CNN have now posted the piece which can be read at http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/captain.bligh.voyage/?fbid=JjeOmtaEJCI
It’s a great hit with 35.5 million unique users per month !
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Friday, July 16, 2010
FW: Talisker Bounty Boat on CNN
Some radio interviews !
Chris and I doing London Radio stations!!
Here are the final versions of the radio edits from last week for your files:
http://www.yousendit.com/download/K0JRc2ZERncwZ2xjR0E9PQ
And the final versions of the audio features (without music) are here:
FW: BBC Breakfast Clips
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| If the above link does not work, you can paste the following address into your browser: |
| 11.07.10 - BBC 1 - 08.50 hrs | ||
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| If the above link does not work, you can paste the following address into your browser: |
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Characteristics
At the water's edge
Everything about the 806 calls to mind watersports, be it the body or interior, the fittings, choice of fabric and colour scheme, or even the terms that refer to it. The teak wood/stainless metal combination is indicative of the close affinity with yachts and luxury boats. The most avant-garde technology is used in all the fixtures.
The French Riviera, the Alpine lakes of Northern Italy, Florida and California are all perfect settings for driving the 806 Runabout.
Unrivalled beauty
The unrivalled beauty of the 806 Runabout is largely due to the harmony of its style, the balance between the main, slender lines and the curvilinear front and rear, all encased in a pearl-white body with immaculate cockpit windows.
The 806 Runabout is powered by a 3 litre V6 Peugeot engine with a self-adjusting, electronically-managed automatic gearbox. All the inner and outer features, whether they are functional or purely decorative, are the result of aesthetic research bordering on artistic creation.
A teak runner decorates the streamlined sides. Specially sculpted tyres fit neatly onto original magnesium wheels.
In slight contrast with the V-shaped hull of the traditional runabout, the front is curved and cheerful, featuring the prowling Lion and almond-shaped headlamps; both well-known Peugeot hallmarks. This logo, along with two red lights, is also incorporated into the design of the rear.
The interior of the passenger compartment pushes sophistication to the extreme. The floor, door armrests and dashboard are all in solid teak.
The blue tone of the alcantara seat upholstery adds an additional touch of harmony, matching the blue-tinted windows.
The subtle technological touch
The designers wanted the dashboard design to integrate both the original 806 dashboard design and the boating theme, particularly visible in the use of shapes in the form of waves or the hull of a boat.
The steering wheel and gear-lever are, in their own respect, works of art. The airbag is contained in the middle of the steering wheel, which is decorated with blue alcantara with a teak chrome-ringed lining. The wheel itself has a rope upholstery covering made from natural cord. As for the gear-lever, the marine theme is reflected in the crystal-clear blue veneer, illuminated by optic fibres and electroluminescent wires.
A discrete use of avant-garde technology is found in the luxury equipment features. The central, stainless display features highly sophisticated controls for a Hi-fi system and air conditioning. Like the 806, it also has the gear selector for the automatic gearbox. A winch is included in its base.
The CD player with its original design can be folded away, and the valve amplifier at the base of the windscreen is part of the air heating system.
An electronic key, in the shape of a futuristic pen, takes care of releasing the steering lock, initiates the engine calculator and starts the engine. Its multipurpose, infrared "plip" is used for the remote-control central locking system, setting the alarm and operating the mobile ramp and winch to facilitate loading.
Driver and passenger airbags add to the safety of the passengers. The storage compartments are tucked away in the teak dashboard and driver's door.
Luxury boats sold at 50 per cent off due to financial crisis
Luxury boats sold for 50 per cent off Boats repossessed in financial crisis Families picking up "unbelievable deals" THE wreckage of the financial crisis went on public display on Sydney Harbour yesterday - 16 luxury boats that their owners could no longer afford.
The repossessed motor cruisers, all near new, went under the hammer at a Cabarita Point marina.
More than 600 bargain hunters looked for savings of up to 50 per cent.
The best deal was a 2008 Fairline Targa 47 - with a book value of almost $1.5 million - that went to an ecstatic buyer for just $685,000.
"I think I got an absolute bargain,'' said the bidder, who declined to give his name.
Judging by a carpark full of luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce, bidders were not short of a dollar, despite the downturn.
All 16 boats were repossessed from cash-strapped dealers, who had been unable to sell them.
The auction raised $4.5 million.
Pickles director John Leftwich said buyers had made savings of 30 to 50 per cent.
"Across the board, I think people got fantastic value for money today,'' he said. "We've seen this kind of deflation in real estate prices, so why not in luxury goods like boats?''
A man who bought a boat on the spur of the moment, while his wife was at a sausage sizzle, said, "We're seeing crazy deals.''
Sydney couple Rodney and Darrall Unsworth bought the "hidden gem of the sale'' - a 2007 Mainship Luhrs 40 motor cruiser to share with their family.
"It's a beautiful boat and within our price range,'' Mr Unsworth said, but declined to reveal its price.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Duke and Duchess Dinner
A big week in England. Spent the first night with Mike Perham and his family and I am happy to report he has put on 8kg since the Talisker Bounty Boat training in in Sydney in Feb and is now fully recovered..he also happens to think Jessica Watson is pretty cute! I have put on 4kg by the way!
The reception by the Duke and Duchess at Chatsworth House was absolutely fantastic, incredibly relaxed and really special. Yes that is me in the dress on the sofa! With the Duchess on my left and the Duke is fourth from the left at the back. Most are holding a ship's biscuit, the very same ones that we had on Talisker Bounty Boat..I had brought them with me to include in the menu. We dined in the private dining room and the conversations were unique. I will never forget this special moment with sponsors, SIF friends and supporters with the Duke and Duchess being so warm, welcoming and really interested in everything that had happened since we were at the country fair ten months ago. I have been to some very regal occasions in the past but this was all of that but more like a dinner with old friends. I am so grateful for everyone’s involvement in this expedition and the kind words that were said that night. We did not leave till after midnight.
Next day I headed to Sheffield with my mate Stuart Keane to meet up with Prof. Pam Shaw to look at progress with the SIF building that is now due to open in Nov. this year. I was stunned. It is so exciting to see it for real. The work spaces are very modern and the work environment will encourage creativity. It is a huge facility and will house 150 researchers. This to me is like watching the logistics of a great adventure fall into place, an adventure simply because it really does have an unknown outcome, but we all know and hope that it will lead to something very special on into the future!
Then it was back to London for media and a presentation to our sponsors Talisker/Diageo at their headquarters. I had to pick up Chris at his home in a little village on the way and I had a better understanding of his “Quiet life” before becoming involved in this voyage..it is a little village with only a few hundred people in it…
Today I checked out a replica of the James Caird in Lowestoft, that has been built for another Australian Tim Jarvis for a future Shackelton recreation, but that is another story?
For now it is back to London and a visit to BBC Breakfast just before 7am on Sunday 11th..we will be on a second time, same day, just before 9am and this will also go to BBC networks around the world and be on BBC online so that is cool!!..we also managed another story on CNN online to 30 million people, so there are a few smiles at Greyling our UK PR company! They and Splendid our Aust. PR company, have been doing a great job. Talisker are all smiles!
Next on the agenda are discussions about the Book and Plans for the Documentary. The eBay Auction planning is underway and looks like the donations for SIF will climb through 100,000 pounds soon which is very exciting. To all who have been helping this fundraising challenge..THANKS..it will continue as part of the Talisker Bounty Boat expedition right through till the book comes out sometime next year.
Dave Pryce has recovered from the teeth issue, Dave Wilkinson arrived in the UK a few days ago with his daughter to go camping and Chris..well he is just in party mode!!..Me??..I am trying to slow my eating now and feel very healthy so life is good..
Friday, July 9, 2010
Luxury Queen Mary 2
Day One:
Driving up to the Port of Southampton's Mayflower Terminal and catching first glimpse of the white-and-black hulled Queen Mary 2, the largest, longest, tallest, heaviest, and most expensive ship ever built, evoked considerable excitement and awe. Docked to port at a 50-degree, 54.25' north latitude and 001-degree, 25.70' west longitude and facing a 116.4-degree compass heading, the 17-decked leviathan, with a 1,132-foot length and 148-foot width, featured a gross weight of 151,400 tons and towered above the buildings with its balcony-lined façade, eclipsing it with its 236.2-foot height. Its draft extended 33.10 feet beneath the water line. The floating metropolis, complete with its staterooms, restaurants, shopping arcades, libraries, theaters, and planetariums, would bridge, in six days, the European and North American continents, the equivalent in hours to the duration of the aerial crossing by 747-400, itself then the world's largest commercial airliner. But the oceanic crossing would yield civility, refinement, rejuvenation, emotional repair, and return to the slower, but more elegant era of steam ship travel-a journey, I would soon find out, would lead to a search for the maritime history of the past which had created the technology of the present.
