Creatures

Continuing my Camera theme of yesterday, I’ve posted a selection of photos on the subject of ‘Creatures’.



They made me think of a hymn written by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander who wrote at least 400 hymns related to various biblical themes. Her ‘Hymns for Little Children’, published in 1848 contained the well known children’s hymn, ‘All things bright and beautiful.’



In this day and age, some people may consider the words of the hymn are nothing more than sentiment; on the other hand when the content is examined, it teaches the sovereignty of a mighty God. The Creator God is portrayed as one who is full of wisdom, a God who orders and sustains His creation. He sets a place and time for everything and nothing is too small to escape His attention. He is a caring God with colour vision who provides his creatures with all they need - One who makes things well.



When we know and believe these things, there’s a brightness and joy in living. The very colours we see are that much brighter when we know the One who created them and why. There’s majesty in His creation; the purple-headed mountains are one expression of his Being.


Refrain:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

1. Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colours,
And made their tiny wings.
(Refrain)

2. The purple-headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.
(Refrain)

3. The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden:
God made them every one.
(Refrain)

4. God gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.
(Refrain)


Text for the Day

Luke 19:39, 40 ‘And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”



Links


All Things Bright and Beautiful

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/l/allthing.htm


Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander

HTTP://WWW.CYBERHYMNAL.ORG/BIO/A/L/E/ALEXANDER_CFH.HTM

My Camera

My Sony Cybershot 7.2 Megapixel camera only has an optical zoom of four magnifications, but apart from that, it has loads of useful features. One great advantage is that it fits into my pocket, so that it is ready for instant use. The Carl Zeiss 35mm lens is very versatile, providing sharp focus, even with close-up subjects when light is poor. What more could I want? - Maybe a waterproof camera, because I like taking photos when I’m sailing my boat.



My Sony camera has nine settings for taking photos, and a separate one for videos. Mostly I use the ‘Easy’ mode, which is fully automatic, sensing both the exposure time and the correct focus. ‘Auto-adjust’ is similar, but it activates the flash when there is low light. Then there is an ‘Auto-exposure’ function with optional settings for adjusting focal length and use of the flash. I’ve only once tried the ‘Low Light’ setting. Ideally this requires a tripod for keeping the camera absolutely still, and I don’t have one. I’ve never tried the ‘Portrait’ in low light setting, which employs the flash; nor have I taken photos in ‘Landscape’ mode. This automatically blurs the foreground and brings the background into focus. A digital ‘Audio Video’ facility is most useful for recording scenes where there are moving objects. Other functions include: ‘Soft Background’, ‘Smile Capture’ and ‘Shoot’, without triggering the flash in a low light setting.



My camera has two viewfinders. It has a standard look-through with one eye viewfinder, and there’s a digital screen at the back. Sometimes I can’t see the image on the screen because sunlight reflects off it. If that happens I have to use the ordinary viewfinder, or point the camera towards the subject and hope the picture will be OK. The camera can play audio videos, and take photos seconds after the shutter button has been pressed by use of an inbuilt timer. All photos, including HD videos are stored on a mark two, 1 gigabyte Memory Stick Pro Duo card. The camera’s lithium ion 3.6 volt battery holds a charge for many hours. I need only charge it perhaps once a week, even a fortnight or more, according to use.


All in all, I’m very pleased with my camera. Today, I have uploaded four photos of flowers; tomorrow the subject will be’ creatures’, and the following day it will be ‘places’.




Text for the Day

Genesis 1:24, 25 ‘Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according its kind, and everything that creeps upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.



Links


Sony Cybershot 7.2 Megapixel Camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDe9QE3Wcc8&feature=related

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud

‘Mud, mud, glorious mud; there’s nothing quite like it for cooling* the blood’; these are the opening words of a hilarious nonsense song composed and sung by Flanders and Swann. The actual title of the ditty is, ‘The Hippopotamus Song’. Now we know that hippopotamuses are semiaquatic African mammals with massive jaws. They love wallowing in mud and they are really at home in the slimy stuff.



I like mud, but I do not like getting it on me, particularly the black slippery substance that adheres to an anchor that has been retrieved from the River Roach. This variety has been in the making for thousands of years; it is tenacious foul-smelling sediment composed of minute particles that were suspended in murky tidal waters when they swished to and fro over the riverbed.



This is the same sort of gooey mess that forms in creeks of East Coast Rivers, such as the rivers Crouch, Deben and the Orwell, not necessarily black, but of many shades and hues. Some are deep quagmires, others firmer, even supporting the growth of weeds, grasses and reeds. Many tiny creatures live in the stuff, the very food that sustains countless numbers of wading birds. At the edge of receding waters they probe the surface with their long beaks, searching for juicy morsels, ragworms and the like.

**

I love looking at mud. It’s gorgeous, especially when sunlight reflects off the surface. There’s very little that can surpass its beauty when it reflects the setting sun in all its glory. Textures and patterns, shapes and forms, colours and hues, shades, light and dark all combine to make a tapestry of intricate loveliness.



*See link below for Maldon Mud Race.



Note

**This photo is reproduced from ‘Musings from a Muddy Island’, an excellent blog by Juliet Doyle. Here is the address: http://julietdoyle.blogspot.com/ .


Text for the Day

Isaiah 53:2 ‘For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.’



