Hall of Fame Astronaut to receive Magellan honor

The Order of Magellan, the Club’s highest honor, will be awarded to highly decorated space pioneer, Commander Robert Crippen at an event on Friday, March 22, 2019 in Naples, Florida. Robert, a member of our Palm Beach Chapter, flew into space four times. He was the commander of the mission that included Sally Ride, the first woman in space who also received the Order of Magellan in 1985. The commander has received numerous honors, among them the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and induction into the U.S Astronaut Hall of Fame. Please plan to join us next March in sunny Florida to honor this American hero. More details will follow.

 


Annual Meeting held in New York

President Ellen Parke banged the historic whale-tooth gavel for her last time as she opened the Annual Meeting on May 18. New officers and governors were inducted at the event, and Circumnavigators thanked Ellen for her four years of service as president. New officers are David Mink (President), Dan Peterson (First Vice President), Brad Vogel (Second Vice President) and Helen Jenkins (Secretary). Gordon Whiting continues his role as Treasurer. New Board members are Greg Rider, Lion Curran, Kristen Koontz, and John Constable.

Ellen Parke welcomed new members Eric Oborski, Evan Rice, Vicki Levi, and Domitilia dos Santos.

Circumnavigator and author Evan Rice (Washington DC Chapter member) gave a fascinating presentation on his world travels.

 


Coming to this web site

In the weeks to come, we will be adding a new feature to this site to allow interaction among our members in a forum style. This will be used to share travel information and experiences. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, Carol Narup of the Chicago Chapter has query for our members. Does anyone use MASA Medical Transport Solutions? If so, how do they like it. Please reply directly to Carol by email to carol@narup.com.

 


Scuttlebutt Online…

For nearly a century, The LOG has carried a section called Scuttlebutt with news and info about our members. With the LOG only coming out twice a year, this news is far from timely, so we are now running Scuttlebutt on the website every month. Please send us news!

Circumnavigator on Cuba mission 

C. Barbara Hagstrom  (New York Metro) recently went to Cuba on a venture with Earthwatch. Here is her report:

Recently I joined a global organization called EARTHWATCH that matches “citizen research” volunteers with first class scientists from more than 40 field research expeditions around the globe. My 12-day expedition took me to the Cordillera forests of Central Cuba to work with top researchers who are closely monitoring plant and animal populations before Cuba faces a historical transition into a more-developed Cuba. Cuba’s isolation, created by the United States embargo in 1958, has created an astounding richness in ecosystems and species, making Cuba a global priority for biodiversity conservation as it comprises important habitats for migratory, resident, and endemic birds and many of the country’s unique reptiles and amphibians. Central Cuba is also home to the island’s fastest growing agriculture and tourism sectors, with most rural communities living near protected areas and relying on natural ecosystems and their wildlife. We researched the mountainous forests of Lomas de Banao Ecological Reserve and the fresh wetlands of Tunas de Zaza Wildlife Refuge. Each day we broke off in teams to measure out “transects” to measure the type of plants and trees, plus the number and type of birds, amphibians and reptiles. It was arduous work as the jungle-like undergrowth is very thick, machetes were definitely needed at times. The accommodations were minimal and to reach La Sabina Reserve it was a four-hour trek up 1,000 feet. I rode a mule which I discovered was a very sure-footed animal and up to the task of navigating a narrow, steep, stone riddled trail. It was not for the faint-of-heart. This project will be ongoing for three years with six teams.

 

Newspaper features Circumnavigator 

C. Tom Ambrose (Palm Beach Chapter) was recently featured in THE COASTAL STAR newspaper, which covers the Palm Beach Coast, in a story about his 40-year geological trek around the world exploring for petroleum in the seven countries where he lived. In Cuba, in 1957, he drilled the deepest oil well ever completed on the island. Later under the Castro regime he continued exploration until 1960 when he joined the Cuban exodus to Miami and then on to Southeast Asia to seek more oil. During eight years in Indonesia and Singapore Tom and his wife Thora fell in love with Bali Island, so upon moving to Florida in 1990 they built a Bali inspired house with backyard temple which offers the sense of living in Bali without having to travel the 22,000 -mile round trip. To read Tom’s unique story of global expatriate living and travel click here.

 


The Last Shot

C. Albert Podell just returned from an awesome/awful (depending on the weather) adventure to the south Atlantic. He saw countless penguins, including this happy group. You will read about Albert’s trip in the next issue of The LOG, coming out in the early summer.

C. Albert Podell just returned from an awesome/awful (depending on the weather) adventure to the south Atlantic. He saw countless penguins, including this happy group. You will read about Albert’s trip in the next issue of The LOG, coming out in the early summer.

 

Luck to you,


Tracy Sancilio
Executive Director
club@circumnavigators.org

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