We were on a Royal Clipper chartered cruise from Rome to Venice, June 25 to July 6, 2011. We decided to use photos from the trip for our Christmas card. The large shot was taken at the Villa Cimbrone in Ravello, Italy. (That’s the Royal Clipper off my elbow far below). The photo of the Royal Clipper was taken on July 4. And the photo in the dining room was taken off the coast of Split, Croatia on July 3, 2011. What a fabulous cruise! — Fred Harder

I know it sounds a bit weird, but one of the “hit” activities last week was making sock teddies when the weather was a bit rough. Focussing on the teddies helped alleviate sea-sickness. I brought socks, sewing kit and stuffing on board (don’t ask!) and they were a big hit with a lot of guests.

We gave a sock teddy to the Chief Officer Julien, to a wedding couple for their first child, and various guests walked away with their own teddies. In total, around fifteen teddies were created on Royal Clipper last week.

Here's a nice group of them sunning themselves on the life ring.

Two guests in the Piano Bar stitching away.

One of the teddies from the early part of the week took part in the knot tying master class … his owner (a UK journalist) learnt how to tie the Hangman and here he is, hanging around on the sun deck.

Rosie Caulfield, one of the sports crew, sitting in the Tropical Bar making a teddy.

Two teddies in a glass in the Tropical Bar.

It was the second time that we as a pure female crew participated in the Gotland Runt Classic Race. In the classic class there has never been a 100% female crew before 2010 when we took part in the regatta for the first time. S/Y Volonté is a 37-foot Sparkman and Stephens designed sloop in mahogany, built in 1968 in Nice. The start was on July 6, 2011. It was the first time that the race started from Stockholm right in front of the old town (about where the Star Flyer will probably be docked next year…) This was a fantastic opportunity.

First we had one race to Sandhamn (an island in the archipelago where the start use to be located in the former years) and then we started the second leg from Sandhamn rounded Visby and back. Last year we came in fourth place and this year we won, so me and my Star Clippers Team are very happy!

Marie Krafft
Director of Sales

Team Star Clippers!

Volonté.

Observed in number of sightings: 18
Observed in number of days: 18
New nicks of the dorsal fin: 0
A part of a group with the mean size of: 7 individuals

This season the dolphin Clipper is a commonly observed individually. From January through March he and his mother were seen feeding around the marine fish farm found in the study area. Due to the nutritious waters during this period, there is a high number of wild fish in the area, which caught Clipper and his mother Rebecca’s attention. He has also been seen in other parts of the study area where he was mostly playing with other calves, the mother was patiently keeping close making sure that he was safe.

The last time Clipper was seen during this period was March 31st. He was then engaging in acrobatic events together with the other calves and curiously swimming close to the BDRI research vessel. — The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute

Captain Müller-Cyran takes his sextant out of its box.

A sextant is an instrument used to measure the angle between any two visible objects. Its primary use is to determine the angle between a celestial object and the horizon which is known as the altitude. Making this measurement is known as sighting the object, shooting the object or taking a sight, and it is an essential part of celestial navigation.

The angle, and the time when it was measured, can be used to calculate a position line on a nautical or aeronautical chart. A common use of the sextant is to sight the sun at solar noon and to measure the elevation (altitude) angle at night to measure the elevation angle from the horizon plane to Polaris to find one’s latitude. Since the sextant can be used to measure the angle between any two objects, it can be held horizontally to measure the angle between any two landmarks which will allow for calculation of a position on a chart. A sextant can also be used to measure the Lunar distance between the moon and another celestial object (e.g., star, planet) in order to determine Greenwich time which is important because it can then be used to determine the longitude.

Information taken from Wikipedia.