Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Nov 9, 2009, 8:38 pm
During  a recent cruise on MV Amsterdam, a Canadian sailor claimed he had discovered a true “Fountain of Youth” amid a cluster of four small islands in the South Pacific which he recently...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Nov 3, 2009, 1:16 pm
I am staying at the Swissotel in Sydney, Australia and spending time with Australian relatives. Sydney is a beautiful city, prices are very high compared to Vancouver. I am waiting for my flight home....
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Nov 1, 2009, 1:07 pm
Dear Missy: I’d like to buy a present for you. Real Opals (not laminated doublets like the last one) cost around 1200. This is my favorite, I looked at a lot. The setting is a little more subs...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 31, 2009, 10:04 pm
The ship sails up the Brisbane River to the heart of the city. The last time I was here, in 1988, it struck me as a pretty but sleepy place with a lot of lovely Victorian era cottages. There has been ...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 31, 2009, 9:57 pm
We have a lovely trip down the inside of the Barrier Reef, passing many islands. Apparently there are 1500 island in the Reef, an only 11 are inhabited. At one point we passed an area with a lot of...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 26, 2009, 7:33 pm
I like Cairns a lot. It is a shame we have only one day here,and my Great Barrier Reef snorkel tour uses up all of it. But I may not ever come back here, and this is one of the things on my “buc...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 26, 2009, 7:23 pm
We enjoyed a lovely sail into Cairns harbor, with many boats, both sail and power around us. Large power cats are popular but I think most are not yacht,but tour boats. As we come in to dock we pass m...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 23, 2009, 9:09 pm
This is our last island before Australia. I got up early to watch us come in. The weather was cloudy and cool (23C) but humid. From a distance the island was not as impressive as the Polynesian island...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 23, 2009, 8:42 pm
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the condition of the ms Amsterdam. We can assure you that the ship did not hit anything and is sailing under full power. It seems that a small number of guests he...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 20, 2009, 10:33 pm
I went out on the aft deck of the Amsterdam this afternoon and had a look at the wake. Contrary to my guess that they had repaired the prop at Suva, the ship is running on one engine. It is pretty ob...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 20, 2009, 10:30 pm
Last night at dinner it was “Pirate Night” with the crew and some passengers all dressed up with eye patches, hooks, peg legs and other pirate gear. Dinner took a long time as they kept st...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 18, 2009, 6:47 pm
Spend the day at sea.  We lost Sunday because of the International Dateline.  It is now Monday Oct. 19.  We went directly from Saturday to Monday.  There is no Sunday.
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 18, 2009, 5:55 pm
From Raratonga of the Cook Islands, we proceed next to Pago Pago of the American Samoa. An earthquake generated tsunami had just devastated Pago Pago on September 29, 2009, and at the time, Table 29 ...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 16, 2009, 6:55 pm
From Raiate, French Polynesia, we travelled next to Raratonga, Cook Islands, where we shall switch from speaking French to New Zealand English. We had a day at sea yesterday, and last night there was...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 15, 2009, 11:33 am
Raiatea is the second largest island in French Polynesia, after Tahiti, with a population of about 12000. We decided to rent a car for the day and drive around the island ourselves rather than take...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 14, 2009, 8:36 pm
From left to right: Peggy Shannon is my mother and the second oldest member of our group. Mary Bond is Peggy’s sister and my aunt. Once doyenne of the Black Cat Ranch, she is now retired and liv...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 13, 2009, 6:29 pm
On the second day at Bora Bora I took things easy in the morning. In the early afternoon Phil and I went ashore to find a Lagoon tour. There was one on offer at the dock, but they needed at least 4 pe...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 12, 2009, 7:24 pm
Bora Bora is a lovely island, but with a lot of tourist development. There are 16 hotels, mostly of the over the water variety with traditional thatched roofs and rooms in individual little cabins....
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 11, 2009, 10:02 pm
I got this email from Hubby who went on a South Pacific cruise M/V Amsterdam  while I toil away here at home.  We had given up the dream of cruising the South Pacific on our sailboat, so Hubby went ...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 10, 2009, 12:57 am
We arrived in Papeete early this morning. This is a modern industrial port, but with a fairly attractive waterfront. The guide book say Tahiti’s population is 170,000 but you might guess at more...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 8, 2009, 12:40 am
It was great to go ashore after a week at sea. However the land behaved just like the ships deck, it heaved up and down. Nuku Hiva is a lovely but steep island. The ships passengers, although numerous...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 7, 2009, 12:27 am
Our first South Pacific landfall is approaching. We crossed the equator about 10 PM last night, and I found an “Equator crossing Certificate” on my bed after dinner. Pretty silly. We are n...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 6, 2009, 12:16 am
The English-speaking seafaring tradition maintains that all sailors who cross the equator during a nautical voyage must undergo rites of passage and elaborate rituals initiating them into The Solemn M...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 5, 2009, 12:07 am
The Amsterdam is now at 10 43 N 130 03 W making 17 knots. Wind about 10 knots from the SE, large swell from the SW causing the ship to pitch, and occasionally slam the bow sections right under my cabi...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Oct 3, 2009, 11:44 pm
Winds off the Northern California coast were near gale force I got an email from a cruising friend about the tsunami in America Samoa.  Everybody should read it http://learnativity.typepad.com/ as i...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Aug 3, 2009, 8:00 pm
This summer, we visited Port Sidney, hoping to get reciprocal moorage at the  Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club.  Alas, the marinas were full, and even if they weren’t, our sailboat keel is too ...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Aug 3, 2009, 7:29 pm
How would you like to have your own private island?  Here is an island within swimming distance from West Vancouver.  You can enjoy your own private sunset view, swim with the Canada geese, and just...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Aug 3, 2009, 6:13 pm
The town of Gibson, with a population of 4,000 is literally minutes away from the city of Vancouver.   BC Ferries run regular sails between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver to the Langdale Terminal i...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Aug 2, 2009, 8:48 pm
Cowichan Bay is a village located on the British Columbia’s Gulf Islands.  It is a favorite cruising destination for Canadian and American boaters alike.    It is also popular among landlubb...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Jun 20, 2009, 12:30 pm
We welcome you to the blog section of Blue Book of Boats, where we invite everyone to join in with the conversation.   Please feel free to comment on the blogs and interact with us.  We like to hea...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Apr 4, 2009, 11:58 am
Famous eco-adventurer, enviromentalist, banking fortune heir, British environmentalist, David de Rothschild, also known once for having dated Cameron Diaz, is out to prove to the world, that garbage c...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Mar 7, 2009, 12:16 am
Another way to take up yachting without spending big bucks is to have the right contacts, friends with boats who invite you to come along. Roberto Cavalli’s yacht is designed and built by Cantie...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Feb 20, 2009, 8:57 pm
CRASH!!! CRASHHHHHHH! KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM!!!! Even in the wide ocean when there are absolutely no boats around, two powerboats manage to crash against each other at high speed. And the neat thing is ...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Feb 13, 2009, 9:55 pm
Still think that Tiger Woods’ $20 million yacht “Privacy” is expensive? How about Paul Allen – co-founder of Microsoft, the third richest man in the USA and – his yacht n...
Comment - Like

Tina Young posted an article on The Joy of Sailboat Cruising - Feb 5, 2009, 9:10 pm
There was lots of secrecy about this megayacht when it was being built in the year 2004. In fact, the celebrity owner successfully sued the builder Christensen Yachts for exploiting his name and image...
Comment - Like