Breath of Paradise
This video podcast, just under nine minutes, chronicles our sail two days ago aboard the 42-foot ketch, Breath, skippered by Peter Muilenburg, along the coast of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Fair winds, a handsome wooden boat, and the captain's grace and wit made for a pleasant day in the islands.
Friday, June 02, 2006
A Child of the Sixties Turns Sixty
Peter Muilenburg helped form Students for a Democratic Society at Dartmouth and got himself arrested in civil rights action in Mississippi. These days he speaks softly and looks after guests aboard his 42-foot ketch, Breath, out of Maho Bay, St. John. Darlene, Deb and I spent the day aboard Breath yesterday, and during one of the snorkeling stops I spoke with Peter about his life adventures and about what's ahead for the island of St. John.
Peter is a wonderful writer, and some of his stories of the sea and of pets have been published in one of my mother's favorite publications, The Readers Digest. He has also collected them in a book, highly recommended. "From SDS to Reader's Digest, that's quite a journey," I observed during a conversation after the recording was over. Peter grinned. He's a remarkable man of his era, who chose a very different path than I did through the turmoil of the 60s. But in the end, talking with him felt like catching up with a member of the family, and I very much enjoyed meeting him.
The podcast lasts about nine minutes.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Maho's Many Steps
Maho Bay Camps clings to the side of a steep hill on the island of St. John. This means it takes many steps to get to the dining pavillion, the beach, or anywhere else. It also means the reward is a terrific view from the table where I work on writing and podcasting each morning.
Maho Nightscape
Just before dawn at Maho Bay Camps on St. John, the trees around our tent-cabin are full of the sound of tree frogs and birds. I woke up and recorded a sample of the nightscape for this podcast, which lasts about five minutes
