I hope this week's artwork will offer you a few moments of relief during this difficult time, with our wishes to be well and stay safe...
Fulfilling a Dream...
Part V: The Return Home
We continue to travel the globe using Artist Brechin Morgan's artwork as our guide to some of the most beloved and exotic harbors in the world. He completed his 32,000 mile solo voyage around the world in 2003. We hope you've enjoyed sharing this journey in sketches and paintings, brought to you by Artist Brechin Morgan.
Brec's painting of a Long Island Oyster Boat traveling up the Sound can be seen in the "Seascapes" section of the July issue of Soundings magazine. Click on the photo to learn more about Brec and to view his recent paintings available for purchase.
Using Brec's paintings and sketchbooks from his journey, and his own words, we'll follow his route from East to West - This week from Malta (30) to Trinidad (34) and his return to Block Island, Rhode Island, as shown on his charted map above.
"A ntikithera is the last Greek Island before Malta, 435 miles away.
So many islands in the sea. Small puffed rice clouds."
(30.) Passage to Malta

" Leaving the last of the Greek Islands behind, I set sail for Malta."
(30.) Valetta Harbor, Malta

"I entered Valetta Harbor past Fort St. Angelo where in 1565 the Knights of Malta and the Maltese successfully resisted the overwhelming force of the Ottomans under Suleiman the Magnificent and turned Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean. I rested and had a visit from family. We watched fireworks from a waterfront cafe in Sleima in the evening light."
(31.)   Approaching the Strait of Gibraltar

"Mt. Jebel Musa in North Africa rises above the silver mist to starboard. The ancient Pillars of Hercules marked the end of the known world. Dragons, according to ancient charts, lay beyond. The two pillars were Mt. Jebel Musa to the south and Gibraltar to the north."
(31.) Gibraltar, View from La Linea

"I left 'Otter' at Shepard's Marina and bussed around Spain visiting Barcelona and the Prado in Madrid. I took a ferry to Tangier and traveled through Morocco. I climbed the “Rock” and visited the legendary baboons before I set off for the Canary Islands."
Self Portrait, Marrakech, Morocco
(32.) Playa Blanca, Graciosa, Canaries

"After the passage from Gibraltar, I anchored in the protected water of Playa Blanca on Graciosa. The dark cliffs of Lanzarote loomed across the narrow strait. The only small town was an hour walk through the untracked sand dunes and scrub brush. I pulled “Runcible Spoon” my dinghy, above the high water mark and spent days climbing the three volcanic peaks rising into the clouds. I hope someday to return to this quiet jewel."
(32.) Sociedad, Graciosa, Canaries
Notes from my sketchbook for the painting "Downwind Home" (Below)
Atlantic Crossing - Downwind Home

"Leaving Gomera in the Canary Islands to cross the Atlantic I spent three days running down cresting 25 foot seas in storm force winds. When the wind abated and the seas leveled, there followed two full weeks of perfect cruising weather, with wind astern at 12 knots on wind-ruffled blue without a whitecap in sight. Day followed perfect day. I watched sunlight change color during the day and watched stars swing overhead at night. In the warm sun of late afternoons, Otter sailed in the center of a sparkling golden path westward to the horizon. The genoa. Was poled out, glowing with promise of another colorful sunset. I barely adjusted the wheel or touched a sheet for those two weeks as we gently made our way back to the Caribbean. I watched clouds drift overhead for hours as we ran downwind for home."
(33.) Barbados

"After a 23 day passage, 'Otter' dropped her hook in the clear water off the beach in Barbados a short walk into the bustling center of Bridgetown. After the long mostly lazy blue passage, the colors, tastes, smells, and sounds of the island were bracing."
(34.) Man O' War Bay, Tobago-Trinidad

"'Otter' was water weary, I had to get her back in shape for the last legs home, Trinidad had good and inexpensive yards for that kind of work. On the way I stopped in the breathtaking Man O'War Bay in Charlotte, Tobago." "Just to chill."
(34.) Trinidad
Velsheda, Prickly Bay, Grenada

"Velsheda, the 129' Nicholson J Class Yacht followed me around the world. The first time we met she was passing me, quite rapidly, on her majestic way to Nevis. In Admiralty Bay in the Galapagos she anchored near 'Otter.' While doing engine work, I listened on the VHF to the purser describe the difficulty finding proper cut flowers for the table.
We met again in Tahiti and I watched her leave Papeete, Auckland bound. I saw her again during the 2000 America's Cup races. And finally Prickly Bay was the last harbor we shared."
Union Island, Grenadines
Charlestown, Nevis

In Nevis, I closed the circle, completing my solo circumnavigation. No one seemed impressed. No cheering crowds. My lifelong dream and goal for over four years – was gone. 
Bermuda Rooftops from Aunt Nea's Inn
 
My mother and her cousin Barbara came for a short visit to St. George.
We talked and drank coffee while I sketched on the balcony at the inn.
The last leg to Block Island was only a few days away.
Crossing the Gulfstream - Passage Home - North Atlantic
The Coast of Block Island as seen from the Sea
Last Sketch from the Voyage
Southeast Light, Block Island, Rhode Island

I left Block Island from Ballard's Dock on that dark November night. A front was passing as I headed south on a bitter west wind. The sweeping white beam from the southeast lighthouse passed overhead close to starboard and grew slowly smaller astern until it finally sank beneath the horizon and was swallowed by the darkness. I was alone on the dark sea. Four and a half years later on a late May morning the lighthouse rose again from the sea. America. Home. I sailed into Great Salt Pond to rest at anchor breifly in its far reaches until I would sail around to enter Old Harbor to the welcoming party and the bottle of Guiness I had promised to share with friends on the steps of the National Hotel on my return.
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