JP Down Under

Yes, at short notice JP has found himself in the land of vegimite, exchanging the warmth of London summer for the sharp cold of an Australian winter.

Not sure that there's going to be much chance of sailing amongst all the business commitments - and given that where I'm staying (Canberra) isn't on the coast.

Especially when jet lag wakes you at 3 am.

Oh well, needed to prepare a presentation anyhow......

Full sized sunset

Like the last post, but bigger......


Like the last post, but bigger......

Later that night...

What - no boats?

In Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" there is the great line "water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink".

He probably meant the sea voyager eternal worry about fresh water, though of course it could also cover equally dangerous risk of running out of the sailor's trusted rum (or in the case of Robin Knox-Johnston, whisky).

However in my case its water water everywhere and not a drop to float on. For it's been a land lubbers summer so far, with distractions from the new flat and OU finance course.

On Saturday was off to lovely Whitstable (below) for a beach BBQ.

In previous years we have gone out in Alex's Dart, which is very fast and wet, but now he was responsible dad attending to the sausages and burgers.

But we did have useful discussion about outboard motors for my brother's inflatable - though it does still seem quite small for the Thames.

Hence another discussion (this time in Dorset) with my uncle about getting a proper boat for journeys up and down the Thames. He raised the interesting question of why if there are hybrid cars there are no hybrid boats?

It seems from articles like this one there could be a problem with power and you can't charge the batteries by breaking as you can on a car.

Oh well, it was a lovely sunset again....

Water Rats

Apologies for silence but this weekend was locked to desk writing an assignment for the OU course on Financial Strategy I've been studying.

On Saturday night I escaped for an hour for another bike ride along the Thames path. On the way I disturbed what looked like a rat - after all they do say that anywhere in London you are no more than a few metres from one. I hoped it was no normal rat, but a water rat, hero of the lovely Thames based classic story "The Wind in the Willows".


It was ratty who said - as many have said afterwards - "there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half as much worth doing as simply messing about in boats".

Of course the Thames where the story is set much further upstream, mild mannered and slow moving, a safe place for ratty's small rowing boat. However near me the current is too strong, with the tide rushing in and out faster.

I saw this classic heavy rowing boat one evening with three occupants that was loosing the battle - how ever hard they tried they were going backward, being dragged out towards the sea. In the end they gave up and as the water level fell, beached their craft and disappeared, not doubt to have a drink at the local pub.

Latter that evening I saw them again (below, under Putney Bridge). The sun had set and the tide had turned and they were heading back up river. Even though the day hadn't gone just as they planned I can't but help thinking that ratty would have been proud to have been proved right yet again.

Boats and Bikes

This is not a boat, I accept that. But it is still an essential tool to enjoy river life. Yesterday I got one and today it sped me along the Thames path from Putney to Kew in 45 minutes to meet others for a picnic.

It felt very civilized - like one of those European countries where everyone looks very healthy riding on bides with two advert-cute blond babies looking out from their trolley.

The path looks a bit like this:

At times it is so narrow you can feel the bushes on either side and have to stop in a passing place if anyone comes the other way. On one side (in the photo above the left) is the river and there are stunningly pretty views - a place called Strand on the Green caught my eye looking as twee yet pretty as music by Elgar at his English-lyrical best.

Of course it would have been better to have been on the river - like the dinghies racing by Hammersmith Bridge.

Or even like this gentleman who not five minutes ago passed outside heading gently upriver....


The bike shop sold many accessories - but amongst all the clips, helmets, pumps, shorts, lights and so on, for some reason they didn't try to sell me a pair of bright yellow floats!

House Boats & the Property Ladder

It is well known that us Brits are absolutely obsessed about property. An Englishman's home is not just his castle but his once little nest egg that has increased by [enter huge number here] in the last 6 months alone.

The TV schedules are full of programs from self-build to how to buy abroad - and last week one such called Property Ladder covered an interesting project to convert an abandoned barge into a houseboat (above you can see a photo of the barge during the program shoot).

A house boat is a lovely idea - to be actually on the river, rising and falling with the tide, gently rocking in the wind, hearing the lap of waves and cry of gulls can be magically. And it can make great sense costing less than the equivalent in bricks and mortar (or even steel and concrete).

