Monthly Archives: August 2025

Some years ago I saw an article in the New York Times about a fellow in the UK that has a “society” with the mission of appreciating clouds, a group aptly called The Cloud Appreciation Society.

The founder, Gavin Pretor-Phinney, (a perfect name for a guy who would do such things) founded the group in 2005 following his appearance at a literary festival in Cornwall. Packaging is everything and he was afraid that nobody would attend his talk so he entitled it “The Inaugural Lecture of the Cloud Appreciation Society.”

The only rub was that the society didn’t exist but his talk was a hit so he quickly formed the group and within a few months he had over 2,000 members and the rest is history. As member 54,749, and that was my number when I joined in 2021, I am clearly not alone in loving clouds.

The model is that members recommend “clouds” in the form of a photo, a piece of art of anything that evokes clouds and will mean something to their admirers. And, if the CAS feels that your “cloud” is worthy, it is sent out to the full membership and they do this 365 days a year.

I was so taken by the group that I wrote this post about Gavin, his society, and included a few of my own favorite photos of clouds. Check it out… This post includes a link to Gavin’s Ted Talk “cloudy with a chance of Joy.” It is worth watching.

Over the years I have submitted more than a few “clouds” and I am always thrilled when they choose to distribute my picture to their members.

I don’t know how many of my images have been chosen but today yet another landed in my inbox, the third this year, a personal record. Yahoo! With more than 50,000 members and only 365 days in the year, I doubt that there are many 3-photos-a-season-members. Whether or not there are others, I’m going with that for now.

Today’s cloud, taken by me in the Azores, is particularly meaningful as arriving in Horta marked the completion of my longest ocean passage to date, the nearly 2,000 mile run from Bermuda as leader, and participant, in the inaugural “Salty Dawg Rally to the Azores”. My entire run from Trinidad to Spain was nearly 5,000 miles but the Bermuda to Horta leg was a particular biggie.

When an image is sent out to their members, they give credit to the author as well as add additional information about why that particular cloud might be important to those who love clouds.

Today’s cloud…mine…August 30th.

“As Bob Osborn (Member 54,749) sailed past Horta in the Azores, Portugal, he noticed that Mount Pico, an extinct volcano and the tallest peak in the Atlantic basin, was wearing a jaunty hat.

Known as a cap cloud, this is an example of the lenticularis species of cloud forming directly over, or in contact with, the peak of a mountain or hill. It develops as a wave of moist air flows over the summit, cooling enough at its crest for some of its moisture to condense as a smooth cap. Cumulus humilis clouds drift by in the foreground.

Perhaps from its height of 2,350 metres (7,710 feet), Mount Pico could see a change of weather coming and decided to dress accordingly.”

Another of my images was published recently of a storm cloud that we encountered on our passage from Bermuda to Horta, our planned landfall.

“Bob Osborn (Member 54,749) was sailing the Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and Horta island in the Azores, Portugal, on the sloop Pandora, when he spotted a Cumulus congestus cast in menacing orange by the setting Sun. This cloud appears to be dissipating, but according to Bob, it did not intend to go gentle into that good night. ‘A few hours later, we had to reduce sail as the strong winds passed over us,’ he said. ‘For certain, this beauty was a beast.’”

And for the first time, earlier this year, I submitted a photo taken by Brenda in Antigua over the winter, which they chose. We were at anchor in Falmouth Harbor and while I was aboard, I never saw this and am so pleased that Brenda took the time to memorialize the moment. I guess that the editors at the CAS felt the same way when they sent this image out on August 12th.

“Brenda Osborn spotted these crepuscular rays from the deck of the boat she shares with her husband Bob Osborn (Member 54,749). They were in Falmouth Harbor, Antigua, the Caribbean. Crepuscular rays like these can appear when clouds cast shadows onto other clouds, creating beams of light and shade. In this case, a gap in the tall Cumulus clouds off on the western horizon allowed light from the low evening Sun to shine up onto the underside of Altocumulus clouds above Brenda. A small fragment of Cumulus, known as Cumulus fractus, cast its own shadow in the middle, splitting the beam into a V shape.”

I agree with Gavin and the other 50,000+ plus members that “cloud spotting” is among the purest of pursuits and one that being a member has made me appreciate all the more.

