Log Abroad

OC Weekly’s marketing sales coordinator, Nicole Tawney, relaxes with an issue of The Log on Hawaii’s “Big Island.” Tawney chose to turn her phone off and take in the beauty of the scenery around her while spending her time away from the grind.

There’s nothing like catching up with the news in scenic Ketchikan, Alaska. John and Laureen enjoy The Log in “the beginning of the last frontier,” according to visit-ketchikan.com. The area is also known for salmon fishing and the local Native American culture.

Pat Suggs visits his son, who serves in the U.S. Army and is stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with The Log in hand. Suggs’ son had deployed with the 101st Airborne Division to Iraq. This photo shows Suggs in front of the headquarters building among the monuments that are displayed outside. “I went by the 101st headquarters and viewed the various military displays honoring the division and its rich legacy,” says Suggs.

Mike Kohl, a four-time ASA Outstanding Instructor at Newport Beach Sailing School, reads The Log at the Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia. Ta Prohm, known as the “Kingdom of Trees” for the giant trees that surround the temple, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992.

In April 2018, Bill Pribil (right) and Tim Steffin (left) set sail on a six-day catamaran tour with their wives from Belize City through Belize Sailing Vacations. Here Pribil and Steffin visit Goff’s Caye, described by Pribil as “a beautiful sandy island off the barrier reef of Belize.”

Vince and Pat Flynn, members of Coronado Yacht Club, visit Saint- Tropez on the French Riviera during the month of April. “Some of the most amazing yachts in the world frequent this area of the Mediterranean,” says Vince.

Aldo Munoz and Jasmin Ibarra took The Log along on their recent trip to Beijing, where they explored The Great Wall of China. During their arduous climb, the weary travelers decided to stop and take a reading break before journeying to the top. A very long hike up the stairs, Munoz said it took more than an hour of climbing.

The Log has traveled many places, but this might be one of the first times it accompanied a diver 160 feet under water to the site of a shipwreck! Todd Roberts dove 6,000 miles from California’s coast into Chuuk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia’s waters to view the Japanese merchant ship, Shinkoku Maru, which sank on Feb. 17, 1944. In order to take The Log with him, Roberts had the front page laminated.

Jennifer Ruddy is pictured with her copy of The Log in hand while visiting Iao Valley State Park in Maui, Hawaii. Known for the green peaks surrounding the valley, Iao Valley is also one of the best hiking trails for beginners and offers much in the way of natural beauty, according to gohawaii. com.

Marlene Carroll and Lisa Dagan, a mother- and-daughter duo representing Southwestern Yacht Club, visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel over Christmas week of 2017. One of the surprising things to them was Israel’s weather was similar to Southern California’s. The Western Wall, also known as “The Wailing Wall,” was built by King Herod in 20 BCE and is one of the most religious sites in the world for followers of Judaism, according to Tourist Israel.

Matt Udall aka “Captain Red” of Dana Point is pictured holding The Log on the Kona coast of Kealakekua Bay on “The Big Island” – Hawai’i. Near where he stands are the waters where the mast of HMS Resolution, the ship belonging to British explorer Captain James Cook, was broken. Jeff Johansen, who accompanied Udall, says the winds on the Kona side reach up to 40 knots and may have factored into HMS Resoultion’s mast breaking. Cook’s third and final voyage in 1779 ended in Hawai’i after tension between natives and Europeans resulted in a violent conflict claiming Cook’s life. Still, monuments have been erected in England and Hawai’i to celebrate the captain’s world travels.

After serving the city of Long Beach as Harbormaster, Joe Pitisi took advantage of his retirement and found his way to Sanctuary of Truth in Thailand. Known as “The Magnificence of Heaven” on Earth, Sanctuary of Truth was constructed in wood and illustrates the philosophical beliefs born of the “Seven Creators.” It measures about 344 feet tall.

Gary and Andi Solt ventured to New Zealand and spent a few days at the Bay of Islands. The trip also covered the North and South islands, with a stop at Auckland Harbor to see America’s Cup Kiwi boats and ride on a 1917 steamship, Earnslaw, out of Queensland Harbor. After their adventure, the Solts were excited to return home and decorate their Duffy boat in Catalina Island Harbor for the holidays.