Links


Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt6xGqk0F0U


The Hippopotamus Song (Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QW85kfakJc


Hippopotamuses

http://www.hippopotamuses.com/


Ragworms

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/factfiles/segmented_worms/ragworm_bg.shtml


Flanders and Swann

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanders_and_Swann


*Maldon Mud Race

http://www.maldonmudrace.com/main.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh-DF2N2TNw

Seawater – Amazing stuff.

Seawater covers about 70 percent of the earth’s surface. According to where it is, it contains variable amounts of salt. The Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are considerably more saline than the cold waters that circulate around Antarctica. The greater part of seawater is Oxygen - almost 80 percent of it, and Hydrogen amounts to about 11 percent. Of the remaining elements, Chloride and Sodium account for over 3 percent.


The density of seawater varies according to its salinity and temperature. Hence a ship has a series of lines painted on her hull in the region of the waterline known as the Plimsoll Line or the Plimsoll Mark. These markings indicate the depth to which she should be loaded. A ship is loaded to be safe so that there is no danger of her sinking when she passes through the oceans and waterways of the world. For example, warm saltwater is less dense than cold saltwater and tropical fresh water is the least dense of all. The denser the water is, the more buoyant it is. Therefore a vessel leaving Iceland in winter, bound for the River Niger in Nigeria, in central western Africa, at most, she will be loaded to the lowest of the Plimsoll marks. When she arrives at her tropical freshwater port she will have sunk in the water to her highest mark.



Our very existence is intricately bound up with seawater, for without it we cannot live. Not only do we receive fresh water from it through solar distillation, via the atmosphere in the form of clouds from which rain falls to the earth, but bacteria and plankton living in the sea help create the air we breathe. The oceans’ food chains, including the seawater fish we eat, depend upon the growth of healthy phytoplankton. If we upset the balance of the oceans’ by polluting them, we threaten our very existence.



A swim in the sea can be refreshing to body and soul. We may read of the long-distance sailor who takes a swim when his yacht is becalmed upon a blue ocean; he plunges into the cool water and comes out feeling like an entirely new man, relaxed and yet invigorated. The very best sea swim I ever had was at a little cove at the Island of Formentera in the Mediterranean. There the water was wonderfully buoyant, because of its high salinity. I could float on my back with my arms and legs outstretched while I sunbathed too!



I am fascinated with water, particularly the way in which it can distort images through reflections and refractions, and I love watching waves braking on the seashore, whether on a soft sandy beach, a pebbly one, or hard granite rocks, as one finds in Cornwall. How wonderful it is to watch wriggling patterns of moving shadows on sand below the water’s surface, to see weeds sway at the behest of underwater currents, and waves dissipating on a beach. It’s no wonder children laugh and scream when they paddle in the amazing stuff.



Text for the Day

Revelation 21:1 ‘Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.’



Links


Seawater

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater


The Plimsoll Line

http://www.grandpapencil.net/science/plimsoll.htm

Out of Sight, but not out of Mind –Sven Yrvind

Further to my blog of Saturday, 13th August ‘Sven Yrvind Sails Again’, here are a few more words. He is currently sailing across the Atlantic from Madeira to Fort-de-France.


Sven holds strong opinions about the merits of small boats over those of large ones, and he expresses his beliefs by putting them into practice. He crosses oceans in small boats of his own design and making. He is a gifted boat designer and an original thinker, but he is conservative when it comes to keeping in touch with the outside world. He cherishes being alone. For him, there’s no better or happier place than to be on a speck of a boat in the middle of a vast ocean. There he is in tune with the rhythms of nature.



Sven makes one concession with the outside world, and that’s his Spot Tracker which records his position on an interactive digital chart. By simple arithmetic, the speed of his yacht can be calculated. Distance from his starting point and distance to his intended landfall can also be calculated. If he maintains his average speed, he can predict his expected time of arrival. Yesterday he passed the halfway point. For him that may have been a time for celebration, but also one for sadness, for he knows that each passing day will leave him with less time for communing with the invisible Spirit.


Note

The illustrations are cropped photos of my computer screen.


Text for the Day

Colossians 1:15 – 17 ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.’



Links


Interactive Spot Tracker Map

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0jWcWAltaiS87Q3soWB2OnNnmMgbm1Q2r


Analysis of Sven’s Position as defined by Spot Tracker

http://www.mts.net/~gdm1969/sven.html


Yrvind.com

http://yrvind.com/


Yrvind 4.1 An article about Sven’s smaller boat built before the current one.

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2009/11/yrvindaren-41.html


Spot Tracker

http://www.globaltelesat.co.uk/satphone/SPOT_Satellite_GPS_Messenger.html?gclid=CK_nzpDxnawCFUtB4QodlVeQ-w

http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/1865/spot-satellite-personal-tracker

‘Strings’

'Amaryllis 11', a replica of the original catamaran

I prefer small sailboats to large ones, but the vessel I am featuring here is fairly small in a sense, and yet large in another, because of her overall length of 39’ 7”. I would describe her as a catamaran similar to Nathanael G. Herreshoff’s 33 foot ‘Amaryllis’ which he designed in 1876. Both vessels feature accommodation within a pod which is suspended between hulls. These pods resemble boats in themselves, each with a bow and a stern. The central structure of ‘Strings’ has minimal accommodation for 4 at a pinch and an open cockpit. Herreshoff’s ‘Amaryllis’ only had a cockpit.

