more HERE.

Here's a link to Promenade's online brochure.

Oh yes... Promenade available for this Christmas, too. Special Rates for Christmas week: Only $12,000 for up to 6 guests, add $750 for each additional guest (8 guests=$13,500, 10 guests=$15,000)

Promenade is an excellent choice for families, friends, and corporate charters. Excellent for active groups, party-hearty sorts, those who want a relaxing vacation, or a combination.  Lots of space as it is a 65-foot long and 35-foot wide trimaran.

Thanks again, guys!

WEST MARINE THANKSGIVING DAY SALE

Happy Thanksgiving & Hanukkah...

Just a quick post to let you know that West Marine is having a wonderful sale today (THANKSGIVING DAY). We have already placed an order.

THIS SPECIAL OFFER HAS EXPIRED

This was perfect timing for us as we had planned to buy a set of 4 inflatable fenders and we got them for 15% off which more than paid for the cost of shipping!  Such a deal :)

Happy holidays!

ZENNI OPTICAL: Half price sale

UPDATED: 2 December 2013

UPDATED: 29 November 2013

Here's another bargain that I feel I must share...

Zenni Optical sent us an email to inform us about their special offer that's good for the "Black Friday" weekend...

http://www.zennioptical.com

I inquired about this Wednesday afternoon with their online chat. I told them that we wanted to order 2 pairs of glasses each and would this half-off offer apply to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th pair, even though it was for 2 different people/prescriptions.

She said YES.  And, she affirmed that it is not just the frames but the cost of your frames and lenses with add-ons such as tint & progressives, for example.  (I asked twice, so we'll see!) We just need to enter the code boho2013 for this special offer at checkout and it will do the calculation for us. HURRAY!  Easy!

UPDATE - 29 NOVEMBER 2013: Today I did a test order with 3 pairs of glasses. It gave me the discount on one pair.  The special does say "Buy One, Get ONE 1/2 off".  Which is still a very good deal.  Now we just have to make a final decision and get our 4 pairs :)

UPDATE - 2 DECEMBER 2013: Today we ordered 4 pairs of glasses. We were charged full price for the two most expensive pairs and half price on the other two pairs.

 DOING THE HAPPY DANCE!

Their standard prices are great but I was hoping for a Black Friday or Christmas sale. I am a very happy camper.  Now we just have to decide on frames and place the order before 11:59pm (PST) on Monday, December 2, 2013.

So it goes!

Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Today, 21 November 2013, is Beaujolais Nouveau Day.

What a day to celebrate!!!

Beaujolais Nouveau Day is marked in France on the third Thursday in November with fireworks, music and festivals. Under French law, the wine is released at 12:01 a.m., just weeks after the wine's grapes have been harvested. Parties are held throughout the country and further afield to celebrate the first wine of the season.

Read more about it here: http://www.beaujolaisnouveauday.com/

Do you enjoy wine and French culture?  You might find an all-inclusive charter on a French canal barge interesting... Check out http://www.bargecharters.com

À la vôtre!

World Toilet Day

Today, November 19th, is World Toilet Day.

This sounds fun and frivolous but it is actually a serious global matter. Read more about it at http://worldtoiletday.org.

I love their logo!

Something smells fishy...

Willow was very proud of the fish that she and her sister found. She brought it into the boat to share.

What a nice, thoughtful kitty!

So it goes...

Talk Like a Pirate Day... TODAY!

I'm usually too late but not this year.

TODAY, September 19th, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

The boat at the beginning is passing Hotel on the Cay which is the little island (Protestant Cay) in Christiansted Harbor, not too far from us.

The next bit with Tom Mason & Blue Buccanneer singing is where we get our water from... Kenjo's Place as we call it, but otherwise known as the Comanche Yacht-Less Club. It's the place with the sugar mill replica on the Christiansted waterfront.

Check out the official website: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Faire winds, me bucko!

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Interesting Solar Powered Laptop Computer

Bob brought this to my attention...

