August 27, 2024

Meet some of my fellow Residents

I feel like I have known Basia the longest, since I have been following her Blog since last summer. Basia was part of the Life at Sea group I was signed up with previously and we had connected via text prior to that proposed sailing, discussing Blog options. I have loved reading her Blog - she takes great photos, loves nature and has taught me so much. After LAS failed to produce a ship on 11/1/23, Basia traveled South America alone and had some great adventures. She left Poland at age 9 and has been a biologist, researcher and then switched to training software applications. Her last home was in Rochester NY. She plans to be on VVR for one full tour or all 18 segments.

I shared the week in the Canary Islands with the above residents.

This gang is my immediate neighbors on my deck. David and Greg are on either side of me and the others a few doors down.

Fellow passionate pickleball friends. Michael is an excellent player and Bill & Clare just learned. We try to play regularly @ 2pm daily.

Fellow Founder Club Members. Stephen in for over $1M. The Hennesse's bought 3 cabins and are renovating into one on deck 7. Holly has great boating experience and I appreciate her insights. Becky & Jeff befriended me early on, and Becky loves shopping & took me. 

By Pat Patrick September 1, 2026
On Saturday August 29, 2026 we achieved another historic milestone on this circumnavigation of the World , we cruised into Hong Kong Harbor. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. The land encompassed by Hong Kong is confusing. It includes part of the southern coast of mainland China, just below Shenzhen, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories . Looking at a map helps, but the rules changed so many times! I asked my buddy Chat several times, to tell me if what I was looking at was the Hong Kong that the British had owned for years. The answer was never straight forward!
By Pat Patrick August 31, 2026
Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is one of those bucket list places I have had in my sights for years. It's the iconic picture in my mind's eye, whenever I think of Vietnam . We had made plans to go with 8 others on a brand new, swanky Red Dragon Junk boat for a harbor cruise and overnight stay, but sadly the weather did not cooperate the whole 4 days we were in port. No ships were permitted to sail, per the local government. Many of us were bummed! This is typhoon session and there was a lot of rain and high winds our first couple of days - we were hoping it would blow out the last day and we could at least do a day trip but no luck! 
By Pat Patrick August 30, 2026
To get to the final stop on our Vietnam FUN Tour in Hue, we had our driver take us on the scenic route called the Hai Van Pass. This 3 hour drive took us back through Da Nang and then into mountains and along coast for what is generally a very scenic route. Unfortunately for us, it was mainly covered in clouds and fog.