Dubai passenger ferry taxi, called an ABRA

It is always interesting to see how other water cultures make their boat. This abra taxi crossed the Dubai Creek to the old souk, or market place. It is made of wood and holds 20 people, who pile on as the abra hits the dock. The drive stands in the motor hold and has a car seat on the upper deck. When he is in the car seat, he steers with his foot. The trip takes about 15 minutes and costs 20 Eurocents. The Dubai Creek was a shallow foot crossing in the 1950's but the former Sheik of Dubai borrowed $20 from Kuwait and had the creek widened, deepened and expanded. Now, Arab douws get loaded here and travel all over the Arabian Gulf. The prevailing wind sweeps down the Creek toward the sea and makes the crossing choppy, but the skippers are experts and the trip is fun.

Richard on the stage at ancient theater Filipi

The ancient ruins of the city of Filipi are outside of Kavala on the road to Bulgaria. This is the place where St. Paul came to preach. There are ruins of ancient Greek ceramic tile floors, the Roman street with accompanying agora(market place), the bathing room with toilets, the remains of a Byzantine Basilica and this theater. I stood in the center of the stage and talked in a quiet normal voice and I was heard easily in the back row. The theater overlooks the ruins of the city of Filipi. I have seen a couple of productions here and it is thrilling when the sun sets and the show begins. But, of course, the seating is the original stone and it wrecks havoc with your rear end. So the people sell styrofoam squares to sit on. The place holds about 3,000 people and even today in modern Greece, once the play starts, the audience, including grandparents, little children, young hip types, all slam shut and don't move for the duration. This silence is enthralling.

Boelie Woelders on Samothraki crazy truck

This photo was taken in April, 2007 when I sailed with my old friend, Boelie, to Samothraki. We wandered over to the ferry dock to watch the loading up process and had an adventure. The driver of this amazing truck was refused entry to the ferry and his assistant got angry. The assistant was a large man carrying two huge shopping bags on his shoulders. He stood on ferry loading bridge and spread his legs and crossed his arms and refused to move. The Coast Guardsman walked over and told him to move because there was another car that had to be loaded. He walked over to the car, which was backing up, and put his foot on the fender. The driver jumped out and there was almost a fistfight, but the Coast Guardsman broke it up and angrily ordered the man to leave the dock. Meanwhile, the truck driver had begun to drive toward the ferry. The Coast Guardsman shouted at him and he jumped off the truck. Boelie immediately jumped on and I took this photo. The fly wheel is unprotected and very close to your feet. This was a strange interlude because we were told that the iron junkman had a workshop about 7 kilometers from Alexandropolous on the mainland. So, how did they let him on the ferry to get to Samothraki? Anyway, the man and his assistant drove off into the town and the ferry left.