SOL: The Rugged $350 Ubuntu 10-hour Solar Laptop

Here's a post from Gizmag: Aug 7, 2013

It is mentioned on the Sailing Anarchy forum: Click here for thread

And, here's their website: http://solaptop.com/en/

Enjoy!

Warren, Has it really been TEN years?

Wow, it's been ten years since Warren Zevon died? Such a great songwriter and performer.

Here's an interesting article from The Guardian: Warren Zevon: the man behind the demons
It was originally published on August 1, 2013 which is why the timeline might seem a bit off.

This article mentions "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Life and Times of Warren Zevon" which is a book written by his ex-wife, Crystal. It is available from Amazon on Kindle and other formats.

Something else you Zevon fans might like is a songbook.  Add a few of Warren's songs into the normal Buffet singalongs and spice things up a bit!

We have the paperback version which is nice because you can write in it and it is a large size:
The Warren Zevon Guitar Songbook (Guitar Songbook Edition) Paperback

But it also comes in Kindle, which I might get as well...
The Warren Zevon Guitar Songbook (Guitar Songbook Edition) [Kindle Edition]

Amazon has a "Click to see inside" so you can see the table of contents and an example of the songs. Nice.

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Long weekends... ahhhh

I always dreaded Labor Day because we had to go back to school the next day after having three months off...

What is Labor Day?

For most people, Labor Day means two things: a day off and the end of summer.

The first Monday of September is set aside to pay tribute to working men and women. It has been celebrated as a national holiday in the United States and Canada since 1894.

Read more: http://www.history.com/topics/labor-day

I'm hoping I can find a decent avocado and whip up some guacamole.

August 2013 - No complaints here!

We just noticed that there is a new weather system out there, Invest 96L. Here's an image from last night (Aug 29, 2013) at 8:00pm.

Invest 96L - Aug 29, 2013 20:00 EDT

Not so bad for us but perhaps not so good for those in the Canary Islands.

Dr. Jeff Masters' Wonderblog had a couple of interesting things today:

The end of August is upon us, and with just one day remaining in the month, the remarkably quiet Atlantic hurricane season of 2013 is highly likely to be just the 6th season since the Hurricane Hunters began flying in 1944 without a hurricane forming by the end of August (the other years: 2002, 2001, 1988, 1984, and 1967.) Although there have been two tropical storms in August (Erin and Fernand), these storms were weak and short-lived, and August 2013 had one of the lowest Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) totals on record for an August in the Atlantic... [more]

Color me a happy camper!

Keep the dream

Wow, 50 years... you'd think we'd be farther along...

Everyone should watch this once and a while to keep their dream alive and make a reality.


If you want a shorter version (5:18), CLICK HERE

FREE First Timers Guide to Mexico from Latitude 38

I haven't looked at this yet but I decided to download it now while I'm thinking about it and puruse it later.

Latitude 38's First Timers Guide to Mexico

CLICK HERE

I've downloaded this to my desktop and I will upload it to my Amazon Kindle Cloud via email so we can then download it to our Kindle devices (Kindle, Android tablets).

Enjoy!

This is good news!

Very good news indeed...

500 PM AST SAT JUL 27 2013

...DORIAN DEGENERATES INTO A TROPICAL WAVE...
...THIS IS THE LAST ADVISORY...

So it goes :)

Will it become Dorian?

Tropical depression forms over the eastern Atlantic...

Not what I wanted to see when starting up the computer this morning.

Just when we start getting a couple of nice days, too.  Oh well, it looks like it should pass well to the North (fingers crossed) and I prefer just some rain rather than rain with wind :)

July 24, 2013 - 8am EDT Advisory #1

So it goes...

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Enjoy Bastille Day this Weekend

This morning we received our weekly newsletter from Carcassonne France and it had a bit about their celebrations for the Fête Nationale on quatorze juillet (14 July, Bastille Day).

For those of you who will not be in attendance this year, here is a video from 14 July 2012. It is very good footage but nothing like being there in person with the beautiful colors, the sounds of the rockets taking off, the percussion of the soundwaves striking your body, the oohs and ahs of the crowd... Good stuff. The French can really put on a show :)

This video is from the producers of firework spectacles, Ruggieri.

