Show the Pirates the Business End of an M-107

It's hard to believe a few lightly armed outcasts in decrepit Boston Whalers and homemade fiberglass skiffs can take a super tanker and its crew hostage and get away with it. But that's exactly what happened, and it will continue to happen as long as the industry anchors itself in the lee of "reasonable force" and "insurance fears".

Every ship or large yacht transiting the east coast of Africa should have a pair of Barrett M-107 50 caliber sniper rifles and a trained crew willing and able to use them. A couple of speedboats with a dozen or more pirates wouldn't get within half a mile of a ship carrying these.

-seabgb

New Booklet Charts from NOAA

Click on the photo above if you want to try out the new NOAA Booklet Charts. These charts are designed to be printed on regular 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Print them out yourself and staple them together. For the most part, reviews have been very positive. You certainly can't beat the price: They're FREE!

-seabgb

Interesting Boats: Hussein's Yacht for Sale

Have you ever had an itch to buy a luxury super yacht with its own secret escape passage to a hidden submarine? If the answer is yes, then I've got a deal for you. The Iraqi government is selling Saddam Hussein's old boat, the Ocean Breeze. Never mind the ironic name, or the possibility the bilge might contain human bones. If money is no object, and the idea of cruising the seven seas in the former dictator's toy tickles your fancy, then all you have to do is cough up $35 to $70 million. The AP and BBC are running the story and quoting a price tag of $35 million, but I think that's understating its value. Sure, it might need some work, but think of the advantages to someone like Amadhenajad, or as we like to call him here, Imanutjob. A ruthless, cutthroat, racist, genocidal maniac of a leader can save themselves a lot of work accumulating bad karma by buying this boat and riding the perverted tail feather of a man like Hussein. Anyway, if you're interested, call 1-800-RAQNROL

Video From the Ashecliffe Job

From top to bottom: 1. Stonington, Maine, shot from the boat as we headed through the harbor toward Merchant's Row; 2. Western Way, headed toward Northeast Harbor, MDI in the b.g.; 3. Key grip and best boy securing the camera crane to the stern deck.

Ashecliffe is the working title for one of Paramount's latest ventures, a Scorcese directed picture based on the Dennis Lehane novel, Shutter Island. Principle shooting wrapped late last summer in Massachusetts but there were some stunt and effects shots needed to complete the story. These were done under and around Otter Cliffs on Mt. Desert Island using a 160 Ton, 70' crane, a second unit team of about 45 professional film people, a cadre of local climbers from Acadia Mountain Guides in Bar Harbor, and my boat, Moonfish, from St. George.

The boat was originally tasked with getting low angle shots of the cliffs in shadow (the story has the main character climbing the cliff on the heels of a hurricane) and also getting shots of a stunt man swimming in the water at the foot of the cliffs. Apparently, after being satisfied with dailies of the climbing, Scorcese decided the swimming shots weren't needed.

We headed up to Northeast Harbor on Tuesday, October 14th and didn't get back home until Saturday the 18th. Most of the time we were on stand-by as the film crew got the more important shots on the cliffs. The Bangor Daily has a story here with a shot of the camera carrier system, known by its trade name, Spidercam, used to get these shots. It's the same system that was used in the Spiderman movies.

We finally got out on Friday for the actual shoot below the cliffs. We were ready by 0500. Camera crew showed up at about 0545. They mounted the camera on the crane, which had already been secured to the boat on Thursday, and we headed out at about 0730. Unfortunately, even though we maneuvered in close to the rocks, working back and forth in 8' to 25' of water, with winds gusting from the north to about 25 knots, the early morning sunshine lit the wall like a Christmas tree, ruining the shadows required for story continuity. At around 0930 Ron Ames turned to me and said something like, "The light's all wrong. It's not going to work." and we headed for the barn.

Unfortunately, both Robert Legato and Ron Ames, Second Unit Director and Visual Effects Producer -- both award winning film makers (Legato got an Oscar for Effects Supervisor on Cameron's Titanic) -- had to catch a plane. If we'd had more time, we might have gotten their much-needed shadows later in the day. In fact, only a day or so later, the weather turned to wind and rain and heavy cloud cover. Oh well. . . .

