We took in a couple of the shows on Sunday, including the hilarious Doktor Kaboom. Doktor Kaboom puts on a very funny act of interactive science comedy. He uses kids from the audience to be his lab helpers in his experiments and his interactions with them are priceless. He travels all over the country, so if you get a chance to see him, go for it. You won’t be disappointed. Check out the videos on his web site for an idea of what he’s about.

We were also able to catch two sets from our favorite maritime singing group, Bounding Main. They were great, just like they always are.

I ended up taking quite a few pictures, 187 to be exact. I was trying to catch the spirit of the faire by shooting a lot of the activities going on. I also had a couple characters I wanted photos of who had eluded me previously. Of course I had to find a Fantastikal or two to photograph also.

Here’s the link to a slide show of the photos from Sunday: Bristol Renaissance Faire, Final Weekend

When Lynne and I first walked through the gates of Bristol on opening weekend in July, I never dreamed that this place would touch my soul so deeply. There’s a magic there that can’t be described. Maybe it’s the child in me that grew up loving fantasy books, movies, and games, or maybe it’s something deeper. I don’t know. I do know that the four days I spent in Bristol were not only highlights of my summer, but maybe of my life too.

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]]> http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/photos-of-the-tall-ships-in-kenosha/feed/ 1 http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/tall-ships-in-kenosha/ http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/tall-ships-in-kenosha/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:54:11 +0000 Steven http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/?p=4379 Imagine my surprise when Lynne calls while on her way to work this morning to tell me that there are three tall ships anchored outside of Kenosha Harbor! I was still asleep, that woke me up real fast!! I put on some clothes, grabbed the camera gear and headed down there as quickly as I could. As I rounded the corner at Carthage College ,and saw the three ships, I realized that one of them was big. Could it be ? As I got closer I knew it was. Yes, the Bounty was anchored off of Kenosha Harbor! The other two ships were the Appledore IV and the Roseway.

While I was shooting my first pictures of these three I noticed another ship was leaving the harbor. I took a look through my binoculars and saw it was the Denis Sullivan. That got me to wondering if there were more ships in the harbor, so I headed down there and sure enough, there were two more, the Appledore V and the Inland Sea, both new ships to me.

I knew I had to get photos of the Bounty with the lighthouse, so that was my next move. I then began wondering if a couple ships may have stayed in Racine for the night, so I drove up there and found nothing. I headed back to Kenosha and got back in time to see that the Bounty had set three sails and was beginning to head out. She was the only one of the six left. I was able to get some more pictures of her with the lighthouse and then watched as she started to sail away. I followed along the shoreline and stopped for a few more pictures before I told her goodbye.

It was 3 weeks ago tomorrow that I first saw the Bounty in Sturgeon Bay and fell in love with her. Then to see her up close and walk her decks in Port Washington was very special. Now to have seen her anchored in Kenosha and then to watch her sail away is truly amazing. What a great way to end my summer of tall ships!

I’ll post more pictures later.

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I’ve been looking forward to this event all summer, but since seeing all of these ships in Sturgeon Bay, I’ve really been ready for it. What I was most exited about was seeing the ships up close and boarding them, especially the Bounty and the Pride of Baltimore II. They didn’t disappoint. I think I could have spent hours walking around the Bounty, there was so much to shoot. It was also a great thrill to go below deck on the Bounty. What a beautiful ship!

Here’s a slide show of my best images from the day. I highly recommend that you view it full screen by clicking on the icon in the lower right corner.

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2010 Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival – Images by Steven Bourelle

One of the other reasons I was excited to go to the maritime festival was to see Bounding Main. They are a quartet that sings old maritime and sailing tunes. Their wonderful four part harmony rings out across the festival. They also add a little comedy, creating a 45 minute set that is very entertaining. I shot some photos of them at the pirate festival that they used on their web site, so I was looking forward to shooting some more photos of them. You can check out the pictures at my Flickr account: Bounding Main in Port Washington

This is it for the tall ships for this year. We had a great time at both Port Washington and Sturgeon Bay. Seeing these grand ships has been a major highlight of my summer!

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We had a great time at the maritime Heritage Festival in Port Washington on Sunday. I should have pictures posted by the end of the day today. I’ll tell you more about it then.

If anybody out there happens to be in Chicago this week, head over to Navy Pier and check out the Chicago Tall Ship Festival. It’s the biggest tall ship festival on Lake Michigan with 20 ships. Today at 4:00pm is the parade of sail, that should be awesome. It’s very tempting for me to head down there this afternoon, but my dislike for Chicago traffic is stronger than my desire to photograph the ships so I think I’ll pass.

That’s all for now.

Though I have seen and photographed a number of tall ships in the past, this was my first time seeing them with their sails up. It was an awesome experience to witness the beauty of these magnificent ships up close like this. We also had a good time talking to the nice folks who were around us. All in all it was a great way to spend a morning.

I’m trying something a little different here, instead of posting a thumbnail gallery like I usually do, I’m putting up a slide show of my best images from the day. You can view the slide show full screen by clicking the icon in the bottom right corner. To view the image captions, move your mouse pointer over the image. By clicking the image, you will be taken to it’s gallery page where prints and downloads can be purchased. Let me know how you guys like this format. I think viewing the slide show full screen is pretty cool.

2010 Green Bay Tall Ships Parade of Sail – Images by Steven Bourelle

Here is a listing of the 12 ships that we saw on Thursday, along with links to their web pages.

• The Appledore IV
• The Bounty
  
• The Denis Sullivan
• The Europa
  
• The Friends Good Will
• The Lynx
• The Niagara
• The Pride of Baltimore II
• The Roald Amundsen
• The Roseway
• The Royaliste
• The Unicorn

Of the 12 ships, my favorites were the Bounty, Europa, Niagara and Pride of Baltimore II. Next weekend we’ll be going to the Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival where we’ll get to see five of these ships up close and personal.