Looks like a pretty interesting program...

Feu d'artifice et embrasement de la Cité Médiévale

Dimanche 14 Juillet à 22h30 - aux alentours des berges de l'Aude

«Féériques émotions, la Cité dans tous ses états» est le nouveau spectacle de plus de 25mn que la ville de Carcassonne vous propose. Chaque acte du feu sera la métaphore d'une émotion. La mise en scène sera une sorte de pièce de théâtre en plein air ou chaque artifice jouera un rôle précis à travers sa sonorité, ses formes, ses couleurs, son cadencement, son ampleur et sa puissance.

«Féériques émotions, la Cité dans tous ses états » est une épopée colorée et cadencée autour de nos émotions de base.

7 grandes parties : 1 prologue aux couleurs de la république et 6 actes sur le thème des émotions.

Prologue : date du 14 juillet et tradition oblige les artificiers réaliseront un grand tableau républicain bleu blanc et rouge avant d'entamer la scénographie sur le thème des émotions. Ensuite, le spectacle s'orchestrera en tableaux structurés autour de 6 grands actes progressifs :
1. La peur, l'angoisse (fear, anxiety)
2. L'amour, le désir (love, desire)
3. La colère, la fureur (anger, fury)
4. La tristesse, la mélancolie (sadness, melancholy)
5. Le rire, la joie (laughter, joy)
6. La surprise, l'émerveillement (surprise, wonder)

We will be on our boat in Saint Croix (at least it has a French name!) and we will be raising a glass or two of pastis over the weekend while listening to Radio Nostalgie on our TuneIn Radio android app.

Hey, there's always next year... Contact Paradise Connections to book your barging vacation! Visit their website.

Bonne fête

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Buffy's Prize

This morning Buffy went on patrol and found an intruder. She proudly brought in the infiltrator and put it on display on our fridge.

Good girl, Buffy!

We took it outside...

Buffy was "bored now" but Willow found the squid interesting.

NATIONAL FLIP FLOP DAY

National Flip Flop Day is the 3rd Friday of June which happens to fall on the first day of summer this year, along with Fete de la Musique!

I assume this holiday has to do with footwear, but this blog post on TechDirt demonstrates the flip-floppiness of the US President showing a video back when he was campaigning in 2008 against statements he has made in 2013. Very interesting... sad... disappointing...

I would rather only have to think about flip flops like these :)

(Click on sandals to get yours)

So it goes...

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SUMMER IS HERE... almost

Hurray! Tomorrow is the first day of summer, June 21st.

We won't see much difference here in the Caribbean as every day is pretty much the same, but the summer solstice is still and always has been a special day for me. Summer is school's out and it's time to play. One sad point is that the days start getting shorter which is not very noticeable here but when we lived in the northern latitudes I didn't like that my winter commutes to work started out in darkness and at the end of the workday to return home in the dark... All of my precious daylight hours were stuck behind a desk (although a very nice desk with a great view!)

Oh, to be in Paris right now... Why, you ask???

Tomorrow is the official day for the Fête de la Musique but it starts a few days earlier in Paris.  It seems like there is an event of some sort going on at every other street corner, in the parks, metro stations, etc, with some big names, too. Lots of fun and merriment!

Hopefully our weather will be nice so we can get some work done on the boat but we will have the tunes going all day and be sure to take some time off for a well-deserved Pastis :)

Takes your mind off that you are now in that special tropical weather season.

So it goes...

Mark Twain's Adventure Quote ???

I was looking through the "More Joy Everywhere!" blog and I came across a different, less-frequently used quote from Mark Twain.

I agree with Jane, I'm really tired of "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." It is a nice bit from Mark Twain that I really like, but too frequently used in forum posts, email signatures, etc.... Bored now!

So I found this refreshing and also true...

"A real adventure is one that halfway through you wish you were home", Mark Twain

It's OK that Jane and Ean are getting out of cruising (see details about their catamaran for sale). They definitely get points for giving it a go and bonus points for leaving cruising as they don't enjoy it.