The Cloud Appreciation society says, and I agree, that…

“We believe that the sky is the most extraordinary thing to look at, and that we should take the time to lie on our backs in a field and watch the clouds roll by.
The act of lying on your back, staring up at the sky, and seeing nothing but clouds is the best possible antidote to the chaos and stress of everyday life.“

In these particularly chaotic times, looking up at the sky and, for me, being a member of The Cloud Appreciation Society is more important than ever.

So, go outside, stop doom-scrolling on your phone, for a moment, and look up at the clouds. Perhaps you will feel better. I do, every day. And that is in spite of a fair amount of doom-scrolling on my part, I’ll admit…

Hopefully, better times are on the horizon, or should I say “in the clouds”

And, after a moment in the clouds, go back to your phone and join The Cloud Appreciation Society.

I think that you too will feel better…

Well, that’s it for now. Pandora has been hauled in Almerimar where she will be until we return next spring to begin cruising the western Mediterranean.

Somehow, after a week of getting things ready, it was still a scramble to get Pandora over to the lift dock for her 08:00 appointment.

I won’t try to itemize all the things that go into putting a complicated boat like Pandora into storage but I can say that it took days to accomplish all of it.

The good news is that while it is very hot in Almarimar right now, by September and throughout the winter it will become a lot cooler so perhaps she will fair well.

I have hired a mechanic, “boat sitter” who will keep an eye on her and arrange for repairs and routine maintenance that needs to be done as well as arrange to have her launched in advance of our arrival in April.

He seems knowledgeable and was recommended by the manager of the leading chandlery in town so I am fairly confident that she is in good hands. He met us on the dock and assisted with handling Pandora into the slip to be hauled.

Brenda took a few photos of her being hauled. She was happy to be far away from the action.

Her sad rudder. At first glance it doesn’t look like a big issue to repair but they may have to pull the rudder, post and all, which is a big deal. To pull the rudder involves a good amount of internal disassembly. And she has to be positioned over a deep pit so that they can lower the rudder and shaft down enough for the shaft to come out.

Also, the vane steering shaft is bent and that will require disassembly, not counting new parts.

Well, at least labor rates in Spain are less than the US. Actually, rates just about everywhere is less than the US with the possible exception of those in Bermuda.

After Pandora was safely on the hard we left for the six hour drive to Madrid where we are now enjoying nearly a week of sightseeing. Our hotel is in the heart of the historic district and central to great dinning and more museums than we have time to see.

Along the way to Madrid the terrain changed from near desert, where nothing will grow, to semi/mostly arid with olive farms that went on for as far as the eye could see.

The terrain was remarkably rugged with tunnel after tunnel cut through the cliffs.

With our little Fiat 500, I had to constantly downshift to keep moving as the grades were pretty steep and in spite of my best efforts, wasn’t able to keep to the 100 KPH speed limit except when the road was flat or, better yet, downhill. I am fine with little cars but did feel quite exposed on the highway when surrounded by the tandem trucks that were constantly around us.

The location of our hotel is lovely, festooned with flags over the entire street. The view from our window on the second floor. The hotel is the Posada del Dragon, a very charming place.

We have enjoyed spending time in small street cafes and with the 100 degree temperatures, it’s more fun to sit and watch the world go by during the heat of the. Somehow a glass of sangria makes everything seem ok.

It’s fun to wander down side streets looking at menus and picking a place to eat. This scene, where we ate one evening, looks more like a still life painting than I realized when Brenda took the photo.

As we strolled back from dinner one evening the light was magical from inside this 100 year old gourmet market.

All the vendors lining the aisles.

Lovely little side streets.

Dining really doesn’t get going until after 9pm, way past our normal bedtime.

And speaking of nighttime. Brenda got tickets to a Flaminco dancing show last evening and it was just terrific. There were 4 dancers, two singers and a guitar player. We had amazing seats, literally three feet from the dance floor. To watch these dancers up close while drinking a sangria was very special. This photo, of one of the dancers captures the drama of the moment pretty well. How she tossed her long skirt as she twirled made me wonder how often she ended up landing on the floor during practice. Check out this very short video of her finale.

Each day we have toured historic buildings, including the royal palace and I have to say that the over the top Rocco gold gilt everywhere in these buildings made me a bit sad as it reminds me of what has become of the Oval Office in recent months.

