New hat? Yes or no?

Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately. Deb and I have been in France for three weeks. We did two weeks in Paris and eight days in Provence. 

In Provence, we based out of Aix, and did day trips. The first trip we did to the French Riviera was the charming town of Cassis. Great vibe, boats coming and going, lots of fun restaurants and shops. 

Traditional Cassis fishing boats. The white wines in this region were delicious.

I had been to St. Tropez, Canne, Nice and Monaco on my last trip to this region, some THIRTY SIX years ago (Yikes!). St. Tropez was the closest so we decided to visit there. Looks like another fishing village, right?

That is, until you start taking in the many Super Yachts there. We aren't talking about some trawlers here! I think that tender is about as big as Mahalo.

This tender is so huge, I don't think it goes in the mother ship. They probably just have crew ride along. They came by the quay I was standing on and lo! They are teaching about a 10 year old kid to drive it. It has bow and stern thrusters! Lucky young guy.

Yes, I bet it is a magic carpet ride.

I guess that "Big Red Dog" gig paid pretty well, huh?

Walking along another quay I happened upon Skyfall. It turns out I was walking next to perhaps the owners, or at least the captain and his wife. I slowed down to observe and after they boarded they were handed hot towels by a stew. Ah, the life! I'll have to arrange this on Mahalo?

Actually the boat that interested me the most was this beauty. 

Hang on a minute. Wow, this one was quite appealing as well. The builder is "San Lorenzo" which is also the town where I first lived in California after being born at the Alameda Naval Air Station. That blue/white/black combo looked great. 

I have flown those helicopters, Robinson 44. However with just a few lessons I can't even land on grass, let alone the back of the boat. Still, hmmm.  After some consideration I decided that given the chopper's paint scheme doesn't match the boat, I'm not making an offer, after all.

Saving the best for last, may I present "Sailing Vessel A." Built and owned by a Russian billionaire (of course). Incredible striking lines. You can look it up on the Internet and see pics with the sails deployed. I'm hoping it is more open inside that it appears from the outside. 

​Time to return home to Mahalo. As one of my good friends says "there's always someone with a bigger boat!"

But sometimes I really didn't care for the view.

Any questions? 

[That really is the moon in front of my knee though, kind of a cool shot.]

Just got back from a wonderful trip to Maui. This is right above Ulua beach in Wailea. Why is this "the very spot" you ask? We were right here in February of 2017. Had just done a canoe ride in one of these outrigger canoes. When I went to tip our guide, it was the way he said "Mahalo" that I knew we had our boat name. 

Above, live view of the ocean from Maui. Below, live feed from Mahalo's camera. It's Snowmageddon time in Seattle! 

This morning we were walking on the beach and I remembered the exact spot where I decided to name our boat Mahalo. Nice moment.

And oh yes, "someone" forgot to put the bbq cover on. Going to have some cleaning to do when I get back!