'Strings'

Jan Gougeon is the pragmatic ‘designer’ and builder of ‘Strings’. His name is synonymous with West Epoxy Resins, because he and his brother Meade set up business in 1961 building iceboats and fast sailboats using their own brand of epoxy resins. Two years later they started selling epoxies to other boatbuilders, and their business continues to thrive today.


‘Strings’ was launched in early July of this year, but she was originally conceived over a decade ago when Jan first commenced building her. He confesses that at that time he had no idea how the finished boat would look. In his words she ‘evolved’ through periods of gestation. The main components of the boat are foam, plywood and carbon fibre bound together with epoxy to form a very strong structure.


The overall result is a creature that resembles a praying mantis, but one that moves considerably faster. She reminds me of a stick insect. Despite her unusual appearance, she has some useful features, including her ability to self-right. Her hulls can be folded inwards toward the pod so as to reduce her beam from 14’ 8” to 8’ 0”, enabling transportation by road. She is in effect, a very long trailer sailer. With only a displacement of 2,000 lbs and a working sail area of 400 square feet, she is no sluggard. Downwind she can set 900 square feet, including her spinnaker. Her two furling foresails make for easy reefing. Water ballast can rapidly be scooped into chambers within both hulls by the forward motion of the vessel. When her boards are up she draws a mere 9 inches, and when they are down, 4 foot 9 inches.



Text for the Day

John 6:19 ‘So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.’



Links


Jan Gougeon launches ‘Strings’

http://www.epoxyworks.com/33/pdf/Strings.pdf


West System Epoxy

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/company-overview/


Praying Manits

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/praying-mantis/


Stick Insects

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/stick-insec/

iPhone Nautical Chart Navigator

Opening page

I have two GPS handheld chart plotters; they are an Etrex Legend by Garmin and an Expedition ‘C’ by Lowrance. If they were both to fail, I could resort to using a GPS application I downloaded to my iPhone. In practice, this plotter is very good indeed, and I would like to tell you about it.


Firstly, it’s cheap. For only £13.99 you have an application giving coverage for UK waters, including those around the shores of Ireland. As far as I am aware, charts are updated on a regular basis, with no further expenditure. The name of the app is, ‘Flytomap GPS Map Navigator. You can download it directly through your iPhone from iTunes Applications. My phone is a 3G model, but I’m sure it will work with the 3Gs and probably a 4.

Offline moded


Fytomap Chart Navigator offers four operating modes: Offline, Streets, Outdoor and Hybrid. The ship’s position is represented by a red arrowhead. As she moves, so does the symbol. Charts can be zoomed in or out, and they all have a nautical mile distance scale. With the flick of a finger, you can pan charts in any direction, and for landscape or portrait viewing, simply orientate the phone to be horizontal or upright.

Hybrid mode

In all modes, the Navigator depicts coloured Admiralty style charts containing their usual features, i.e., soundings lines, buoys, navigational marks, water depths etc. By pressing an icon that resembles a stereotypic satellite, the yacht’s latitude and longitude can be ascertained, also her speed and heading.


It is not necessary for the phone to be connected to the Internet to obtain chart data. You simply have to have the phone in Offline mode. Incidentally, in this mode, there are no charges for downloading data, because all necessary information is programmed into the phone’s memory.


Street mode requires Internet access through GPRS, which provides Google road maps and associated information. Tap your finger on a feature, and a popup will appear with pertinent information; for example, it will inform of a buoy’s shape, its purpose and colour, along with the name.


The Outdoor mode adds roadways, footpaths, horse tracks, railway lines, woodlands - similar to Ordnance Survey maps. In Hybrid mode the screen resembles Google Earth with most of its features. You can zoom in and out for as much or as little detail you might want. The application has other features, such as geo-tagging for photos, marking favourite places, inserting waypoints, calculating your ETA, navigate to a location; it even has a live compass providing true direction.


Bear in mind that an Internet connection is required for all modes of viewing, apart from when in Offline mode. Unless you have a good GPRS connection, none of the additional features via online modes are available, but for general navigational purposes, everything is there for you to navigate. Keeping your iPhone dry can be a bit of a problem, but there are waterproof containers specifically designed for iPhones. (See links below)


I recommend ‘Flytomap GPS Map Navigator for iPhone, because it is easy to use and it gives value for money.


Note

I get no financial reward for doing this review. I have no vested interest in ‘Flytomap’. Please accept that if you try the application and it doesn’t work for you, that is entirely your own risk. I cannot be held accountable or responsible for what you may do. On the other hand I don’t think you will be disappointed.



Text for the Day

1 Corinthians 16:13, 14 ‘Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.’


Links


Description of the Application

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/marine-uk-ireland-gps-map/id356991473?mt=8


Flytomap.com

http://www.flytomap.com/ftm/Index.aspx


iDry Waterproof iPhone Case

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIzP2Yv0eNI


iDry Waterproof Phone Case for 3G/3Gs Review

http://www.thesportshq.com/idry-waterproof-phone-case-for-iphone-3g--3gs.aspx

Solo Sailor of the Smallest Boat around Britain?