We still enjoy the cruising life and are looking forward to new adventures... but maybe not so much as the way described by Twain, please :)

Hmmmmm.... I've been trying to find the line quoted in the image above but can't find it in my internet searches. Thorton Wilde said "When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home".

So it goes...

Lite LPG Composite Cylinder (Propane Tank) RECALL

Do you use a composite propane tank on your boat manufactured by The Lite Cylinder Company?

You should read the post on BoatBits about the recall of this product: CLICK HERE.

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World Oceans Day

Today, June 8th, is World Oceans Day...



http://worldoceansday.org/

Another list...

Well, that's one off the list !!!

Tropical Storm Andrea

Hope not to be face-to-face with any of these this year... Doesn't have to happen :)

We'll see How It Goes...

BUDGET MARINE now in Christiansted, St Croix USVI

BUDGET MARINE St Croix has relocated to a much more convenient location in Christiansted. They are located in Gallows Bay across the street from Customs & Immigration and the commercial dock with the small cargo ships (and the ferry when there is one).

We tie up our dinghy to the small fishing dock at Gallows Bay. You could also pull your dinghy up on the beach, walk from Christiansted, or drive if you have a car as they have a large parking lot out front.

This Saturday, June 8 2013, Budget will be having a Grand Opening Celebration beginning around 11:00am.  We've were told that there would be a simple BBQ with hot dogs, raffles, prizes, music, etc.

We have been in the shop a couple of times and the owners seem genuinely friendly, helpful, nice people (and Max the dog, too!)

They have a fridge stocked with ICE CREAM and drinks which is super cool... PLUS they now have a beer license and will be able to sell cold beer!  We are looking forward to seeing what they will have on offer.

They have a consignment table for recycling your unwanted bilge treasures and they might be having a book swap shelf in the near future.

More soon come!

Day 2 of "that time of year"

Well, today is June 2nd. I'd just like to report that we made it through the first day of the "summer season" (don't even like to say "h-season") without a hitch.

There was one guy who was throwing anchors off the bow of his boat yesterday...

Sunday seems to be off to a fine start. Bob just made some wonderfully fluffy and tasty pancakes, and we have quite a bit of blue sky at the moment.

I'm enjoying Fatty Goodlander's book: Buy, Outfit, and Sail. We have it on our Kindles.

Kindles are so great for boat folk. As I mentioned the other day (Towel Day), Douglas Adam's book The Ultimate Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy is quite a hefty tome at 832 pages as it weighs 1.85 pounds. The Kindle version is weightless AND spaceless.

We have the Kindle apps on our Android tablets but prefer the non-glare, easy-to-read screen of the actual Kindle device for reading books. You can read them outside in the daylight, too! I think our next Kindle (we have one Kindle and one rooted Nook) will be a Paperwhite version because it has a built-in light for night reading.

Sounds like an excellent Father's Day present.

Happy Towel Day

I know where my towel is... I'm a hoopy dudette :)

The Ultimate Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy is quite a hefty book at 832 pages. It's a very good value at $12.99.

I think we might replace our copy with the Kindle version that you can find here on Amazon. We can get some weight off the boat and gain a bit of precious shelf space :)

We heard the original BBC radio program on Radio 4 when we lived in Paris.

Wonderful stuff. Thank you, Douglas Adams...

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Father's Day is coming up soon but don't panic... here's an idea

Foxy's Wooden Boat Regatta 2013 this weekend

Foxy’s Wooden Boat Regatta is happening this weekend: May 24 – 26, 2013.

For more information, visit http://foxysbar.com/wooden-boat-regatta

USCG: Certificate of Documentation Renewal Fee (proposed)

It appears that the US Coast Guard may begin charging a fee for the annual renewal of a boat's Certificate of Documenation. The proposed amount is $26.00.

You can find some information about this HERE. You'll have to scroll down a bit to get to the actual meat of the matter.