Each room, if the word “room” is sufficient to describe such a space, is over the top.

Perhaps some design ideas for the new ballroom for the Whitehouse.

On that subject, when I was returning the rental car to the airport the other day, I was struggling with the metro to get back to the hotel and was helped by a lovely young couple from Spain. We got to talking and they told me that they and others, when meeting an American nowadays, immediately see us very negatively.

This year in particular, we have run into this time and time again and have even been advised to be clear from the start, when meeting someone local, to make it clear that “we are not like that”. Sadly, the phrase “ugly American” has taken on a new meaning as we were never seen in a particularly positive light to begin with.

Anyway, we will see how it all turns out but I am not optimistic. One can only hope…

After months of moving Pandora north from Trinidad and into the Med, I am very glad that she is now on the hard until spring as I can use a break from the constant moving, dealing with the repairs that is life on a cruising boat and crew changes along the way.

I enjoy time aboard and am looking forward to exploring new waters next year with Brenda but not quite yet…

No need to think about all that now as Pandora is put to bed.

In a few days Pandora will be hauled for the season and Brenda and I will head to Madrid for about a week to see the sights before we head home to the US for the winter. We won’t return to Pandora until next spring, likely April.

We have enjoyed being aboard Pandora here in the marina and doing some touring of local landmarks. Well, local has been up to two hours away so we have been doing a lot of driving.

The marina is quite nice, reasonably priced and loaded with places to dine out. It seems that a lot of the boats are being stored and many of those have likely been here for years, with no use.

The big driver of visitors to this area are the beaches which go on for miles.

When we were looking at flights from Almerimar we discovered that while this place is a great spot to haul with plenty of services and reasonable rates, we found that flights to the US, while available, were a lot more expensive than from more popular tourist destinations.

Also, as we are smack in the middle of “high season” the pickings for affordable fares were quite limited.

So, what to do?

We hunted around quite a bit to see what we could do to find reasonable fares and settled on departing from Madrid, a 4.5 hour drive from Almerimar where we could get a direct flight to Boston and avoid stopovers, sometimes two and more than 24 hours to make the trip from here.

We figured, that we could afford to stay in Madrid for about a week and the hotel cost could be about the same as the savings on the flight by being flexible.

What we did not anticipate is the crushing heatwave that has settled over much of Europe and especially Spain and we will be treated to 100 degree temperatures for our entire visit to Madrid. That is such a bummer so I guess we will have to focus on indoor activities or do our outside stuff in the early morning or evening.

The landscape here along the coast is very barren as this area has the only true desert in Europe and it shows with mile after mile of barren landscape devoid of any real plant life.

Just about every spot that is near the coast and mostly flat is covered with greenhouses. We have driven 90 minutes in each direction from the marina and there are greenhouses everywhere.

We visited a number of local towns and enjoyed seeing the sites. As it was very hot, we weren’t able to do as much walking as we had hoped. In Nijar, not far from here, we enjoyed time touring the windy roads on foot and also by car. Even with our tiny Fiat 500, we ended up on one street where we had to fold the side mirrors as we could not fit through the buildings.

On one particularly narrow street we happened upon a very nice woman who was proud to share her little corner of the world with us. Her English was only slightly better than our Spanish, which is to say not good at all as we don’t know any Spanish, but we muddled through and enjoyed our brief time together.

She motioned us to head up the staircase to see a restored Arab watchtower from the 14th century. There are ruins of many of these towers in the area as they served as early warning from attacks.

It was a pretty steep climb even though the path was well paved.

Steep or not, the view from the tower was amazing. Again, with greenhouses in the distance.

In town a maze of narrow streets.

Whitewashed buildings set off by a blaze of color from the bougainvillea.

In various areas in the town there were communal fountains where locals come to fill up jugs of drinking water.

Rain is scarce here with less than a foot falling each year. However, when it comes, it sometimes comes in a rush so there are wide drainage culverts running thru the towns to handle the surge of water.

On this building a lovely decorative spout from the roof to handle the occasional downpour.

We enjoyed a glass of wine nearby but had to beg to be served as he was closing up for the afternoon. However, after asking again, very nicely and agreeing not to steal the glasses, he relented. The setting was very peaceful.

Closed or not, a charming spot.

