Skip to content
December 15, 2014

Sea Scouts Learn Safety at Sea

Sea Scouts practiced jumping into the water of San Francisco Bay in a lobster suit (aka Gumby suit) as part of a safety clinic held at Coast Guard Station Yerba Buena Island just south of the Bay Bridge.

© 2014 Ronald Berliner

The annual Safety @ Sea was put on by the Sea Scouts and the U.S. Coast Guard on the last weekend of October. While such a seminar can typically cost hundreds of dollars, this one is practically free for the Scouts. The event was well attended: 250 Sea Scouts from Southern California to Oregon converged at Yerba Buena Island.

The Scouts practiced getting into an inflated life raft while wearing cold-water immersion suits.

© Ronald Berliner
Flare practice. The gloves are a great idea.

© 2014 Ronald Berliner

"Certainly we had a great time learning new skills," said Muir District Executive Ronald Berliner. For more information on Sea Scouting, a program of the Boy Scouts of America for adolescent boys and girls, contact Berliner by email.

Some of the Scouts and their leaders who attended the event.

© 2014 Ronald Berliner

Buying Yachts with Bitcoins?

When you’re in a business as highly competitive as selling top-tier yachts, it’s important to be creative. Perhaps that’s why Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Denison Yacht Sales announced recently that they will now accept the controversial cyber currency bitcoin for the purchase of both new and used yachts.

Got a boatload of bitcoins that you don’t know what to do with? Why not use them to buy yourself a brand new 147-ft Project Amerigo ketch? She’s listed for a cool $31 million — or roughly 89,000 bitcoin.

© 2014 Denison Yacht Charters

"With the sale of just one medium-sized yacht using this currency, we would be poised to make the largest bitcoin transaction in history," said company president Bob Denison. According to a company press release, "Payments will be processed through BitPay, the world’s largest bitcoin-payment service provider. BitPay provides payment processing services for more than 50,000 businesses and processes more than $1 million (USD) daily."

Of course, that’s a mere pittance on a national scale, but there’s no denying that the use of bitcoins is steadily gaining greater legitimacy — especially since the virtual currency initially drew widespread criticism as an easy means of money laundering and other black-market activities.

Ironically, though, you may have noticed that it’s getting harder and harder to make substantial purchases with a pile of cold, hard, cash. Go figure.

Who Are You?

Aaaaaahhhhhhh! 

Unknown
©Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Gals love the tropical temperature, too.

Unknown
©Latitude 38 Media, LLC

If you are one of the two people in these refreshing photos, we’ve love to hear from you. Or, if you’ve done the same thing and have a good photo, we’d also like to hear from you. Contact Richard.

The splendid schooner Eros transits Panama Canal locks in company with a massive container ship.