Here's a link to the USCG National Vessel Documentation Center's Fee Schedule page:
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/nvdc/nvdcfee.asp

Other posts concerning USCG HVDC.

Oh, well... So it goes...

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Beach Cleanup & Lion Fish Hunt - JVD BVI

Looking for something to do next weekend? Check out the Underwater Beach Cleanup and Lion Fish Hunt on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, Saturday April 20, 2013. Registration begins at 9:30am.

A full day of events includes:

Diving, Snorkeling, SUP-ing, Lunch, Door Prizes,
Beverages, and an After Party w/ DJ!!

If you plan to dive, RSVP at 284.540.0861 or 284.495.0271

ENTRY FEE:

• $15 - adults
• $8 - children under 15

Fee includes: lunch, beverage, dive, snorkel or dive equipment, paddle board use, door prize ticket, beach after party with DJ.

First dives begin at 11:30am. Last dives at 1:30pm
Lunch, DJ, and bar open at 3:00pm
Semimars on marine conservation, lion fish, and more run throughout the day

It is illegal to bring a spear-gun into BVI waters and to spear fish if you are not a British Virgin Islander. If you wish to partake in the removal of Lion Fish you can do so by netting. Make sure to ask more about the rules and regulations when you RSVP.

Click on the thumbnail to the left to view full poster...

So it goes...

Spring Equinox

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee........ It's the first day of SPRING !!!

Always a day of joy and celebration.

Hope you are having a good one, too!

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Paperless office, but...

Bob showed this to me this morning... I LOVE IT !!!

Le papier ne sera jamais mort (Paper is not dead)

Darn, they are not allowing people to embed this video so you will have to see it on Vimeo:
Click this link: http://vimeo.com/61275290

It's only 39 seconds and definitely worth it

Photo of the Day: Iguana

I love lizards and there's lots of them in the Caribbean... (Actually, there were quite a lot of the green anole, chameleon-type lizards where we were in the region of Languedoc in the south of France!)

I just visited http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page to look for a photo for a town in France and was greeted by this Photo of the Day:

Iguana (Iguana iguana) at Butterfly World

Stellenbosch, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Wakey wakey

Sometimes a wake can be a good thing...



Thanks to Mike for having this on The Bianka Log Blog.

New Cat Tunnel Toy has arrived from Amazon!

Yesterday we walked up to the post office to find that the Cat Tunnel Toy we ordered from Amazon has arrived!

Kitty Cat Fun Play Tunnel

Last night the kittens enjoyed playing with the various Amazon boxes. This morning we opened up the tunnel, placed it on the bed, and they had a frolicking good time.

Buffy loves the little dangling dingle balls inside the tube. I wonder if they are loaded with catnip.

This tunnel is 50.5 inches long and the interior diameter is 9.5 inches. The tube has two oval holes on the top with a dingle ball dangling inside from each one. One end has a cuff/sleeve so you can "daisy chain" them together. Appears to be very well made and is a good price.

Buy one as a Groundhogs Day present for your furry feline friends. Suitable for ferrets, too!

So it goes...

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Batteries for sale???

Way back in the previous century, we would occasionally drop in at Boeing's warehouse store where they sold all kinds of neat stuff... airline seats, tools, electronics, drafting tables, office equipment, punch card readers (this was pre-1980!), stainless steel and aluminum tubing, etc.

Now it looks like they might have a good deal on lithium-ion batteries :)

http://boingboing.net/2013/01/30/elon-musk-boeing-787-dreamlin.html

So it goes...

What hosting service? DreamHost

Many people ask what hosting service do we use for our websites... DreamHost.

We have been with them for five years and we are very happy with their service. They offer much more than just basic hosting but, unfortunately, I haven't had the time to experiment with such things as Ruby on Rails, using MySQL, exploring ecommerce, etc.

Last year I had problems uploading my files via FTP but that turned out to be caused by our super-slow ISP (BroadbandVI). Since we have changed over to ChoiceWireless, our uploads just zip up to the server with nary a problem.