Paul Secard and Commodore Chuck Wert read The Log aboard the Avalon Waterways Avalon Poetry II in Arles, France to celebrate the 2017 Commodore’s Cruise. In 2017, the cruise sailed with Secard and Wert, along with 78 fellow members, from Burgundy to Provence.

Mark and Carol Meyer, members of Long Beach Yacht Club, sailed aboard National Geographic Explorer after departing from Ushuaia, Argentina and then traveling to The Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and Antarctica. On Thanksgiving Day in 2016, National Geographic Explorer parked in 7-foot thick ice to allow passengers to polar lunge in 32-degree (Fahrenheit) water and walk on the sea. The Meyers also saw albatross, seals, whales and “literally millions of penguins.”

Jeff and Josie Jellick recently traveled to Asia to visit their son, Matthew, who is teaching at a university there. The Jellicks are avid boaters and owners of the 45-foot sailboat, Sooooo Lucky, based in Alamitos Bay. On a Sunday afternoon, the three took a Hong Kong Container Ship Port Tour with a copy of The Log in hand. The fourth largest port in the world (according to Forbes magazine), the Port of Hong Kong is immense, handling nearly 24 million TEU’s annually. The Container Port Tour lasted about five hours, beginning and ending in Victoria Harbour.

Bob Noterman visits with his 84-year old mother, Lucy Jacobs, in Antwerp, Belgium, where she lives and he was born. The Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady can be seen in the background. Bob, a boat owner in Dana Point Harbor for the past 20 years, learned to water ski behind his uncle’s dinghy in the Schedlt River. Lucy grew up in a boating family and her father owned a 57-ft. powerboat in the early 50s, which was docked in Antwerp Harbor. Bob visits his mother three times a year, always bringing her a copy of The Log so she can keep up on Southern California boating news!

Larry Schember, a shipwright, and his daughter, Jessica, are pictured visiting together in New Orleans. Jessica is a second mate, who mans a ship on the Gulf of Mexico. Off Louisiana’s coast, there is no shortage of red snappers, bull reds and gators. New Orleans, a major port city with much to offer in the way of entertainment and history, and operates several swamp and bayou tours according to TripAdvisor.

The Log’s Susanne Diaz poses in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square in Moscow during her trip to Russia in late September. St. Basil’s Cathedral, now a museum, was built in the mid 1500s at the orders of Ivan the Terrible. Diaz later cruised the Volga- Baltic Waterways to St. Petersburg aboard the 129-meter motorship Zosima Shashkov, a Soviet vessel built in East Germany in 1986.

Cynthia Shelton and Mary Dowd, former Catalina Island residents, meet for the first time beside Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont, where they reminisce about island life and to share news from The Log. Lake Champlain has more than 70 islands. The natural freshwater lake is so vast parts of the lake are in Vermont and New York of the United States and in Quebec, Canada.

Danny and Gail Alexander left their 48-foot Californian behind in San Diego to cruise the inner passage of Alaska on a much bigger ship. They made a stop in Skagway with The Log in hand. The Port of Skagway can be quite windy and rainy, but Danny Alexander said they had great weather and incredible scenery. The port is walking distance to the quaint downtown shops and the Yukon Railroad. Skagway is recognized as the place where gold was unearthed in the 1800s, known as the Klondike Gold Rush.

David Rizzo traveled to Beirut, Lebanon in September. “People were very friendly, and I felt very safe wherever I went,” Rizzon said. The Beirut Marina had about 100 boats. “All but two were power boats,” Rizzon stated. “You’d think they had a lot of oil in that neck of the woods.” He also journeyed approximately 11 miles north of Beirut to a place with remarkable caves in Jeita Grotto. Two connected caverns form the longest cave in the Middle East with 25-foot limestone pillars hanging from the cave’s ceiling, “about the length of a decent day sailor,” Rizzon mentioned.

Off-duty marine surveyor Kells Christian and his wife Hunter chartered a catamaran in the Andaman Sea of Thailand. More than 200 islands are situated in the Andaman Sea with Phuket being the largest of the islands. Phuket is referred to as “the pearl of the Andaman.”