Aleria's Adventures

Predict Wind fleet map for all the boats in the OCC Atlantic crossing group I was invited to speak at the IS Cruising Conference. The topic was to tell the tale of OCC's pandemic response effort. Gail had read about what we had done and thought it would be a good topic to cover as many of our IS members who come to this conference are offshore sailors. I had 20 minutes for the talk and 10 minutes for questions, so I didn't have a lot of space for something that consumed our lives for the best part of a year. I wish I could include the slides here, as it's a documentation of how we helped hundreds of people trying to survive a pandemic under very trying circumstances. When I finished, I asked Alex to add his thoughts about communications, which was valuable. Then I asked Vera to come up and talk about her perspective of having been in the Caribbean and being one of the families we assisted with their thinking. Walking them through options and giving them advance notice of br...

The Wests’ Awake four seasons cruise What started out as the Commodore’s bold decision to host the first western cruise in the history of the ICC, became the first cruise to suffer two years of postponement due to Covid 19. Planning cruises in the west depends on the weather cooperating, of course. Not only did the pandemic crush all plans of cruising in company, but also the changing climate has infused a measure of additional unpredictability to any planning for scheduled activities, especially in the West, as hurricanes Ophelia and Lorenzo proved in recent years.  In 2022, the brave Western contingent of the ICC took on the post-pandemic challenge of getting members out to the wild west of Mayo and Galway’s wild Atlantic way once again. The itinerary was set over a two-week period with plenty of layover days planned in to allow for weather delays. There was great enthusiasm expressed by members and up to 15 vessels and some 50 people had expressed interest in joining the two-wee...

Summer is coming to the rest of the world. For years, I've been feeling dread and doom for humanity. I've often shared with Alex that I feel that the end is coming for the world as we know it. There are too many people and not enough resources. It's a scenario heading for disaster of biblical proportions for the human species. I have read Lovelock and I subscribe to the Gaia Hypothesis that the earth is a single organism in which each species is inextricably linked and controlled to ensure the survival of the whole.

Book Review Recipes and Stories from Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way By Jody Eddy Photography by Sandeep Patwal I loved this book right from the start. It features a compilation of stories about people and the ways of living along Ireland’s wild west coast, together with recipes that feature the local fare. It’s a fantastic complement to our own Cruising the Wild Atlantic Way.   I’ve often wondered what the story is behind a successful regional niche product. Who thought of it?  How do they produce it?  Who buys it?  Where are they heading with it?  Those types of questions are answered and explored in intriguing storytelling fashion.  I’ve even learned about my personal favourite cheese: gubeen!  They’ve even included short regional travel guides to tell you where the hidden gems are. And County Mayo features quite prominently.