And behind us, a treelined courtyard. We sat to the right…

Interestingly, this area is known for pottery. We so wished that we could have purchased some to bring home. Alas, too heavy. We visited a shop that was a riot of merchandise.

I was lusting after the amphora.

Truly a family business as the workshop and kiln were in the back room.

Another day we visited the Alcazaba castle/fort in Malaga, actively used from the 11th to 14th century. In the foreground a Roman Amphitheater from the 1st century. There are also ruins from the Phoenicians hundreds of years BC in the area. That’s a long time ago.

It is remarkable that the history of this area here goes back so far when we measure our history in hundreds (barely) of years and even that is looking shaky. I guess that it’s safe to say that every civilization is fragile and will begin, prosper and end.

I have to wonder where the US is on that continuum. Getting GREAT? I guess it is a question of perspective…

We had a lovely lunch, perhaps the best so far in Spain, overlooking the fortifications. We saw a family and offered to take their picture. They reciprocated…

It’s interesting to see how Alcazaba was built into the hillside instead of leveling the hill the way we do nowadays. Of course, for security, they wanted to be on a hill. Harder to lay siege against them. Besides, they built all of this with just brute backbreaking labor and minimum machinery beyond ropes and levers so they had to build it in a way that took advantage of what was there.

This pyramid in the square looks down into the Roman ruins but we were not able to see if first hand as it was closed that day. The fort was built on the hill above the roman ruins. I wonder if they cared about the history of the area the way that we do now. Probably not. Out with the old and in with the new.

As we toured the fort, it was astounding to see how extensive it was.

With contemplative gardens… And, of course, plenty of tourists “contemplating.”

The complexity of the brickwork was a sight to behold. I guess you can lavish a remarkable attention to detail when you have three centuries to get it right.

And views of the city with old but not as old as the fort and modern apartments. That’s what happens when a place is home to generations over thousands of years. Here “urban renewal” means something different…

Not sure what to say about this tower except that it’s lovely.

Another day we went to Almeria, yet another historic city, and after three days of running around in the heat we decided to do less than in previous days. It was hot…

Did I say that it has been hot? Thought so…

We decided to limit our touring to a single place, the Cathedral of Almeria. It is catholic but is not what we generally associate with Catholic churches. Like other structures from this time period, the 16th century, it was a place of worship and yet had defenses to keep out invaders.

“Hey, Juan, please shoot those guys trying to siege us, I am in the middle of giving communion.” “Wait, if they are willing to convert, invite them in.”

Inside a massive courtyard.

And, of course, the cathedral itself, amazing. No surprise that it took 40 years to build the basic structure, and centuries to complete as it stands today. The last part was completed in 1804. That’s a long time. I guess that for hundreds of years, the administration’s priorities didn’t change much.

An impressive altar to be sure. But wait, there’s more…

Hard to believe that there was enough money and skilled labor, to do all this. Perhaps it was a fear of going to Hell.

After all that religion, we had to find a place for tapas and this one was well reviewed and packed…

A Lovely location and it must be good because it was standing room only. Sadly, some of the dishes were a bit too unfamiliar to our western pallets be fully enjoyed. Exactly what was that dish anyway?

Over several days we drove hours to and from the marina but I will admit that it is already blurring a bit and it’s hard to keep track of what we saw were.

So, with two days more before Pandora is hauled, we are thinking hard about what clothing to bring home and what to leave on board. As you can imagine, after years of tropical cruising a lot has accumulated and now we have to decide what should stay and what should go.

While it is very hot here now, our cruising for the next few years will be during the “hip seasons” spring and fall which are not as hot as we are experiencing in August. Yes, temperatures are above normal, or perhaps in line with the “new normal” but being in the 90s to 100s now is a lot hotter than spring and fall when it’s more like 10 to 15 degrees cooler, which is certainly more temperate.

During our first two months aboard next spring, we will move north toward Barcelona with stops in the Beleric islands and they too are cooler than here, in the 60s to 70s during the day and in the 50s at night so the sorts of clothing will be very much different than what we need now.

Lots to think about along with all the work to be done to Pandora while she is on the hard.

I guess that’s about it for now. Time to begin thinking about weightier issues like where we will go for dinner and what we will order. Exactly what is in that dish?

I have become very accustomed to sangria so that’s progress.