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.
The Last Shot
Do you have a good photo for The Last Shot? Please send to club@circumnavigators.org.
Luck to you!
David A. Mink
International President
club@circumnavigators.org
