Worse and 'Worser'. . .

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by jglauds

A few months back, as we were changing our circumnavigation plans from the Red Sea to South Africa, I heard about a communicable disease on Mauritius I think ... I moaned about the ceaseless litany of bad news, and someone posted a wonderful rejoinder video -- Frank Sinatra singing "That's Life."

I cracked up, realized the folly of complaining, and embraced the possibilities of the alternate route -- while of course, preparing for it.

We've sailed from Thursday Island to Banda, Ambon, Flores, Lombok, and now Bali -- by ourselves, no rally help, and have encountered wonderful people, officials, and villages. In Ambon, I was cleared in on a holiday, with the port captain coming in from home since they were proud to assert they were open 24x7, and paid the equivalent of $2.00 for the clearance.

Fuel has always been available -- at prices that would make Australian's blush.

The people have been wonderful; the villages happy to embrace us.

We leave soon for Cocos, Mauritius, and SA ... a bit sad that pirates have prevented us from sailing up the Red Sea ... but excited at the prospects of a one-canal circumnavigation!

/jon
ile de Grace

Bali and points east don't seem to be as bad as points west from MY experiance(as far as robbers and as one cf member puts it "mutts")..Bali being Hindi might have something to do with it as I was very often "couched" by the fine folks of Bali (hindus) as to how I should deal w/the "other" people that always seemed to want to do harm to me just because I was an AMERICAN!

Same thing in the S.Phillipines and the funny thing about it all is I'm native American and look alot like most of the rest of the world and its like they (mean people) still know I'm an Infiadale. Even if I dress like they do and keep my mouth shut (which is hard for me to do). The thing I don't understand is that in places like Bali you see westerners all gathered in places that make it easy for would be evil doers to do evil things spreadout for christ(ala)sake...be safe and good luck to all DVC

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by sneuman

Political instability is nothing new. From the 1960s-80s, you wouldn't have made landfall in Vietnam or anywhere in the Soviet sphere. But now, you can sail to all of those places

Originally Posted by jglauds

A few months back, as we were changing our circumnavigation plans from the Red Sea to South Africa, I heard about a communicable disease on Mauritius

[I can't read a number of the posts in this thread because they are just huge chunks of text without the courtesy of a paragraph, or spaces after sentences. God knows how some of you passed school, or how the hell you can bring up children. Or did they turn out like you?]

To the posts I can read because the authors have a higher respect for themselves....

I agree with sneuman that things change so rapidly and we need to keep a finger on the pulse. I would have thought cruisers be better at doing this that land lubbers. But apparently not!

As one area of the world closes its doors other places pop open.

This year more will get the chance to visit South Africa and that area instead of the Red Sea (Maybe this enforced rest from the Red Sea will stop some of the scum rip-offs against cruisers).

Also new cruising grounds of Indonesia are opening - just to the more intrepid people, but it will pave the way for 'normal' cruisers within a few years.

The west coast of Africa from Morocco to the Gambia are newer cruising grounds; as is the north east coast of South America: Senegal down a few Guyana's.

Venezuela is OUT, Columbia is IN, Central America IN, Mexico OUT (for some).

While we are out floating around the world 'doing nothing' we should keep an eye on the news and the world situation. Not only should be be learning about the rest of the world, but also changing our plans to make our cruise better.

What was planned on the kitchen table 5 or 10 years ago can not be set in stone. We must be flexible. We must be smart enough to analyze the risks correctly.

Many crusiers don't seem to know whats out there, and many have some weirdo, flower-power view that all is love, milk and honey. Some are living that far in the past...

Those who have cruised the Path Less Traveled can congratulate themselves, but should also disseminate the good stuff and be realistic with the risks they took, and to realise that others may not want to go there till the cruising industry in the new country is quite mature.


I would be quite happy to go via South Africa. I've been the Red Sea and, for me, there was nothing exciting, significant, or beautiful there at all.





Mark

[sww914]

I was simply making additional points about that state of the world, not looking for a fight. I come here to relax and learn and on a rare occasion when I know exactly what I'm talking about, to help.
The OP hasn't yet learned to get along with the other children.
I'm unsubscribing.

[Phisher]

I for one will not live in a glass bubble and let all the media BS direct my life choices. Yes ,there are lots of bad guys out there and one must be aware of these hooligans. There are certain areas here in Tampa I just don't enter. I agree also that to travel wearing fancy jewelry and the like is ignorant. I don't understand it ,but that is just me.

