Tag: narragansett bay

COASTAL NAVIGATION, NARRAGANSETT BAY

This weekend is the annual spring regatta of the New York Yacht Club. Next weekend is the start of the Bermuda Race.

Navigation has changed, like everything around us. Does anyone even reference chart symbols anymore? Almost everything one needs is on a computer screen now. GPS has made old skills, well old. While I still marvel at the past and the history of navigation. GPS tells one instantly the effect of the Gulf Stream, as example. No more dipping for bucket of water over the side and taking the temperature; which might have told one whether or not one  was in the stream. But not until the next sun sight or star fix would one know what the effect of where one was; positive or negative. By then it was too late.

I included the photo of the retractable propeller designed in the 19th century just as a reminder that not so much has changed. Had the materials we have today been available to our predecessors, they would have reveled in the possibilities.

A REVIEW OF FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHS

I have carried a camera and used it, for many many years. Having started with a Kodak Brownie, later a 35mm, then medium format, now digital. I really like digital. That is probably heresy for many serious photographers. The transition, like with most change, came slowly and not without struggle, but now I am a convertee.

There is always a memory of the missed moment; but I am also pleased with those captured memories and the story connected to every photograph. If you would like to see more click HERE.

 

Newport


I live in Newport, RI, The bridge completed in 1969, has become an icon of sorts for Narragansett bay. The center span was being lifted into place as I was leaving for the start of the 1969 trans-atlantic race to Cork, Ireland. The photo of the bridge and the ferry must have been taken that fall.

I returned from my summer of sailing in europe having no idea what Woodstock was; one of the defining events of my generation. For me, the event that I remember was the walk on the moon, the BBC, which normally signed off at midnight, stayed on air to transmit the event, we were mid ocean, cold wet, everything was damp, huddled around the Nav station, listening to a static filled broadcast.
The other photographs show the moods of the bridge and the bay.