Category Archives: High Seas

Chinas ties with the ASEAN or Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the South China Sea is at a critical stage. The ASEAN region is crucial to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) the dream project of President Xi Jing Ping but ongoing disputes over the crucial South China Sea between US-backed ASEAN has only complicated the matter.

ASEAN nations have often criticized aggressive Chinese activities and plans in the South China Sea (SCS) as Beijing attempts to strengthen its grip on the disputed territories.

As reported by EurAsian Times earlier, the South China Sea is a key naval passage linking Asia with Africa and Europe. As estimated $3.37 trillion of international trade passes through the SCS and it is believed to be abundant in untapped natural resources such as oil and gas.

China lays claims to 80% of the SCS. It is also claimed by Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei all of who form the part of the ASEAN nations. Other members of the ASEAN includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

With the ASEAN countries busy dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, China has taken advantage of the situation and has used this opportunity to forward its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Last month, China established two districts to manage the Spratly Islands and Paracel.According to reports, the two new districts will be under the authority of the local government in Sansha, a city in Hainan.

The new districts will govern the Paracel and Macclesfield Bank an area claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan and the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, where there are multiple overlapping claims from the Philippines, Malaysia and even Brunei.

Prior to this, the Chinese had named and effectively claimed 80 geographical features in the SCS. According to reports, this includes 25 islands, shoals and reefs, and 55 undersea mountains and ridges. But the Chinese actions have not gone unnoticed and have drawn criticism and protests by most of ASEAN members including Vietnam, Philipines and Malaysia.

Chinese provocative actions drew immediate criticism from Vietnam. Vietnam currently occupies 13 of the reefs in the West. Vietnams Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Le Thi Thu Hang said that the move had seriously violated Vietnams sovereignty.

On April 2, a Vietnamese fishing vessel sunk after colliding with a Chinese coastguard ship near Parcel Islands. The sailors on board were rescued by the coast guard but the Chinese denied any wrongdoing.

Surprisingly, Vietnam got support from the Philippines, as they remembered the event in June 2019. In this incident,22 Filipino fishermen were left floating in the high seas when a Chinese vessel rammed and sank their boat at Reed Bank. Vietnam immediately came to the rescue saving the men adrift in the seas.

Vietnam also sent a diplomatic protest note to the UN over Chinas illegal claims over the South China Sea.Le Thi Thu Hang emphasised that Vietnam asserts its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos in the East Sea in accordance with international law.

The Philippines, another ASEAN member, has seen massive investments from Beijing in the country but remains dissatisfied by the Chinese antics. The Philippines also opposed Chinas establishment of two districts to govern Parcel and Spratly Islands.

In the latter, China has turned seven reefs, including Fiery Cross, into missile-protected island bases, including three with runways. The Philippines has a presence on at least nine islands and islets in an area it claims in the Spratlys.

The Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement objecting to what it called Chinas illegal designation of Fiery Cross Reef as a regional administrative centre in the hotly contested Spratly archipelago.

The Philippines calls on China to adhere to international law, the department said, reminding Beijing of a 2002 agreement that urged all governments involved in the SCS dispute to exercise self-restraint abject from provocative actions that could threaten the stability of the region.

Malaysia, another ASEAN member, has been at the receiving end of Chinese intimidation. A Malaysian oil vessel was followed by a Chinese survey ship, Haiyang Dizhi.

The Malaysian coast guard confirmed that the survey activity was inside Malaysias exclusive economic zone. According to Haiyang Dizhis travel history, it left port at Sanya on Hainan Island on 9 April, went through Vietnamese waters and entered the waters of Malaysia and Brunei on 17 April.

The United States is also actively involved in the SCS dispute as it views Chinese actions as examples of expansionism and regional bullying. In addition to the air and naval exercise in response to Chinese activities, Washington also spoke to ASEAN member countries via video call earlier last week.

U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, warned his ASEAN counterparts that China is taking advantage of the worlds preoccupation with the coronavirus. Since many member nations are weak to respond at this critical juncture, the Chinese have the perfect window of opportunity to swiftly assert their position.

