Photo Friday: 11-18-2022

Hurricane Nicole, an airshow and a birthday!

I took the Paper Shoot to the Stewart Airshow. I love this camera. (Paper Shoot)

This image possibly only amuses me, but shooting the Stewart Air Show with an almost disposable camera while standing next to real photographers with big cameras made me smile. (Paper Shoot)

This pilot at the Stewart Air Show mounted a jet engine on top of his glider. (Paper Shoot)

The DEA demonstrated their static rope evacuation by helicopter skills at the Stewart Air Show. (Canon R3 & Canon RF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM)

April took me to Mickey’s Downtown Bistro in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea for my 55th birthday. We had drinks, dinner and spent the evening requesting songs from musicians playing two pianos. (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

I arrived at the dock Manatee Pocket two days before Nicole formed in the Atlantic. Two days later it was a Category 1 hurricane and was heading straight for Avemar. (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

Without a working transmission, Avemar’s hurricane preparations included taking down the sails along with anything else that could catch wind or could easily be removed above decks. I doubled the dock and spring lines and headed to shore to stare at the Windy app for two days. (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

The goal in hurricane preparation, whether on land or in the water, is to reduce windage as much as possible and tie everything that has to remain down so it doesn’t fly away or chafe. The sails, the dinghy and the solar panels were stored below. (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

After the first night on land it occurred to me that if the power went out it might be a good idea to have a generator. A few hours before the eye of Hurricane Nicole was to come ashore near Fort Pierce, FL, I headed back to the boat! (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

A king tide along with the early storm surge from Hurricane Nicole had already started to flood the parking lot of the marina when I arrive to pick up the generator and gas. The storm was about eight hours from land at the time (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

Hurricane Nicole was just starting to push water over the dock as I left Avemar a few hours before the eye was to come ashore. It came ashore later at high tide and friends who stayed on their sailboat said it was about 24 inches higher than the deck of the dock in this photo. Hurricane Nicole took a NW turn in the last few hours before landfall and passed about 50 miles to the north and Avemar was unscathed. (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

There are all sorts of tests for people who turn 55! A simple prescription refill at my Florida doctor turned into two days of blood work, an EKG, two MRIs, a stress test along with multiple trips to the office and pharmacy. I’m happy to report that in the end I was told I am very healthy. (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

My alarm went off at 12:50 AM. I grabbed my camera and went on deck to photograph NASA’s Artemis 1 Moon Mission. This is a handheld image of the moment the primary boosters used for liftoff had separated from the rocket. The flames are from the boosters and the white dot at the top right is the second stage rocket igniting and heading onwards towards the moon. I shot this from the deck of my boat which is 100 miles away from Cape Canaveral, Florida! (Canon R3 & Canon RF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM)

Of course, while photographing the first lunar rocket launch in many, many years, I had to capture a photo of the moon. LOL. Again, handheld while standing on a sailboat. (Canon R3 & Canon RF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM)

Here’s a rainbow that may or may not have been shot while driving I-95 in Florida. (iPhone 14 Pro Max)

There was lots of adventure in the past few weeks since arriving in Stuart, Florida. Last weekend, April and I enjoyed some of the drippiest ice cream I’ve ever eaten and it was delicious. Making things even better, Avemar is docked about 30 feet from the ice cream shop! (iPhone 14 Pro Max)