Oliver Rofix


Who holds the record for sailing alone around Britain in the smallest boat? In this context, I’ll define Britain as the island consisting of England, Wales and Scotland - with tongue in cheek, Cornwall too!


A few solo sailors have been accredited for sailing around Britain in small vessels, for example, Ellen MacArthur and Katie Miller. In fact, both of them circumnavigated England and Wales with their 22’ Corribees. They did not sail north of Scotland; instead they went through the Caledonian Canal. What they did was notable, but they did not sail around Britain. On the other hand, Oliver Rofix recently completed* a circumnavigation of Britain. He did it aboard his Valiant 18’, and I think I’m right in believing he did it alone. Therefore, could he be the record holder for doing it in the smallest boat?


As a matter of curiosity I would like to know who has actually sailed solo around Britain in the smallest boat. I am not talking of non-stop circumnavigations. The chap who came be known as Captain Calamity thought he could do it non-stop in a dinghy, but he came to grief several times. He had to be rescued more than once by RNLI crews, and on one occasion, by the crew of a helicopter.


The relative size of a vessel cannot be based on length alone. Volume is a better indicator. Total girth of a hull at her maximum beam, excluding cabin structures above deck, divided into the length of a vessel might provide a ratio that gives a better understanding of a vessel’s size. A boat such as my old Paradox that is 4.2 metres long, 1.23 metres wide, with side panels measuring 0.688 metres from top to bottom has a ratio of 1.09. My ‘Sharpy’ is 4.572 metres long, 0.79 metres wide and she has side panels 0.29 metres high, giving her a ratio of 2.12, indicating she is the smaller vessel.


I heard rumour that a guy sailed around Britain on a windsurfer. If that is true, he must surely be the record holder. Then there was a fellow who reputedly did it with his West Wight Potter 15, but as far as I can gather, neither of these rumoured solo circumnavigations of Britain under sail have been established by verifiable facts. Who does hold the solo record for sailing around Britain in the smallest boat?


Note

Clarification of the term, ‘Sailing around Britain’: To qualify for the record, the primary energy source for propelling the vessel must be the wind. Manual propulsion and the occasional use of mechanical engines are acceptable, providing they are primarily used for entering or leaving ports and anchorages.



Text for the Day

Matthew 24:6 ‘And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.’



Links



*Oliver Travels

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2011/10/oliver-travels.html


Oliver Rofix

http://www.olivers-travels.co.uk/


Ellen MacArthur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_MacArthur


Katie Miller

http://corribee.org/cruising-and-racing/katie-miller/


Captain Calamity – Stuart Hill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hill_(sailor)


Becky Cross and Mary Jeddere-Fisher Around Britain in Mk 11 Corribee

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8622000/8622307.stm


‘Faith’ my old Paradox Sailboat

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee


‘Talitha’ my Sharpy

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2011/07/building-sharpy-part-134.html

‘Teamwork Evolution’ – Winner of the Transat 6.50 Second Leg

'Teamwork Evolution' *

Every two years the Charante-Maritime Transat 6.50 Race brings exciting news of sailors breaking records, either on the first or second legs. This year the very experienced David Raison, solo skipper of ‘Teamwork Evolution’, beat the second leg record time for sailing from Madeira to Salvador Bahia by twenty minutes. This leg of the race is a distance of 3,120 nautical miles, and it took him 17 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes to complete, at an average speed of 7.53 knots.


His Prototype mini was markedly different from the others by having a rounded, scow-shaped bow. The innovative yacht enabled him to sail faster than the others when beam reaching and running, and, as the course was mainly downwind, it gave him a significant advantage.


Mini 6.50 racing takes place throughout the year, and it is not solely about racing across the Atlantic. Therefore I cannot see skippers opting en masse for boats with scow-shaped bows, because I doubt such yachts will prove to be good all-round performers.

'Rattle and Hum' Keith Willis's Pogo2 raced in the 2009 Transat Mini 6.50


Thinking of these things, I am reminded of my chance encounter with Keith Willis who participated in the 2009 Transat 6.50 Race. I met him at Lymington Yacht Club when I was there with my Paradox sailboat. I had hoped he would be in this year’s race, but that was not the case. From his website I gather that his Pogo2, ‘Rattle and Hum’ is for sale.**


** Addendum: Keith Willis has told me that 'Rattle and Hum' was sold withing 3 hours of being advertised!


Text for the Day

Ecclesiastes 9:11 ‘I returned and saw under the sun that – The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favour to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.’


*Note - This is a cropped photo of my computer screen.



Links


Winner of Transat 6.50

http://www.yachtingworld.com/news/530009/winner-of-the-transat-6-50


Fantastic Victory for David Raison

http://www.thedailysail.com/offshore/11/60195/0/david-raison-wins-mini-transat


Preparing for Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=159331


Charente Maritime Bahia Transta 6.50

http://www.charentemaritime-bahia.transat650.net/en/


Teamwork Sailing – 3 Boats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1XE4AwQZ2dU#!


