The Voyage of Macgellan

Report: Panama Canal

You may recall that during my previous transit of the Panama Canal on The Voyage I focused on what I think is the most interesting aspect of the experience, the "Mules" that assist ships through the locks. As we approached the Canal over this past week, I thought about how I might share the "larger" experience and decided that rather than shoot hours of memory-consuming video then try to play it back at high speed I would shoot it in stop-action. So, in the dark at 3:30 this morning I lashed my camera to the starboard F-Deck railing and started filming as we made our final approach to the Miraflores Locks. Thankfully, this coincided with the breaking of dawn so only the first few frames are in the dark. I had planned to take shots at one minute intervals throughout the transit, but the rains came shortly after we cleared the first set of locks and forced me to interrupt the filming to protect my camera. Showers continued as we steamed through "the cut" and across "the lake" but abated just as we approached the Gatun Locks, so I was able to resume filming our exit from the Canal. It's just as well, though, because the hours of travel between the locks isn't really very interesting and I probably would have edited it out of the final movie anyway. So, the result is this Report which presents what I think is a pretty good "summary" of what it is like to climb the locks from the Pacific side and descend the locks to the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. I hope you enjoy it! (Note: Thanks to Stephen Jacob for yet another lovely piece of background music!)

Report: Bozo The Booby

During my recent visit to Cape Kidnapers on the east coast of New Zealand's north island, I got some pretty good video of Australasian Gannets, a sub-species of Booby. Partly because I gave them a bit of a send up in my previous noir-ish Report called "Booby Snatcher" and partly because -- as my friend and world-reknowned seabird expert John Sparks says -- "Boobies are proper seabirds", I intended to edit a Report that would pay the Gannets/Boobies some respect. However, while they are graceful flyers and exceptional divers, they are simply not as elegant as the Albatross I have featured previously and my footage of them soaring around the Cape just didn't seem to warrant such a Report. A bit stymied, I turned away from the video for a few minutes and started listening through my Podsafe music for something I might be able to use as a soundtrack. I stumbled across a great little piece from Jonathan Coulton which has always made me smile and suddenly started to think instead about some of the non-soaring footage I had of the Gannets. They are, after all, quite clumsy on landing and a bit goofy once aground. In the end, I abandoned my intention to edit a "respectful" Report and proceeded with this "light-hearted" one instead. The title will make sense once you hear to the music, I assure you. So, with thanks to all the Boobies of the world who have entertained me during my circumnavigation of the planet -- and a promise that one day I will do them right -- I offer you this Report form The Voyage of Macgellan. Enjoy!

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Report: Royal Albatross

In Taiaroa, New Zealand, you can watch Royal Albatross soar overhead from inside a glassed-in observation room. Although this is a far cry from the open-air filming of Albatross I was able to do at sea near South Georgia Island, I was at least stationary rather than shooting from the deck of a rolling and pitching ship. Despite the glass, I think the footage in this video Report turned out pretty well, in particular offering some excellent views of the full 3-meter wing-span of the Royal -- the largest species of Albatross -- and a rare glimpse of one sitting on a nest. Enjoy! (Many thanks to Annastasia Workman for an exquisite new piece of music!)

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Report: Freighter Tour - Part 2

I've tried to describe my freighter experience in the Logbook and Photos, but I thought a video Report might really help do the job. So, I took my camera along when I went for a walk around the ship today. In addition to showing what a lap around the main deck is like, I have included brief stops in some of the common areas, the bridge, etc. For file-handling purposes, I have split this Report into two parts. Here is Part 2:

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Report: Freighter Tour - Part 1

I've tried to describe my freighter experience in the Logbook and Photos, but I thought a video Report might really help do the job. So, I took my camera along when I went for a walk around the ship today. In addition to showing what a lap around the main deck is like, I have included brief stops in some of the common areas, the bridge, etc. For file-handling purposes, I have split this Report into two parts. Here is Part 1:

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Report: Lifeboat Drill (Something Like That)

During our first full day at sea we had the required safety drill, including the usual donning of life jackets and gathering at the muster station. Quite unusual was that we actually loaded into the lifeboat and had a complete briefing inside. This Report shares the experience and explains the sub-title... something like that!

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Report: Freighter Embarkation

This Report chronicles my freighter embarkation in La Spezia, from the time I entered the port to the time we finally set sail. In between is some pretty good footage of the container loading process which I think you will find interesting from an onboard perspective. Enjoy!

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Report: The Voyage 2007

It was a simple idea to create another end-of-year summary Report for The Voyage 2007, but it turned out to be a complicated and difficult process. So many great experiences have happened this past year that it was very had to select what to include. Even after paring thousands of photos down to hundreds, then paring those down to dozens, it was still looking like it would take a symphony-length music video to do it justice. In the end, I picked one of my favorite pieces of music from Hobo Jim and let the lyrics guide my selection in a more-or-less chronological order. With sincere apologies to those of you who have been such a wonderful part of The Voyage this year but who are not included in the final cut, I offer you this Report along with my profound thanks for a truly marvelous and memorable year.

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Report: AmsterDog

Yup... It's another Dog Report from The Voyage of Macgellan! (At this rate I may have to rename it The Voyage of Doggellan!) Anyway... I was at the park here in Amsterdam and I met this really great dog and her human. Here's just a couple of minutes of video (out of many that I shot!) which I hope you'll enjoy.

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Report: Working Dogs

During my exploration on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, I captured some great video of "Working Dogs" doing what they do best. Although this Report could be viewed as just a bunch of dogs herding some sheep, I think you'll find the interaction between the dogs, the sheep and the humans pretty interesting. Let me know! (Many thanks to Jeff Tolbert for another perfect soundtrack song!)

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