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• Total days with measurable precipitation: 9
• Total precipitation for the month: 6.85 inches
• Highest one day rainfall: 2.31 inches
• Highest temperature: 92.4
• Lowest temperature: 49.2
• Average High temp: 82.49
• Average Low temp: 65.29
• We had three days with a high temp of 90+, seventeen days of 80+ (Remember I live right along Lake Michigan. Highs in the upper 80′s are rare here.) Add in dew points that were in the upper 60′s – low 70′s for most of those days and it was pretty miserable at times.
• Had 4 nights where the low temp was 70+, the highest low temp was a sticky 75.5
• 2 Tornado Watches
• 3 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

All in all it was a warm, sticky, sweaty month with only a few days of relief  from the humidity. Interestingly the mosquitoes weren’t that bad. I guess they decided to wait until August because they are horrible right now.

Currently we are enjoying a break from the humidity. Yesterday we had a high of  82, but the humidity was only 49% leading to a very pleasant day. This shows that it’s not the temperature, but the humidity that make it so uncomfortable. We are looking for the same today and tomorrow, then the humidity returns next week along with a chance of storms.

The Fantasticals are a group of fae, (Fairy, sprite, magical creatures, call them what you will) that wonder around the faire interacting with the visiting folks. They move slowly and gracefully, but can also take off in a flash chasing one another. They can be shy, friendly, curious and mischievous. You often find them napping against a tree without a care in the world, then next thing you know they’ve stolen and hidden some poor fellow’s hat. They always give it back though.  They mostly see and interact with children, and that’s where the magic really happens. The look in a child’s eyes, as they hand a leaf or twig to the fairy, is priceless, and the look in the fairy’s eyes as they spot a child in the distance looking at them is just as wonderful. Adults aren’t totally left out though.  If you are young at heart and your inner child shines through, then they may see you too. I was lucky enough to have that happen.

Over the last month the Fantastikals have been a big part of my life. I’ve spent many hours amongst them, shooting hundreds of pictures. They’ve made me smile and laugh and wish that I was 6 years old again.  Even when I’m at home, the pictures I’ve taken continue to lighten my heart and make me smile. I can truly say, they’ve touched my inner child and brought back a part of my life that’s been gone for quite awhile.

I’ve went through my hundreds of photos and picked out my 30 favorites. I’m not sure why these are my favorites, they just speak to me and remind me of my time in Shakespeare’s Meadow, where the Fantastikals play. Hope you guys enjoy them.

View my Full Fantastikals Set on Flickr

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:50:00 -0500Wisconsin Emergency Management
Dept. Of Military Affairs

Contact: Lori Getter
(608) 242-3239 or Jerad Albracht (608) 242-3215

News: Situation Report #4 on Severe Weather, July 23, 2010
Date: July 23, 2010 – 10:40 a.m.

OVERVIEW – Latest damage reports as of 10:40 a.m.:

Milwaukee County – County Executive Scott Walker signed a Proclamation of Existence of a County Emergency at 10:30a.m. Several roads closed due to flooding in the City of Menomonee Falls, City of Delafield and the Town of Vernon.

City of Milwaukee – Milwaukee received 8in of rain on the north side and 6in of rain on the south side. There were 2,000 calls for backwater in basements, 144 incidents of surface/street flooding and 50 lids were blown off sewers. At Oakland and North streets a manhole cover collapsed, which caused a sinkhole. There were 70 EMS calls, 122 fire calls and the dive team was out all night. There was a lightening strike to one house and a lightening strike to 2 people. All beaches are closed through Sunday. There were 500 police calls – one was to evacuate 100 people from a Country Inn and Suites as the water went over the first floor and surrounded the hotel. There are two shelters open – one at GlenHills Middle School (which sheltered 89 people last night), and the other at 26th and Wisconsin (which sheltered 10 people). To get a clean-up kit or to report basement water backup call 414-286-CITY.

Washington County – Sandbagging is occurring in the following areas: Little Cedar Lake, Druid Lake, Friess Lake.

Crawford County – Highway 82 bridge over the Mississippi now open.

Southeast Wisconsin – WE Energies confirmed they have approx. 7616 customers without power.

The above map is a preliminary outline of the rainfall amounts that fell across South Central and Southeast Wisconsin on Thursday July 22nd.

A persistent band of strong to severe thunderstorms developed Thursday afternoon and lingered over central sections of South Central and Southeast Wisconsin through the evening hours. WIdespread 3 to 4 inch amounts were reported along and either side of the I-94 corridor…with locally higher amounts of 5 to 8 inches. Widespread reports of flooding and flash flooding associated with the heavy rain were received across southern Wisconsin…sending rivers and streams above flood level…with water flowing over roads and stalling cars. Traffic was stopped on various stretches of I-94 through downtown Milwaukee at the height of rush hour….stranding motorists in their cars until the waters receded enough for traffic to move again.

Mitchell Field recorded 5.61 inches for the day…breaking a record for the date. The previous record was 1.26 set in 1948. This also is the second highest daily rainfall total on record for Milwaukee. The greatest one-day precipitation record was the 6.81 inches which fell on August 6, 1986.

Madison also set a record for precipitation for the date at 3.61 inches. This beat the previous mark of 2.21 inches set in 1885. The 3.61 inches ranks 13th for the most precipitation in one day. The record is the 4.96 inches which fell on August 8, 1906.

The above map will be updated in greater detail after co-operative observer reports come in later this morning.

I ended up with a 24 hour total of 2.5 inches here at the house.