A Quick October Update

I posted some pictures to the blog, but there are some things that cannot be capture in photos. The past two weekends were busy:

• October 6, 2011 was Octoberfest at the Gulf Hotel in Bahrain. It was a great time for all with a great deal of beer available,  good selection of German food (including great pork), and a oompah band! The ballroom was very full of people, many of whom were in traditional attire such as liederhosen or bavarian style dresses. Such a grand night, but one where I took few pictures. Afterwards I stayed at the Gulf Hotel, which was quite amazing!!
• October 13, 2011 was Canadian Thanksgiving in Bahrain hosted by a Canadian social group. The event was held at Upstairs Downstairs near the Gulf Hotel and a fun time was had by all. A great group of people and a good night out :-)

The last bit of excitement was work related! Today was a lot of fun for me. We had a nice drive to Ras Tanura airport early this morning to catch a helicopter to an offshore facility. The facility was very interesting and we got the added bonus of a boat ride to two other facilities and being hoisted by a rope basket at one point. I felt we should have paid admission! The helicopter was very comfortable with 12 people (plus two pilots). A really nice perspective of the area, although the open was not terribly picturesque ;-)

October Catamaran Regatta at HYMC October 14, 2011

As most of my friends know, I love the water (see previous post for more about my boat which is en route to the Kingdom finally). On Friday I was at Half Moon Bay for the monthly catamaran regatta. While I did not sail in the races (my boat is not here yet), I took some pictures to show what it is like here at the nice beach ;-) I did eventually sail after the races with some folks to help them learn to read the winds a bit better and get me used to a Hobie Cat.

The rules of the beach (#9 is most interesting)

This is the beach .. nothing to say the pictures does not!

The other direction on the beach with nice shelters and grills!

This is actually a shower! Note the shower head  in the dolphins mouth (the hobies are behind it)

One of our racing Hobie Cats

One of our racing Hobie Cats

A nice, colorful Hobie 17

A few boats from the fleet (we had 9 out in total)

A Hobie racing the some decent wind (they were light that day)

Hobies after the first race

All nice Hobie Cats that came out to race after the first race

Subset at Half Moon Bay

The day was a good one and we had a great lunch afterwards and were able to do some socializing later as well. What I learned afterwards is why the road there is so dangerous ... all of the Saudis are driving home to Khobar, usually a high speed ... some with no lights ... 

Stockholm September 2011

Well, I've been a bit remiss in my blog updates and have done a bit of traveling. Rather than a bunch of text, it seems best to show some selected pictures. These are from my trip to Stockholm in September 2011.

The oldest coffee shop in Stockholm. Great location and good coffee!

The royal palace used for ceremonial purposes, right in the heart of the city