ASEAN countries cannot afford the colonization of the South China Sea by Beijing. Experts talking to the EurAsian Times stated that as long as ASEAN members continue to argue amongst themselves, China will find it easier to split them and reap in the rewards of a fractured association.

ASEAN must work with the US, who although is not a claimant in the South China Sea dispute, but remains the only country that can thwart Beijings actions and plans.

Despite the international outcry and criticism, China seems determined to push forward and defend its regional interests. China launched a counter-protest to Vietnams issuing of diplomatic notes to the UN, saying Any country that attempts to deny Chinas sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea in any form and to reinforce their illegal claims is doomed to fail, said Geng Shuang, the Ministry spokesperson.

China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

However, experts have warned that ASEAN nations must unite and unequivocally back the US to contain China and at the same time seriously negotiate with Beijing to find a long-lasting solution. Else, the day the US starts slipping, China would have controlled the entire region, either by economic might or military muscle.

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The Inevitable Clash Between China & ASEAN Nations Over The South China Sea - EurAsian Times

Javier Tebas has been talking about the topic of when football can kick off again.

Tebas is the president of La Liga who saw the Spanish government this past week approve a protocol for sporting activity.

For football, this paves the way for La Liga clubs to begin testing players on Monday with a view to the clubs returning to training the following week.

La Liga hoping to able to play games starting in mid-June, if the virus situation continues to improve and allow it.

With regard to the issues and debate surrounding the return of professional football, Javier Tebas has been speaking intelligently about the realities of the situation. What he says of course, equally applies to the Premier League as well as La Liga, the same with Serie A and the Bundesliga who are also working towards the return of football and completing this 2019/20 season.

Javier Tebas saying:

I do not understand why there would more danger in playing football behind closed doors, with all precautionary measures, than working on an assembly line, being on a fishing boat on the high seas.

If important economic sectors cannot restart, in a safe and controlled manner, they could end up disappearing. That could happen to professional football.

In Spain, football is an important economic driver that we need to reactivate like many others.

We continue to focus on this reactivation, in a responsible manner and adhering to health recommendations, as soon as possible.

I am fed up reading stuff from attention seeking journalists who talk about it being impossible for football to return any time in the near future, even behind closed doors, as though it was some kind of a special case that should be treated differently to every other industry and aspect of society. I also read quotes from players and others involved in football, stating even behind closed doors games can only happen when it is 100% safe to do so.

There will never be a 100% safe time, that is not reality, whatever kind of work you do.

As Javier Tebas brilliantly puts it, it is ridiculous to claim there would be more danger of playing football behind closed doors, with all the extra precautions top tier football can afford, compared to those working in factories (assembly line) or out on a fishing boat.

It is pure arrogance and disrespect if any football players think they can indefinitely stay away from work unlike NHS cleaners, supermarket workers, those working in the food supply chain and so on, never mind the doctors and nurses at the very frontline.

As Javier Tebas also points out, basic economics apply to professional football in the same way they apply to any other industry.

If all the furloughed workers at a factory currently closed refuse to go back to work once lockdown is eased, the company / business goes bust and all the workers lose their jobs, then cant pay their mortgages etc etc

Whilst nobody is feeling sorry for those in the Premier League in a financial sense at the minute, whether owners, management or players, the reality is that money doesnt magically appear. They need football to be playing on the pitch or else there is no money, simple as that.

I hear some fans and journalists saying just end this season now and then start the 2020/21 Premier League only when back to normal with full stadiums and so on.

I have no big sympathy for those who own PL clubs, in most cases anyway, but not completing this current season would lead to serious financial problems and probably legal challenges, as Ligue 1 are now finding after the French government ordered their season to end this week.

As for everything being back to normal, I have a feeling that will be a long way down the line, I doubt we will see fans allowed before the new year and certainly not 52,000 inside St James Park any time before 2021.

It is a case of making the best of a difficult situation, just as we are all having to do in our jobs and lives in general.

