M/Y BLUESTAR

12/4/2008

Our good friends and the most frequent visiting superyacht to Palau, M/Y
BLUESTAR, completed her last stay in Palau for a few years, as she now heads
to the Caribbean for awhile. BLUESTAR has been to Palau about five times in
the last few years, spending several months at a time either on standby
awaiting the owners arrival or entertaining the owner and family who are
avid divers. Skippered by David Thornburn, of Vancouver, British Columbia,
BLUESTAR has been a fixture in Palau in between her very active travels
around the Pacific that included visits to Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Truk
Lagoon, Yap and the outer islands of Yap and Asian Pacific Rim countries.

Crewmembers Engineer Mark and Chef Chris, were always out and about sharing
fun stories and tall tales with the gang over at Kramer's, the local ex-pat
hangout when not enjoying sundowners at RBYC located at Sam's Tours. Our
good friend and former Sam's Tours staff member Kevin Davidson who had
served as local guide to Bluestar for many of her visits, joined Bluestar as
full time crew on one of her last trips and recently departed with her on
the long journey to the Caribbean. Planned route was via Truk, Marshall
Islands, Marquesas, Panama Canal, uo to Caribbean. Kevin now resides full
time in Guam when not gallavanting around the world on Bluestar.

Farewell BLUESTAR and safe sailing!

Majestic NORDKAPEREN

The majestic NORDKAPEREN visited Palau for a few months in 2008. Picture is NORDKAPEREN cruising through Palau's Rock Islands 9/11/2008.

MY/ CODENE

M/Y Codene just spent a few months in Palau. On board was our good friend
Jaap, formed dive guide at Neco Marine dive shop here in Palau, and before
that of Manta Ray Bay Hotel in Yap. CODENE is about 90 feet and built to the
specifications of her owner who has had several other yachts before Codene
and obviously applied that knowledge in creating Codene. She was beautifully
laid out with nice spacious accommodations, very functional work spaces, all
the latest toys, and yet was clearly well built as a sea-going exploration
vessel. Her Kiwi skipper Robhad spent many years in the southern ocean and
polar regions on research vessels.

EARTHRACE - Wave Piercing Design

5/6/2008
EARTHRACE, the radical 78 foot wave-piercing trimaran, skippered by Kiwi
Peter Bethune visited Palau on both of her round-the-world-record attempts.
Fueled by bio-diesel, the space age looking machine, was chasing the record
set by Cable and Wireless many years ago. Earthrace failed in her first
record-setting attempt due to technical problems with her engines however,
despite a number of challenges on the second attempt, that included damage
to her propellor and shaft from hitting sea-debris near Palau, EARTHRACE
completed her circumnavigation in record time and beat the previous record
by about 14 days.

RBYC served as Ground Crew for EARTHRACE on her record setting second trip
and welcomed Skipper Bethune, an RBYC Honorary Lifetime Member, and her crew
back to Palau. Earthrace's Palau "pit stop" was sponsored by Budweiser
distributor Shimbros, Sam's Tours Dive Center, Royal Belau Yacht Club,
Roll'em Productions, and local TV station Oceania Television (OTV). The
program included a short welcome / farwell ceremony, crew dinner, boat tours
for the public, and media interviews, all of which took place RBYC Yacht
Club.

Members of EARTHRACE crew were awareded with Honorary Lifetime Membership in
RBYC for their contributions to circumnavigation and the spirit of
adventure. RBYC is proud to be associated with EARTHRACE and honored to have
such distinguished and accomplished individuals as Peter Bethune and crew on
our membership rolls.

CADENCE cruises by.

The catamaran "CADENCE" cruises by "Anthea" on Sunday, April 27, 08, in Malakal Harbor, Koror, Palau. "Cadence", whose homeport is Half Moon Bay, CA, is now resident here in Koror and is frequently out on the water with skipper Frank and friends onboard.

ANTHEA - Just another fun day!

Just another fun day on board the classic 8 Meter "Anthea", owned by Gary Pione. Gary has kept Anthea in Palau for a few years and visits frequently in between assignments as a shipwright. The day was a little overcast but with a perfect sailing breeze. We cruised out Lighthouse Channel on the east side and headed a few miles off-shore before turning for a nice run downwind back in to Malakal Harbor, then out the west side for a spectacular sunset. Thanks Gary!

INSOUCIANCE with Captain Chris onboard

4/25/2008
Our dear friend Chris Christiansen paid us a visit from Palawan, Philippines his latest abode and joined us for a day of sailing on board INSOUCIANCE, the beautiful CT-34 he had built for himself and singlehanded for many years before leaving her in Palau in the care of his friend Sam Scott. Left to Right are Erik, Sam, Chris, and Gary.

M/Y SORCHA

Motor Yacht "SORCHA" lying off the west side of Malakal Island with the
Royal Belau Yacht Club in the distance off her bows. Sam's Tours served as
local agent for Sorcha and provided all of their ground services and
logistical support. RBYC played host to Sorcha's crew for some fun in
between trips with the owner and his young family. Kevin Davidson, Palau's
in-demand superyacht guide played master of ceremonies for Sorcha's rock
island adventures and showed all a great time.