{"id":4861,"date":"2015-09-09T14:17:23","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T14:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=4861"},"modified":"2015-09-09T14:51:38","modified_gmt":"2015-09-09T14:51:38","slug":"boat-sightings-updated-and-pandora-on-the-hard-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=4861","title":{"rendered":"Cool boat sightings (revisited) and Pandora on the hard (soon)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday morning and Pandora is in Deep River preparing to be hauled in a few days. \u00a0The run from Wickford last week was eventful, a combination of a wonderful sail and a chance encounter with the USS New Mexico. \u00a0 \u00a0I wrote a post about that moment, when she passed my bow off of New London. \u00a0If you missed it, you can click here to catch up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I posted some photos on FaceBook and was amazed by the amount of response I got. \u00a0Some suggested that I had “sinned” by “blowing their cover” and had\u00a0put the US Navy’s security at risk. \u00a0However, that turned out to be a bit of an overstatement as I put a note on the boat’s home page<\/a>\u00a0and within hours received an enthusiastic note from the Director of the Navy League <\/a>in New Mexico\u00a0thanking me for taking the photos and writing about the experience. \u00a0I was also thrilled that he wanted to use my photos on their site. \u00a0So much for the “cloak of secrecy” being blown. \u00a0 I may even be able to find my way on board for a visit. \u00a0However, I won’t say that too loud as I may jinx it. \u00a0Mums the word.<\/p>\n

Here’s what he had to say about my post.<\/p>\n

“Hi Bob,<\/em><\/p>\n

I am the Chairman of the Navy League Committee here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that supports activities surrounding the USS NEW MEXICO (SSN-779).\u00a0 It is our committee that runs the website where you posted your email about seeing the USS NEW MEXICO return to New London.\u00a0 I forwarded your email immediately to the Commanding Officer, CDR Todd Moore, and the Chief of the Boat, Master Chief Steven Fritzler.\u00a0 Thank you so much for sharing your photos from your blog and for your note of appreciation for a job well done to the crew of the USS NEW MEXICO.\u00a0 With your permission, I would like to post some of the pictures from your blog at our website, www.ussnewmexico.net<\/a> .\u00a0 Also, if you have any others that we could share, I would be glad to include those as well. \u00a0Just forward them and we will be sure to include credit for the origin of the photos.\u00a0 We all loved your description at the chance meeting of a multi-billion dollar vessel at sea, and no matter who had the right of way, your sailboat needed to make way.<\/em><\/p>\n

I look forward to hearing from you again, and checking out your blog from time to time for updates.\u00a0 You included two of our favorite videos in your blog.<\/em><\/p>\n

Damon”<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, as you can imagine, I was thrilled to get a response. \u00a0 So, what do you do to top a photo of a sub taken while underway? \u00a0Not sure, perhaps I’ll someday have a chance to take a photo from on board a sub? \u00a0One can always dream. \u00a0How about a day sail? \u00a0Hmm…<\/p>\n

I also recently wrote about a visit to the designer of Pandora Rodger Martin, and while I was there, at the Newport Shipyard, I spied an\u00a0amazing cold molded sailboat and wrote about that too. \u00a0 Well, Rodger, after reading that post<\/a>, dropped me a note and\u00a0mentioned that the boat, Foggy, was designed by Frers, styled by the famed architect Frank Ghery, famed designer of the Guggenheim museum in Spain.<\/a> and built at Brooklin Boat Yard<\/a> in Maine. \u00a0It seems that there was considerable secrecy surrounding the building of the yacht launched in July after two years of construction for an “unidentified client”. \u00a0You won’t find any information on Foggy on the yard’s site. \u00a0 I did find a very interesting article about the yacht on www.panbo.com<\/a>, and it was clear that the author was very excited about the yacht. \u00a0 You can see the entire article here<\/a>. \u00a0It is indeed a remarkable vessel.<\/p>\n

With credit to Panbo, \u00a0here are a few photos of the boat rumored to be the personal yacht of Ghery himself. \u00a0It’s remarkable, to say the least.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>How about these sky lights and port holes? \u00a0\"\"<\/a>Steve White, owner of BBY, speaks about this remarkable yacht and it’s impressive engineering in the following video.\u00a0\u00a0