None of want to see behind closed doors games but that is what must happen for the time being and surely we want to see as many football clubs survive as possible? Just like me and you, when Premier League players are asked to get back to work, then that is what they have to do.

I think it is inevitable that we are going to see a lot of clubs in the other three divisions go out of business in this crisis, sad but inevitable. Even in normal times we have seen the likes of Bury and others fold, football clubs are not immune. The lower down you go the less resource clubs have to fall back on and the more reliant they are on ticket money.

We know that money hasnt been distributed fairly throughout football BUT if the Premier League isnt generating the usual revenues, there will be nothing at all to trickle down.

It isnt that nobody cares about the health and safety of Premier League players, it is simply the case that nobody cares about the health of football players any more than they do about the health of somebody working in your local shops, hospitals or factories.

We are all in this together, or at least we should be.

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This is brilliant from Javier Tebas on football restarting - The Mag

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) URIs Research Vessel Endeavor started its mission just before COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic. The researchers and crew found themselves in true isolation.

We were in a safe bubble, URI researcher Rainer Lohmann said.

Lohmann left from Barbados in late February to conduct research across the Atlantic.He and the others aboard the ship were aware of the coronavirus.

It felt so far away seemed such a topic of no concern to the US, he said.

Lohmann was even asked about his yellow fever vaccination since he would be going close to Africa.

That was on the mind of the people at the time yellow fever nobody was worried about COVID, Lohmann added.

For three weeks, the researchers gathered sediment cores from the ocean floor.They were looking to see if carbon in those cores were from African wildfires, along with how much and how it got there. According to Lohmann, the sources and amount of carbon are linked to climate change.

The Endeavor was in true isolation on the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean. Other than an occasional passing tanker, all they would see is water from horizon to horizon.

We followed the news with more and more disbelief that the world we left was falling apart, Lohmann recalled.

Lohmann said they were hearing about the hoarding of toilet paper, cleaning products and pasta. It wasnt until they heard classes at URI and Harvard were being canceled that they knew the impacts were becoming widespread.

When the mission was completed, the crew was supposed to fly out of Portugal but travel restrictions were being put in place.

So you had to make up your mind either you try and get off and get a flight, you might get stuck, but you were not allowed to get back on the ship, Lohmann said.

A cruise back to Narragansett would take almost exactly 14 days, which would have satisfied their quarantine period, so no one got off the ship.They refueled in Cape Verde, had provisions delivered and set off for Rhode Island.

There was a lot more disinfectant being used, Lohmann said. Things were cleaned more frequently.

During the trip back across the Atlantic, the Endeavors officers took everyones temperatures daily and logged them so their time on the ship would serve as their quarantine. They spent the last day off Block Island. No one got COVID-19 or yellow fever.

Funny, surreal experience, and we all realized we were never going to forget this one, Lohmann added.

Lohmann said when they got back, they were more worried about people on land being sick because everyone on the ship had been so isolated.

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After weeks at sea, URIs research ship returned to a different world - WPRI.com

Strong winds and thunderstorms lashed Doha and other parts of the country yesterday, as the Qatar Met department said thundershowers and windy conditions are expected in some places today as well.Offshore areas, too, are likely to see thundery rain in the early hours today along with strong winds and high seas.The Met department also said in a report that the unsettled weather, with chances of thunderstorms, is expected to continue until Sunday.A state of atmospheric instability resulting from the extension of a low-pressure system over the region continues affecting the country, the Met department said in the report issued yesterday evening.Some areas witnessed thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, accompanied by strong downdraft winds that reached a speed of 39 knots in Al Wakrah, which also recorded the highest rainfall at 9.1mm.The chances of scattered thunderstorms are expected to continue in intermittent periods until Sunday. The thundery conditions will be accompanied by strong winds, resulting in rising dust and poor visibility in some areas and hail at times, according to the report.The Met department has urged people to take extra care, avoid going to sea and follow latest updates through its official accounts as this period is known for fast weather fluctuations.The authorities concerned issued safety advisories yesterday as thunderstorms, rain, strong winds as well as hail and dust were reported from many places, especially in the southern parts of the country.Videos and images shared on social media showed the intensity of the conditions.A tweet by the Met department said scattered thunderstorms were concentrated mainly to the south of Doha, accompanied by strong downdraft winds in the Hamad International Airport area.Another tweet said dusty conditions were seen in Abu Nakhla due to strong downdraft winds from thunderstorms.The department also tweeted about thunderstorms continuing in Al Wakrah and central and southern areas, accompanied by strong winds and hail at times.Todays detailed forecast says the wind speed may go up to 25 knots offshore and 24 knots inshore during thundershowers, with the sea level rising to 7ft. In Doha, the temperature is expected to range from 27C to 34C today.