Unlike the proliferation of modern cruise ships with their comparatively lower speeds and greater-volume, square-geometry hulls, the Queen Mary 2 had been designed as a next-generation successor to the 35-year-old Queen Elizabeth 2 and, as such, would have to offer the same year-round, passenger-carrying capabilities, predominately in the rough North Atlantic, with a design which sacrificed revenue-producing volume and lower construction costs of the traditional cruise ship for the required safety, speed, and stability of the ocean liner. Resultantly, it featured the same v-shaped hull configuration characteristic of the long line of its Cunard predecessors, constructed of thicker steel which carried a 40-percent greater cost than those of conventional cruise ships. Designed by Stephen Payne, whose inspirations for the bow had come from the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the brake wall from the Normandie, it was the first quadruple-screw North Atlantic ocean liner since the France of 1962. Payne himself, a naval architect born and raised in London, had been involved with the Carnival Holiday, Carnival Fantasy, and Rotterdam VI projects. The latter, incorporating a modified Statendam hull, had featured a less "boxy" hull shape than the traditional cruise ship, but had still been considerably removed a full liner design.
Intended for the primary Southampton-New York route, it incorporated dimensional restrictions dictated by the United States port, including a funnel height which cleared the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge by only ten feet and an overall length which exceeded the 1,100-foot pier of the Port of New York by 34 feet.
Constructed by Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France, which had also built the Normandie, and designated hull G32 by the shipyard, it had been the first Cunard liner ever constructed outside of the United Kingdom and, like Concorde, the world's fastest and hitherto only supersonic airliner, became the second British-French collaborative transportation project intended for trans-Atlantic service, although via vastly different, if not opposite, modes.
Its interior offered unparalleled space and comfort. Of the 17 decks, the first four were for machinery, storage, and the 1,254-strong crew; 13 were for the 2,620 passengers; and eight contained balcony staterooms. Notable features included a Grand Lobby, the Royal Court Theatre, the Illuminations Theatre and Planetarium, the ConneXions Internet Center, the Queen's Ballroom, a Winter Garden, nine major restaurants, 11 bars and lounges, an 8,000-volume library and bookstore, an Oxford University lecture program, performances by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, five swimming pools, sports venues, a Canyon Ranch Spa, a pavilion of shops, and a discotheque. These appointments would constitute my "home" for the next six days.
Symbolically reflected by its smaller QE2 predecessor berthed a considerable distance from its bow at the Queen Elizabeth 2 Terminal, the Queen Mary 2 represented a two-fold gross weight increase over its earlier-generation counterpart and, indeed, traced its lineage back to a long path of Cunard vessels which had spanned a 165-year period. I somehow sensed that the imminent crossing would not only be a journey of distance, but a return in time.
Gently vibrating at its spine, the behemoth laterally separated itself beneath from its berth below the metallic overcast at 1810, local time.
Unlike the conventional engine-propeller shaft technology of older-generation ships, the Queen Mary 2 was powered instead by four aft, hull underside-mounted Rolls Royce Mermaid electric-motor pods, each weighing 260 tons and containing four fixed-pitch, 9,900-pound, stainless steel blades, and collectively producing 115,328 horsepower. The forward, outboard pair was fixed and provided forward and astern propulsion, while the aft, inboard pair featured 360-degree azimuth capability and provided both propulsion and steering, obviating the need for the rudder. The advanced-technology system reduced both complexity and weight and increased internal hull volume by eliminating the traditional engine configuration's associated equipment.
Three Rolls Royce variable-pitch, transverse-propeller bow thrusters, collectively producing 15,000 horsepower, provided port and starboard bow maneuvering capability at speeds of up to five knots. At eight knots, when their effectiveness had been exceeded, they were covered by 90-degree rotating, fluid-dynamic doors.
Led by dual water-sprout shooting tugboats, the behemoth oceanliner commenced its lumbering movement down the basin. Maintaining an 11.5-knot forward speed in the Solent, it commenced its starboard turn from 140 degrees at Calshots Reach at 1907, poised for the similar maneuver at Brambles.
Compressed into dark gray, the sun projected its glowing orange streaks outward through the thin, unobstructed strip on the western horizon. Assuming a 220-degree heading through the Thorn Channel, the Queen Mary 2 initiated its starboard turn to round the Isle of Wight.
The first dinner on board the elegant, maritime engineering triumph had been served in the 1,351-seat, three-story-high, dual-level Britannia Restaurant which had featured a grand, sweeping staircase, column supports, and a vaulted, back-lit, stained glass ceiling and was reminiscent of and inspired by the grand dining room salons of the 20th century French liners such as the Ile-de-France, the L'Atlantique, and the Normandie. The meal itself, served on Wedgwood bone china and in Waterford crystal, had included white zinfandel wine; cream of mixed mushroom soup with parmesan croutons; crusty rolls and butter; oak leaf and Boston salad with shaved carrots and sherry vinaigrette dressing; rack of pork with wild mushroom ragout, truffle mashed potatoes, morel sauce, and sauerkraut; warm apple strudel with brandy sauce; and coffee.
The thin line of orange lights outlining the coast traced itself behind the stern. Maintaining a 27-knot speed and a 250-degree heading, the rock-steady, 151,000-ton engineering mass plied the black channel and commenced its great circle course, from Bishop's Rock in the Scilly Isles. Ahead lay the infinite Atlantic-and the path forged by every one of Cunard's previous transatlantic liners. Tomorrow, I would begin tracing the historical one.
Driving up to the Port of Southampton's Mayflower Terminal and catching first glimpse of the white-and-black hulled Queen Mary 2, the largest, longest, tallest, heaviest, and most expensive ship ever built, evoked considerable excitement and awe. Docked to port at a 50-degree, 54.25' north latitude and 001-degree, 25.70' west longitude and facing a 116.4-degree compass heading, the 17-decked leviathan, with a 1,132-foot length and 148-foot width, featured a gross weight of 151,400 tons and towered above the buildings with its balcony-lined façade, eclipsing it with its 236.2-foot height. Its draft extended 33.10 feet beneath the water line. The floating metropolis, complete with its staterooms, restaurants, shopping arcades, libraries, theaters, and planetariums, would bridge, in six days, the European and North American continents, the equivalent in hours to the duration of the aerial crossing by 747-400, itself then the world's largest commercial airliner. But the oceanic crossing would yield civility, refinement, rejuvenation, emotional repair, and return to the slower, but more elegant era of steam ship travel-a journey, I would soon find out, would lead to a search for the maritime history of the past which had created the technology of the present.
Unlike the proliferation of modern cruise ships with their comparatively lower speeds and greater-volume, square-geometry hulls, the Queen Mary 2 had been designed as a next-generation successor to the 35-year-old Queen Elizabeth 2 and, as such, would have to offer the same year-round, passenger-carrying capabilities, predominately in the rough North Atlantic, with a design which sacrificed revenue-producing volume and lower construction costs of the traditional cruise ship for the required safety, speed, and stability of the ocean liner. Resultantly, it featured the same v-shaped hull configuration characteristic of the long line of its Cunard predecessors, constructed of thicker steel which carried a 40-percent greater cost than those of conventional cruise ships. Designed by Stephen Payne, whose inspirations for the bow had come from the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the brake wall from the Normandie, it was the first quadruple-screw North Atlantic ocean liner since the France of 1962. Payne himself, a naval architect born and raised in London, had been involved with the Carnival Holiday, Carnival Fantasy, and Rotterdam VI projects. The latter, incorporating a modified Statendam hull, had featured a less "boxy" hull shape than the traditional cruise ship, but had still been considerably removed a full liner design.
Intended for the primary Southampton-New York route, it incorporated dimensional restrictions dictated by the United States port, including a funnel height which cleared the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge by only ten feet and an overall length which exceeded the 1,100-foot pier of the Port of New York by 34 feet.
Constructed by Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France, which had also built the Normandie, and designated hull G32 by the shipyard, it had been the first Cunard liner ever constructed outside of the United Kingdom and, like Concorde, the world's fastest and hitherto only supersonic airliner, became the second British-French collaborative transportation project intended for trans-Atlantic service, although via vastly different, if not opposite, modes.
Its interior offered unparalleled space and comfort. Of the 17 decks, the first four were for machinery, storage, and the 1,254-strong crew; 13 were for the 2,620 passengers; and eight contained balcony staterooms. Notable features included a Grand Lobby, the Royal Court Theatre, the Illuminations Theatre and Planetarium, the ConneXions Internet Center, the Queen's Ballroom, a Winter Garden, nine major restaurants, 11 bars and lounges, an 8,000-volume library and bookstore, an Oxford University lecture program, performances by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, five swimming pools, sports venues, a Canyon Ranch Spa, a pavilion of shops, and a discotheque. These appointments would constitute my "home" for the next six days.
