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March 2023 Circumbits

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Thanks to Roger Weatherburn Baker (Naples Chapter) for the beautiful shot of blossoms blooming in Washington DC.

Springing into March

Best wishes to our members, family, and friends for a wonderful month of March as we eagerly look forward to the Spring season. Circumnavigators have been busy with meetings and travel, and the club has important news to share.

Magellan Event on Tap

Past President Howard Matson reports, “the Circumnavigators Club is thrilled to announce that the 2023 recipients of the prestigious “Order of Magellan” will be the wife and husband team of Maureen and Tony Wheeler.” The memorable black-tie dinner, in their honor, will be held in New York City, Friday, October 6th. Tony and Maureen are considered tycoons in the travel publishing field. As founders of the acclaimed LONELY PLANET series of books, one measure of their success is the sales of over 150 million copies of their myriad of guidebooks. Our Magellan awardees have included a father/son (Sir Edmund and Peter Hillary) and twin brothers (Scott and Mark Kelly). This event will be the Club’s first spouses as honorees. Make your plans for this not to be missed event!

1973 Georgetown Scholar Rick Stephan recently made a second substantial donation to the Foundation and consented to a half-hour interview about his Foundation-sponsored circumnavigation fifty years ago, as well as the impact that his trip has had on his life. Watch Rick’s interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqYsccfQzDw

Link to an excerpt from Rick’s interview in which he provides an eyewitness account of the revolution that overthrew the Afghan monarchy in 1973: https://youtu.be/UQvdDRelsfM

Chapter News

The DC Chapter met recently at Panda Gourmet in Washington DC with 17 attendees. Foundation grantee Sophia Doroshenko gave a presentation on her planned circumnavigation this coming summer. The group talked about their travels and topics to address membership, and a planned polo event in June.

Naples Chapter highlights — Naples welcomed two new members, Tim Devitt and Irene Thompson, with Chapter officers Tina Nicholson and Karen Schneider.

The Naples Chapter held an event at the Naples Sailing and Yacht Club in February. Ninety members and guests attended, and enjoyed the fascinating presentation given by Bo and Terrilynne Boling. They sailed for three and a half weeks on the Crystal Endeavor, crossing the Antarctic Circle, and making several stops in Argentina, and on the Antarctic Continent. Attendees enjoyed immensely their professional video, and their lively commentary.

Ethiopia…You never know where you will find prolific adventurer Suzanne Frye (New York Metro). Here is Suzanne in Ethiopia with her marvelous photos of Gelada baboons at the Simien Mountains National Park.

Southern Ocean…Circumnavigator Mark Pross (Washington DC Chapter) unfurls the Circumnavigators Club flag at the gravesite of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton at Whalers’ Cemetery in Grytviken on South Georgia Island. Mark spent nearly six weeks traveling through Panama, Colombia, Chile, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, the South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, and Paraguay. Along the way, Mark met with Circumnavigator Governor Steven Barnett and his wife Karen in Panama City.

Pitcairn Island…Circumnavigators Bill & Connie Kleinfelter (Naples Chapter) continued their five-month circumnavigation with a visit to legendary Pitcairn Island. Only about 50 people reside on the island, half of whom are descendants of Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. Only about ten ships visit the island each year. Islanders visited their ship for a meet and greet.

Egypt…Circumnavigators Dan & Melanie Peterson (Chicago Chapter) are currently enjoying a long exploration of Egypt. Here they are aboard the express train from Cairo to Alexandria)

Caribbean…Circumnavigator Fred Mink (At Large, Delaware) and wife Jan enjoyed island hopping in the Caribbean. They sailed on a small ship with a group of friends.

Antarctica…Circumnavigator Michael Puldy (Pacific Southwest Chapter) made it to his seventh continent. His itinerary was altered when a passenger was injured in South Georgia. Nonetheless, he reported an exciting adventure.

Abu Dhabi…Circumnavigators Norm & Susan Dailey (Washington DC Chapter) kept on the move as usual with visits to Mumbai, the Maldives and shown here dining in Abu Dhabi.

New Zealand…Circumnavigators Jon & Melody Dill (Naples Chapter) and Circumnavigator Halyna Traversa (Naples Chapter) and husband Bill Young cruised the South Pacific Ocean including a visit to New Zealand.

The Last Shot

Thanks to Gwendolyn Sutton (Washington DC Chapter) for another magnificent photo of cherry blossoms. Happy March!!

Do you have a good photo for The Last Shot? Please send to club@circumnavigators.org.