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Unsettled weather expected to continue until Sunday: Met - Gulf Times

On 19 September 2020, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflowers voyage to the New World, an autonomous trimaran vessel, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, will trace the route of the original Mayflower in 1620, sailing from Plymouth, UK, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, US.

Although remotely controlled ships are not a new concept, Don Scott, chief technology officer of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, says the project is at the bleeding edge. Whats new about the project is the marine autonomy aspect, creating the ship as an edge device that operates on its own, sensing its environment, making intelligent decisions and acting on them without any human intervention, he says. Thats what makes this vehicle really innovative.

The Mayflower is a prototype, a proof of concept, to demonstrate that a solar-powered autonomous ship can navigate the oceans safely and cope with changeable weather, other ships, and encounters with marine creatures and submerged hazards.

Scott has worked on the oceans for 30 years. For him, one of the biggest challenges in developing an autonomous ship is the unpredictable nature of the sea. You certainly dont approach these engineering tasks lightly, he says. You very quickly get humbled by the power of the ocean.

He says one of the philosophies that underpins the design isthat the Mayflower Autonomous Ship needs to operate in an extremely hostile and dynamic environment, which is very unpredictable.

Until very recently, undertaking such an engineering task would have seemed impossible. For Scott, the recent convergence of technologies such as computing power at the edge and the growth of machine learning has meant that today it is possible to have an edge device make decisions in a timeframe that enables a vehicle to operate within the environment it was designed for.

Engineering for unpredictability requires partitioning different tasks, so that there is a strong sense of separation and layering between the software running on the edge devices. The architecture is highly modularised, where each edge device maintains its own situational awareness and communicates upstream and downstream with other modules.

Sensor inputs include six cameras, an automatic identification system, wind speed and direction sensors and obstacle avoidance sonar. Scott says: Each of these collects unstructured data, which is then processed and fed into a data server to provide the information needed for the vessel to navigate.

Weather forecasts are provided via application programming interfaces (APIs) to The Weather Company. Weather updates will be our highest priority, says Scott. We will steer around a storm cell, for sure.

The Mayflower is designed to run autonomously, but it will have the ability to send and receive data. Given that the ocean offers limited low-bandwidth satellite communications, weather data is given a priority. It is critical information we will get what we can get, says Scott.

IBM PowerAI Vision models are being used to provide object classification and object tracking for the vessels computer vision system, he says, adding: All of this information is fed into a navigation hazard map used by a collision avoidance module.

The collision avoidance module takes this data to determine a series of potential courses and speeds, which are then fed into a route planner, which Scott says is essentially an autonomous system that determines the course the vessel should take. Layered on top of the route planner is our safety manager, which deals with more localised information, such as wave direction and the unpredictable aspects of the ocean, he adds.

Each system on the vessel is redundant, with a backup module running in parallel, which is ready to take over if the primary system fails. One of the hazards of the ocean is short circuits, so the Mayflower Autonomous Ship has been built in a way that enables it to continue if systems are damaged.

Any system that is exposed to the ocean needs to be isolated to protect against electricity shorts, says Scott. We are hedging our bets on the electrical reliability of the system by putting in a backup system.