However there are problems that the program skirted round. The developers want a reported £ 270,000 for a sixty year lease of the mooring. However the Port of London Authority reserve the right to evict anyone with just 3 months notice. And the thought of a quarter of a million vanishing into smoke is not exactly the best way to encourage prospective buyers.

But the risk might be low - look at this property sale - and note the comment about the lease length.

Its a shame as there are empty berths and house boats looking for places. But the annual charge of £ 9,000 for the boat above is again too high for many tastes.

But then again property prices in London seem to be able to only head in one direction - upwards.

Profit ratios and the Tudor Pull

It's a bank holiday weekend here in London, which means two things. Firstly - and by definition - its a 3 day weekend, as Monday is a public holiday. Secondly - and too predictably - the British weather has responded with cloudy skies and relentless rain.

So its a day inside with the books of B821, Financial Strategy, learning about profit ratios.

However half way through Unit 2 something caught my eye out the window, several old rowing boats, like the one in the photos above, heading downstream, with rowers dressed in some sort of costume.

Outside about a dozen similar boats were braving the elements and heading towards Westminster. A quick Google revealed it to be "The Tudor Pull" - organised by the Thames Traditional Rowing Association which, as the LPA's site puts it:

The Tudor Pull is a ceremonial event for Thames Watermen's Cutters which is organised by the Thames Traditional Rowing Association (TTRA) in May each year.

The cutters escort the Thames Royal Shallop 'Jubilant' rowed by members of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen from Hampton Court Palace to the Tower of London to deliver a 'Stela' to the Governor of the Tower for safekeeping. The 'Stela' is a piece of medieval water pipe made from a hollowed tree trunk which stands on a base of timber from the old Richmond Lock and bears the coat of arms of the Waterman's Company.

The cutters are rigged with full ceremonial canopies and flags and are rowed with four oars by fully-liveried crews. In keeping with the traditions of the Watermen's Cutters, a passenger must be carried.

I watched the fleet going by and returned to my numbers. Despite the rain I think they were having a much better afternoon than me!

10 Ways to Sell the America's Cup

On the day that Oracle BMW got knocked out of the America's Cup I watched the BBC news sport roundup. And what did I see? rugby, football, tennis, golf, and motorbikes, but no boats.

As Yachting World has also noticed, the America's Cup just isn't getting any coverage or indeed significant following. It's a shame as its one of sailing's top trophies, so what can the organisers do about it? Well apart from including a ball somewhere in the activity (don't laugh, thats clearly the common denominator in most of TV sports) how about this:

1. Make sure it's shown live. It makes a huge difference to watch recorded sailing, when you know the result, to seeing it live - and compare the figures for a football World Cup game to the replays. Make sure who ever gets the rights puts them out live (i.e. not like Sky here in the UK)

2. That means schedule the races at times convenient for broadcasters. Yes it's a bore but thats the reality of modern life

3. It also means have regular races. In the UK Formula 1 is regularly on one network on weekend afternoons, and that can build habits (and anyhow the first time half the audience will just be going "What the?")

4. Make the course shorter. The best bit is seeing the boats going round the mark raising and dropping sails and generally fighting for position. The long beat to windward in particular slooowwwsss things down. And Formula 1 has shown TV audiences are very happy watching vehicles going round and round and round and round and.....

5. Have more multi-boat races - much more exciting to see a fleet battle it out than just two.

6. Bring in cheerleaders. Just an idea.

I'd say also get more teams involved - so more countries have a local team to support - but I'm sure the organisers have been trying hard to get that already.

Of course there are also things the teams can do too:

7. Bring in the WAGS. Thats the wives and girlfriends, and it kept the UK tabloids busy all summer with their stories of shopping, clothes, drink, and general bad behaviour. At least one of the sailing WAGS should have a single out, another do a kiss and tell, and another be the subject of a reality tv show.

8. Behave badly. For heavens sake what has happened to the reputation of the sailor? In the Volvo there were all these really nice chaps spending time with their wives and being really good dads to their kids. What happened to girl in every port? Look at the England cricket team: complete failures again but Andrew Flintoff did the right thing in going out late drinking, been seen with series of girls in nightclubs, and then falling off a pedalo! Now thats the way to get a bit of attention for your sport.