Symbolically reflected by its smaller QE2 predecessor berthed a considerable distance from its bow at the Queen Elizabeth 2 Terminal, the Queen Mary 2 represented a two-fold gross weight increase over its earlier-generation counterpart and, indeed, traced its lineage back to a long path of Cunard vessels which had spanned a 165-year period. I somehow sensed that the imminent crossing would not only be a journey of distance, but a return in time.
Gently vibrating at its spine, the behemoth laterally separated itself beneath from its berth below the metallic overcast at 1810, local time.
Unlike the conventional engine-propeller shaft technology of older-generation ships, the Queen Mary 2 was powered instead by four aft, hull underside-mounted Rolls Royce Mermaid electric-motor pods, each weighing 260 tons and containing four fixed-pitch, 9,900-pound, stainless steel blades, and collectively producing 115,328 horsepower. The forward, outboard pair was fixed and provided forward and astern propulsion, while the aft, inboard pair featured 360-degree azimuth capability and provided both propulsion and steering, obviating the need for the rudder. The advanced-technology system reduced both complexity and weight and increased internal hull volume by eliminating the traditional engine configuration's associated equipment.
Three Rolls Royce variable-pitch, transverse-propeller bow thrusters, collectively producing 15,000 horsepower, provided port and starboard bow maneuvering capability at speeds of up to five knots. At eight knots, when their effectiveness had been exceeded, they were covered by 90-degree rotating, fluid-dynamic doors.
Led by dual water-sprout shooting tugboats, the behemoth oceanliner commenced its lumbering movement down the basin. Maintaining an 11.5-knot forward speed in the Solent, it commenced its starboard turn from 140 degrees at Calshots Reach at 1907, poised for the similar maneuver at Brambles.
Compressed into dark gray, the sun projected its glowing orange streaks outward through the thin, unobstructed strip on the western horizon. Assuming a 220-degree heading through the Thorn Channel, the Queen Mary 2 initiated its starboard turn to round the Isle of Wight.
The first dinner on board the elegant, maritime engineering triumph had been served in the 1,351-seat, three-story-high, dual-level Britannia Restaurant which had featured a grand, sweeping staircase, column supports, and a vaulted, back-lit, stained glass ceiling and was reminiscent of and inspired by the grand dining room salons of the 20th century French liners such as the Ile-de-France, the L'Atlantique, and the Normandie. The meal itself, served on Wedgwood bone china and in Waterford crystal, had included white zinfandel wine; cream of mixed mushroom soup with parmesan croutons; crusty rolls and butter; oak leaf and Boston salad with shaved carrots and sherry vinaigrette dressing; rack of pork with wild mushroom ragout, truffle mashed potatoes, morel sauce, and sauerkraut; warm apple strudel with brandy sauce; and coffee.
The thin line of orange lights outlining the coast traced itself behind the stern. Maintaining a 27-knot speed and a 250-degree heading, the rock-steady, 151,000-ton engineering mass plied the black channel and commenced its great circle course, from Bishop's Rock in the Scilly Isles. Ahead lay the infinite Atlantic-and the path forged by every one of Cunard's previous transatlantic liners. Tomorrow, I would begin tracing the historical one.
Day Two:
Dawn greeted the lengthy liner as a tunnel of indistinguishable, moist gray. Encased between the morose cloud dome above and the navy sea slate below, which spat periodic white caps, the black-and-red funneled vessel penetrated the moisture-saturated morning, the rain-emitting sky and the swirling, eddying sea merging into seamless, wind-blustery, ship-bombarded drench.
Any undesired movement, however, was quickly, and invisibly, dampened by the two pairs of 15.63-square-meter Brown Bros/Rolls Royce fin stabilizers which were controlled by gyroscopic vertical reference instruments and extended as far as 15 feet from the hull to counteract ship roll.
Plunging into 348-meter-deep waters 98 nautical miles off of Ireland at noon, the Queen Mary 2 had traversed 418 miles since its departure from Southampton yesterday.
Current weather entailed intermittent, light rain with a clockwise movement to the west, predicted to drop to force 4. The present force-5, fresh breeze out of the south, coupled with an 11.2-degree Celsius air temperature, carried a 994-millibar pressure. The sea, with a moderate 4 state, maintained a 10-degree Celsius temperature.
Afternoon tea, held in the Queen's Room, had been a British tradition and a delightful intermittence between lunch and dinner served on every Cunard crossing, the last personal one of which had been the 2002 eastbound journey on the Queen Elizabeth 2. The Queen's Room itself, the largest ballroom at sea, featured an arched ceiling, twin crystal chandeliers, a velvet blue and gold curtain over the orchestra stage, a 1,225-square-foot dance floor, a live harpist, and small, round tables seating up to 562. Today's presentation included egg, ham and cheese, cucumber, tomato, beef, and seafood finger-sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and strawberry cream tarts.
Afternoon tea at sea could trace its lineage back some 165 years. Einstein's theory of relativity somehow seemed to apply. Suspended between continent, landmass, and population, the ship seemed caught within a void, an arrested warp in which history seemed captured and in which the vessel reconnected with its past, as it once again replayed it, a separation from the present on land and an approach to its past on the sea. It was to this suspension of time, distance, and place that the threads of Cunard's past indeed led. One man, who had lived some 200 years ago, had made the journey of today possible.
The name of that man, of course, had been the same as that which had graced a long line of ever-advancing Atlantic ocean liners, Samuel Cunard. Born on November 21, 1787 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as the son of Abraham Cunard, himself a carpenter at Halifax's Royal Naval Dockyard, he had forged a maritime link upon physical entry into the world. His initial venture had entailed a Royal Mail contract award to transport mail over the Boston-Halifax-St. John's route after cessation of the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States, while he later became involved with the first steam-powered vessel project intended for Atlantic crossings. Named the Royal William, the 160-foot-long, 1,370-ton ship had been inaugurated into service in August of 1931 between Quebec and Halifax, requiring 6.5 days for the journey.
The venture which had sparked his ultimate fame, however, occurred at the end of the decade when the British government had announced its intention to subsidize steam-powered mail service between England and the United States. In a formal proposal to fulfill the requirement, submitted on February 11, 1839, Cunard outlined a bimonthly, steam-powered service between England and Halifax operated by 300-hp ships making 48 annual crossings. Awarded a contract by the Admiralty in June for four 206-foot-long, 400-hp, 1,120-ton vessels ultimately to be designated the Acadia, the Caledonia, the Columbia, and the Britannia, he finalized plans to serve the Liverpool-Halifax-Boston route.
The latter ship, the Britannia, had actually been the first to be completed. The 207-foot-long, 34-foot-wide hybrid power ship, constructed of African oak and yellow pine at Robert Duncan's Shipyard on the River Clyde in Scotland, had featured a clipper bow, three masts with square yards, and two mid-ship-located, black-and-gold paddle boxes which extended almost 12 feet from either side and contained 9-foot-wide, 28-foot-diameter paddles turning at 16 revolutions per minute and operating off of a 403-hp, two-cylinder, side-lever steam engine which burned 40 tons of coal per day exhausted through a single, aft smoke stack. The engine, requiring 70 feet of hull for installation, drew coal from a 640-ton bunker.
Of the four decks, the upper, or main deck, featured the captain and chief officer cabins, the pantry, the galley, the officers' mess, the crew cabins, the raised, exposed bridge, and the dining saloon, which, at 36 feet long and 14 feet wide, had been the largest enclosed room on the ship. Two aft, circular staircases linked the dining hall with the second deck, which housed the gentlemen's and ladies' cabins, each with two bunk beds, a wash basin, a mirror, a day sofa, and a port hole or an oil lamp, with shared toilet facilities, equaling a 124-person capacity, of which 24 had been female. The cargo holds, located on either side of the engine yet another deck lower and capable of accommodating 225 tons, accompanied the sail locker, the mail room, the stores, the steward quarters, and the wine cellar in the stern. Coal had been stored on the fourth, or lowest, deck.
The 1,154-ton Britannia, inaugurated into scheduled service on July 4, 1840 from Liverpool to Boston with an intermediate stop in Halifax, operated the world's first transatlantic steam ship service, carrying 63 passengers and taking 12 days, ten hours for the 2,534-nautical-mile crossing at an 8.5-knot speed, one third of the journey undertaken by pure-sail. After an eight-hour port suspension in Halifax, it continued to Boston in another 46 hours.
By January 5, 1841, all four Cunard ships had entered the fleet.
The Britannia itself made 40 round-trips before being sold to the Prussian Navy, which had converted it to a pure-sailing ship used for target purposes and renamed it Barbarossa. It was ultimately sunk in 1880. Nevertheless, it paved the way for a long line of Cunard liners to come.
Biting into the angry, dark-blue, white cap-spitting North Atlantic on a 272-degree heading at 1545 with its protruding, bulbous bow, the mighty Queen Mary 2 engineering triumph pitched on its axis at a 23.4-knot speed, the sun's rays having been powerful enough to tear the singular cloud fabric into a puffy, white mosaic of aerial islands. The ship had reached a 50-degree, 12.036' north latitude and 14-degree, 26.312' west longitude coordinate.