Because each system has been designed to operate independently, each one can be tested before they are all integrated on the ship, says Scott. For instance, at the start of March, the collision avoidance system, called AI Captain, is being tested at sea on another ship.

The ocean presents a lot of different hazards, such as land, marine debris, submerged objects, wildlife and even curious whales, says Scott. In a classical marine system, human vigilance is required to make decisions on these hazards.

The autonomous system also needs to adhere to the rules of the sea, he says. We need to identify surrounding marine traffic and make sure we are operating safely.

Scott says IBM suggested taking ODM, its rules-based engine for determining credit card fraud, and adapting it to marine regulations. This means that AI Captain enables the Mayflower to follow the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs) as well as recommendations from the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).

Having the AI Captain make decisions based on a predefined set of regulations means its decisions do not come out of a black box, says Scott. In effect, the AI decision-making for collision detection is entirely explainable because it adheres to the rules that govern marine navigation.

For Scott, the vehicle systems the Mayflower will use are proven technologies, tried and trusted. We know we can do this voyage tomorrow, with the existing capabilities we have in classic deterministic systems, going waypoint to waypoint, and dynamic updates based on local conditions, he says.

But the fully autonomous AI Captain needs to operate without any human intervention. Scott adds: The thing that keeps me up at night is the collision avoidance system, which we havent tested yet. It is essential for the success of the ship. We need to go through a bunch of sea trials.

These trials are beginning in early March.

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Interview: Building a robot to navigate the high seas - ComputerWeekly.com

Tour report #3: Carolina Road on the high seas - Bluegrass Today Skip to content

Lorraine Jordan entertains dinner guests on Danny Stewarts West Coast Bluegrass Cruise

Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road are touring now in California, and have promised to send us regular reports with photos from the west coast. Here is one from bassist/vocalist Randy Graham.

Bluegass cruises are in reality festivals at sea, and may well represent the best entertainment value available when one considers that they are all inclusive. Accommodations, meals, snacks, 24 hour room service, spa, pools, hot tubs, interesting ports of call, and world class entertainment are all rolled to one very affordable package. We love them, and Danny Stewarts west coast cruise to Mexico certainly did not disappoint.

Our first day out,Dad and I rented a golf cart and toured Catalina Island which was absolutely beautiful. Our final port, Ensenada, Mexico, was found to be a bustling city, full of interesting sights and shops.

In between there were concerts and workshops provided by some of these best in the business, which included a special True Grass show with Carolina Road and the incredible Junior Sisk and Danny Paisley. Wow, what a show, and what a treat to make music with these icons on traditional bluegrass.

We are now back in the good ol USA and on our way to Morgan Hill, California for another True Grass show sanctioned by the California Bluegrass Association. Really looking forward to it. More soon!!

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Tour report #3: Carolina Road on the high seas - Bluegrass Today

British fashion designer Gareth Pugh and Design Collective by Cintas collaborate on modern wardrobe collection

Richards Bransons new cruise line Virgin Voyages is scheduled to set sail in April 2020. Today Design Collective by Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) announced that it will execute a modern apparel collection designed by British fashion designer Gareth Pugh for the crew. Virgin Voyages led a collaboration with Design Collective by Cintas to bring Gareths fashion-forward designs to life with apparel pieces that mirror the vivacity which is synonymous with the Virgin brand.

"Were honored for the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with Virgin Voyages and Gareth to bring together modern and luxurious designs to Virgin Voyages," said Todd McKeown, President and COO of Design Collective by Cintas. "Richard Branson puts his employees first, so it was critical for every crew member to feel confident and comfortable in the apparel, so they can be a critical part of the total passenger experience. We used our extensive experience in designing and manufacturing for the cruise industry and worked with Gareth Pugh and the Virgin Voyages team to develop this game changing program."

The core collection includes sustainable fabrics and garments designed for a range of job functions, climates and body types. The program breaks with cruise stereotypes by removing epaulettes (shoulder stripes designating rank for officers), ties and waistcoats. It features a distinct combination of structure and fluidity and includes a wide range of looks from slick razor-sharp tailoring to relaxed pillow-case tunic shirts referencing the early days of British punk, and more.