Mini Transat 6.50

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_Transat_6.50


Unofficial Mini Transat 6.50 Website

http://www.minitransat650.com/


Min Transat 6.50 Race

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2009/10/mini-transat-650-race.html


Mini 650 Racing Yacht

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2009/10/mini-650-racing-yacht.html


Keith Willis Details

http://www.sailing.org/1622.php?memberid=56757


UK Mini 650 Class – Keith’s Website

http://open650.org.uk/


Keith’s GBR 440 is for Sale

http://minitransat440.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/gbr440-is-for-sale/


Keith’s Account of his 2009 Transat 6.50 Race

http://yachtpals.com/node/7390

Oliver Travels Part 2

Oliver Rofix arrived at St Katherine Docks Marina, London, on Friday, 28th October, after sailing ‘Jolly Olly’, his Vailiant 18 around Britain*. When I first saw his boat I didn’t think she was a Valiant, but sure enough she is, and probably the best fitted-out of her class. She was extensively renovated and refitted by Olly and his supporters.




From photos posted here you can see a lot of her gear. Starting at the bow, there’s a Delta anchor by Lewmar, a furling Genoa, a stainless steel kingpost, two mooring cleats, a pushpit and a u-bolt fitted to the stem. The deck is overlaid with Flexiteek simulated planking. She has a substantial fore hatch, perhaps by Lewmar. Her mainsail is stowed in a lazy jack system, made by Jeckells. For protection from spray and wind, there’s a smart and practical spray hood with a large flexible window for forward vision by Suffolk Sails. There are instruments in the cockpit mounted beside the companionway for measuring things like water depth, wind speed and boat speed. Bolted to the aft deck and above the transom there’s an ‘A’ Frame for mounting antenna, of which there are at least two, possibly for radio and GPS navigational equipment. Inside the boat there are several pieces of electronic gear, including an Icom M505 transceiver. Mechanical propulsion would appear to be an internal Saildrive engine; the boat also has a backup engine in the form of a small Suzuki outboard.



Olly did well by recruiting at least 37 commercial sponsors for his fund-raising circumnavigation. They gave generously of equipment, money, time and effort to help make his mission a success. Well done to them and especially to Olly for raising money for the Anthony Nolan Trust.


Text for the Day

Matthew 6:3, 4 ‘But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.’



Links


*Oliver Travels

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2011/10/oliver-travels.html


Olly’s Website

http://www.olivers-travels.co.uk/index.php


Jeckells Sails

http://www.jeckells.co.uk/


Suffolk Sails (Spray Hood)

http://www.suffolksails.net/


Flexiteek Decking

http://www.advancedmarinedecking.co.uk/en/flexiteek-decking-system.html


Bolenda Engineering (Stainless Steel Fittings)

http://www.bolenda.co.uk/


Raymarine (Electronic Equipment)

http://www.raymarine.co.uk/


Icom

http://www.icomuk.co.uk/


Saint Katherine Docks Marina

http://www.skdocks.co.uk/marina/


Suzuki GB Marine

http://www.suzuki-marine.co.uk/


Lewmar (Don’t think they sponsored Olly, but he had a Delta anchor, one of their products)

http://www.lewmar.com/


Valiant 18 Bilge Keel Yacht

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2010/09/valiant-18-bilge-keel-yacht.html

Silly Season

We are here again at the ‘Silly Season’, the time of ghouls, witches, spells, ‘trick or treat’ and all things horrid – the time of Halloween and of the burning of Guy Fawkes effigies. Spoil sport! Yes, I know. On top of it all, there are fireworks, bang squish, bang bang and pop pop. Oh, it’s only a bit of fun for the kids, but is it? Fancy dress, treacle apples, muffins and popcorn; what are these things all about?


I’ve already mentioned my dislike of Halloween (See the first link* below), and need add nothing more, but of Guy Fawkes, please continue reading.


Why do we commemorate the horrific death of Guy Fawkes, a Catholic conspirator, who with others had it in their minds to assassinate King James 1st to restore a Catholic monarch to the throne? As far as I can gather, this poor chap was never burnt at the stake; never did he die by being burnt on a fire. According to Wikipedia he committed suicide by jumping off a scaffold and breaking his neck! Others say that he was executed. Who to believe, I don’t know!


Apparently, bonfires were lit on the night of 5th November 1605, the day when Fawkes was caught red-handed in a cellar, under the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder. Bonfires were burned that same day by way of celebration, because he and his co-conspirators had not been successful with their planned attempt at assassinating King James 1 by blowing him up.


The tradition of burning fires on the 5th November has continued ever since, including the burning of Guy Fawkes effigies.

Why?

The practice is rather stupid. Kids and adults get injured every year because of being burnt by fireworks or because of falling into fires. Fires get out of control, necessitating the callout of firefighters. Even properties are not exempt from being damaged or burnt down as a result of fireworks getting too close to them. Household pets are disturbed and frightened by the sound of fireworks, and these animals hate the smell of smoke. Fireworks and bonfires cause needless pollution to the air, and heat generated by them is added to the atmosphere. Under certain conditions, smog can form, causing distress to those who suffer from breathing problems. Quite often, firework night is celebrated on days either side of the 5th November; consequently we end up with the sound of fireworks going off for several nights. Thankfully, this year, 5th November falls on a Saturday, which could mean we may be spared somewhat, and sleeping babies may sleep soundly.


Sadly, commercial interests will ensure the preservation of Halloween and Guy Fawkes, because by the sale of related paraphernalia, those who sell them make millions - even shareholders of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the like will gain.