That night's dinner, served in the Britannia Restaurant, had included Merlot wine; smoked halibut mousse and jumbo shrimp on Russian salad; Lollo Rosso and apple salad with caramelized walnuts and cider vinaigrette; filet mignon and lobster tail with young roasted potatoes, polenta cake, and asparagus in hollandaise sauce; chocolate banana tart with mango sauce; coffee; and petit fours.
The Britannia, as a ship design, had been only the beginning, and would pale in comparison to the leviathan Cunard vessels produced in the 20th century.
Day Three:
Continually bowled significant sea swells, the Queen Mary 2 had pitched through the dark blue, star-glittering night at its center of gravity like a seesaw, its bow pounding the mountainous wave troughs and projecting avalanche-white reactions at 45 degrees from its centerline.
Breakfast, eaten in the King's Court with its multiple stations, had included a ham and pepper omelet, bacon, hashbrowned potatoes, a grilled tomato, white toast, and cranberry juice.
Negotiating 25- to 30-foot seas over the mid-Atlantic ridge, which covers the Continental Divide, the ship had sailed 590 nautical miles in the 24-hour period since 1200 noon yesterday, now pursuing a 263-degree heading, with 2,075 miles remaining to the New York Pilot's Station.
Light rain showers were forecast to dissipate, with gradual clearing. The force-5 wind, out of the northwest, had produced 9-degree Celsius temperatures, with a 996.5-millibar pressure. The sea, whose moderate state had been registered a "4," maintained a 12-degree temperature.
Gazing out toward the Atlantic's infinity, I could not help but think that somewhere out there, if not in physical space, then in historical time, had been the first of the "huge" Cunard Atlantic liners which assuredly had passed this way during the beginning of the 20th century.
The design, the Lusitania, had had its origins as early as 1902 when J.P. Morgan had attempted to create a steamship conglomerate called the International Mercantile Marine by buying several existing companies, including the White Star Line. In order to ensure Cunard's continued autonomy and dissuade its absorption into the ever-expanding corporation, the British Parliament had granted it a 20-year contract and subsidy to build two of the world's then largest and fastest liners and, in the process, regain the speed record the Germans had captured with three of their twin-screw vessels.
Cunard, seeking tenders for the two ships from four shipyards, specified a 750-foot length, a 76-foot width, and a 59,000-hp capability attained by reciprocating engines driving triple screws. The contract, awarded to John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, resulted in a 790-foott length and an 88-foot width, eclipsing the 30,000-ton gross weight by 2,500 tons for the first time, and employing turbine engine technology, also for the first time, with a 68,000-hp combined capability, exhausted, in an effort to emulate the Germans, through four funnels.
Construction, commencing in the fall of 1904, produced two of the largest, fastest, and most powerful Atlantic liners ever built with long, sleek designs; straight sterns; rounded bridges; and four raked funnels sporting 787-foot lengths, 87-foot widths, and 31,550-ton gross weights propelled by steam turbines geared to quadruple screws.
Accommodating 563 first class passengers amidships, 464 aft second class passengers, and 1,138 third, or steerage, class passengers in the forward portion of the hull, the first of the two new liners featured opulent appointments. A Georgian-style lounge sported light green colors, a marble fireplace, stained glass panes, and a 20-foot-high dome. The Veranda Café had latticed wall patterns and rattan furniture. The dining room, of dual-deck configuration, had been the first of its kind on a Cunard ship. The main lounge had been decorated with mahogany paneling, while the smoking room featured dark Italian walnut. The second class dining saloon also sported Georgian appointments and the drawing room had been decorated in the Louis XVI style. Featuring electricity for the first time, the Lusitania provided modern conveniences to its passengers, including two elevators.
On its second westbound crossing, the liner beat all speed records, averaging 23.993 knots and covering a 617-mile, single-day distance, although it ultimately broke the 26-knot mark, reaching New York in four days, 20 hours.
Its fate, however, was not to remain so successful. Departing England on its 202nd voyage on May 1, 1915 with 1,257 passengers, 702 crew members, and three stowaways, the ship had approached Great Britain, sailing ten miles off of Old Head of Kinsale when it had been broadsided by a German torpedo, listing forward and to starboard. Slipping oceanward at a 45-degree, bow-first angle, it hit bottom 18 minutes later, exploding and killing 1,201 on board, the result of a deliberate act of war.
Because not an outcrop of land is sighted during the six-day Atlantic crossing, the Queen Mary 2 seemed suspended in a void between two continents, the journey about course, speed, weather, sea state, distance, and interior life, the temporary, although ever-moving civilization atop the sea.
Soldiering on, the ship burned 3.1 tons of heavy fuel oil per hour at a 100-percent load to operate its diesel engines, or 261 tons per day at a 29-knot steam speed, while it used 6 tons of marine gas oil per hour to run its gas turbines, or 237 tons per day, drawing off of a 1,412,977-US gallon tank for the former and a 966,553-gallon tank for the latter.
Its fresh water supply, produced from seawater by 3 Alfa Laval Multi Effect Plate Evaporators, replenished itself at the rate of 630 tons per day, satisfying its 1,100-ton daily consumption. The potable water tank capacity equaled 1,011,779 US gallons.
A German-themed lunch, served in the King's Court, had included bratwurst, bacon sauerkraut, cheese spaetzel, roasted potatoes, schnitzel, and black forest cake.
Maintaining a 261-degree heading and a 23.1-knot steam speed, the city at sea had reached a 49-degree, 43.705' north latitude and 28-degree, 25.458' west longitude position by 1500.
The Queen Mary 2's Winter Garden, designed after the skylighted verandah cafes of the Mauretania, had featured a 60-by-25-foot trompe l'oeil ceiling depicting a lush, verdant gardens, paneled walls which looked through cast iron gates to rolling hills, and wicker furniture, and had been created to counteract the cold, gray, turbulent winter of the North Atlantic.
The Mauretania itself, the ship which had provided the Winter Garden's inspiration, had been the second of the two early-20th century Cunard designs after the Lusitania. The nine-decked liner, accommodating 563 first class passengers in 253 cabins, 464 second class passengers in 133 cabins, and 1,138 third class passengers in 278 cabins, had featured its own opulent appointments. The first class smoking room, for example, located in the stern, had featured polished wood wall panels and plaster friezes. The lounge, located on the Boat Deck and measuring 80 by 53 feet, had been adorned with mahogany wall panels, gold moldings, long ceiling beams, gilt bronze, and crystal chandeliers. The library, featuring bay windows, had been decorated with sycamore paneling. The first class dining room, seating 330, had been configured with long, white clothed tables and revolving chairs, and was decorated with polished ash, teak-molded paneling, and arched windows, while the second class dining room, with parquet floors, featured Georgian oak paneling and carved cornices. A grand staircase, installed between the second and third funnels, connected five decks with the public rooms.
Entering service on November 16, 1907 between Liverpool and New York, the Mauretania had been retrofitted with four-bladed propellers two years later, in 1909, at which time it could attain maximum speeds of 26.6 knots. It had been only the first of several modifications. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, for instance, it had been repainted gray and briefly served as a troop ship, reliveried and returned to commercial service five years later in 1919, at which time it operated in company with the Aquitania and Berengaria, offering weekly east- and westbound service on the Southampton-New York route. It remained the fastest of the three.
Yet another modification, necessitated by fire, resulted in conversion to oil-burning engine technology and cabin reconfiguration, reducing both the second and third class passenger capacities.
In its 27 years of operation, during 22 of which it had held the North Atlantic speed record until it had been recaptured by the Bremen in 1929, the Mauretania had sailed some 2.1 million miles in transatlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean service before being usurped by two larger, more advanced Cunard liners. Making its last crossing on September 26, 1934, it was scraped the following year in Scotland.
That evening's dinner, served in the Queen Mary 2's Britannia Restaurant, had featured white zinfandel wine; baby shrimp thermidor on walnut brioche; cob salad with smoked chicken and bleu cheese dressing; roasted seabass with Mediterranean vegetables and olive tapenade; banana foster flambee with rum raisin ice cream and whipped cream; and coffee.
The Lusitania and Mauretania replacements, although larger, would prove a motley pair: although one had been the third in the series, it had been slower, while the other had been transferred from the fleet of the enemy, the Germans.
Day Four:
Suspended in the middle of the Atlantic, the black-hulled leviathan pursed its Great Circle course on a 249-degree heading, eating the gray and foamy-white ocean with its bow with a 21.7-knot appetite. Four hundred seventy miles off the coast of Newfoundland, the ship negotiated 3,549-meter-deep waters, having covered 607 nautical miles in the 24-hour period since yesterday, now 1,615 miles from Southampton. At a current 47-degree, 34.066' north latitude and 042-degree, 00.754' west longitude position, it was 1,468 miles from its destination.
