Article on pirates

An interesting article, from the New Yorker.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/09/07/090907crbo_books_crain

Time Stands Still on Super Yachts

Superyacht Delphine inspires new time piece

Have you ever had one of those moments when you're out on the open sea and you want to stay there forever?

If you want to play with time at sea then perhaps this new time piece due to be unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show is what you need.

'Ultramarinum Marine' a device that gives its owners the power of time is a made-to-measure watch, designed with a nautical spirit by Swiss craftsmen at the luxury watch brand HORUS. It allows its owner to play with time, speeding it up or slowing it down with a clever ships telegraph or chadburn lever, used on ships to send orders from the bridge to the engine room. The owner can play with the seconds, minutes and hours and make them follow the pace of his or her choice, then return to current time at any point.

Rather than presenting this watch in a traditional case, the watchmakers invited Montreux-based designer Mathias Och to create an Ultramarinum Marine presentation box which mimics the luggage trunks that travelled the seven seas back in the days of sailing ships: it is entirely waterproof and shockproof and nobody other than its owner can release the mechanism that activates the hydraulic jack and reveals the treasure hidden inside.

It was the SS Delphine, the stunning steam yacht built in the 1920s, that inspired Andre Grossmann (the founder of HORUS) to create his latest exceptional time-piece, 'Ultramarinum Marine'. Fully restored after 5 years of renovation works, the Delphine, whose homeport is Monaco has no less than a thousand square metres of teak, rare woods and bronze. The beautiful steam yacht is one of the last floating heiresses of the Art Deco style and her beauty and technical prowess is echoed in 'Ultramarinum Marine'.

Charter Yacht ASHLANA - New England end of summer specials

The beautiful charter yacht Ashlana, has a couple of end of summer specials for charters in New England.

Ashlana, a 53-foot Little Harbor, owned and operated by Tom Hampson & Christie MacConnell, accommodates up to four guests in two cabins.

END OF SUMMER 2009 SPECIALS:

1) $500 off the regular summer rate

• Regular Summer Rates: $10,500 for 2 guests and $12,000 for 4, plus all expenses

2) Weekend charters (6 pm Friday to 6 pm Sunday)

• $2,900 for 2 guests and $3,100 for 4, plus all expenses

So for those of you who are not ready to have summer over with, this is a great opportunity to charter an excellent yacht in New England

OR... if not now, how about later? Ashlana will be returning to the Caribbean for the winter 2009/2010 season. Inquire for rates and availability!

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Contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters to book ASHLANA
View Ashlana's online brochure
Visit our website: www.ParadiseConnections.com

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Yachts Moggie Saved from Drowning

Coastguard and Lifeboat save ships cat and the Captain

In heavy seas of the Scottish coast the Maritime And Coastguard Agency has co-ordinated the rescue of a yachtsman and his cat. They were forced to leave their 22 foot yacht Shaffa, off the Mull of Kintyre coast, when the engine failed in severe weather conditions.

At 3:20pm the yachtsman called the Coastguard informing them that his outboard engine was not working and he was drifting. Belfast Coastguard coordinated the search and rescue for the casualty by requesting the launch of the Campbelltown all weather RNLI lifeboat to the scene.

Ian Murdock, Watch Manager, Belfast Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre said:

‘We have managed to maintain good communications with the yachtsman whilst he was aboard his yacht. I am pleased to say the yachtsman and his cat Sukie are safe and well on the lifeboat which is making its way to Campbelltown with the yacht under a light tow.’

The weather conditions at the time were North West Force 7 with severe overfalls.

The King of Redonda is dead.

Long live the King

In late August the King of Redonda, died peacefully with his family in Canada. In the words of his daughter, Tamara, King Bob “set sail on his final voyage and into uncharted waters. He did so with heart in hand and a true explorers determination.”


The Kingdom of Redonda lies however not in Canada however but in the warm waters of the Caribbean. It is located about 30 miles to the south west of Antigua and 13 miles north west of Montserrat. It is a 1,000 foot high rocky island characterised by sheer cliffs

Redonda is a precipitous and forbidding island circled by the cliffs which fall almost perpendicularly for nearly a thousand feet into the sea beneath the summit which is located on the western side. It is a remnant of a volcanic cone and is one of the smallest islands in the chain of the Lesser Antilles. It is one and a half miles long by half a mile wide with the highest peak, being 971 feet high.

Redonda was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second journey. He claimed it for the Spanish crown naming it Santa Maria la Redonda, but he did not land on the island. In the 1860s the island became a British possession. The Caribs called the island Ocanamanru and it is thought that weary prehistoric seafarers migrating or trading between the islands used Redonda as a way station.

During the ensuing decades, the phosphate deposits of the island were mined with an annual yield of up to 7,000 tons. Only during this time was the island inhabited with a population of 120 in 1901. Mining operations ceased during the First World War and Redonda has been uninhabited ever since.

The history of the Kings of Redonda is an interesting one. Redonda is also known worldwide for its curious catalogue of whimsical ‘Royal Characters’ created by famous literary figures. There have been several 'Kings' of Redonda and numerous pretenders.

It all started in 1865, when, allegedly, a Montserratian ship-owner, Matthew Dowdy. Shiel apparently descended from a long line of Irish Kings, decided to crown his son, Matthew Phipps Shiel, a king, with the help of the Bishop of Antigua.

In 1936, a succession took place making the Irish poet, John Gawsworth, King Juan I. The ‘title’ of King is not hereditary and appears to have been passed from one incumbent to another as a result of literary connections. Gawsworth made several attempts to sell the title, at least three advertisements appeared in the Times and he may have offered it for sale by other means but history does record that he abdicated in 1967 and that the throne has been fought over ever since.

Of those claimants King Bob, had the benefit of living in Antigua and he even had a local navy to defend ‘his’ Kingdom together with several Knights of the Realm also resident in Antigua. He was locally assumed the rightful heir could be seen regularly driving around Antigua in the ‘royal’ car, a rather elderly Mazda 323, topped by a gold crown.

In 2007, the Wellington Arms pub in Southampton, England, unsuccessfully attempted to declare themselves an embassy of the "nation" of Redonda, in order to gain diplomatic immunity from a nationwide ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces, including pubs. Unfortunately, for freedom loving smokers in the U.K. they were unsuccessful.

The earliest written record of a King of Redonda appears in 1929 in a pamphlet promoting the works of Matthew Shiel and it could be presumed that Shiel, a consummate self-publicist, invented the story to increase his book sales.

All that really reigns in Redonda is confusion and, in reality, Redonda became a British possession in 1860 and a dependency of Antigua in 1967. Since the independence of Antigua & Barbuda in 1981, Redonda has belonged to the peoples and Government of Antigua & Barbuda and, therefore, any claims to kingship are spurious but tolerated by the Government for their publicity value.

The next question is, of course, that of succession. It would appear that King Bob did not nominate a successor therefore it has fallen to the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua & Barbuda to seek applications from literary persons of note to make a case for their nomination as the next King of Redonda. Applications forms are available from the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua & Barbuda by e-mail TotClub@candw.ag Conditions will apply which an applicant will be required to satisfy.