Life is an adventure meant to be lived. We all have our opinions and differences, that will never change. Be kind and smile you will be amazed how you are treated by strange people in a strange land.
Peace,
Brian

[tropicalescape]

Svarmido,
I went back and read all of the comments made about this proposed deviation of yours and as far as I can tell it seems like I agreed w/a lot of what you stated. Many people wished you luck and said what I thought were kind words.

You said in the first paragraph that you had trouble (chastised) when you came on line in 2008 and then your buddy bailed out on ya and now you say some of us serve little or no purpose. I thought your comments made good sense and so did the other comments made by others, so why are you picking on me??

LOL..dont take it so hard and go easy on your self for doing a good thing. YOU WERE trying to do a good thing by given some insight on geo-political problems right?

DVC

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by sww914

I was simply making additional points about that state of the world, not looking for a fight. I come here to relax and learn and on a rare occasion when I know exactly what I'm talking about, to help.
The OP hasn't yet learned to get along with the other children.
I'm unsubscribing.

Sweet boat!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by svarmido

I personally do not believe it is prudent to place one's self in an environment where known, credible threats to kill westerners exist.

That pretty much rules out everywhere between south of the Arctic and north of Antartica - and I have my suspicions about those Penguins.........


BTW I was only joking about there being monsters under yer bed

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

BTW I was only joking about there being monsters under yer bed

No you weren't!

Extemp.

[Boracay]

I've deleted a couple of posts here, broken another into paragraphs and punctuated another.

Its against the Rules to post badly written English now. They have been changed so yous may like to reread them.

That said, after editing a few posts it looks like some did not mean what they wrote, possibly because it was almost unreadable.

So I urge all of yous to "Preview" your posts before hitting the "Submit Reply" button. Then fix punctuation, correct spelling and replace obscure words.

If you're looking at a single block of text then split it into paragraphs as each new idea is presented.

Its possible that if you take the time to express yourself clearly that you'll all find that you're among friends...

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by svarmido

One point of discussion

Originally Posted by Boracay

I've deleted a couple of posts here, broken another into paragraphs and punctuated another.

Its against the Rules to post badly written English now. They have been changed so yous may like to reread them.

That said, after editing a few posts it looks like some did not mean what they wrote, possibly because it was almost unreadable.

So I urge all of yous to "Preview" your posts before hitting the "Submit Reply" button. Then fix punctuation, correct spelling and replace obscure words.

If you're looking at a single block of text then split it into paragraphs as each new idea is presented.

Its possible that if you take the time to express yourself clearly that you'll all find that you're among friends...

Just Sayin

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by svarmido

One point of discussion in this thread has focused upon "travel advisories" and viewpoints that profess these advisories are overblown. The advisories I have read vary, depending upon the type of hazard or threat perceived by those who publish these advisories. Hazards to one's health due to disease is one. Hazards present due to internal conflict or political instability is another. This may include religious, social and cultural conflict; election disputes, coup d'états, war between countries, and internal insurrection or civil war. And lastly, advisories that specifically warn citizens from select countries that they may be targeted in terrorist attacks. These will either recommend no travel to some areas, and or provide a list of precautions one may take to minimize the probability they will suffer injury or death from a terrorist attack. The first type allows individuals to take certain precautions, if available, to avoid contracting illnesses and or disease. You have a certain amount of control and information to assist in deciding whether or not to give the area a pass. The second type leaves a great deal of discretion to a traveller, depending upon what's going on, to go or not. If the conflict is limited to a particular area, simply avoiding the area may suffice. Provided an edict has not been declared prohibiting travel, one is pretty much at liberty to go some places and avoid others without encountering problems. In the last case, wherein your country of origin, race, ethnicity, religion or lack of adherence to religion, political affiliation and more make you a target; one's ability to minimize the probability of becoming a victim is greatly reduced. Each of us has the freedom to decide, and to endure the consequences - good or bad. Personally, I give due consideration to them all. But, it is the last - precisely because I am a "target" and have little or no control over when, where and how an attack may occur, that carries the most weight. tropicalescape - My purpose was not to minimize the value of your contributions - because they were related to the subject of this thread. It was your response to David_Old_Jersey's digs about "monsters under your bed". Maybe DOJ's intent was to throw a bit of humour into the mix - but is that appropriate when we are discussing issues that affect our relative safety in the cruising community? Indeed, recent developments in the world - in particular piracy and terrorism have the potential to bring cruising in certain parts of the world to a screeching halt. A very unhappy development indeed. sww914 Same comment above for you. The moderator deleted the particular comment you made, so I cannot state now why I may have taken offence. svarmido

You're getting worser and worser...

