Join Peter Knego on his latest Sea Trek aboard the 1955-built MV AURORA (ex WAPPEN VON HAMBURG, DELOS, PACIFIC STAR, POLAR STAR, XANADU, EXPEX, FAITHFUL) as she is towed from her recent moorings at Rio Vista in the Sacramento River Delta to her new home, Pier 38 on San Francisco’s revitalized waterfront. Click here to [...]
Join Peter Knego in this Sea Treks blog aboard the maiden U.S. two night inaugural cruise of NCL’s massive NORWEGIAN EPIC. No time for rest and relaxation with 153,000 gross tons of innovative and at times, controversial, ship to be covered. Norwegian Cruise Line Quadruple Decked!, Part One: MV NORWEGIAN EPIC Villa Complex and Suites [...]
A DVD tribute with William H. Miller in the starring role as “Mr. Ocean Liner” The day began a bit early as my New York-based friend Rob Di Stefano and I hopped into a cab from Houston St. to Battery Park to witness the maiden arrival of NCL’s new behemoth, the NORWEGIAN EPIC. At 153,000 [...]
Posted Sunday, June 13, 2010 Friday, June 4, 2010 Although the AEGEAN ODYSSEY’s guest volcanologist Michael Higgins was hosting a “sail-by” talk at 5:15 AM on deck, I was a bit too brittle to do more than crawl out to our verandah and watch as we approached Stromboli. Off our port bow, the 3,000 foot [...]
Posted June 9, 2010 Wednesday, June 2, 2010 Jet lag almost always trumps a good night’s sleep, no matter how comfortable the surroundings. This can actually be a plus when cruising the Med, where sunrises and early morning arrivals are not to be missed. But for good measure toward getting some rest once the lag [...]
Posted: Saturday, June 5, 2010 For this journey, we allowed an extra day in Rome before and after our cruise aboard Voyages to Antiquity’s AEGEAN ODYSSEY. On the evening of our arrival, Monday, May 31, 2010, we chose to meander the streets and alleyways of Rome on a course that began near the Arco di [...]
Sunday, May 16, 2010: Round three of my ongoing double P-2 pursuit found me back in San Francisco for the undocking and final departure of the U.S.N.S. GENERAL JOHN POPE to a Brownsville, Texas scrap yard. The 1943-built P2-S2-R2 type vessel had been transferred after 40 years in layup at Suisuin Bay (see prior post) [...]
Despite the brilliant sun that morning, an icy wind whirled across the GENERAL JOHN POPE’s upper decks as she began to pick up momentum. The reserve fleet rafts were well off her starboard stern as her masts slid under the Benecia Bridge. It would have been great to just relax and watch the scenery pass [...]
Last Monday afternoon, just after I returned from following the scrap-bound GENERAL EDWIN D. PATRICK out to San Francisco’s Land’s End, my cell phone buzzed with a new voice mail message. “Peter, this is Bob Brown. Give me a call back about the GENERAL JOHN POPE when you get a chance. I’m doing her move [...]
It was a seemingly normal Friday morning this past April 16, when I settled in with fresh cup of roast and began to browse my e-mails. Business as usual until a friend from San Francisco wrote, “Hi Peter, One of those great two stack military ships from Suisuin Bay just arrived outside my office for [...]