"We really wanted to shake up the industry and redefine cruise fashion. Working with fashion Designer Gareth Pugh helped us create a fantastic wardrobe collection for our crew reflecting a modern sailing holiday experience," said Dee Cooper, SVP Design and Customer Experience at Virgin Voyages. "We decided to partner with Design Collective by Cintas to make sure the garments would really deliver on all levels. Their knowledge of fabrics and application made the designs functional for the cruise environment, and they helped create an Epic Sea Change for all."

Virgin Voyages currently has four ships on order, and will launch its first adults-only vessel, Scarlet Lady, in Spring 2020.

For more information about Design Collective by Cintas, please visit: http://www.cintas.com/designcollective.

About Design Collective by Cintas

The Design Collective by Cintas is a distinctive fashion house dedicated to creating a modern wardrobe for employees. With design studios in Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto and Miami, Design Collectives award-winning designers blend garments from our ready-to-wear line with custom-designed pieces to curate apparel collections that enhance brand identity. These collections are often complemented with garments from our retail brand collaborations, giving employees wardrobes they love to wear. Design Collective is a division of Cintas Corporation, a publicly held Fortune 500 company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of both the Standard & Poors 500 Index and Nasdaq-100 Index.

About Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages is a global lifestyle brand committed to creating the worlds most irresistible holidays. The brand currently has four ships on order with master shipbuilder Fincantieri and has operations in the US, UK and Europe. With its inaugural season beginning this year, Virgin Voyages first ship, Scarlet Lady was designed to reflect a yachts sleek luxury. Featuring spaces designed by some of the top names in contemporary interiors, Scarlet Lady will be Adult-by-Design, a sanctuary at sea for the 18+ traveler. A dose of Vitamin Sea will be naturally intertwined across the entire ship, with well-being activated through a mix of high-energy moments coupled with relaxation and rejuvenation. Scarlet Lady will also feature alluring entertainment and 20+ world-class intimate eateries on board. Putting a twist on luxury, Virgin Voyages will offer incredible value for its sailors with all restaurants, group fitness classes, soft drinks, and many more Virgin surprises.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200302005650/en/

Contacts

Christina AlvarezMulberry Marketing Communications708-908-0898calvarez@mulberrymc.com

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Design Collective by Cintas Creates High Fashion on the High Seas with Virgin Voyages Apparel Collection - Yahoo Finance

Designed to fill the gap between rough-and-ready explorer yachts and the support vessels that shadow superyachts to carry the spillover from the main yacht, the Crossover 27 from Dutch shipyard Lynx Yachts is a fully customizable mashup of the two types of boats. The Crossover 27 provides a posh yacht with the stowage space to travel with all the tenders, toys and other amenities while also providing the comfort and technical capacity to spend long periods of time on board. The 27 is the first example in Lynxs new Crossover Series that was announced at the Monaco Yacht Show last fall.

We are creating, thanks to a US customer, a new concept that we are going to call a crossover that will be on the platform of a shadow vessel with half the space of the deck dedicated to hosting big toys and the rest will be a main saloon and accommodation, said Filippo Rossi during an interview with Superyachts.com. At the end it will be a big explorer yacht capable to carry all that you want to go anywhere in the world with freedom and safety. Rossi is sales and marketing manager for Lynx Yachts.

The highlight of the Crossover 27 is the 753-square-foot main deck. Use this 23-foot-wide space for stowing tenders and toys. Once youve launched them into the water, guests now may enjoy a huge deck space for sunning, dining or throwing a seaside soiree.

A good-size saloon with large windows leads to the galley and then the wheelhouse on the main deck. Down below a spacious master suite and two guest cabins accommodate a total of six. Two crew cabins (for four crew members) sit far forward.

The main deck is great for storage, but its even better for entertaining.Courtesy Lynx Yachts

Head back outside and everyone will enjoy the big beach club aft at water level, as well as the sundeck way up top. The sundeck is home to a couple of Yamaha WaveRunners, two standup Jet Skis and the crane for launching the tenders. Once theyre launched, its another great place to snatch a little private sunning time.