Luck to you!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is davidsig.gif

David A. Mink
International President
club@circumnavigators.org

February 2023 Circumbits

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Feb 032023

Valentine rose from Buenos Aires Botanical Garden

February—Short and Sweet

Best wishes to Circumnavigators, family and friends for an enjoyable month, the gateway to Spring! Members have been traveling and Chapters have been meeting as happy days are here again.

Foundation Names Grantees

The past couple of years have been a rocky time for the Circumnavigators Foundation with the restrictions and complications on travel caused by the pandemic. We are happy to report two grantees circumnavigated last summer and Northwestern University and Georgetown University selected two grantees to travel this year. They are:

Both students are from Texas and will begin their separate round-the-world trips this summer. Best wishes to both outstanding scholars.

Save the Dates

The always fabulous House of Lords dinner is confirmed in London for December 14, 2023. This event sells out quickly, so book your reservation. You can contact headquarters for more information. Our Annual Meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, May 19 with an outstanding speaker: Azman Mokhtar who circumnavigated the globe on 77 trains one 77 days. All members are welcome and guests are invited to the presentation. More details to follow.

Chapter News

Chapter President Ang Hao Yao presided over a successful Singapore Chapter meeting followed by a sumptuous dinner. The event was held at the prestigious Tower Club which sits at the top of one of Singapore’s tallest buildings with panoramic views over Marina Bay. Guests looked forward to the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit as they ate beautiful Chinese food accompanied with fine wines and sang along with the excellent band.

The pending Northeast Florida chapter had its second organizational meeting last month with 17 attending at a Jacksonville restaurant. Three more applications are in the approval process and the chapter now has double-digit membership with several more expected soon. The next meeting will be in the Spring and chapter organizer Fred Seely asks Circumnavigators to contact him if they know potential candidates for membership who live in the area. The Chapter covers the entire Northeast Florida area including Ponte Vedra, Amelia Island, St. Augustine and Jacksonville, as well as the southern area of Georgia including Sea Island and St. Simon’s Island.

We don’t know if Circumnavigators Norm & Susan Dailey (Washington DC Chapter) ever stay home. They sent us a photo of their visit to Lokobe National Park in Nosy Be Madagascar. Norm reported, “They didn’t tell us that when the tide went out we would have to walk several hundred yards to get to our dugout boat made from the fiberglass tree.” They are sailing on Oceania Nautica from Cape Town to Mumbai.

Circumnavigators Pam & Bill Girtman and Elaine Christian ( all Naples Chapter) visited Curacao where in this photo they stood in front of a rock formation called Boca de la Pistola or “Mouth of the Pistol”. The sea water has made a channel in the rock so that when a wave crashes, it makes a load noise and explodes in impressive sprays of water. This is just one of the fabulous sites they saw during a recent three-week cruise of the Caribbean.

Circumnavigator Steven Carmichael (At Large)and his wife, Susan Stoddard, set sail on “Treasures of the Arabian Sea” cruise and visited several interesting sites. They took the opportunity to “fly the flag” at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman and at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the UAE. They loved their first visit to this part of the world.

Round the World Again…Circumnavigators Bill & Connie Kleinfelter (Naples Chapter)have embarked on an ambitious circumnavigation. A five-month cruise will take them to 61 ports, 32 countries, and six continents, including fly-away off ship to Galapagos and Serengeti. They have reported a great time on the first legs of the adventure with visits to Belize, Guatemala, Columbia, Panama and the Galapagos. Luck to you, Bill and Connie!

Circumnavigators Steve & Henna Fuller (At Large) spent the holidays in Romania shown here at the magical Bran Castle.

Scuttlebutt

Circumnavigator Paulette Cooper Noble, President of the Palm Beach Chapter, is a prolific author. She gave a speech at the Palm Beach Yacht Club on how to write and sell your novel or memoir. The presentation was well received. She is shown here with husband Paul and friend Debbie Merrion.

Circumnavigators Donna Suddeth and Pam Girtman (both Naples Chapter) gave a talk on the Circumnavigators Club and Travelers Century Club for the Pelican Bay Women’s League 2023 Speaker Series in Naples. Approximately 150 women attended with some prospects for membership in the Circumnavigators.

Two Circumnavigator Club members have been busy organizing world travel tours. The information is below. The trips are private and not sponsored by the Circumnavigators Club.

Circumnavigator Henna Fuller (At Large) is organizing a round-the-world trip through her organization Cultural Wanderer. She says, “Discover fascinating places firsthand as we circle the globe for 30 days to six countries and five continents- a small group, with seasoned local guides.”

Visit www.culturalwanderer.com or email henna@culturalwanderer.com

Circumnavigator Eric Oborski (New York Metro) is known for his Santa Goodwill Tours, spreading job across the world. The information for the 2023 Santa Goodwill Tours is up the website www.incontra.com.