9. Scandals. How about having one of the teams throw a couple of races due to a payoff from some far-Eastern betting syndicate?

10. Sinking. Why are all the boats still afloat? Surely what the America's Cup needs is a sinking or two or at least break a mast!

America out of the America's cup

Shock result yesterday when Oracle BMW was knocked out of the America's Cup by Luna Rossa (above) - or to be technical the Louis Vuitton cup.

I was surprised how pleased I was about this: maybe its yet another price the US must pay for GWB's madness.

But also its good to know that inshore yacht racing's top prize can't be bought by a billionaires' cheque book.

And as to why? Was it because confidence became over-confidence? Or were egos clashing and undermining the teamwork that is crucial for the crew to work as one?

But there's no doubt that Luna Rossa deserves its place in the final, sailing fast and well.

Cutty Sark Tragedy

This is the Cutty Sark on a happier day, welcoming Ellen back from her epic round the world record breaking journey.

But today its a smoldering wreck after a fire gutted the central area. Whether accident or deliberate either way its a tragedy.

At least a large part of the structure was not on site due to restoration work so is safe. Fingers crossed we'll yet again have a chance to visit and maybe even see this great tea clipper sail.

The American's Cup

Its been an exciting week at the American's Cup where hot favourites Oracle have found themselves on the point of being knocked out by those swarve Italians on Prada (above).

I haven't been following the Cup that closely to three reasons.

Firstly the TV coverage is restricted to pay channels such as Sky Sports and I'm not going to pay 34 pounds a month to a channel owned by Bush and Sharon supporter Rupert Murdoch just to watch one sailing race.

Secondly as an inshore round the cans race there is no opportunity to try and second guess the navigators and their tactics using the likes of the Stormsurf global wind forecasts. So it's a bit of a passive spectator look what happened role.

And finally there is of course no British entry!

Despite all that very tempted to fly down to Valencia to watch a race or two......

Sunday Mornings

It was such a lovely morning that just couldn't not go for a run along the Thames path. The sun was bright and strong but the path was cool under the shading trees, leaves freshly green.

And not surprisingly the path was packed with joggers and bikers, prams and dogs. And the river equally busy with rowing boats and support power boats (one of which got stuck in the shallows - if you ever wonder why they have on board a metal pole, the answer is they use it to push themselves off in such situations).

Now I'm back the clouds have rolled in and the temperature dropped and its time for some research. Really it should be on balance sheets as part of this course I'm doing.

But first the important question of what is the difference between Marmite and Marmite Guinness? - to which the answer is not much. The latter doesn't taste of Guinness, but is slightly less salty and creamier. Its not even in short supply as its still on sale in Putney Waitrose.

Can you guess which of the two above is spread with the original and which the Guinness variety?

Another ARC story

Thanks to Tillerman we've been sharing the stories we usually tell over a drink in the bar in the evening after the days sailing. So it wouldn't be surprising if we've been selecting them for entertainment as much as embarrassment factor.

So it might be there's a slight degree of censorship. I'm surprised there aren't more stories about mooring which gives so many opportunities for cock-ups, and with an audience standing by watching.

I remember one particular time when we were heading in to refuel, lined up, headed in, and it was when we were about 3 metres out that the three of us - each who claimed to able to skipper a yacht - noticed that no one had set even a single line. We bounced rather badly and yes I was driving.

Anyhow, time for another story from the ARC. One of our crew was mad keen on fishing and had bought a rod and line in Las Palmas. We'd only been across the start for about twenty minutes and he was itching to get a line out. And after a bit of badgering the skipper agreed.

Not a good idea, as there about 200 other boats all around us, and one decided to charge its batteries by towing a generator line, and yup, we got our fishing line tangled round it. We did the decent thing and cut our line but it must have made a bit of a mess.

Anyhow within a few days we'd lost sight of all other boats and forgot all about the incident. We made our way across the Atlantic, shredded one spinnaker and one pair of hands, and three weeks later crossed the finish line early one Sunday morning.

After beers, a shower, and a good nights sleep we went our separate ways. I shared the taxi to the airport with crew from other boats heading off to the same flight and enjoyed hearing their stories.