-seabgb

Ashecliffe - Shutter Island Camera Boat Job

This photo was taken by Moonfish crewman DL Maxcy on Friday, October 17th just before we got underway for a shoot off Mt. Desert Island's Otter Cliffs. Camera Crane is an Enlouva with a 15' extension. I had to lighten the image a little on account of the fact that the shot was taken in low light at about 6:00 AM. That's Ron Ames in the hat and Robert Legato to his left. I believe Bill Summers is the one with his back to the camera. The other people in the photo are all members of the film's Second Unit Team and/or Camera Dept.

-seabgb

Shoot to Kill: Russians to Take on Somali Pirates. . . .

I guess now we can finally expect some action, because as we all know, the Russians don't pussy foot around with outlaws, terrorists, or, for that matter, the occasional sovereign country.

I, for one, am glad. While the U.S. is supposedly leading a coalition of armed-to-the-teeth vessels off the Somali coast, their so-called "teeth" are apparently rounded-off and rotten. In other words, this force has no bite.

U.S. forces are completely hamstrung -- no wait, hamstrung isn't a strong enough word; neutered is a better word -- by a growing army of anti-social, subversive, militant, outlaw entities that know exactly how to manipulate an even faster growing army of misguided liberalists who rally to any cry of victimization, no matter how ludicrous or absurd.

The Russians, however, have a proud history of ignoring such cries. Generally speaking, they shoot first and ask questions later. Give them three months off the coast of Somalia and I can almost guarantee a cleaner area of trouble-free shipping.

If it were up to me, and if I had some say-so, I'd offer all friendly government special forces teams two week vacations on luxury yachts off the coast of East Africa. Different teams, different yachts, different times. Fully armed teams, of course. Standing orders: Have fun, soak up the sun -- and shoot to kill any and all pirates.

-seabgb

Ike Uncovers Shipwreck: Identity in Dispute

Reproduction of an 1864 pen & ink drawing by George Waterman, Courtesy AmericanCivilWar.Com

Hurricane Ike has further uncovered a shipwreck of wood and iron fittngs on the beach at Fort Morgan, LA. Some say it's the Monticello, a schooner that tried to run the Union blockade of Fort Morgan, which was held by the Confederates.

On the other hand, The Army Corp of Engineers says the wreck is that of a 20th century schooner named, The Rachel.

Archaeologists will have to sort it out with a more detailed examination.

For a photo of the wreck and more info, do a search for Monticello AP.

-seabgb

Whidden Pond

Whidden Pond is a little over a mile up the Russell Pond Trail from Roaring Brook Campground. We usually see moose here but not this trip. In fact, we didn't see any moose this trip.

The R.P. trail leads 7.2 miles through the Wassataquoik Stream valley between Katahdin and Turner Mtn.; it goes up and down a bit, skirting the sides of N. Turner and the shoulder of Russell, and has many wet parts, including some relatively deep stream crossings. I'm a firm believer in crossing streams in hiking boots. We passed a woman on the trail who had ripped the nail off her big toe while crossing in an extra pair of sneakers she had brought just for stream crossings.

A lot of people bring extra shoes for the streams and then change before crossing. I prefer to bring the extra shoes and then wear them in camp while my boots are drying out. Sandra was more inclined to do the former until we met up with this woman.

Meanwhile, thirty years ago I wondered why people hiked the woods encumbered by walking sticks. Now, at 55 years of age, I'm figuring it out. Gandalf was no fool.
.

Wassataquoik Stream

We had to ford quite a few creeks, brooks, and streams. One of them was thigh deep -- high for this time of year. This is is the last ford of Wassataquoik Stream before reaching Russell Pond. It was the longest of all our crossings.

Russell Pond

More Photos of the Russell Pond Trip

1. Signing In 2. Early on the Trail 3. Mushroom 4. Down In the Valley 5. Dinosaur

More Photos of the Russell Pond Trip: Part Deux

6. N. Turner Mtn. from Russell Pond 7. Big Spider 8. Overhanging Rock. 9. Katahdin