Night Spirit at Fowey

.... or maybe not. Someone thought this was a Spirit Yacht, but another wasn't sure and I have no idea.

Anyhow its very prettily lit up here - we just had flags etc. Indeed some used words like fancy or flash, but for me it looked fab and was a good subject for a photo.

Two stories from London

London is showing signs of normality today, after a quiet night and a day when almost all shops opened again for business.

But there's no doubt that the last few days have been a collective shock to the all of us in this great city. So it was with relief that I heard of the broomstick army of Clapham (aka riotwombles).

Stirred by the sights of mayhem on TV the good citizens of London starting tweeting to #riotcleanup and what started as a couple of activities led to hundreds descending on the glass and rubble covered streets around Clapham Junction.

With more broomsticks than Hogwarts this corner of the capital was soon tidied up, as were other boroughs after similar acts of community spirit. More on the broom as a symbol of London's - and England's - resilience here.

In comparison to this heart-warming tale, the first court cases for looters have started to flood the legal system, including this one. Alexis Bailey, 31, pleaded guilty after being caught looting the Richer Sounds store in Croydon.

His job - "learning mentor" in a primary school! (in Lambeth - natch)

One of these stories is inspirational; the other does raise all sorts of troubling questions.

Fowey Classics 2011: Mikado sailing

Happy thoughts, JP, happy thoughts!!

Bit grim here at the moment, London's burning, London's burning as they say. Its totally crazy - have a listen to this. I want to be back out there sailing rather than watching videos of burning buildings and locked down shopping centres.

Oh well, above's a nice pic of Mikado sailing. Did I mention that we on Aeolus beat her?


Updated: Have removed the other photo and text as might have been taken in by caption on the Panerai Classics web site as don't think that picture was Mikado after all. See for yourself here.

Cowes week collision video

Dramatic video has emerged of the collision between a yacht racing in Cowes week and an oil tanker somewhere in the Solent yesterday. Luckily it seems no one was hurt but that must surely be a close shave.

You can watch it on the BBC web site here.

Fowey Classics 2011 - racing towards the mark

"Not bad" sailing at the Fowey Regatta

You are a bit constrained in the language you use to describe race positions in an English Classics Regatta.

It's quite all right to say something like "made a total mess of that one" or "had time enough to make and drink a cup of tea". If you come a bit further up the fleet then phrases like "could have done that a bit better" come in handy. Bragging is an absolute no-no: none of that American talk of ass-kicking here if you don't mind.

So I'm a bit stuck, and will simply say we were not bad three times in a row and go make myself a nice cuppa and possibly down on a Pimms or two later on.

Fowey classics pics day 3

Bit of swell from SW made life up front a bit damper but don't mind that. Overall didn't feel it was our best effort, but will have to see what corrected times are. Our rivals on Mikado, a lovely Clyde Linear 30 from 1904, sailed a little ahead of us all the way round which was a bit annoying but then again we were faster on Tuesday. Another lap and we'd have got them, honest!

Updated: Well that was a bit of a result. On corrected time we were 30 seconds ahead of Mikado, and they're quite good as can be seen by their results in the recent Classics Week in Cowes here.

Managed to get a few shots of the gaff riggers start before camera was stowed below as we were in our 5 minutes.

Tall ships in Charlestown

Today there was no racing in the Fowey Classics Regatta 2011 - well of yachts that is. There was apparently plastic duck races and I had only the slightest curiosity as to what that might be.

Instead I headed over to nearby Charlestown to see the three tall ships and unspoilt village, much used in historic movies. Btw unlike colonial namesakes there is no royal connection, as it was local businessman Charles Rashleigh who built the port to support the clay mining industry.

Very pretty it was too, and had an excellent crab sandwich and visit to the shipwreck museum before heading back to Fowey.

I'm still not that happy with the photo import and blogger interface on the iPad so might have to tweak these when back with laptop.



Ok, this isn't a tall ship. I think it was the Argo in recent film of Jason and the Argonauts.

The main ship, the SV Kaskelot, has starred in a long list of tv and film productions from Hornblower to Dr Who.

Fowey classics pics day 1

These are a selection from some pics pre the start as took no pics after 10 minute gun.

Not a bad race though not really enough wind for us

Return to Fowey Classics

So again I'm enjoying sailing as part of the Fowey Classics, and we've rafted up amongst a mini flotilla of wooden boats. Yup, no plastic here thank you very much (note this pic is from last year but not much has changed).

I'm yet again in what feels like the rather implausible position of foredecker on this sleek beauty. And no, we don't have anything as modern as wire safety lines.

I say implausible as it's not a place I'd previously spent much time and there is a certain expectation of performance after last years good result - but as we all know that means nothing. So I better not let that spinnaker wrap, twist, tear, go fishing or any of the many other things that can go wrong.

And alas a whole year has passed since was afloat so more than a little rusty. Fingers etc crossed and will be muttering the sailors prayer. What's more the forecast is for light winds and we want a bit of a blow - gloom :(

Now must head out to Fowey for drinks and dinner, but more later.

Six metre sailing

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Working Boat racing in St. Mawes

Enough is enough, JP has finally gone yotting.

