Morning Dolphins!

[Sanctuary]

As much as I complain about the price of insurance (into the 5-figure number annually - that really hurts!), food (green beans, for example are $4.99/pound here), toll roads, and how, generally, EVERYTHING here in Miami costs more than anywhere I've ever been, sometimes it's the little pieces of nature that make it all worthwhile.
Saturday morning dolphins....I've never seen a pod so large as this. There must have been 25+, including babies, and they were all around me. By the time I grabbed the camera, they had moved off a little further. But, initially, I was surrounded by them up close. What a sight!! One of the simple pleasures of living in paradise! Such peace and tranquility with nothing else in sight.

On another topic, my captain is deliving Charteryacht Charmer back to Miami from Nantucket. The scenary is outstanding at times via the webcam as he comes down the Atlantic coast. Tonight, he's in NYC. In the morning, you should be able to get a great view of the Statue of Liberty as he passes by. I got that "ride" back in May when he was taking Charmer to Nantucket for the summer. www.sandbarhopper.com (click on "Helm Cam" and then "Large"). He'll be delivering this yacht for the next several weeks, hoping to land Miami before Thanksgiving.

 

[YellowSocks]

Very cool!
And thanks for the interesting helm cam link.
=)
Kk.

 

[Samster]

Awesome! Will try & check the helm cam too. Thanks!

 

[swirt]

tech question about the helm cam. Is that just an ordinary laptop cam being beamed over a cell phone? or is their something even cooler at play?

 

[Sanctuary]

tech question about the helm cam. Is that just an ordinary laptop cam being beamed over a cell phone? or is their something even cooler at play?.

Is that just an ordinary laptop cam being beamed over a cell phone?

Yes. I wish it were more sophisticated so that it would show moving images rather than just a still image that is refreshed every 10 seconds. Maybe one day, we'll get "there."
We have that "moving image" technology at the dock already. I can sit at a laptop anywhere in the world and look at the boat in real time as a surveillance camera which also records and stores the video for a designated period of time. That has been useful in keeping service workers honest in their billing practices when I'm not here, i.e. no more fudging the time they arrived because I can sit at a computer and watch them walk down the dock with a clock running in the upper right hand corner. And yes, I've had to use video to dispute a bill - I was being charged time by an AC tech who was actually working on another boat and billing me for that time...NOT ANY MORE!!!
Looks like Pascal is spending a day in NY. The owner is onboard and flying back home day, so he may be staying in NY to get her to the airport. Maybe tomorrow for the NY scenary. Normally, he'd be underway by now.

 

[Morticia]

Just beeyootiful! I have to get to the beach soon, withdrawal has set in.

 

[Suzie Q]

tech question about the helm cam. Is that just an ordinary laptop cam being beamed over a cell phone? or is their something even cooler at play?.

Is that just an ordinary laptop cam being beamed over a cell phone?

Yes. I wish it were more sophisticated so that it would show moving images rather than just a still image that is refreshed every 10 seconds. Maybe one day, we'll get "there."
We have that "moving image" technology at the dock already. I can sit at a laptop anywhere in the world and look at the boat in real time as a surveillance camera which also records and stores the video for a designated period of time. That has been useful in keeping service workers honest in their billing practices when I'm not here, i.e. no more fudging the time they arrived because I can sit at a computer and watch them walk down the dock with a clock running in the upper right hand corner. And yes, I've had to use video to dispute a bill - I was being charged time by an AC tech who was actually working on another boat and billing me for that time...NOT ANY MORE!!!
Looks like Pascal is spending a day in NY. The owner is onboard and flying back home day, so he may be staying in NY to get her to the airport. Maybe tomorrow for the NY scenary. Normally, he'd be underway by now.
.

WOW! I LOVE dolphins. Saw a pod when we were in Hawaii a couple of years ago.
I would LOVE to be able to video my grandson and I. I have the webcam, just unsure how to get the connection going between the two of us.

 

[Penelope]

tech question about the helm cam. Is that just an ordinary laptop cam being beamed over a cell phone? or is their something even cooler at play?.

...or is their something even cooler at play?

LOL

 

[Cathy]

Would love to scuba dive with dolphins.... I love seeing them (even though I have only seen them once and they were not any where near the dive site). Send more pics if you can please
Do you also get to see whales? How wonderful it must be to be on the water.

 

[Sanctuary]

Would love to scuba dive with dolphins.... I love seeing them (even though I have only seen them once and they were not any where near the dive site). Send more pics if you can please
Do you also get to see whales? How wonderful it must be to be on the water..

No whales, but we do get the occasional manatee - sometimes a mamma with a cub by her side. When I get another photo opportunity for a manatee, I’ll post another picture.
I was under the boat in my scuba gear while down at Elliott Key scraping the barnacles off the hull. It became a feeding frenzy of little fish gobbling up all the crud I was scraping off the bottom. Pretty neat to see until I started thinking about the what if - what if a bigger fish saw all the commotion and came over to gobble up the little fish. I’m thinking "bigger fish" could be a shark. So, I started keeping an eye out...and working much faster. LOL I had to scrape the shafts and replace the zincs - that was the task I really had to finish, and did. And then, I was outta there!
A friend of mine who keeps his boat out on a mooring here had an octopus at the back of his boat on Saturday morning, playing with his toes. I’m just not that brave when it comes to strange marine life. The octopus...that’s strange to me.

 

[Cathy]

Would love to scuba dive with dolphins.... I love seeing them (even though I have only seen them once and they were not any where near the dive site). Send more pics if you can please
Do you also get to see whales? How wonderful it must be to be on the water..

No whales, but we do get the occasional manatee - sometimes a mamma with a cub by her side. When I get another photo opportunity for a manatee, I’ll post another picture.
I was under the boat in my scuba gear while down at Elliott Key scraping the barnacles off the hull. It became a feeding frenzy of little fish gobbling up all the crud I was scraping off the bottom. Pretty neat to see until I started thinking about the what if - what if a bigger fish saw all the commotion and came over to gobble up the little fish. I’m thinking "bigger fish" could be a shark. So, I started keeping an eye out...and working much faster. LOL I had to scrape the shafts and replace the zincs - that was the task I really had to finish, and did. And then, I was outta there!
A friend of mine who keeps his boat out on a mooring here had an octopus at the back of his boat on Saturday morning, playing with his toes. I’m just not that brave when it comes to strange marine life. The octopus...that’s strange to me.
.

I would love to see a manatee. I may just have to come and visit.
You need a scuba buddy to keep watch over you as you do have those larger fish in your waters. I am also not brave when it comes to critters of the sea ... I love to see them and swim with them but like them to keep their distance. lol Love the little fishies though. Never want to see anything with big teeth.