Note

I concede that there may be a case for well-supervised, organized fireworks displays, for celebratory or entertainment purposes.



Text for the Day

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’”



Links


*Halloween

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween.html


Should Christians Participate in Halloween?

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/halloween.html


‘Hell-o-ween’

http://laststophell.com/hell/halloween.html


What does the Bible say about ………. the tradition of Halloween?

http://www.bible.com/bibleanswers_result.php?id=170


Guy Fawkes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes


Guy Fawkes

http://www.bonfirenight.net/gunpowder.php


The Firework Shop List Blog

http://www.thefireworkshoplist.com/blog/uk-retail/tesco-fireworks/


Sainsbury’s Fireworks (Buy one, get one free)

http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/instoreoffers/instore-offers.htm


Standard Fireworks Factory Shop

http://www.blackcatfireworks.co.uk/firework-shop.htm


Ban the Bang

http://www.looking-glass.co.uk/campaigns/banthebang.htm


Fireworks (Comprehensive information about fireworks)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireworks

Oliver Travels

Oliver

After a 213 day marathon, sailing around Britain, Oliver Rofix finally arrived in London yesterday. To have done it aboard an 18’ twin-keel Valiant sloop, after recuperating from a rare form of leukaemia, was indeed a fine feat of endurance. He said that without a generous donation of bone marrow and pioneering treatment at Addenbrookes Hospital none of what he had done would have been possible. He had been given his life. In return, he wanted to give something back.

En route

Arriving

To this end he undertook the challenge to raise awareness of the Anthony Nolan Trust and to recruit 40 potential bone marrow donors. So far, 35 potential donors have been registered, and £2,410 has been raised by Olly for the Trust.


Note

All photos for this article are cropped images of photos taken by me of my TV screen.


Text for the Day

Luke 6:38 ‘Give, and it will be given you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.’



Links


Oliver Rofix’s Website

http://www.olivers-travels.co.uk/


Oliver’s Fund-raising page for Anthony Nolan

https://www.anthonynolanevents.org.uk/OliverRofix


Anthony Nolan Homepage

http://www.anthonynolan.org/


Addenbrookes Hospital

http://www.cuh.org.uk/addenbrookes/addenbrookes_index.html


Sail Making News

http://www.sailmakingnews.co.uk/oliver-rofix-round-britain-update/


Raymarine News

http://www.raymarine.co.uk/news/view/?id=1187


Your bone marrow gave me a tomorrow

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/811328-your-bone-marrow-gave-me-a-tomorrow


Oliver visits Town Quay Marina, Southampton

http://townquay.com/newsarticle/22/


The Jolly Olly

http://www.londonboatshow.com/2011/show_information/attractions/olivers_travels.aspx

Delights beside Tidal Waters

Besides water’s edge I can find space and freedom, time to dream; open horizons where sky meets sea, or closed vision of salty mud and putrid muck in forlorn saltings, no longer worked. Sky and water subtly morph as tides ebb and flow. Sunlight reveals nature’s hues. Clouds intervene, casting enigmatic shadows with dramatic effect - changing moods from elation to sombre tone. Water reflects and refracts; it ripples, tumbles, foams and roars; angry then acquiesces, sublimely calm. Oily, nauseating undulations slowly move, and I want to puke.


Waters ebb, hidden secrets manifest, reveals acres of oozing mud or golden sand; elsewhere rounded pebbles stretch to cresting waves where they are drowned in ocean’s depths. In salt-laden weed are hidden lurking crabs. Nearby are cockles, mussels and winkles galore. In crystal pools there are crustaceans, sparkling fry; starfish, urchins, sea slugs and the like - all citizens inhabiting galaxies within their aqueous universe. At quiet backwaters Egrets strut, and lone Heron stalk. By river’s bank Peewit call, and screeching Tern wheel and dive; Gulls squawk while Redshank and Sandpiper forage too.


These are my delights by tidal waters.



Text for the Day

Psalm 85:10, 11 ‘Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.’

‘Kudu’ for Sale at Ebay

Nathan's photo of 'Kudu' at Ebay

On 24th January, 2010 I did a blog* about ‘Kudu’ and her owner, Nathan Whitworth. He set out from London with the intention of sailing his twin-keel Corribee Mk 1 Bermudan sloop along the South Coast of England to visit his granddad at Christchurch. Instead, after emerging from the River Thames he headed north. He continued cruising northwards along the East Coast and while doing so, he came up with the idea of sailing around Britain, but by the time he reached Stonehaven, on the East Coast of Scotland, he ran out of money. It was getting very late in the season and weather prospects were poor. At this point he abandoned his around Britain cruise and had his boat taken by road to Preston where he put her up for sale – that was in late December, 2009.


As far as know, ‘Kudu’ has been for sale ever since, but I can’t find her on Preston Marina’s Brokerage list. However, they do have a fin keel Corribee Mk 1 for sale at £2,750, complete with a launching trolley. Nathan is now advertising his twin keel Corribee Mk 1 on Ebay.co.uk for £3,500. Maybe that’s a tad too much, but I can’t say without seeing his boat, and a boat is always worth what a buyer will pay. A seller need only find one buyer!