External conditions were mild: the air temperature, at 14 degrees Celsius, had been coupled with a force-4 moderate breeze out of the southwest and low level cloud, with a 989-millibar air pressure. The sea, whose state had been slight, had a 12.7-degree Celsius temperature.
If the triplet of early 20th-century Cunard liners could have sailed past the Queen Mary 2 in chronological order, the Aquitania would have trailed both the Lusitania and the Mauretania, the third of the long, sleek, quad-funneled vessels constructed by John, Brown and Company of Clydebank.
The 45,647-ton ship, with a 901-foot length and a 97-foot width, had been both larger and heavier than its two predecessors, resulting in a 3,200-passenger capacity. Launched on April 21, 1913, it had commenced trial runs 13 months later, achieving a 24-knot maximum speed, and entered commercial service on May 30, 1914 on the Liverpool-New York route.
Opulently appointed, it featured a long gallery which connected the main lounge with the smoking room decorated with a series of garden lounges; a carpeted, Louis XVI-style first class restaurant; a columned Palladian lounge, which spanned two decks; and the first pool ever installed on a Cunard ship.
Late to the North Atlantic, the Aquitania had sailed on the fringes of World War I and had been requisitioned by the government for military service as an armed merchant cruiser in August of 1914; but, because of its excessive size, had been recommissioned as a troop ship the following year. Reconfigured for ocean liner service after the war, the ship resumed its civil role in August of 1920, amending its capacity six years later, in 1916, when a major reconfiguration decreased the first class passenger complement from 618 to 610, increased the second class capacity from 614 to 950, and dramatically decreased the third class complement by some three-forths, from 1,998 to 640, in order to more accurately match passenger class demand.
Once again reconfigured to a 7,724-person troop ship during World War II, the Aquitania provided eight years of military service during which it had sailed 500,000 miles and carried more than 300,000 troops.
Arriving in Southampton on December 1, 1949, the multiple-role vessel ended 35 years of service, having sailed some 3 million miles on 443 voyages. It had been Cunard's last quad-funneled design.
Lunch, back in the present on the Queen Mary 2, had been served in The Carvery, itself one of the King's Court stations, and had included beef tikka masala, white rice, cauliflower in cheese sauce, and double chocolate fudge cake.
Although the Aquitania's very long, mulitple-role, and fruitful career had ended in 1949, it had, for the most part, continued to operate in tandem, as originally conceived, with two other Cunard transatlantic liners, despite the fact that the Lusitania had been destroyed almost immediately after entering service. The third ship, however, emanated not from a Cunard blueprint given life by a ship builder on the Clyde, but instead by the very enemy which had necessitated its replacement.
Endeavoring to compete with the Cunard and White Star Line designs which now regularly plied the Atlantic, the Hamburg-America Line had laid the keel of a new breed of transatlantic liners on June 18, 1910, intended to be the largest-capacity, highest gross weight passenger ship ever built. The specifications were, for the time, staggering: measuring 919 feet long and 98 feet wide, the elongated, tri-funneled, 52,117-ton ship, designated the Imperator, had been powered by steam engines geared to four-bladed propellers feeding off of 8,500-tons of coal nourishing two 69- and 95-foot-long engine rooms, respectively. Accommodating 908 first class, 972 second class, 942 third class, and 1,772 steerage class passengers, the behemoth, steered by a 90-ton rudder, was christened on May 23, 1912 and entered commercial service 13 months later, on June 10, from Cuxhaven to New York with an intermediate stop in Southampton.
The Imperator featured a First Class winter garden with potted palm trees and a dual-deck indoor swimming pool.
Because initial service had demonstrated top-heavy conditions, its three funnels were shortened by nine feet during an autumn retrofit.
Ultimately banned from sailing because of World War I German atrocities, the ship had been moored in Hamburg for four years until a war reparation agreement resulted in its transfer to Cunard in 1919 as compensation for the German-sunk Lusitania. Rebased in Southampton two years later, in April of 1921, it had been subjected to an initial retrofit during which its coal-burning engine technology had been replaced with oil and it had been reconfigured with 972, 630, 606, and 515 first, second, third, and tourist passengers, respectively. Redesignated Berengaria, the ship joined the Mauretania and Aquitania, operating Cunard's weekly transatlantic service. Although it had been originally planned to continue operating it until 1940, its antiquated wiring system, which resulted in persistent on-board fires, had precluded its anticipated service longevity, temporarily leaving only the Mauretania and Aquitania until a new breed of Cunard liners, to offer double the tonnage of the existing designs, could enter service. That ship, of course, bore the name of the current one: Queen Mary.
Dinner, served in La Piazza Restaurant on board the (present-day) Queen Mary 2, had included a mixed green salad with ranch dressing; artichoke hearts; vegetable moussaka; pasta with onions, mushrooms, black olives, garlic, and red tomato sauce; tiramisu; and coffee.
Dusk could be more accurately gauged by looking beyond the wooden deck with its Queen Mary I-reminiscent line of deck chairs and down toward the sea, rather than up toward the sky. The former, a reflection of the latter, had appeared a deep blue, mirroring the temporary brightness of the sky during the early-evening when the mountainous white cumulous formations had parted, creating a blue rift. It then rapidly metamorphosed into a dark blue and, momentarily, a cold, morose, winter gray, the prevalent environmental conditions of so many earlier transatlantic crossings, as the dark, billowing clouds reassembled into a tight, cohesive quilt, hindering even a momentary glimpse of the sun. Merging dimensionally with the ocean, the amorphous, referenceless void cacooned the floating city until visibility extended no further than ten feet from either of its sides. Two souls, well dressed, braved the fierce, blustering wind as they attempted, buttressed by the force, to circle the deck. Thus was life on a transatlantic crossing.
As the day bordered the midnight demarcation line, the ship crossed from the Newfoundland Basin to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and, effectively, reached the North American continent. Two days of steaming remained before it arrived at its terminus, the Port of New York.
A graduate of Long Island University-C.W. Post Campus with a summa-cum-laude BA Degree in Comparative Languages and Journalism, I have subsequently earned the Continuing Community Education Teaching Certificate from the Nassau Association for Continuing Community Education (NACCE) at Molloy College, the Travel Career Development Certificate from the Institute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA) at LIU, and the AAS Degree in Aerospace Technology at the State University of New York - College of Technology at Farmingdale. Having amassed almost three decades in the airline industry, I managed the New York-JFK and Washington-Dulles stations at Austrian Airlines, created the North American Station Training Program, served as an Aviation Advisor to Farmingdale State University of New York, and devised and taught the Airline Management Certificate Program at the Long Island Educational Opportunity Center. A freelance author, I have written some 70 books of the short story, novel, nonfiction, essay, poetry, article, log, curriculum, training manual, and textbook genre in English, German, and Spanish, having principally focused on aviation and travel, and I have been published in book, magazine, newsletter, and electronic Web site form. I am a writer for Cole Palen's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York. I have made some 350 lifetime trips by air, sea, rail, and road.
Luxury yacht
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Luxury Motor Yacht
Lady Lola is a luxury motor yacht which has been built by the Oceanco Yachts.
The yacht is available for cruising for the Mediterranean and it is a unique yacht which has innovative capabilities, superior technology and design. The interiors of the yacht are contemporary, modern and stylish and along with the furniture, design and the materials used throughout the ship, it fits in perfectly. The yacht has been made with precision and care and has enough attention to detail outside as well as inside the yacht.
The design of the yacht has been done in such a way that it allows the guests to enjoy great views of the ocean with enough light and breeze. The upper deck is quite spacious and has an owner's deck which is quite private with a soothing ambiance. The yacht also has a salon, a small office and private terrace. There are quite a lot of amenities on board along with outdoor entertainment like a pool along with waterfall, beach club, golf tee, outdoor cinema, private dining and several others. Quite a lot of these amenities are actually used for the first time in a yacht.
Innovation and design are the two main strong points of Lady Lola and lay out has been very carefully designed. The technical details have been worked out with great care to ensure its reliability on sea and superior yachting experience. The golf system on board is the first ever to be used on a yacht and the pool with a waterfall too has never been used on yachts before. All of these minute details ensure that the guests on board have a super luxurious time yachting.
Innovation and design are the two main strong points of Lady Lola and lay out has been very carefully designed. The technical details have been worked out with great care to ensure its reliability on sea and superior yachting experience. The golf system on board is the first ever to be used on a yacht and the pool with a waterfall too has never been used on yachts before. All of these minute details ensure that the guests on board have a super luxurious time yachting.
Accommodation
Accommodation on board Lady Lola is comfortable and luxurious. There are five guest cabins on board which can accommodate up to ten guests. The master cabin covers the entire upper deck and has a king sized bed, shower and Jacuzzi, private decks, flat screen Television, a DVD player, study and private salon. The VIP guest room has a queen size bed along with various amenities like flat screen TV and DVD players. There are two queen guest cabins and one convertible cabin for the guests. Each cabin has ensuite bathroom.