I'd love to read your stuff, but it's just too damned hard.

There is a reason grammar was invented. It makes communication clearer, easier and more meaningful.

I assume your reason for posting is to get a point accross.
You're failing, not because you don't have knowledge, valid opinions, intellegence etc, but because you are failing to present your to it's best advantage.

Paragraphs aren't hard... look... even I can do it

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by svarmido

One point of discussion in this thread has focused upon "travel advisories" and viewpoints that profess these advisories are overblown. The advisories I have read vary, depending upon the type of hazard or threat perceived by those who publish these advisories. Hazards to one's health due to disease is one. Hazards present due to internal conflict or political instability is another. This may include religious, social and cultural conflict; election disputes, coup d'états, war between countries, and internal insurrection or civil war. And lastly, advisories that specifically warn citizens from select countries that they may be targeted in terrorist attacks. These will either recommend no travel to some areas, and or provide a list of precautions one may take to minimize the probability they will suffer injury or death from a terrorist attack. The first type allows individuals to take certain precautions, if available, to avoid contracting illnesses and or disease. You have a certain amount of control and information to assist in deciding whether or not to give the area a pass. The second type leaves a great deal of discretion to a traveller, depending upon what's going on, to go or not. If the conflict is limited to a particular area, simply avoiding the area may suffice. Provided an edict has not been declared prohibiting travel, one is pretty much at liberty to go some places and avoid others without encountering problems. In the last case, wherein your country of origin, race, ethnicity, religion or lack of adherence to religion, political affiliation and more make you a target; one's ability to minimize the probability of becoming a victim is greatly reduced. Each of us has the freedom to decide, and to endure the consequences - good or bad. Personally, I give due consideration to them all. But, it is the last - precisely because I am a "target" and have little or no control over when, where and how an attack may occur, that carries the most weight. tropicalescape - My purpose was not to minimize the value of your contributions - because they were related to the subject of this thread. It was your response to David_Old_Jersey's digs about "monsters under your bed". Maybe DOJ's intent was to throw a bit of humour into the mix - but is that appropriate when we are discussing issues that affect our relative safety in the cruising community? Indeed, recent developments in the world - in particular piracy and terrorism have the potential to bring cruising in certain parts of the world to a screeching halt. A very unhappy development indeed. sww914 Same comment above for you. The moderator deleted the particular comment you made, so I cannot state now why I may have taken offence. svarmido

Hey I was talking about the monster that was in MY bed!!Iwas in my own world and thinking out loud,I didnt mean YOUR BED!!sorry about the way it came across.DVC

[PorkLoin]

Virtual Vagabond, You think it annoys you? The fact there are no paragraphs is not my choosing, it is a feature of this site - maybe when after editing a post. Anyway, I know when to begin a new paragraph, and I do. Once posted the text is run on, regardless of where I start and end paragraphs. Svarmido

[PorkLoin]

To all:

I apologize for my posts "paragraphs" disappearing act. The culprit is a Firefox extension called NoScript. It prevents java scripts from running unless explicit permission to allow scripts to run is provided. The extension prevents malware from executing - a major source of viral infections, trojans and back doors.

When posting in the future, I will make sure to allow scripts that are necessary in controlling punctuation and paragraphs to run.

svarmido

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by svarmido

Virtual Vagabond, You think it annoys you? The fact there are no paragraphs is not my choosing, it is a feature of this site - maybe when after editing a post. Anyway, I know when to begin a new paragraph, and I do. Once posted the text is run on, regardless of where I start and end paragraphs. Svarmido

Well if you're typing with paragraphs and they disappear when you post it, there must be a technical problem.
If that's the case, my apologies...

Just a thought. When you want to start a new paragraph, are you just doing an indentation, like you would find in a normal book/novel?
To get a real break in the flow of words here, hit 'enter' twice. That may be a solution.

Maybe the mods could come up with a solution?