‘Kudu’ may be the very yacht you are looking for, but my advice would be to never part with your money without first seeing the boat of your dreams. Perhaps Nathan could be persuaded to reduce the asking price? Time and again I have observed boats rot because their owners wanted more than the market price. Meanwhile they had to pay storage fees while their assets decreased in value. By selling at a lower price they would have saved money in the long run.



Notes

Roger Taylor of, ‘The Simple Sailor.Com’, rates Newbridge Corribees very highly. He sailed his junk-rigged Corribee, by himself across the Atlantic for thousands of miles, including a visit to the Arctic Circle. (http://www.thesimplesailor.com/) Also see links below for Ellen MacArthur and Katie Miller who independently sailed their Corribees around Britain.



Text for the Day

James 1:5-8 ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, without doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man supposes that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.’



Links


‘Kudu’ for Sale at Ebay for £3,500

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270835743946?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649


‘Kudu’ Still for Sale

http://onkudu.com/uncategorized/kudu-still-for-sale/


Nathan’s ‘On Kudu’ Web Site

http://onkudu.com/


Nathan’s Professional Web Site

http://www.nathanwhitworth.co.uk/


*’Kudu’ and Nathan Whitworth

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2010/01/kudu-and-nathan-whitworth.html


Nathan’s YouTube Videos via my Playlist

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=04F6D3D7936B1822


Nathan’s Twitter Page

http://twitter.com/NathanWhitworth


Corribee (Info here about Ellen MacArthur’s circumnavigation of Britain via the Caledonian Canal)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corribee


Katie Miller also circumnavigated Britain in a Corribee

http://corribee.org/cruising-and-racing/katie-miller/

New TV Aerial

Not long ago my wife and I bought a new TV. On the whole, we have been very pleased with it, but now and again reception hasn’t been all that great, because signals were inefficiently received through non-digital aerials. Something needed to be done to improve picture quality; therefore we decided to have replacement aerials. I made a few enquiries for quotes, and in every instant I was advised that only one aerial would be required.



Yesterday morning I was expecting a TV aerial fitter to arrive at about nine o’clock. Therefore you can imagine my surprise, when at that time, a colourful Sky TV van stopped outside. I had not ordered an aerial from Sky, but the puzzle was solved when the van backed into my immediate neighbour’s drive, and moments later an anonymous white van backed into mine. What a coincidence! What were the chances of two independent technicians doing TV installations at the same time to adjacent properties?



Our man installed our new aerial in just under an hour-and-a-half, including dismembering the old ones so that they would fit into the recycling bin. He tuned in both TVs, took payment, and beetled-off to carry out another installation 40 miles away - and this before lunch. Rather him than me! A hazardous job too.


High definition TV makes all the difference for quality viewing, and when such technology works well I don’t mind parting with my money. Picture detail is amazing – strands of hair, wood grain, textures of woven fabrics etc, they can all clearly be seen. There are no ghosting images, only sharply defined ones. I hope this will continue, even when there is a high pressure area over the UK. That will be the acid test.


Text for the Day

1 Corinthians 13:12 ‘For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.’

Beside the Crouch at South Fambridge

Looking north from South Fambridge

I have written at length about the River Crouch were it passes between the villages of North and South Fambridge. To me the location is a magical spot. No matter what the weather, the changing scene always stirs my heart. Day after day, month after month and season after season, the River never loses its appeal.


Closer view

From a different angle

I’ve mentioned before that I want my ashes to be scattered* over the waters at that very spot, where aeons of tides have swished to and fro at the behest of moon and sun. There will be no tombstone to remember me by, and in time, no person to remember me; no grave to tend, and no effort to spend, only the sigh of reeds, and the chuckling of moving water, but there will be joy in heaven and angels will sing. I shall see the glories of the Lord and the ‘pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.’



Text for the Day

Revelation 22:1 ‘And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.’



Links


*Scattering of Ashes

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2009/10/scattering-of-ashes.html


Fambridge Riverside

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2011/07/fambridge-riverside.html


Pillboxes, Killing and Warfare

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2009/09/pillboxes-killing-and-warfare.html


My Love of the River Crouch

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-love-of-river-crouch.html

Visit to the Vet

Now in Petland


You can never tell for sure what you’ll be doing the next day, or even the next hour. This morning I thought I was going to take my wife to my daughter’s place and leave her there before returning home. Instead, to my surprise, my daughter handed me her cat and asked me to take the animal to a veterinary surgery, because her pet had suddenly been taken ill. My daughter was unable to go herself, because she had to work.

Allergic Chat

When I arrived at the surgery I told the receptionist what had happened. Then I sat down to await my turn to see a vet. As I waited, a young lady vet explained to a dog owner and her son how allergies affecting her dog could possibly be identified and treated. At the same time one of the receptionists spoke to a couple who had brought their cat to be ‘castrated’ – the receptionist’s word, not mine. The other receptionist, while answering the phone, advised the caller that she should have her rabbit immunized against myxomatosis, because it was at this time of the year that the disease was most infectious. It could be spread by birds, rodents or insects, so she said.

Sleeping Dog - please do not disturb

Sat next to me there was a man whose dog had received an anaesthetic that was slowly taking effect. When the dog became unconscious, he and a male vet put him on a stretcher and conveyed him to an operating theatre.

