Dr. Oz Show Health Tips

Since I'm currently working out of my "home office" one of the treats I allow myself, is watching the Dr. Oz Show.  It starts at 5PM and ends at 6PM.  I have yet to be able to have a whole undistracted hour to watch it, but even 15 minutes always provides a juicy tidbit of practical health information.  45 minutes provides an amazing array of topics from Gluten to Middle Age Cures Still Being Used to which "Healthy" Foods Really Are Healthy and more.   The website is:  http://www.doctoroz.com/ .  Lots of great information there, definitely worth checking out!

Everyone loves Dr. Oz because he is from a traditional medical background, yet relies on all possible sources to help people achieve optimum health while having fun.  He makes it obvious with his enthusiastic, charming, warm personality that he really wants all of us to understand what it takes to be and stay healthy.   One of the things I've learned are that the 5 numbers he thinks are key for us to know about our health are:

1)  Blood Pressure
2)  Waist Size
3)  Weight
4)  Cholesterol
5)  Fasting Blood Sugar

It might be time to dig through those medical records and find out these numbers!  When it comes to our health and that of our loved ones, knowledge is power and the key to all our adventures.   Do you think about doing something every day that adds to your health and well-being?

Club Swan's Caribbean Rendevous and Living in Paradise vs. Living in Fear

At the moment, I have 8 or 9 draft blogs created, but am having trouble finishing any of them.  This morning I turned on Twitter to check the "headlines" for sailing, marine biology, marketing, leadership, education and tropical sailing locations (of course!).  I was quite thrilled to find a Tweet about Club Swan's latest article, complete with photo of 4 beautiful Swan yachts, dripping with fenders, resting at a beautiful Caribbean sailing spot.  Since Swan's are the "King" of the sail boats, being incredibly well built and designed with great style and performance, they have developed a world class reputation among their owners and sailing fans over the years.  So I decided to treat you, my readers, to this article.  Besides, their rendevous is at the Bitter End Yacht Club - wish I was there, don't you?!? This Tweet was titled:  "2011 Club Swan Caribbean Rendevous: Cruising in Nature's Paradise from "Sailing News" out of Austria.  http://bit.ly/enHFAd .  Enjoy!

Another Tweet caught my eye from "Messing About in Sailboats - A Passion for all Things Sailing".   The article they highlighted was entitled "Living in Paradise vs. Living in Fear" written by Stu Hochron, in "News from the Bow".   If you are in the process of working towards moving onboard and casting off for a year round sailing climate, or if this thought has ever crossed your mind, this is a great "how to" article with a happy and realistic ending.  http://bit.ly/ffr2qS. 

Grateful to "Sailing News" and "Messing About In Sailboats" for their material, and to Twitter for making it so quick and easy to find.   Hope you enjoy these articles as much as I did - do let me know!

Old Hegg Hawksbill Turtle Sanctuary on Bequia

Visiting the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary on Bequia is an unforgettable experience.  It is relaxing and magical to watch these gentle creatures with their big inquisitive eyes and smiling beaks swimming around in their pools right in front of you.  I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing one swimming around in its natural habitat, but hope to some day.  Dive Bequia and other dive operations where sea turtles live and breed often publish their sightings and videos on Facebook or You Tube.

At the sanctuary, there are over 200 Hawksbill turtles, separated by size.  The newly hatched babies are fed canned tuna and the older turtles start eating sardines at 6 months, until they are large enough to be released after 3 years.  Orton "Brother" King who runs the sanctuary, had actually been a professional turtle diver, collecting these beautiful creatures and selling them for the value of their shells until this was outlawed in the late 70's in the Caribbean. Their shells were used for buttons, combs and other objects.  Mr. King did a total "about face" and in the 90's he established this Hawksbill turtle sanctuary to help replenish the ocean and save this colorful species from extinction.


 Mr. King says that the previous maturity rate of the turtles was only 1 in 1000 and he hopes to bring it up to 50 in 100 by keeping them at the sanctuary until they are large enough to be safe from their predators.  He makes a special mark on each shell so they can be tracked and counted while in their natural habitat.  The Hawksbill Turtle population has been reduced by 80 percent this century from being killed for their shells, which still happens illegally in some places, as well as destruction of their habitat.  They live in water 65 feet or less, mostly in rocky areas and coral reefs.  Their population also suffers from  disorientation while nesting and hatching due to all the nights at light on coastal areas, as well as being being hit by watercraft.

Besides the Caribbean, Hawksbill turtles are found in other tropical and subtropical areas of the Atlantic, as well as the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service site, "Only five regional populations remain with more than 1,000 females nesting annually (Seychelles, Mexico, Indonesia and two in Australia)..."  The Caribbean, including Mexico, accounts for 20 to 30 percent of the world's population.  The Old Kegg's Turtle Sanctuary website is http://turtles.bequia.net/ .   The photo to your right is Orton "Brother" King at the turtle sanctuary.   If you would like to find out more about Bequia and the turtle sanctuary, please contact me at HLSails@aol.com.  Mr. King is usually too busy with the turtles to answer his email!