An easy start to the season (no smart cracks please about it being closer to 2012 than 2010) with a gentle sail over to St Mawes where we saw these lovely working boats racing.

I might do a spot of crop and resizing of this pic when get back to laptop land (hint hint Steve Jobs the iPad isn't that good at this. And yes I have even got a photo editting app but it says it can't edit pics over 8 Megapixels and that's not much good nowadays)

Sailing to Scilly

I'm having to rely on the iPad to blog which is pretty basic alas. Some one should tell Steve Jobs to spend some of Apples huge money pile on making Safari more blogger friendly.

Anyhow here is the start of the Penzance to Scilly race as described here.

Oops, I did it again

Yup, I've been out on the Thames- again! Cue the music, roll the credits, its that big screen spectacular "The return of the stranger".

But it was a lovely evening so leaving the office a little early to go kayaking was definitely worth it.

 

Who knows, one day soon I might even go sailing.......

One year to Olympics

Yes the 2012 Olympics are now just a year away and these great rings have appeared in the majestic St. Pancras Station.

This building is an absolute wonder of Victorian gothic architecture and the main building has recently been superbly restored as a hotel.

This is a rather abstract view of the main staircase:

Goodbye Amy

It was with a combination of shock, sadness but also a sense of inevitability that I heard of Amy Winehouse's death yesterday.

Later on in the evening I was at a friend's BBQ talking to a psychologist who specialised in heroin addiction who'd got a text that simply said "Amy, so sad" but knew immediately what it meant. For Amy Winehouse was one of those artists whose creatively was intertwined with their self-destructive forces.

I was fortunate enough to see her live at the Brixton Academy, way back in 2004, before Back to Black, before Valerie, before Rehab, before all those Grammys, when it was still acceptable for me to ask "Amy who?" But that was not a question anyone asked after hearing her smoky voice and sultry jazz.

What can one add over all those acres of print space and gigabytes of online articles but what a tragic loss, another member of the infamous 27 Club.

Updated: Its well worth reading Russell Brand's article on addiction and Amy Winehouse in the Guardian here.

Goodbye Irene, hello Cinderella

So the ship Girl Irene has been moved from Putney Embankment, hopefully for some patching up. But what is this I found instead while out for the morning run? 

Yes Cinderella has been wandering the wet streets of London, leaving behind this solitary shoe. 

Girl Irene, Neglected

Over on the Bursledon Blog there's the sad sight of a neglected dory together with the question as to "why someone would let their boat fall into such a state of neglect?"

Well here's another example, currently moored up on Putney Embankment. The Girl Irene is is severe need of some TLC and is covered with posters asking the owner to contact the authorities.

Maybe one reason the owner hasn't is that the notice also warns that the ship has been leaking oil and there are fines to pay.

What a shame!

Buff Staysail Phone Hacking Scandal

It is with a heavy heart that I must report that Buff Staysail has been implicated in the phone hacking scandal, and therefore this blog must issue a clear and unequivocal repudiation of his actions. Ok, say your piece Buff:

G'day all! Buff Staysail here, Buff by name and Buff by nature!

Well I don't know what to say, though my lawyer suggests something on the lines of deep regret, error of judgement bla bla ... but really, don't they know how are it is to make a living nowadays as a hack? - oops, I mean journo. It's not my fault, honest, its just too easy with the latest temporal phone-hack technology.

It's not like its going to harm anyone, is it? Take for example these answer phone messages from some famous sailors and their relatives:

[Penelope]: Hi Pen, its me Odysseus. Guess what - we won! Anyhow me and the boys (background sound of a girl giggling) are heading out to celebrate. I might be a bit late - don't wait up!

[Columbus]. This relates to your travel insurance application. I'm afraid that all travel west of the Canary Islands is explicitly excluded due to clause 34.1: "Sailing near the edge of the world". Please contact us if you still want to proceed.

[Drake]: That wasn't funny. Leave the King's beard alone - no more singeing, ok

[Morgan]: Bad news Captain, the Spanish rang and they want Panama back. Better make sure you leave it as you found it

[Kidd]: Hi Kidd, this is the Pirate's PR Agency. Listen, this is fixable. We've a plan involving the King's mistress and a stage show. Just send a gold bar or two round and we'll get cracking

[Cook]: Trust me Captain, Hawaii on Valentines Day is to die for!

[Nelson]: Hey sweetie its me, Emma (above). What's all this about you and Hardy kissing? Are you going all bi-curious on me? Ring me!

[Sir Thomas Lipton]: Stick to the day job, tea boy!!! (background chants of U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A! etc)

Of course I might have missed a few, so please feel free to complete the list.

This is Buff Staysail, over and out when you hear the beep!

London in Black and White

Just found a nice collection of early photographs of London life, including quite a lot images from the river. It's part of an exhibition at the Tower Bridge called "London in Black and White" and you can see a nice selection of them on the Telegraph web site here.

The caption for the picture above is as follows: A flat-bottomed barge or "lighter" going downstream towards Southwark Bridge, circa 1905. These barges, moved along by long oars, were a common sight in London until as late as the 1960"