Cruising on Last Dance


This blog archives the adventures of Glen and Jill Moore and provides a means of communication for friends and family. Exploration and adventure have been synonymous with boats and water for centuries. The joy of adventures shared while exploring new places and meeting new people has built a strong bond for Glen and Jill. Last Dance is the platform for the exploration.

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." St. Augustine, 354 - 430

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain, 1835 - 1910

"There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats." The Wind in the Willows, 1908, Kenneth Grahame, 1859 - 1932

"I've never believed speed and ease are conductive to living fully, becoming aware, or deepening memory, a tripod of urges to stabilize and lend meaning to life." River Horse: a log book of a boat across America, 1999, William Least Heat-Moon,1939 -

The Great Loop -- The current adventure is a circumnavigation of the Eastern United States, cruising north up the east coast through New York into Canada, across the Great Lakes to Chicago, navigating multiple river systems south to Mobile, along the Gulf coast to the Florida Keys and back to St. Augustine. This trip by boat is commonly referred to as the Great Loop. Progress and current location are indicated by the red line on the map to the right. It was titled the Traceless Path in recognition of a German sailor we met in St. Augustine who published booklets of his travels with hand-drawn, detailed maps describing his travels across the water as the Traceless Path.



Friday, February 24, 2012

Photography

Many friends have commented about their enjoyment of the photographs in the blog.  Good photography requires quality equipment, some study and knowledge, a bit of skill, time composing the photo, and some post processing.  Time, effort, and investment in attempting to capture high impact images has produced some good results on this adventure.  But, when traveling, one is often not presented with the best environment for capturing a photo.



The Sunshine Skyway Bridge crosses Tampa Bay, connecting St. Petersburg and Bradenton.  It is a beautiful and amazing piece of engineering.  The above image was captured traveling south from St. Petersburg in the morning.  The sun is behind the bridge, creating back lighting which gives the bridge a black image against the sky.




Leaving the Palmetto/Bradenton area requires travel north on the Manatee River, into Tampa Bay, before turning south again on the Intracoastal Waterway.  This trip was made in the afternoon with the sun lighting the bridge.  This created a much different image - concrete and support cables reflecting the sun.  These two images capture the bridge design and tell a story, but are far from great photos.

Bob Dein, a good friend who has taken up photography as a serious hobby, has also captured an image of the Sunshine Skyway.  With more study and knowledge, higher quality equipment, and taking the time and effort to drive across the Skyway long before sunrise to set up on Mullet Key, his image not only captures the bridge, it brings a beauty that is truly amazing.




Photography has been a large part of capturing the adventure of traveling the Great Loop.  While taking some time to post process and organize the images, the photography itself has been an adventure.  The many positive comments from friends about the photos reinforces the power of a photo in telling a complex story.

Another photography story is that Jill has now become a published photographer with her image of a baby dolphin playing in Last Dance's wake being selected as Photo of the Week on the Salty Southeast Cruisers' Net.

http://cruisersnet.net/baby-dolphin-plays-in-the-wake/

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