Aleria's Adventures

  Today's New York Times cover page...each dot in the graphic represents a life lost.   Almost 29M infected in the US, and 510K deaths. Globally 112M confirmed and 2.5M dead.  In Ireland, we will be on lockdown until the end of April. God help us. Pandemic blues

I first heard about Lisa Blair after news of her dismasting in the Southern Ocean some 1000 miles from anywhere in a furious storm. I was so moved by her story of courage and survival instinct that I nominated her for the OCC Seamanship Award, which she won. As the person responsible for the OCC PR effort, I then had the pleasure of corresponding with her to get information and photos I needed for press contacts. I was mightily impressed and inspired.  Imagine how thrilled I was when I learned a couple of years later that she was writing a book about her experience and she had joined the Women Who Sail Who Write group. I asked Lisa for an advance review copy which she gladly sent to me during lockdown from Australia (at great expense I noticed -- sorry about that Lisa -- next time pdf).  I have since devoured Facing Fear in two consecutive days. I couldn't put it down. She had me hooked from the first page. The first woman to circumnavigate Antarctica, she had intended to do it so

PredictWind Fleet tracker - some of the cruisers we helped Last month, Alex and I, along with several other OCC members, were recognised by two awards for the work we did in supporting sailors who were being threatened by border closures around the world as the pandemic spread. The first was the Royal Cruising Club which awarded the OCC their Medal for Services to Cruising. That was a very special bit of recognition coming from the RCC.   The second award was the OCC Award given to Alex, me, Moira, Tim, Fi and Guy. We all worked to help cruisers stuck in various places, being stopped from reprovisioning and taking on fuel and water, and facing hurricane and cyclone seasons in the wrong places. We basically helped people make their own decisions about what to do and supported them with safety back up when they did.  We were really honoured to be recognised for this work. It was really rewarding to be able to help so many people and it really did keep us so busy that we didn't have

  I have not written in some time as we remain in lockdown and there is little to write about except maybe vaccines which are being delayed. This is not about sailing, even remotely. It's about lore.  Yesterday, the 1st of February into the 2nd of February is the sacred Celtic period of Imbolc, which was the feast of Brigid, the Celtic goddess of fire and fertility. Imbolc is the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.  It was acquired by the Irish Christians, as they usually did, as the feast of St. Brigid, Ireland's only female saint. It is meant to represent the beginning of Spring. I made her cross for the first time this year. Watched a YouTube video about how to make it. Cut the rushes in the frigid, bone-numbing rain.   Having come from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I had to catch up today with Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who foretells if spring is around the corner or if winter will continue. He called for 6 more weeks of winter. But, in watching th

The Red Apartments - on the riverfront, near Altstadt  €210 for 2 per night KASTENS HOTEL Juergensplatz 52, Duesseldorf, 40219€86 with breakfast Kastens Hotel is in the heart of Duesseldorf, walking distance from Roncalli's Apollo Variety Theatre and Kunst im Tunnel. This 4-star hotel is within close proximity of Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia and K21 Staendehaus. Hotel Windsor €81 2 people 1 night Düsseltal, Düsseldorf me and all hotels Dusseldorf https://duesseldorf.meandallhotels.com/en.html

  Truly heartbreaking, 2020 is not done yet. A monstrous category 5 equivalent cyclone ( #Yasa ) hit Fiji. This was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Pacific and had the strength to wipe out entire villages. Reports are slow to come out, but we know Vanua Levu, which took a direct hit, suffered greatly. December 16 as the tropical cyclone approached Fiji, the pressure was down to 905 hPa, with sustained winds of 240 km/h, gusting over 300 km/h. https://twitter.com/i/status/1339435153697988610  Fortunately for the cruising community, all the foreign yachts were moved south to Port Denarau and the mangroves and were mostly spared. Yet more than 16,000 Fijians are in evacuation centres around the islands.  Our friends at Sea Mercy are organising cruisers to provide relief efforts to islands in need. Please donate time/money if you can to help out. 

   Clouds to the SW obscure view of the conjunction Yesterday evening between 4 and 6 pm we might have seen a rare stellar event: the extraordinary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. The last time the planets were this close from our viewpoint on Earth was almost 400 hundred years ago on 16 July 1623. It is thought to be the Star of Bethlehem.  Jupiter and Saturn 21 Dec 2020 by E. Piotrowski via twitter But no conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Clew Bay tonight. Clouds to the SW were not moving at all. Moon in a haze. Next time it will happen is 800 years from now.  This time in 2010, we were experiencing a big freeze in Mayo. We had spent the winter of 2009-2010, which was even worse by all accounts, in the Caribbean having sailed off in 2009, just a year after arriving in Ireland. It's not very cold this year and, in fact, lots of flowers are blooming and buds budding.  Yet, we have turned the corner on the solstice and, though Newgrange was closed to the public, the OPW live-