90 days to the first day of spring!

I talked to my Dad last night and he said "The best thing about the first day of winter is that there are only 90 days to the first day of spring!" I stopped by Cove Haven Marina and Stanley's Boatyard in Barrington this morning to take a few winter photos. I found an old wood express cruiser, Restless tucked in the back of the yard at Cove Haven. She looks sad now, but you can imagine her past glory.





Keep Warm,
Chuck

Watching the waterfront from the comfort of my computer room.

I'm sitting at my computer in Barrington, RI on a brisk December Sunday watching the Northeast Marine Pilots head out of Newport harbor, to meet an incoming ship no doubt, via the webcam at the top of the Newport Hyatt.

It's time for me to stop goofing off and go buy a Christmas tree.

Keep warm,
Chuck

APHRODITE commuter yacht

APHRODITE was built by the Purdy Boat Company and launched in May of 1937 for Wall Street financier John Hay (Jock) Whitney of Manhasset, Long Island. She is a sleek and elegant 74-foot "Commuter Yacht", and was originally used to transport Mr. Whitney from his boat house on Long Island Sound thru the East River to his Wall Street office. After Pearl Harbor, APHRODITE was offered to the government for war service and she was commissioned in April 1942 as a Coast Guard auxiliary vessel (CGR-557). In the fall of 2003 a complete restoration was started at Brooklin Boat Yard bringing her back to her original appearance and updating her ship's systems up to today's standards. You can read about the restoration, and view photos of her undwerway here. I photographed APHRODITE while she was tied up at Fort Adams, near the Museum of Yachting at Newport, RI in July 2008. APHRODITE is also featured in the November/December issue of Classic Yachting Magazine where several paintings by Robert Webber are published. She is a stunning sight!

Classic Yacht Magazine

A gorgeous resource with photos and stories about classic sail and motor yachts as well as smaller classics. Browse the current issue and archives here.

Classic Yacht is a free online magazine dedicated to beautiful, capable yachts and their colorful owners. Lovers of great boats, power, sail, old or new, fiberglass or not, large and small, will discover stories to fuel their dreams and enrich your time time on the water, and lift your spirits during those necessary interludes ashore until you can get back on the water.

Classic Yachts is available either in PDF format or using zegapi which dynamically displays high quality print-like materials online. Using a sophisticated and natural page flipping web interface, zegapi is changing the way people interact with digital publications.

New URL for NOAA charts online

I was looking for charts online and there is a new URL for online access to up-to-date coastal charts. Check it out.
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html

Newport RI WebCAMs

Longing for a peak at Narragansett bay? Check out these webcams. Still images update about every 5 seconds. Results will be best during daylight, there's not much visibility at night.

Webcam #1 looking North West toward Rose Island and the Newport Pell Bridge. http://www.riyachting.com/webcam-hyatt-cam-one-large.html


Sample image: The blurred light in the foreground is the high speed ferry headed north toward the Pell Bridge.

Webcam #2 looking South West toward the entrance of Narragansett Bay with Fort Adams shown on the left. http://www.riyachting.com/webcam-hyatt-cam-two-large.html The Hyatt is the sponsor of webcams 1 & 2, which are are on the roof of the Hyatt in Newport.



Webcam #3 points East North East toward the Lower Thames Street area of Newport and the inner harbor. http://www.riyachting.com/webcam-museum-cam-three-large.html The Museum of Yachting is the sponsor of this webcam.

re-packing a traditional stuffing box

This link is a great resource on traditional stuffing boxes.