All of the guest cabins have been designed beautifully and are quite spacious and comfortable. The amenities in the cabins ensure that the guests have every form of entertainment available to them.
Amenities
There are quite a lot of extras and amenities available on board Lady Lola to ensure that the guests on board are entertained the best way possible. some of the toys and amenities available on board are a floating tennis court, heated pool, golf tee, dive compressors along with air tanks and regulators, jet ski's, a Novurania Bombardier and StanCraft. The yacht also has modern communication equipment like fax, cell phone and Satcom so that you can stay in touch with the outside world. Lady Lola is definitely a very beautifully designed yacht.
The yacht is available for cruising for the Mediterranean and it is a unique yacht which has innovative capabilities, superior technology and design. The interiors of the yacht are contemporary, modern and stylish and along with the furniture, design and the materials used throughout the ship, it fits in perfectly. The yacht has been made with precision and care and has enough attention to detail outside as well as inside the yacht.The design of the yacht has been done in such a way that it allows the guests to enjoy great views of the ocean with enough light and breeze. The upper deck is quite spacious and has an owner's deck which is quite private with a soothing ambiance. The yacht also has a salon, a small office and private terrace. There are quite a lot of amenities on board along with outdoor entertainment like a pool along with waterfall, beach club, golf tee, outdoor cinema, private dining and several others. Quite a lot of these amenities are actually used for the first time in a yacht.
Innovation and design are the two main strong points of Lady Lola and lay out has been very carefully designed. The technical details have been worked out with great care to ensure its reliability on sea and superior yachting experience. The golf system on board is the first ever to be used on a yacht and the pool with a waterfall too has never been used on yachts before. All of these minute details ensure that the guests on board have a super luxurious time yachting.
Innovation and design are the two main strong points of Lady Lola and lay out has been very carefully designed. The technical details have been worked out with great care to ensure its reliability on sea and superior yachting experience. The golf system on board is the first ever to be used on a yacht and the pool with a waterfall too has never been used on yachts before. All of these minute details ensure that the guests on board have a super luxurious time yachting.
Accommodation
Accommodation on board Lady Lola is comfortable and luxurious. There are five guest cabins on board which can accommodate up to ten guests. The master cabin covers the entire upper deck and has a king sized bed, shower and Jacuzzi, private decks, flat screen Television, a DVD player, study and private salon. The VIP guest room has a queen size bed along with various amenities like flat screen TV and DVD players. There are two queen guest cabins and one convertible cabin for the guests. Each cabin has ensuite bathroom.
All of the guest cabins have been designed beautifully and are quite spacious and comfortable. The amenities in the cabins ensure that the guests have every form of entertainment available to them.
Amenities
There are quite a lot of extras and amenities available on board Lady Lola to ensure that the guests on board are entertained the best way possible. some of the toys and amenities available on board are a floating tennis court, heated pool, golf tee, dive compressors along with air tanks and regulators, jet ski's, a Novurania Bombardier and StanCraft. The yacht also has modern communication equipment like fax, cell phone and Satcom so that you can stay in touch with the outside world. Lady Lola is definitely a very beautifully designed yacht.
Russian luxury boat
Luxury European River cruises combine elegance with visits to the many small towns along the river's edge. This gives travellers the opportunity to experience the country's true culture firsthand.
Amadeus Waterways - Paris to Istanbul
With Amadeus Waterways your European vacation begins in Paris, the City of Lights, where passengers spend several days exploring the city, viewing the landmarks the city is known for. Stroll along Champs Elysées, the boutique-lined boulevards, or visit the Eiffel Tower. Travellers witness history up close as the ship glides along the Rhine and Main River.
Then onward to Nessebar, one of the oldest towns in Europe, before rejoining the cruise in Romania. The cruise ship sails along the Romanian/ Bulgarian border before continuing to Serbia. Towards the end of the journey guests can enjoy a full day of cruising through one of Europe's most impressive natural wonders, the Iron Gates. The vacation concludes in historic Istanbul.
The trip includes 14 nights of deluxe accommodation in an outside stateroom. Rooms are equipped with Internet, movies and a Music Library.
Viking River cruises - 2009 Treasures of the Rhine
This 15-day voyage visits five countries along the legendary Rhine River. The journey begins in Switzerland's Basle region, and continues through the Black Forest region of Germany and France's Strasbourg.
On the banks of the Rhine the ship stops in the famous wine town of Rudesheim and lovely Cologne. A highlight of the journey is the guided tour of the city of Strasbourg. See the Place d'Austerlitz and European Parliament, and enjoy the city's famed cathedral up close.
On the fifth day guests travel in a motorcoach to Heidelberg. A guided tour includes Heidelberg Castle, a red sandstone ruin overlooking the Neckar River.
Then, onward to the Netherlands to explore Amsterdam's picturesque canals. In Amsterdam travellers are given the opportunity to enjoy a glass-topped canal cruise past merchant houses and the famed Skinny Bridge.
In Belgium travellers can discover the medieval cities of Bruges and Antwerp.
Evergreen tours - Imperial Jewels of Russia
How does an Imperial Jewels of Russia River Cruise sound? Guests enjoy a 12 night cruise onboard the Ms Surkov, the most luxurious river cruise ship in Russia. Explore some of the world's most fascinating yet relatively undiscovered destinations.
Uncover Russian History, the imposing Red Square and the Kremlin and encounter ancient towns along the river Volga.
Commencing in St. Petersburg guests are transferred to their luxury river cruise ship. The trip begins with a tour of this stunning city including the impressive Peter and Paul Fortress. The cathedral within the fortress houses the tombs of the last Romanov family.
The tour continues on to Nevsky Prospect, where guests can view the Cathedral of Kazan, the Winter Palace and St. Isaac's Cathedral.
A highlight of the journey is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - Kizhi Island. One of the most ancient sites in Russia, the island is an open-air architectural museum housing significant buildings.
Upon docking in Moscow, passengers visit the famed Bolshoi Theatre and Red Square
Blue Water Holidays - Andalusian Holiday
Blue Water Holidays offers a cruise through the historic Andalusia region of Spain, the home of sherry, flamenco, mountains, and the Costa del Sol. This eight day cruise sails between Seville and Cadiz along the River Guadalquivir and the Spanish coast.
This fabulous journey includes excursions to historic sites and cities. Some optional excursions are also available to towns such as Jerez, home of sherry and the flamenco, the City of Seville and the Rock of Gibraltar.
Passengers are provided with seven nights of cruise accommodation in an outside stateroom, superb dining with all meals included during, unlimited quality red and white wines from Europe's great wine regions with every dinner, a Cocktail Reception and a Captain's Gala Dinner.
Luftner Cruises - Music on the Danube
Most of the world's greatest classical music has originated from a small area in central Europe. Why not take a river cruise down the Danube to explore the musical origins of the genre?
With Luftner Cruises travellers can enjoy a music cruise of the Danube River. The cruise is peppered with a variety of musical extravaganzas, from a concert at the Beethoven-house in Bonn to a tour in Strasbourg that includes a concert in the St. Thomas church.
Entertained by the singers of the London Festival Opera, the journey includes two full days in Budapest as well as a visit to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. Whilst in the Wachau Valley, Vienna and Budapest the itinerary includes a number of guided excursions.
A river cruise such as this is tantamount to a floating hotel that travels through the very heart of Europe.
Amadeus Waterways - Paris to IstanbulWith Amadeus Waterways your European vacation begins in Paris, the City of Lights, where passengers spend several days exploring the city, viewing the landmarks the city is known for. Stroll along Champs Elysées, the boutique-lined boulevards, or visit the Eiffel Tower. Travellers witness history up close as the ship glides along the Rhine and Main River.
Then onward to Nessebar, one of the oldest towns in Europe, before rejoining the cruise in Romania. The cruise ship sails along the Romanian/ Bulgarian border before continuing to Serbia. Towards the end of the journey guests can enjoy a full day of cruising through one of Europe's most impressive natural wonders, the Iron Gates. The vacation concludes in historic Istanbul.
The trip includes 14 nights of deluxe accommodation in an outside stateroom. Rooms are equipped with Internet, movies and a Music Library.
Viking River cruises - 2009 Treasures of the Rhine
This 15-day voyage visits five countries along the legendary Rhine River. The journey begins in Switzerland's Basle region, and continues through the Black Forest region of Germany and France's Strasbourg.
On the banks of the Rhine the ship stops in the famous wine town of Rudesheim and lovely Cologne. A highlight of the journey is the guided tour of the city of Strasbourg. See the Place d'Austerlitz and European Parliament, and enjoy the city's famed cathedral up close.
On the fifth day guests travel in a motorcoach to Heidelberg. A guided tour includes Heidelberg Castle, a red sandstone ruin overlooking the Neckar River.
Then, onward to the Netherlands to explore Amsterdam's picturesque canals. In Amsterdam travellers are given the opportunity to enjoy a glass-topped canal cruise past merchant houses and the famed Skinny Bridge.