Tucked behind the swim platform is the lazarette, which provides all kinds of storage for the rest of the water sports gear: stand-up paddle boards, canoes, surfboards, scuba and snorkeling equipmentyou name it.

All kinds of deck space makes this a very livable explorer.Courtesy Lynx Yachts

Netherlands-based Bernd Weel Design penned the yachts exteriors, and French firm Franck Darnet Design handled the interiors. Diana Yacht Design took care of the naval architecture. A couple of Caterpillar engines give the Crossover 27 a top speed of 14 knots and a range of 1,350 nm while cruising at 12.5 knots. The first hull is already spoken for and will be delivered in 2022.

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Lynxs Versatile New Explorer Yacht Wants to Be a Crossover Vessel for the High Seas - Robb Report

In which Hunter Harris attempts to exorcise the movie quotes haunting her brain.

Were not one nation under God, were one nation under this Geoffrey Rush quote. Photo-Illustration: Vulture and Walt Disney

Unless we time-travel back to me being 17 and breaking curfew, Im not an actor. I cant look at a script and devise a perfect line reading. But I have another gift: I can watch a movie and get a certain line-reading stuck in my head for all of eternity, in this life and the next. I have written previously on one such line that I cant get out of my head, from Marriage Story. There, Adam Driver, biggest boy, confronts his wifes allegation of infidelity with a frown and the words You shouldnt be upset that I fucked her, you should be upset that I had a laugh with her! That Marriage Story line is obtuse and vexing and hilarious, the most unrealistic moment of a hyperrealistic romance. I have returned with another line that twerks around this noggin of mine. In Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, there exists a line that feels distinctly opposite: Its the most realistic moment in a high-seas fantasy. You best start believin in ghost stories, Miss Turner, Geoffrey Rush snarls. Yer in one!

I am brave enough to admit that we dont give this line enough credit. Even if it were printed on every American dollar bill, like the words In God We Trust, which I think are printed on dollar bills, it would not be enough. Add this line to our Constitution, stitch it onto a pillow, go as this line for Halloween! I dont think Im being dramatic when I borrow a quote from another good Keira Knightley period piece and say: This line from Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl has bewitched me, body and soul!

In Black Pearl, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) plays Port Royal, Jamaicas first daughter. Like many a Disney ingenue, she is wealthy and privileged and a habitual line-stepper. At ten years old, shes onboard a ship that picks up Will Turner (another 10-year-old who will, in about ten minutes, turn into Orlando Bloom), at which point she pockets a pirate medallion around his neck, worried that her father will arrest her new crush for his criminal associations. For years, Elizabeth has kept this medallion tucked away, forgotten, until she dreams about it one night and decides to wear it around her own neck.

A decade after Wills arrival, in what seems like a total coincidence, pirates raid Port Royal. Elizabeth is kidnapped by the titular pirates on the titular Black Pearl, and its captain, Barbossa (Rush), explains to her the titular curse. (Because Elizabeth stole the medallion from Will Turner, she uses his surname as her own.) [This medallion is] one of 882 identical pieces [the Aztecs] delivered in a stone chest to Corts himself, Barbossa explains over dinner. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies. But the greed of Corts was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity. Elizabeth almost guffaws in disbelief. Of course she does! This is nuts! I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa, she says. To this, his pockmarked skin grins.

Aye, he begins. Thats exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. The pirates aboard the Pearl found the island, found the chest, and found the gold. Like the Bling Ring, they robbed it of every gold piece. The more we gave em away, the more we came to realize the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed men, Miss Turner! Like every woman who has ever had to endure the monologue of a man, Elizabeth Swann looks on, rather nonplussed by this information. They are cursed men, but we are cursed by men, so its hard to muster up a lot of empathy whether you are being held captive, as she is, or just a woman living in New York City, as I am.

