Storypost | 2018.04.01

Sea of Thieves captaining steering heavy seas
Kayak


Since Jes enjoyed rafting, I thought maybe she'd like an ocean kayak for her bday. We did a sunset paddle before going to see Isle of Dogs.

Kayak garage hoist

This, of course, meant rigging a pulley system in the garage to easily store and load the vessel which she christened Gamora.


Photography


I did some bday photos for Lil'B down at the Cove. Since my hotshoe connection is loose I pretty much have to use the sync cable. It's not so bad since off-camera flash is better (except in bouncing scenarios). But after the session I realized I really needed to pull the trigger on a flash bracket.

Camera photography Vello flash mount bracket

Without much in the way of research, I ordered the Vello Quickdraw. At $20, it's a pretty solid ROI as photography equipment goes.


Its first live action was shooting Lil'H and family up in Poway. It was useful and convenient with the exception of the sync cable always getting in the way. The other are for improvement was the shadows created by a straight-on flash shot.


Photography equipment Vello flash mount bracket mod

Thankfully the bracket is highly adjustable. So by turning the joint part around I can get more flash angle.

Photography equipment flash mount bracket Vello no flash

And without a flash, it just folds over the top of the camera. I'm pretty happy to add it to the default camera setup. Having a substantial left grip is nice and the only downside is the knob on the bottom that prevents setting the camera down on its bottom side.
Nergigante


J and I bagged our first elder dragon.


Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Orion

And the Gentleman's Beer Explorer Society finished Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Love has Prevailed Royal Pupils
Sea of Thieves

Sea of Thieves cannon pvp

On the virtual seas, we haven't gotten in nearly enough sessions to bump against the content wall that everyone's complaining about. We're getting slowly more competent at pvp.

Sea of Thieves screenshot skull island cloud

For the last adventure we tried the skull fort for the first time.

Sea of Thieves screenshot skull cloud island

Basically you follow the big skull in the sky until you get to an island with some serious skeletons.

Sea of Thieves screenshot fort

It took us awhile to get there, we could see there were other players already raiding.

Sea of Thieves screenshot bombarding skull island fort

We weren't sure whether to engage or try to ignore them and go for the treasure. Kiet made the decision for us, fire away!

Sea of Thieves screenshot boarding another ship

We boarded them but they put powder kegs in the water and got us back.

Sea of Thieves screenshot fort raid

Still, we got a few men into the fort and battled some of the dead.

Sea of Thieves ship pursuit

We returned to find the successful plunderers running from another ship.

Sea of Thieves ship battle RedHeadSkillzz TrueCapitan

We drew alongside the pursuer, not sure whether to join them or attack them.

Sea of Thieves screenshot cannon fire ship battle

It was a little of both.

Sea of Thieves outpost shot from cannon

Both superior seamanship and antagonistic pursuers meant the treasure ship made it to the outpost with a little time to spare.

Sea of Thieves screenshot tactics skull island

We swung around the island and sank their ship after they'd turned in the big chest. We picked up some leftover spices.