In Belgium travellers can discover the medieval cities of Bruges and Antwerp.
Evergreen tours - Imperial Jewels of Russia
How does an Imperial Jewels of Russia River Cruise sound? Guests enjoy a 12 night cruise onboard the Ms Surkov, the most luxurious river cruise ship in Russia. Explore some of the world's most fascinating yet relatively undiscovered destinations.
Uncover Russian History, the imposing Red Square and the Kremlin and encounter ancient towns along the river Volga.
Commencing in St. Petersburg guests are transferred to their luxury river cruise ship. The trip begins with a tour of this stunning city including the impressive Peter and Paul Fortress. The cathedral within the fortress houses the tombs of the last Romanov family.
The tour continues on to Nevsky Prospect, where guests can view the Cathedral of Kazan, the Winter Palace and St. Isaac's Cathedral.
A highlight of the journey is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - Kizhi Island. One of the most ancient sites in Russia, the island is an open-air architectural museum housing significant buildings.
Upon docking in Moscow, passengers visit the famed Bolshoi Theatre and Red Square
Blue Water Holidays - Andalusian Holiday
Blue Water Holidays offers a cruise through the historic Andalusia region of Spain, the home of sherry, flamenco, mountains, and the Costa del Sol. This eight day cruise sails between Seville and Cadiz along the River Guadalquivir and the Spanish coast.
This fabulous journey includes excursions to historic sites and cities. Some optional excursions are also available to towns such as Jerez, home of sherry and the flamenco, the City of Seville and the Rock of Gibraltar.
Passengers are provided with seven nights of cruise accommodation in an outside stateroom, superb dining with all meals included during, unlimited quality red and white wines from Europe's great wine regions with every dinner, a Cocktail Reception and a Captain's Gala Dinner.
Luftner Cruises - Music on the Danube
Most of the world's greatest classical music has originated from a small area in central Europe. Why not take a river cruise down the Danube to explore the musical origins of the genre?
With Luftner Cruises travellers can enjoy a music cruise of the Danube River. The cruise is peppered with a variety of musical extravaganzas, from a concert at the Beethoven-house in Bonn to a tour in Strasbourg that includes a concert in the St. Thomas church.
Entertained by the singers of the London Festival Opera, the journey includes two full days in Budapest as well as a visit to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. Whilst in the Wachau Valley, Vienna and Budapest the itinerary includes a number of guided excursions.
A river cruise such as this is tantamount to a floating hotel that travels through the very heart of Europe.
executive boat-houseboats
Houseboats, especially if older, steel hulled or in the process of or already restored can be difficult, if not impossible, to get insured. Many people have had romantic notions of living on a houseboat during their Golden Years and have put a lot of time and money into making their dreams come true, only to find that getting insurance is next to impossible.
So, if you haven't already bought that fixer-upper or the houseboat of your dreams, then look into the insurance aspect first. Certain locations, such as hurricane prone areas, may require a quite hefty premium with high deductibles, so even if the seller currently has insurance, it may not be easy to get in your chosen retirement waterway, lake or bay. Also check with the marina that you plan to use. Most marina's have specific insurance requirements in order to protect their interests. Then, find the agent first and then set out on your search armed with the criteria that will allow you to make a well-informed decision when making that purchase.
Now, if you've already got the houseboat and are restoring it, or have spent the last number of years restoring it, you may find that you have more work to do. Most insurance companies will require a current marine survey and then proof that all of the 'recommended repairs' have been completed. Marine surveys are priced depending upon the size of the craft and the company, so you might want to shop or get recommendations from other houseboat owners.Remember that there are hundreds of steel-hulled houseboats that are currently insured, so if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
When shopping and buying insurance for your houseboat, you should ask a number of questions to make sure you are getting the coverage you expect and need. For example, Marine Survey's are required and some insurance companies require them more often than others. Some policies also have navigation limits, so be sure you know what your limits are. Winter storage may also be an issue. Most policies have a 'lay-up- period, so know what dates those are and adhere to them. As with automobile insurance, you can choose the levels for property damage and personal injury. Be clear on what you are getting here. Deductibles are most often 1 to 2% of the insured value of the craft, so make sure you know how much you will be liable for in the event of a claim. Some policies don't allow for living aboard. If this is your plan, then make sure you are upfront about it. The last thing you want is for your claim to be denied because witnesses can testify that you live there. Also make sure that if you have a dinghy, fishing boat or personal water craft, it is covered along with your houseboat and make sure you are aware of the stipulations. You may be required to carry additional insurance for when you are operating those additional crafts as opposed to towing them or having them stored on deck.
You can check with the your local companies in your area for the type coverage you need. Good luck in your insurance search and happy house boating.
When Joseph is not daydreaming about being out on the boat, he can be found working in his gardens. One of his favorite gardening websites is Garden Harvest Supply, which offer quality garden tools like the Lambert vegetable seed planter which allows you to plant and fertilize your seeds all at the same time. They also have the wolf garten system of interchangeable garden tools, which saves you from purchasing seperate tools.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Dr. Phil Finally and Officially Lists Beverly Hills House
SELLER: Dr. Phil and Robin McGrawLOCATION: Beverly Hills, CA
PRICE: $16,500,000
SIZE: 11,036 square feet, 8 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Way back in early April of 2008, amid much speculation that Dr. Phil McGraw and his Stand By Your Man wifey Robin were on a fast train to Splitsville, Your Mama heard from no fewer than three real estate snitches who whispered in our big ear that the tee-vee psychologist–or whatever he is–had quietly floated his big Beverly Hills, CA mansion on the market as a pocket listing. A pocket listing, for all those not familiar with the term, means that the McGraw mansion was never officially on the market. However, according to Kenny Kissentell, one of Your Mama's saucier and more piquant canaries, the still married couple were quietly seeking offers in the $16-18,000,000 range.
Your Mama isn't sure if Mister and Missus McGraw fielded any offers for their Bev Hills estate but clearly they did not sell the property because now, more than two years after we first heard the real estate rumors of the pocket listing, Mister and Missus McGraw have officially heaved their hulking Mediterranean villa on the market with an asking price of $16,500,000.
Now listen chickens, in the interest of full disclosure Your Mama should say right off the bat that we're not much of a fan of Dr. Phil–who is not actually a medical doctor of any kind–nor do we care for his particular brand of tough talking psycho-babble hyperbole delivered in the most dramatic fashion possible in order to keep the television viewing audience from getting bored and flipping the channel to one of the many soap stories that plug up the airwaves during the mid-day hours. Here's our real beef puppies, we fear deep in our soul that what happens on Dr. Phil's program gets mistaken by his vast audience for actual therapy and, puppies, real therapy it is not. Perhaps we're not giving credit to his fans who may very well be able to properly discern television from therapy. None the less feel that Dr. Phil's program of "get real" advice gives the false and potentially damaging illusion that complex emotional quandaries and divisive marital dilemmas can be fixed in just 40-42 minutes, the real length of most 1 hour long shows minus the time it takes for commercials.
And too, we find it strange and creepy that Not A Medical Dr. Phil recently had his bushy beast of a 'stache shaved off–on national television–by none other than Oprah Winfrey, the woman responsible for foisting Dr. Phil onto the world. Lo-ward have mercy butter beans, does no one have any sense of decency or shame anymore? Maybe next time The Big O can take a pumice stone to his heels or maybe she'll use him as a model to illustrate how best to manscape your man's chest carpet.
Anyhoo, property records and other reports reveal that The Big O's talk television prodigy and his wife Robin purchased their Bev Hills property back in December of 2002 for around $7,500,000...in cash. While listing information for the .72 acre estate does not indicate the square footage of the McGraw manse, the tax man shows it measures 11,036 square feet and includes 8 bedrooms and 7 poopers including a master suite with sitting area, private balcony, and two lavish poopers and custom fitted dressing rooms. For what it's worth, we previously reported that the house had 9 bedrooms and 8 full and 2 half poopers but, in all honestly, our boozy-woozy brain just can't recall from where we got those numbers.
Information we received a couple of years ago from our trio of blabbermouthing birdies indicates the house includes a number of celebrity-style features like a double height rotunda entrance hall with diamond pattern stone flooring and sweeping dual staircases for making dramatic entrances (and exits), a screening room, natch, a billiards room, his and hers offices, staff quarters, and a beauty boo-teek where Dr. Phil could have his pate polished in private.
Other amenities of the completely walled and double-gated property located in what is arguably the best part of Beverly Hills include, according to listing information, a double height formal living room, formal dining room, library, family room, a colossal kitchen, and a half-circle shaped breakfast room with dizzying mirrored walls. There is also a media/music room, den, a home fitness center, covered parking for 5 cars, 3 fireplaces (in the den, library and master boo-dwar), and a detached 2 bedroom guest casita.
