MandT is on a bit of a hiatus over the holidays but rest assured we’ll be back once we get over our new year hangover.

In the mean time I stumbled across this earlier and thought you’d like it:

see more pwn and owned pictures

This week’s drink comes staring slowly across the sky. That’s right, its the Tequila Sunrise made famous by The Eagles and Mel Gibson….although the latter may be a bit of a stretch. This cocktail made its first appearance at the Arizona Biltmore sometime in the late 1930’s when, according to legend, bartender Gene Sulit created the drink when one of the wealthy regulars to the hotel asked Gene to surprise him with a drink to enjoy poolside.

The drink gained even more notoriety when Don Henley and Glen Frey of The Eagles wrote the song “Tequila Sunrise” which became their first single from their second album “Desperado” in 1973. Some experts say that it was this song that made the Tequila Sunrise one of the most popular drinks in the country, second only to the Margarita. (side note: wouldn’t you love to be one of those “experts”?)

There’s actually two accepted ways to make this drink. The most common requires:

• 2 Parts Gold Tequila
• 4 Parts Orange Juice (fresh squeezed is preferred)
• 1/2 part Grenadine.

Fill a highball glass halfway with ice. Pour in the Tequila and the orange juice. Now quickly add the grenadine. This is the trick, if you add it too slowly the grenadine will mix with the orange juice and you won’t get the effect. Many bartenders will pour the grenadine across the back of a spoon held inside the glass which, they say, will make it sink faster. Garnish with a slice of orange and a cherry and enjoy.

If you want to stay true to the Arizona Biltmore version, you’re going to need some different ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4 part Tequila
• 3/4 part Creme de Cassis
• Squeeze of Lime
• Club Soda
• Crushed Ice

Fill a highball glass with the ice. Next add the Tequila, Creme de Cassis and Lime (don’t stir it though). Now top off the glass with the Club Soda and garnish with a slice of Lime.

There you have it. Sit back, relax and enjoy. Don’t forget to thank our Feelgood Girls Sofia and Holly for helping us out with this week’s drink!

The iPhone was an odd journey for me. It started out as “why would I ever want one”, then became “I need a new phone so I might as well”. After about a month of using it, the iPhone is now one of those “how in the blue hell did I ever live without one?” type of items. 

While browsing through the App Store, I came across a couple of boating related applications so I gave them a try. After testing them for about a month, I can safely say: no boater with an iPhone should be without either.

The first is TideApp, a free application from Atlantis Technology. This app is pretty much what it seems: an electronic tide chart. It has all the reporting stations in the US and allows you to display past, present and future tide conditions for any of them. It also has a nice feature that lets you save stations to a favorites list for quick viewing. 

It does run a little bit slow on my generation 1 iPhone but you people with the 3G phones should have no trouble what so ever.

It’s a 100% free application so there’s no reason for you not to have it on your iPhone.

App Store Link: TideApp

The next app is one that I have thoroughly enjoyed using. Knot Time by Dustin Thomas is a knot tying guide for the iPhone. Now, if you’re anything like me you’ve stared at those blasted knot tying books with their little arrows and drawings for hours only to throw the book down in frustration and resolved to stick with your knots that you learned in kindergarden. 

Knot Time takes a different approach: it has videos of someone actually tying the knot and explaining the procedure as he goes! What a novel idea! I have actually learned more knots from this application than all the books, and posters and guides I’ve used in the past. 

I even learned how to tie the “Monkey’s Fist” knot. I can put one of those together without a problem now thanks to this. 

Its a big app, weighing in at 110mb but that size is really a drop in the pond of even the smallest of the iPhones. It’s priced it at a VERY reasonable $0.99 and, after using it for a while I would say that’s an absolute steal of a price.

App Store Link: Knot Time

Reynolds Park Yacht Center

I have found throughout my travels that there are basically two kinds of marinas: “a great place to plan a weekend trip to” and “the perfect place to store your boat”. Reynolds falls squarely in the latter category.

As far as marinas go, Reynolds is relatively new to the Jacksonville area although part of me has a bit of trouble calling it “new”. Reynolds itself has been around since 1946 where it was a Naval Training facility during World War II. According to their literature, there were as many as 600 ships here during its hay day. It later became an industrial park in 1965. In 2002, they turned part of it into the Reynolds Yacht Center. It’s that unique history of the facility that really makes it shine.

Way in the back? Those are CARS parked next to the boats!

Because it used to house destroyers and the like, you won’t have ANY worries about whether or not your boat will fit there. They’ve also added floating docks so that people can house their sailboats and runabouts there as well. They boast support for twelve and a half foot drafts and pretty much unlimited length for your boats. Amenities and perks are plenty there as well with electric, phone, fax, internet and satellite TV. There are also laundry, showers and kitchens for use. If you notice in the pictures of the docks, you’ll see something that you just won’t see anywhere else in Jax: you can drive your car on the dock. Who needs a dock cart when you can just park your car right next to your boat! If that’s not a major selling point I don’t know what is.

Floating docks are available for the smaller boats.

If you’ve owned a boat for more than a month, you know that it WILL break down and need work at some point or another. That’s another point for Reynolds as they have a full shipyard associated with it with dry dock up to 1,000 tons along with both 20 ton and 60 ton travel lifts. The shipyard offers painting, fiberglass repair, woodworking, mechanical and electrical repairs.

Spring Park is a great place to bring your lunch.

Reynolds is located on the St. Johns River just south of Green Cove Springs, Florida. It’s because of that location that I have to put Reynolds in the “great place to live but I wouldn’t want to visit” category of marinas. Don’t get me wrong, Green Cove is growing and once they get their “Mainstreet Project” done it will be a happening spot. For now, however, it’s a bit on the sleepy side. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing nearby though. Right across the street from the Yacht Center is a nice Par 3 Golf course AND a private airfield. Spring Park in downtown Green Cove is an awesome place to be in the summer time with one of the only spring fed swimming pools that I’m aware of.

View of Reynolds from Spring Park

There have been more than a few marinas that have closed in the Jax area over the past couple of years and more slated to close in the not too distant future. With so few left and the environmental regulations making it difficult to open new ones, it’s great to see a wonderful place like Reynolds take off. If you’re looking for a great marina to base your boat, you’d be crazy not to consider Reynolds.

For more information about Reynolds Park Yacht Center, call them at 1-866-FOR-RPYC or visit them online at http://www.rpyc.info/

Google Earth shot of Reynolds.

You have your boat people and you have your plane people. Not since the Grumman Goose have the two worlds collided so wonderfully. The same Egg Heads that brought you Spaceship-1 have created the ICON Aircraft.

This amazing light-sport plane lands on water and land, has folding wings to make it easier to store and best of all runs on regular old unleaded gas and/or 100LL (although price wise, I’d go for the regular gas).

According to the marketing speak on their website, this plane holds two people plus 60 pounds of baggage (450 pound useful load), has a range of 300nm and a cruising speed of 105kts. Not too shabby for a light sport plane. It also features an airplane parachute much like the ones Cirrus uses.

Buying one brand new looks to be in the realm of $139,000 and of course that price goes up a bit when you add on various options. I asked Santa for one but he sent me back a dvd of him and all the elves laughing. I guess I haven’t been as good this year as I thought I had.