Cute onlooker

My turn arrived, and I was shown into a treatment room where the cat was examined. The vet diagnosed a severe swelling of a kidney which had caused the creature a lot of pain. On account of the cat’s age, and the severity of her affliction, it was advised that the pet should be put down. Phone calls ensued between my daughter and the vet, and a decision was made to kill the cat by administering a lethal injection. Afterwards the animal would be incinerated and her ashes would be given to my daughter, if she so wished.


In the afternoon, when I went to my daughter’s home to collect my wife, I chatted with my three grandsons who were saddened by the loss of their pet, whom they said had died and gone to Petland.



Text for the Day


Matthew 15:27 ‘And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”


Link


Petland – at least, she won’t go hungry there! The airfare could be a bit expensive, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petland

Wallace and Gromit

Cropped photo of my TV screen showing Wallace and Gromit in Nick Park's film, 'A Grand Day Out'.


You either love or hate Wallace and Gromit. I happen to enjoy them, particularly in the film, ‘A Grand Day Out’, which I chanced upon yesterday when it was shown on BBC TV. My wife can’t stand anything to do with these Plasticine morphs; therefore I had the lounge to myself. She magnanimously offered to watch our second TV which is one of the old type, converted to digital by the addition of a cheap Freeview box.


I have yet to see the full feature film, ‘The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’, directed by Nick Park and Steve Box, and produced at Aardman Animations studio in Bristol. From all accounts, this 2005 film was well received by fans, and at the 78th Academy Awards it won the Best Animated Feature Film award. As you can imagine, a film that lasts for 85 minutes has a more involved plot, and more characters than Park’s 30 minute films, i.e., ’The Wrong Trousers’,’A Close Shave’, ‘A Grand Day Out’ and ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’.


What is truly amazing is that these films take thousands of hours to make using the stop motion animation technique where one second of film consists of 24 frames which approximately translate into a day’s production! To get a feel for Wallace and Gromit films you can watch 10 very short ones under the heading ‘Cracking Contraptions’ entirely free by visiting: http://www.youtube.com/show/wallaceandgromit.


Text for the Day

Matthew 7:3 ‘Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in you own eye?’


Links


Wallace and Gromit

http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/


Wallace and Gromit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_and_Gromit


Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_%26_Gromit:_The_Curse_of_the_Were-Rabbit


Cracking Contraptions

http://www.youtube.com/show/wallaceandgromit


The Wrong Trousers: Cracking Toast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6zbY8i4_8&list=SL&feature=sh_e_top


Nick Park

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0661910/


Wallace and Gromit: Twenty Questions with Nick Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jwp-0oEoJM&feature=autoplay&list=SL&lf=sh_e_top&playnext=2


Composer of Music for Wallace and Gromit Films - Julian Nott

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Nott


Julian Nott’s own Website

http://www.juliannottmusic.com/Julian_Nott/Welcome.html

Snapshots at Hullbridge

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 12th October 2011, I walked along the footpath beside the River Crouch at Hullbridge. The autumn sun shone with bright clarity; colours were vibrant and the air was pleasantly warm. Instead of heading east, as was my custom, I took the path westwards where shadows were cast by the overhanging trees of Kendal Park, a local nature reserve. My eyes adjusted to the dim light, and to my right, openings in the foliage revealed yachts at their moorings. I could almost have been fooled into thinking I was beside the Helford River in Cornwall, apart from the lack of high land on either side of the river.



Continuing, I emerged into the sunlight where the path joined the Esplanade, a cul-de-sac with classy properties and riverside jetties, some with yachts moored to them and others without. The ebb had not long started to run, and to the north on the other side of the river, Fenn Creek snaked away towards the village of South Woodham Ferrers.


For some unaccountable reason I was the only person walking the path. I had expected at least a dog walker, but none was to be seen. I was thankful that was the case, since I am wary of dogs, because I had a bad experience when I was young. I was attacked by one that bit me on the leg and shredded my trousers. Ever since, I’ve found difficulty in being at ease in the presence of a dog.



My aim was to gently exercise my body and free my mind before returning home for a short snooze, and I had no intention of turning the walk into a marathon; therefore I went no further than another half-a- mile to where pylons support a highly-charged electric cable that crosses the river. As I approached the pylon on my side of the river I could hear a sizzling sound from above, and I wondered if the associated electromagnetic energy would in any way affect my mobile phone. Thereupon I purposefully turned around and made my way back towards the village, but to my trepidation a dog walker was coming along the path. By experience, I have learnt that if I indicate to a dog by my body language that I am not in the least interested in it, the animal will ignore me. This has worked every time.


I was somewhat relieved when we passed without incident. The gentleman and his dogs were soon behind me, with the gap between us ever-widening. Almost subconsciously while on my walk I had been taking snapshots with my camera. This I habitually carry in my trouser pocket as a handy means of recording the appearance of things that interest me. Back at home, and after my snooze, I linked the camera to my computer for viewing the captured images. The better ones are reproduced here for your enjoyment.


Text for the Day

Revelation 21:23 ‘The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it.’


Links



Hullbridge Footpaths

http://www.rochford.gov.uk/PDF/woodlands_walks_hullbridgefootpaths.pdf


Old Photos of Hullbridge

http://www.francisfrith.com/hullbridge/photos/


South Woodham Ferrers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Woodham_Ferrers


Fenn Creek

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joncombe/394205270/


Helford River

http://helfordriver.net/