A wide and lavishly planted dining terrace extends off the back of the house with an outdoor fireplace and media center for staring at the boob-toob al fresco. A pathway descends to the large, rectangular shaped swimming pool that has kooky and kind of disturbing statues standing at the corners, and a raised, circular spa where Not A Medical Dr. Phil can soak away the stress of dealing with everyone else's stress on the boob-toob. What 16,500,000 smackers will not get you in the case of Dr. and Missus Phil's pile is a tennis court, which is a real shame because as fer as Your Mama is concerned 16,500,000 in Beverly Hills ought to buy a tennis court or at least a long, gated celebrity style driveway and the sort of view that will curl the toes of even the most jaded Angelino.
Where, oh where will Dr. Phil go now Your Mama hears the children asking? Well, in truth we don't know. But if Your Mama had to choose a Los Angeles location for Dr. Phil to next reside it would be an even bigger spread up in Beverly Park because Dr. Phil just seems like the sort of fellow who would get his real estate jollies off on living up in Beverly Park.
What we do know is that whomever snatches up Dr. Phil's real estate sloppy seconds will have a whole host of rich and famous neighbors including Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, entertainment icon Mickey Rooney, Guess? founder Georges Marciano who lives in Shirley Temple's old Sunset Boulevard mansion, and right behind Dr. Phil's house sits Le Palais du Couchant, the recently completed 3-story, 36,000 square foot "French-Palladian" pile built by commercial real estate mogul Frederick C. Wehba that's currently listed at a teeth chattering $68,500,000.
photos from Hilton & Hyland listing
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Jesse James Slashes Asking Price by 26%
SELLER: Jesse JamesLOCATION: Sunset Beach, CA
PRICE: $4,995,000
SIZE: 3,626 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4.25 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Cheating huzbands are quickly developing into a theme this week. Yesterday we discussed the real estate rumors about serial adulterer Tiger Woods' estranged and soon to be dee-vorced wife Elin Nordegren hunting for a house in Boca Raton, FL and today Your Mama has some real estate low down on actress Sandra Bullock's chopper customizing and philandering ex-huzband Jesse James.
In late May of 2010, amid all the brouhaha and ballyhoo surrounding the couple's dirty laundry and impending dee-vorce, it was widely reported that Mister James heaved the ocean front residence in Sunset Beach, CA where he and his Oscar winning ex-wife once lived together on the market with a rather optimistic asking price of $6,750,000.
Shortly after the 4th of July, according to information provided to Your Mama by Buhteenuh Beachdweller, Mister James and his real estate people wisely opted to chop the price tag for Mister James' beach house all the way down to a still pricey but far less shocking $4,995,000. A few flicks of the well worn beads on Your Mama's bejeweled abacus reveals that the $1,755,000 markdown represents a gigantic 26% reduction from the original price.
Property records show that Mister James bought his beach house, a two story quasi-Mediterranean villa with 3,626 square feet, in September of 2003 when he was still married to his second wife, award winning porno hacktress, tax evader, and huzband beater Janine Lindemulder. Records also show Mister James' crib has 2 bedrooms and 2.5 poopers while online listing information shows there are 4 bedrooms, each with a private pooper plus a powder pooper for guests.
Like in most California beach communities, Mister James' house sits right up on the street and so close to the neighboring house that even a toothpick thin catwalker would have a tough time squeezing in between. On the street side, a gated and lushly landscaped courtyard with a gurgling fountain and curving stone pathway serves as a serene buffer between the street and the stone floored entrance hall that steps up to the open plan living/dining/kitchen area.
The Canterra stone tile used for the entry pathway and floor in the foyer continue up four steps and into the main living space comprised living, eating and cooking areas. The living room is focussed on a massive fireplace with carved stone surround and flanked by built in cabinetry, the dining area looks out towards the beach, and the gore-may kitchen has slab granite counter tops, custom raised panel maple cabinetry, a curving crescent shaped breakfast counter, walk-in pantry, and a full complement of Viking brand stainless steel appliances including a wine fridge and under counter ice making machine.
The main living space opens into an ocean side glass-enclosed lanai worked over with mood lighting and overly dramatic auto-lighting tiki torches according to listing information. Most of the lanai is taken up by the swimming pool and faux stone grotto where, Your Mama assumes, the spa is located. A steep stairway "carved" into the faux stone allows the bold and the brave to clamor up to the top of the grotto at their own risk and hurtle themselves down the short, curving slide, past the waterfall and into the swimming pool.
The children will note that listing photos show a duck paddling in the pool, an unsanitary situation given that ducks are completely non-discriminating about where they do their dirty bizness. But perhaps more disturbing and distressing that swimming with duck excrement is that the neighboring house has a vast window that looks directly down into the lanai that completely compromises whatever sense of privacy is created or felt by the glass-enclosed lanai. There can be no daytime skinny dipping in this pool unless the nekkid don't care to have their naughty bits seen by the neighbor.
Beyond the lanai, a multi-level deck tucked into the dune has built in seating with thick upholstered cushion and provides a scenic and somewhat private perch for ocean viewing and sunset watching. From the deck a sandy path leads through the ice-plant and beach scrub to the extraordinarily wide beach and pounding surf. The near absence of street and/or public parking in Sunset Beach ensure that the broad beach isn't overly burdened by out of town beach goers who all too frequently wear bathing costumes that do anything and everything but flatter their over and under fed bodies.
Back inside, a curving stone stairway with an intricately scrolled iron banister leads to the upstairs master bedroom that has a boxed beam ceiling, hardwood flooring, fireplace, ocean views through large window that slides open to a Juliet balcony, walk-in closet, and a Travertine clad master pooper complete with double sinks, steam shower, and Jacuzzi tub. The master bedroom day-core, we regret to inform, is a not particularly pleasing melange of carved wood chairs that look like they might be from Indonesia or Bali or someplace like that, a couple of woven wicker stools unnecessarily placed at the foot of the bed, and a couple of glitzy and glammy mirrored chests on either side of the bed. Mister James' big bed is dressed with white linens and topped with two large leopard print decorative pillows and two smaller black velvet pillows embroidered with a skull and crossbones that offer an ironic and most assuredly unintended message that the once happy marriage between he and America's Sweetheart is d.e.a.d.
Although there is also a guest bedroom with full pooper and walk-in closet on the second floor, listing information for the property indicates the other two bedrooms have been converted for other uses besides slumber and fornication. There is, according to listing information, an ocean view office/bedroom and a large media/game room that has a coffered ceiling with wedding cake moldings, hardwood floors, built in cabinetry and shelves, wet bar, and a couple of down-filled white slip-covered sofas for laying around and watching the wall-mounted flat screen boob-toob.
Other amenities, according to listing information, include an over-sized three car garage with custom fitted "tool crib," whatever that is, professional quality audio and video systems, and a state of the art surveillance system, natch, with multiple security cameras that ensure any moe-ron who gets the damn fool notion to go poking around the property will be filmed for posterity and arrested for trespassing.
As it turns out, another Sunset Beach, CA property owned by Mister James is also on the market and also recently received the bizness with the price chop tomahawk. Property records show Mister James bought a townhouse with rather unattractively accented on the exterior with river rock in November of 2002 for $777,000 and currently has it listed at $1,195,000 after first popping up on the market at $1,290,000. It's unclear to Your Mama if Mister James leased this house or if it is or was occupied by one of his former wives.
Listing information shows the townhouse measures 2,634 square feet, stands three stories tall, and includes 3 bedrooms, 3.5 poopers, 2 river rock fireplaces–one in the living room the other in the master bedroom–and an attached 2-car garage. Other features, according to listing information include a spiral staircase, hardwood floors, double height ceilings, granite counter tops in the kitchen and on the wet bar, an elevator, a small balcony off the living room, and a roof deck with peek-a-boo bay and ocean views.
It's been widely rumored and reported that Mister James is relocating to Austin, TX where he owns a chopper shop and which just happens to be one of the many places his unsullied by the scandal ex-wife Sandy has a home. We realize that Mister James neither asked for our opinion nor sought our sage counsel on the matter, but Your Mama just cain't keep our big- flap trap shut so we're gonna give the philandering fool some free words of wisdom anyway: Listen up J.J., you done blowed it up with Sandy by getting with that tattooed adulteress and as a result there ain't nuthin' but memories of better days to pick through now. Clearly your ex-wife has done moved on with her life, adopted a damn baby without you, and left you standing there in the dust of one of your tricked out chopper things. We suspect you'd have better luck calling up that home wrecker Bombshell McGee and begging her to take you in than you would to ask for mercy from your ex-wife who has shown nothing but great dignity and resolve throughout this sex mess you made. Okaaay?
Miz Bullock, who regularly rakes in well upwards of $15,000,000 per movie, also owns posh properties in Los Angeles, Tybee Island (GA), New Orleans, and New York City.
photos: Pacific Coast News (top photo only), Surfside Colony Real Estate (listing photos)
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