Butter Cream, Gritz, Crystalline Micro-Pow… those are just a few of the names we gave the snow under our skis on Monday afternoon. We were sliding on one of our farming neighbor’s pastures, and the dust-on-crust conditions from last week had evolved into about one inch of icy, crystalline powder that is well bonded to a crusty 2-3″ base – perfect conditions for ripping pastures. Someone counted off ten runs during our sunset session. Two … Read the rest
Posted on March 16th, 2012Having made landfall, I can now say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Clipperton Island is disagreeable. First off, the boobies are everywhere, and when they’re not croaking at you they’re pooping on you. Walking among them is tricky enough, but the ground is covered in old coconuts, broken coral pieces and red crabs (which are poisonous to eat). A few of the beaches could be mistaken for tropical… Read the rest
Posted on March 12th, 2012The image impressed upon my memory from the Jacques Cousteau documentary about Clipperton is an army of hammerhead sharks swimming in silhouette. Diving with sharks at great depths is the reason the Swiss captain of the Lucia Celeste vessel, Beni, comes to Clipperton. When he came in January 2012 and 2011, he saw between fifty and one hundred sharks each dive. There were at least five sharks cruising around the… Read the rest
Posted on March 11th, 2012Our first meal at Clipperton Atoll was a ~3lb monster lobster that, unlike the type we’re used to in the US, didn’t have claws. Captain Gwen removed only the tail meat and moved to throw the body overboard, but I stopped him before he reached the gunwale. Growing up, my mom repeatedly told me that you can tell a true New Englander by whether he will eat the whole lobster… Read the rest
Posted on March 10th, 2012Soon after sailing from Cabo Pulmo, drowsiness sweeps over me. I don’t know if it was the day of diving in the sun, the dramamine mixed with a can of beer, the sea’s lolling motion, or all three combined, but I go rock-a-bye-baby out like a light and miss dinner. My stomach’s empty, but my mind’s filled with lucid, sea-stirred dreams. When I first rise it’s still dark, except for… Read the rest
As the US prepared for WWII in March 1940, John Steinbeck, marine biologist Edward Ricketts and a small crew began their own mission: a survey of marine wildlife in the Sea of Cortez, which Steinbeck chronicled in his book The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Steinbeck’s journey… Read the rest
In 2008, the province of Buenos Aires banned the used of plastic bags. In 2004, the province of Mendoza prohibited the use of non-biodegradable bags. In 2005, the province of Chubut, in Patagonia, prohibited the use of polyethylene bags. The same happened in the Patagonian tourist towns of El Bolson… Read the rest
Disclaimer - GRAPHIC and DISTURBING images (see the full entry here )
“Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.”… Read the rest Henry David Thoreau
It seems that lately, I have been writing more about the tragedies I am witnessing than the beauties of exploring
This land has been many things to many people. For Magellan and Drake, it was the land of giants. For FitzRoy, it was the beginning of the end. For Darwin, it was a trip that would change his life. For Jeremy Button, it was his home, then his curse. For … Read the rest
“I had become incapable of reflection; my mind had suddenly transformed itself from a thinking machine into a machine for some unknown purpose. To think was like setting in motion a noisy engine in my brain; and there was something there which bade me still, and I was forced to … Read the rest
Ram Kumar (or RK as he’s known) has been working in garment manufacturing for most his life and he commands a special presence around the sampling room and production floor.
RK is the Head Technician at Sherpa Adventure Gear; which means he’s the main authority on garment construction, pattern making,… Read the rest
