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narrow escape

Posted on July 29, 2011 @ 2:40 pm by massimo | Filed under: advertisement,beach,blog,boracay,cheap,fear,illustration,island,mythology,news,package tour,philippines,sailing,wordpress

Andrew was an Australian I met in Boracay. He lived in General Luna, Siargao Island main town, fronting the pacific Ocean. Andrew owned a paraw and he used to go sailing in the Siargao sea, among  unpolluted and enchanting islands: Dinagat, Dako, Anahwan, La Januza. “An obsession!” he claimed. His tales were so enthusiastic that Gino and I could nothing but leave Boracay, go to General Luna, rent a paraw, and go sailing togheter with Andrew. In a nut shell,  there is a special feeling when you realise that you are sailing the immense and powerful Pacific Ocean on board a paraw: such a tiny boat,  a sort of unravel threat! And really our last navigation was threatening. In the late afternoon we found ourselves a mile off La Januza; we decided to head back to General Luna, at a distance of around ten  nautical miles. The wind was dropping; we tacked upwind but I suddenly  realised that the rudder blade was off the hull: its precarious tin pintles had given up. Meanwhile the gentle and constant wind pushed us towards the open sea! No wonder that we felt lost and panicked: no water or food on board, no compass, nothing but a piece of rope to bind ourselves to the mast. In the sunset light we saw Andrew’s paraw sailing home fast, getting far, while on the opposite side the unreachable La Januza looked a mirage. But, hurra! Neptune and Eolus themselves woke up togheter to save us: after a 20 minutes long hopeless drifting, the wind changed and we finally managed to land in the dusk  in La Januza beach. The island people who had previously noticed our drifiting were waiting for us. Perhaps I spent my life dearest night inside a rented room on that remote little island. The next day as soon as we had the rudder repaired, we sailed back to General Luna where an amazed Andrew was waiting for us. What else can I say? For sure our short tour had not been  a cheap package holidays!

Illustration Friday topic is: obsession

migrants

Posted on June 7, 2011 @ 4:14 pm by massimo | Filed under: advertisement,africa,another green world,blog,fear,holidays,island,mediterranean,news,people,politics,wordpress

A Malta holidays presents an opportunity to discover a country and a different culture only a short distance away from Sicily. The island strategic position, in between Europe and Africa, half way Gibraltar and the Middle East made it a perfect stronghold for the consecutive colonizers. The Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs, the Angevins, the Aragonese, the Knights of Saint John and the British were amongst them – all with just one goal: to control the middle of the Mediterranean. Traces of these cultures can still be found throughout the island: Phoenician tombs, The Roman Villa and several Roman and early Christian catacombs; The ancient city of Mdina with its Arab past (as does the place name itself). The capital city of Valletta is an open history book on the era of the Knights of St. John, when Malta was the southest  stronghold of European Christianity. This role seems to work even nowdays: Malta is on the route of the boats carrying migrants from Africa, but the Maltese government, just like the Italian one, does not shine in providing help and hospitality. Recently a leading Italian NGO has filed a report to the International Criminal Court  and the International Court of Justice in The Hague calling on them to investigate Malta’s ‘failures’ to adhere to international maritime rules with regards to search and rescue. While the Italian, Maltese and French governements debate on the grotesque topic, if the migrants status is that of political refugees or clandestines, at least 1000 Africans shipwrecked and drowned since January 2011, in the effort of  reaching our coastlines. Long live Fortress Europe!

christmas at sea

Posted on December 31, 2009 @ 10:50 am by massimo | Filed under: blog,books,fear,illustration,music,news,sailing,travel,wordpress

The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seamen scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.

They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day;
But ’twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,
And we gave her the maintops’l, and stood by to go about.

All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.

split tongued spirit

Posted on May 24, 2008 @ 4:28 pm by massimo | Filed under: blog,boracay,fear,fun,holidays,island,news,philippines,sailing,swimming,wordpress

Swimming in open sea is my favourite sport: yet it scares me a little. As soon as I jump into the water, some sort of split tongued spirit talks and says out of the vast sea: “maybe you could sink and die”. When the spirit talks louder …

elettricity

Posted on May 10, 2008 @ 5:54 pm by massimo | Filed under: blog,fear,illustration,indonesia,island,news,people,philippines,sailing,travel,wordpress

Lightnings are electrical discharges, giant sparks of electricity, from mature storms. Lightnings cause a lot of electric current to pass through water; wooden boats are not safe at all since the vast majority of lightning injuries and deaths occur on small boats with no cabin…
The short sea …

Thai dental clinic

Posted on October 6, 2007 @ 10:30 am by massimo | Filed under: bangkok,bargain,blog,cheap,fear,illustration,news,travel,wordpress

“Please, open your mouth again”-the Thai dentist whispered-” finish, finish already!”
He was working efficiently and silently on my rotten tooth since twenty minutes at least.
Thai dentists are notoriously skilful and inexpensive, and that was not my first time. I never had a problem with them, and thought that time too, …

dream theory in malaysia

Posted on August 26, 2007 @ 4:02 pm by massimo | Filed under: another green world,blog,books,fear,illustration,music,news,people,wordpress

Disturbing visitors sometimes come with our dreams. We wake up then, asking ourselves their meaning . In Malaysia, Senoi have a theory of dreams, and dreams are important for those becoming “adepts” (healers). Ancient Senoi dream practices (dream sharing in morning groups and using …

stonefish

Posted on June 23, 2007 @ 6:28 pm by massimo | Filed under: animals,another green world,blog,boracay,diving,fear,illustration,india,indonesia,island,kenya,wordpress

Many fish use camouflage to blend into their surroundings. Camouflage has two purposes: it helps fish avoid being eaten and allows them to make sneak …among them stonefish are found in the tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Averaging about 30 centimeters in length, their subdued …

remember

Posted on April 28, 2007 @ 3:15 pm by massimo | Filed under: ancona,art,blog,fashion,fear,fun,illustration,japan,mediterranean,news,sailing,travel,ukiyo-e,wordpress

Maybe I should put forward for this week’s topic my whole blog! Actually every Aynaku’s post relates to memory so I consider that my most recent submission should make no exception, and be one of Aynaku’s most typical. My very first time on board a sailing boat is firmly fixed …

crash

Posted on February 10, 2007 @ 11:08 am by massimo | Filed under: beach,blog,boracay,fashion,fear,fun,illustration,music,news,people,philippines,travel,wordpress

I always like stormy weather and perhaps I am a hopeless romantic. A few days after I got the island of Boracay, were I was about to spend such a long time,  I went to the local disco, a place …

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