One in particular caught my attention. "We had just left Las Palmas and was towing our generator" said someone, "and you wouldn't believe it, it got caught up in the fishing line from some idiot's boat!"

"No way!"

(my small voice from the back) "Er, that was us. Sorry"

The Midnight Shredder

Tillerman has challenged us to report our worst mistake or most embarrassing moment while sailing.

Cracking idea.....

Now was it when I crash gybed a yacht in front of a rapidly on-coming Greek ferry? (nope, just learning then, doesn't count)

Or was it on the round the island race when our navigator got so sea sick he got stuck in the cabin unable to undo the lock to get out and then missed two buoys? (nope, wasn't me, so again doesn't count).

Or broaching a brand new yacht in the Solent with an inexperienced crew including some single women who for some reason didn't want to talk to me afterwards? (nope, probably some other reason for that).

So must be the case of the midnight shredder. I was onboard Boss's Ocean Wanderer with 5 others crossing the Atlantic on the Arc - gosh, back in 2003 - and we were only about 3 days out of St Lucia.

We were feeling pretty good - even confident - which can be very dangerous. We'd had a bad accident with the spinnaker halyard shredding one crew members hands to bits the previous week but since then moral had improved and we'd just done the spinnaker gybe so one watch could go below.

It was so nice on deck the off-watch remained to chat. The air was warm and the full moon rising high in the tropical night. I was at the wheel as we headed deep downwind, and we were exchanging jokes.

My attention slipped (it must have been a good joke), just for a second. And the spinnaker wrapped itself round the forestay, and kept wrapping round and round and round.

At first we were pretty relaxed - we'd had several wrap and a bit of heading into wind, pulling on the sheets and they had generally come free. This one just kept on getting worse.

The skipper and mate went forward to have a look and were baffled: the top half was wrapped one way the bottom half the other. They tried all sorts of tricks from unwinding manually (no good, which ever way they went the other half just got worse) to letting the kite fly (no good, it acted, er, like a kite, and was caught by the wind, at one point streaming horizontal. It looked rather beautiful lit up by the moon).

Then it started to shred. Boss are well known for accounting for each paper-clip, so loss of a whole spinnaker wasn't going to look good. This had to be stopped and fast - someone had to fix it. And that meant going up the mast and coming down along the forestay, unwrapping it as you went. So I volunteered.

Thing was, I was feeling really guilty. Yes, spinnakers do wrap, but I had let my concentration slip, and had been on the wheel at the time. So I got prepared and the bo'sun's chair was attached to one of the spare halyards.

Just as we were about to start the hoist the mate managed to unwrap the wayward sail. Maybe all the flying horizontal had ironed out some of the coils, but now the end was clearly in sight and soon the sail was done on the deck where the damage could be inspected. So I didn't have to go up the mast.

It was really really disappointing. I don't mind heights that much and going up the mast would have felt like balancing the mistake. And then there would have been the bragging rights "yeh, I've been up the mast, middle of the night too, it was nothing really".

But mostly can you imagine what it would have been like with the moonlight glittering off the waves and the mast swaying gently under the rolling waves that follow the trade wind from Africa?

It taught me to focus when on that point of sail - on all the information available, from the feel of the motion under foot to the sound of wind and sail. Since then (touching wood) haven't had another problem. Indeed during the Fastnet I helmed the most during our watches when the spinnaker was up - in particular at night.

Because the important thing about mistakes is they are the best of all learning experiences and if you don't get them you'll never really be able to sail.

Thames litter and paths

A series of hiccups have stopped posting for the last week. First there was the bug (or to use colloquial English, the lurgy) then work and travel then finally my broadband went out again - the second time in a month.

Even more annoying than BT's inability to provide what should be pretty basic technology for the 21st century is their use of call centres in countries where English is a second language and the over-reliance on robot like scripts. Grrr!

Anyhow the local engineer has now replaced both the line to the exchange and the equipment at the exchange so its all spanking brand new, and, at least for the time being, working.

So two river updates:

1. Rubbish: apparently there is a charity that helps clean up the litter along the Thames - see the Thames21 web site here.