As I said, we have been with DreamHost for five years. I wish I had switched earlier from our problematic hosting service. I stayed with them for at least two years longer than I should have because I thought it would be a big hassle to port our websites from our BooHiss host to DreamHost.

Fear not! It was a very easy and seamless process. They have a comprehensive "wiki" documentation site that answers most questions but if you still need help, drop Support a line and they will get back to you quickly.

And, continuing on the Burns' Night weekend theme, DreamHost's prices appeals to my Scottish roots. They are a very reasonable price at $8.95/mo for 2 years or $9.95/mo for 1 year, and domain registrations are only $9.95/year.

So it goes!

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Burns' Night... TONIGHT!

Wow, it's too late to prepare a haggis (thank goodness) as I just realized that it is Burns' Night!

Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland, on January 25, 1759. He wrote many poems, lyrics and other pieces that addressed political and civil issues. Perhaps his best known work is "Auld Lang Syne", sung at New Year's Eve celebrations around the world. Burns is one of Scotland's important cultural icons and is well known among Scottish expats or descendants around the world. He is also known as: "Rabbie Burns"; the "Bard of Ayrshire"; "Scotland's favourite son"; and in Scotland "The Bard".

Download your FREE Burns' Night App (both iOS and Android) here:
http://www.scotland.org/celebrate-scotland/burns-night/robert-burns-app/

Burns' suppers are held by people and organizations with Scottish origins worldwide, particularly in Australia, Canada, England, and the United States. These may be formal or informal events with men in kilts and women wearing shawls, skirts or dresses made from their family tartan. Formal events include toasts and readings of pieces written by Robert Burns. 

The evening centers on the entrance of the haggis (a sausage of sheep or calf offal mixed with suet and oatmeal prepared in the animal's stomach) on a large platter to the sound of a piper playing bagpipes. When the haggis is on the table, the host reads the "Address to a Haggis", an ode that  Burns wrote to the Scottish dish. At the end of the reading, the haggis is ceremonially sliced into two pieces and the meal begins.

Food associated with Burns' Night include: cock-a-leekie soup (chicken and leek soup); haggis; neeps (mashed turnips or swedes) and tatties (mashed potatoes); cranachan (whipped cream mixed with raspberries and served with sweet oat wafers); and bannocks (a kind of bread cooked on a griddle). Whisky is the traditional drink, of course.

You can learn more at Scotland.org: http://www.scotland.org/celebrate-scotland/burns-night

Chartering the Barge Scottish Highlander would be an excellent venue for Burns' Night! Find out more at BargeCharters.com

Here's an interesting twist... a fun fusion of Burns' Night and Chinese New Year (from InsideVancouver.ca)

Photo credit: Deb Martin

"Perhaps the best of the fusion Chinese New Year events is the annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner, which takes place Sunday, January 27 at Floata Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown. Vancouverite Todd Wong created the annual dinner in 1998 and the first party consisted of 16 people in a living room. As of 2012, the event included about 400 celebrants. As for the name, Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a play on words: haggis is a traditional Scottish food, while “Gung Hay Fat Choy” is a traditional Cantonese greeting for Chinese New Year."

So It Goes...

Our new ride... Hobie Mirage Oasis

We've got a new ride...

Yesterday, Bob was lucky enough to catch a classified on Craig's List minutes after it was posted for a 14-foot, 2-person Hobie Mirage Oasis kayak.

Similar to this, but a previous model... no fishing rod holders :(

The seller took us out to Green Cay Marina to look at it and it was a no-brainer... excellent condition.  The price was the cost of one Mirage drive unit by itself! I'm so excited.

We peddled it back to the boat and it was a piece of cake even with towing the dinghy behind us. When we've finished our afternoon coffee we plan to take it for a spin. Go peddle power!

To make us "street legal" we plan to buy something like this:

Revere Comfortmax Inflatable Belt Pack Manual Type III Personal Flotation Device

Here's a video from the Hobie web site.

See why I'm excited by our newest purchase... We can also make a new dinghy and swap the Mirage Drives between it and the kayak. Cool...

So it goes!