Tim Kopischke

Familiar Waters

Queen’s Dream glided quietly into Rendezvous Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands. The bright, moonlit bay welcomed her to a well-deserved rest a few hours before sunrise – The clink, clink, clink of the anchor dropping into the shallow, clear waters, and a sandy bottom. Her sails furled and stowed, her engines shut down, herContinue reading “Familiar Waters”

Sneak Peek

Queen’s Dream began her maiden voyage 36 days ago as her lines were pulled from the dock in her birthplace – La Rochelle, France. She headed into the North Atlantic Ocean with full confidence in her builders and crew. Her inaugural mission was to transit the daunting Atlantic and arrive in Ft. Lauderdale where herContinue reading “Sneak Peek”

Time Travelers

Our modern lives are ruled by time. Our lives evolve around clocks, calendars, and the appointments of life. We move forward through the continued sequence of existence and events that occur in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. What if that is removed? What if time is onlyContinue reading “Time Travelers”

Water, water everywhere

“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink”. This ironic quote is from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and is used to suggest that despite being surrounded by something, you cannot benefit from it. Historically, an adequate supply of drinking water was a constant challenge for marine vesselsContinue reading “Water, water everywhere”

Here be Dragons

“’Here there be Dragons” was a phrase written on old maps to indicate unchartered waters. Ancient cartographers didn’t really know what was out there before the great explorers had touched all the four corners of the globe. What was beyond the explored region was a question mark. Sailors spawned the tales of mythical monsters that existedContinue reading “Here be Dragons”

Tropic of Cancer

The “tropics” are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at 23°26′10.7″ N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at 23°26′10.7″ S. The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circleContinue reading “Tropic of Cancer”

Half is not Halfway

halfway adverb – at or to a point midway between two others. From an early age we were engrained with the concept of “halfway”. If grandma’s house was 20 miles away, we knew we were halfway there at 10 miles. It’s a simple concept – measure the distance between two points and divide it by 2. HalfContinue reading “Half is not Halfway”

Sea Legs

sea legs noun – a person’s ability to keep their balance and not feel seasick when on board a moving ship. This happens when the inner ear and the brain resolve what seem to be conflicting messages. The inner ear is part of the body system that helps us maintain our balance. Fluid-filled structures inside the earContinue reading “Sea Legs”

Wind Searching

Nautical history is ripe with stories of sailing vessels that were “becalmed” at sea. Images from books, movies and TV shows show the familiar scenes of depressed crew sitting dead still at sea waiting for wind. Sailing vessels of all types fell victim to being at sea with no wind movement at all for countlessContinue reading “Wind Searching”

Madeira

After completing her first leg of the Atlantic Crossing, QD settled into a quaint marina on the eastern corner of Madeira. Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, is an archipelago comprising 4 islands off the northwest coast of Africa. It is known for its namesake wine and warm, subtropical climate. The main island of MadeiraContinue reading “Madeira”