And here is when it happens: Elizabeth makes a botched attempt to stab Barbossa with a steak knife and escape, but upon exiting the captains quarters, she finds herself among a skeletal crew. Not skeleton crew, like, understaffed. Skeletal crew, like, where there once were human men, there are now sentient skeletons dressed in tattered rags. Captain Barbossa points his index finger and walks out of the shadows into the moonlight, his body transforming to bones before our very eyes. You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner, he tells her. Yer in one!

Whats nutty is that Pirates of the Carribean has many quotable lines: The way Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, relatively pre-controversy) twists his braided beard and whines, But why is the rum gone?! The way an amber-eyed pirate peers into a hiding spot and says, Hello, puppet, the words twisted and mangled so that they come out: Ehlow, Pop-ette! Barbossa declines Elizabeths plea to return her to Port Royal, sneering, Im disinclined to acquiesce to your request. But its been 17 years since Curse of the Black Pearl was released enough time for these lines to learn to drive a car and apply to college and fight with their moms over how short prom dresses can be and its the ghost stories delivery that I just cannot get out of my worms-for-brains head.

Around 300 days ago, on April 10, 2019: I went public with a truth I hold to be self-evident: dont avada kedavra my ass, I wrote, but last night i came to the conclusion that u best start believin in ghost stories miss turner YER in one is better than YER a wizard harry i would make a poll but i know that im right and also its too many characters. Was it unwise to pit two powerful women a Pirates line and a Harry Potter line against one another? Perhaps! But I did it, and I was right to do it.

Did a former crush suddenly start watching your IG story again? Girl. You? Best start believin in ghost stories, Miss Turner. Because youre? In one! Did you just confidently lie to your local Apple Genius Bar technician, nodding your head and insisting that yes of course youve backed up your computer, and no you dont know how all that water got in there. You! Best! Start! Believin in ghost stories, Miss Turner! Because! Congratulations, theres a good chance youre about to be in one! If, on Christmas Eve, as is his tradition, Kevin Spacey releases another unhinged home video? We all better start believin in ghost stories, Miss Turner were in one!

Perhaps this line appeals to me so much because, at present, we are living in a parallel universe that feels a little like a ghost story. Children are in cages. Our planet is dying. The Renegade dance is too hard for my brittle bones. Joker earned more Oscar nominations than The Farewell. Victoria never got a Jellicle name. Olive Garden has changed its motto from When youre here, youre family to Were all family here. Who will answer for all the raw chicken in the streets of Boerum Hill that one time? Why has it felt like Halloween since Christmas 2017? What Im saying is this: We are walking around in dark and uncertain times of political and personal turmoil. A ghost story this might be! I can only hope that somewhere, Rooney Mara is placing an order for pie.

Read more here:

This One Pirates of the Caribbean Line Plays on a Loop in My Head - Vulture

TV bosses believe shes the perfect choice to take over Cruising With Jane McDonald .

But comedian Susan Calman may be in for a rough ride when she hits the high seas as her replacement.

For while the former Strictly Come Dancing star proved she can handle some tricky footwork on the dancefloor, she was definitely struggling to find her sea legs when she took her first ever cruise, 18 months ago.

The comic was on a Strictly cruise of the Mediterranean in 2018 when she was floored by some choppy seas quite literally.

But after picking herself up from the deck, Susan, who was also too short to see over the ships balconies, was informed that what she called rough was barely a gentle wave.

Scottish Susan, 45, later learned to love sea travel, adding: For someone who hates flying, its a grand way to vacation.

The only trouble is, shes also taking over the singers other Channel 5 show Holidaying with Jane McDonald, so shell be flying too...

But Susan was still thrilled when Jane told her yesterday: Im sure you will have a ball. I certainly did.

Susan gushed: I have a signed photo of you in my living room. Youre magnificent in every way and will always be the best cruiser ever.

Mmmm. Its good to be gracious, Susan, but try not to go overboard.

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Read more from the original source:

Susan Calman set to hit the high seas as she takes over Cruising With Jane McDonald - Mirror Online