2. Pathway: there is this great web site that describes the Thames paths and how they go 184 miles from the Cotswold above Oxford to Greenwich and the sea. As well as an interactive map they have a great set of downloadable walking ("hiking") maps from which the figure above was taken.

Can't wait to get a bike and head upstream to see how far I get!

Bottle and Boat

There was a report on the BBC web site that litter on Britain's beaches is up 90%. As the Thames outside my window is tidal then technically this counts as part of the coast and yes litter seems up here too.

Drifting by seems to be everything from footballs to plastic bags and from half submerged boats to used drinks bottles (above). When walking along the river side I did consider picking some bits up but there was just too too much.

The Port of London Authority removes larger items - such as this morning they dragged what looked like a whole tree out of the shipping lanes, but is anyone responsible for litter cleanup?

The tidal nature means the same bit of rubbish can go back and forth many times (anyone know how many times?) though today when its neaps the flow was, to say the least, sluggish.

Luckily my lurgy is going so unlike Father Thames I am feeling back in the flow.

Zong Video

Just uploaded this video of the Zong to YouTube - though doing so started wondering about the name Zong.

Sounds like he was Ming the Merciless's sidekick: all hail Zong the Zuton!

Running and Walking by the River

Its London Marathon day today and the sky is blue and the sun shining and a record 35,500 runners are out there pounding the streets. Best wishes to all, especially Tillerman!

Alas due to the lurgy remaining I'll not even be doing my Sunday morning 45 minute run here in Putney. But you don't have to run to enjoy the Thames path - one of my favourite walks and top tips for visitors is to go from Westminster to London Bridge (or even Tower Bridge) along the South Bank.

This area has been transformed over the past decade, and along the way you can pass:
- Big Ben
- London Aquarium
- Saatchi Gallary
- London Eye
- South Bank Arts Complex
- Second hand book stalls
- Oxo Tower Restaurant
- Tate Modern
- Millennium Bridge across to St Pauls
- Shakespeare's Globe
- Replica of the Goldern Hinde
- Southwark Cathedral
- London Bridge across to the Monument (of the great fire)
- HMS Belfast
- Tower Bridge across to the Tower of London

...to name but a few! Its a lovely walk and the views over the city (and indeed over The City) are amazing, day or night.

Last time I went that way (on route to the Zong) I popped into the Tate Modern and went on the Slides before they were dismantled. Very fast, a bit bumpy, and great fun!

One day before the mast

I've been stuck at home all week with a bug - its not been much fun. But there are many much much worse places to be sick, and the previous week I visited one.

It was a replica of the ship Zong that was moored in the pool of London for two weeks and I went along to have a look round. The story is pretty shocking - not just was it a slaver, but the centre of an insurance scam that resulting in slaves being thown overboard mid Atlantic when they got sick.

While it was pretty interesting there were two things that bothered me a bit.

Firstly it wasn't a true replica of the ship Zong - which was longer and had different layout below deck. It was just the ship used in the recent film "Amazing Grace" about the life of William Wilberforce.

Secondly the attitude of the tour guide and at least one of the others on the tour I found disquieting. Both mentioned skin colour as if that would or should be crucial in determining attitudes to the boat. "Why are you here, as a white person?" was a flavour of the questions.

I found this boggling to be honest. Slavery is a horror of humanities past, irrespective of what race you are. I don't feel I should feel guilty for what was done centuries ago by someone else for the irrelevance that we share a skin colour.

Its not just that some white people opposed slavery, and that some black people were part of slave trading. We are all mongrels and it doesn't feel right to define our identity or be defined from just one historical group.

So to a degree I switched off and started asking about the rigging, going to the rail and asking what each of the ropes were. Recently I've have been reading "Two years before the mast" which at times is quite technical in its description of the rigging of a tall ship, so a hands on Q&A session seemed just what the doctored ordered.

I found a trainee who was initially nervous but then by the end had her confidence boosted as she found she did know all the ropes, their names, and their uses.

On the tube home there was the usual cross section of races, religions, and nationalities. As a little girl staggered her way across the isle I exchanged smiles with the proud grandfather sitting opposite.

No doubt we could have exchanged national histories, found differences and reasons for grievances. Would that really have helped?