Showing posts with label The. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The. Show all posts
Friday, 28 April 2017
The Benefits Of Home Improvement Projects
There are many reasons to consider a Home Improvement project instead of selling your house and buying another. A home improvement project can be a fantastic way to save money or just to personalize your home to suit you better. In today's economy, the ability to accomplish improvements, both small and large to your home, can be a great asset. If you are a handy person, this will be even easier for you. However, a novice can complete most projects.
What Kind of Projects Should You Attempt?
What Kind of Projects Should You Attempt?
If the reason for your home improvement project is to increase the value of your home, the best places to start are in the kitchen and bathroom. These are two places that both prospective homebuyers and current homeowners tend to concentrate on. Luckily, for you, both of these rooms are relatively simple and while they can be expensive, they do necessarily need to be. Something as simple as resurfacing a countertop or changing a faucet in the kitchen or putting in a new sink or mirror in the bathroom can make an amazing change in almost no time at all.
Learning to Do Home Improvements
If you are a novice handyman, it’s easy enough to gain the skills needed to do the already mentioned improvements. A library is a great place to start your learning, there are some fantastic home improvement books with simple step-by-step directions and pictures to guide you every step of the way. Another way to learn what you need to know is to consult video sites online. There are experts and novices alike that can show and tell you all that is needed for just about any project that you want to complete. It is important to note, however, that it is a wise idea to watch several videos by several different people to get a good feel for whose example to follow.
Where to Buy Supplies
Now that you have decided on the perfect home improvement project and have researched just how to get it accomplished, it’s time to buy all of the needed supplies. This may present another issue. Where to buy the supplies? If you live in a town large enough, you can go to a large home improvement store for one stop shopping. However, in a small town, you may have to resort to a department store. They will generally have what you need, even if they don’t have as good of a selection. Sometimes it’s possible to find a discount store that specializes in scratch and dent product at a savings, allowing you to do more with your money.
Learning to Do Home Improvements
If you are a novice handyman, it’s easy enough to gain the skills needed to do the already mentioned improvements. A library is a great place to start your learning, there are some fantastic home improvement books with simple step-by-step directions and pictures to guide you every step of the way. Another way to learn what you need to know is to consult video sites online. There are experts and novices alike that can show and tell you all that is needed for just about any project that you want to complete. It is important to note, however, that it is a wise idea to watch several videos by several different people to get a good feel for whose example to follow.
Where to Buy Supplies
Now that you have decided on the perfect home improvement project and have researched just how to get it accomplished, it’s time to buy all of the needed supplies. This may present another issue. Where to buy the supplies? If you live in a town large enough, you can go to a large home improvement store for one stop shopping. However, in a small town, you may have to resort to a department store. They will generally have what you need, even if they don’t have as good of a selection. Sometimes it’s possible to find a discount store that specializes in scratch and dent product at a savings, allowing you to do more with your money.
Combinatoric permutations of Shackleton his whiskey and the NZAHT
"I thought you'd rather have a live donkey than a dead lion."
Ernest Shackleton's comment to his wife Emily, regarding his failure to reach the south pole.
I couldn't resist starting off with a hundred year old case of scotch whiskey discovered frozen under the floor of Ernest Shackleton's Cape Royds hut in Antarctica in 2006, but this is only a small, but fun part of the story. I will return to the whiskey a little later. The real story is about the early Antarctic explorer's bases, and the historical restoration that is occurring, in this remote, and getting less remote part of the world. As the title indicates, the subject matter will move around as it suits my whims, and I'm going to leave a good trail behind for you to explore further.
I have chosen Ernest Shackleton as the focus, because many boaters are familiar, in particular with his audacious 800 mile small open boat journey in the "James Caird" (actual picture of the launching is above), with five crew members from Elephant Island (just off the coast of Antarctica) to South Georgia Island where a whaling station was located, and thus saving all of the crew from the ice trapped Endurance. This and Captain Bligh's 3600 mile small boat trip, are two of the most epic events of this type ever recorded.
Shackleton was one of the major players during the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration", and participated in four expeditions. The first expedition was as a third officer on the Robert Scott Discovery Expedition (1901-1904). Shackleton contracted scurvy during the expedition, and was sent home early in 1903. Shackleton was the leader of his second expedition, the Nimrod Expedition (1907-1909). This is my favorite expedition, because it reminds me of the Apollo missions to the moon. His third expedition is the well known Endurance, or Trans Antarctic Expedition, (1914-1917) which ended early, and well, meaning no lives were lost, because of Shackleton's epic trip to save the crew in the small James Caird. Shackleton's last expedition was the Shackleton Rowett Expedition (1921-1922. Ernest Shackleton died of a heart attack while on board his ship in January 1922, and thus ended the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Okay now, just bear with me a little longer, and we will have some fun. Who owns Antarctica? The answer is a lot of countries have territorial claims, but in essence no one. The continent is open by treaty, to legitimate scientific investigation. There is no mining, industrial, or military activity allowed on the continent.
For over 50 years now New Zealand has taken care of the historical Antarctic sites located in the Ross Sea area. In the late fifties attention was drawn to the condition of the early expedition outposts, and some attention started to be paid to these historic sites. By 1960 a more formal plan had been drafted to undertake restoration. The New Zealand Antarctic Society had primarily managed the historic restoration efforts, but never quite had the needed resources. The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust was founded in 1987, and has managed the restoration activities to date. Since then Shackleton's hut has been mostly restored (work will always be ongoing), and over 5000 artifacts from the site have been added into the Shackleton collection. Activities are well underway at other sites, including Scott's hut. I don't need to remind you that work at these sites is part time. I understand the winters are a tough time to work outdoors, and the summers don't always have to be kind.
Above is a more contemporary view of Shackleton's hut, after a great amount of effort.
Okay, lets have some fun now. It's Whiskey time! This is a very small part of the conservation effort, but the massive publicity over finding a case of 100 year old Whiskey, in the Antarctic of all places, had to have provided a welcome boon to the NZAHT's conservation efforts. A documentary film is being made, and who doesn't like a good story over a whiskey, or about whiskey? I averred to one of the conservators that it is their story to tell, and here you will find a terrific bog written from the "Whisky" conservator's point of view, and with great photo's titled The Great Whisky Crate Thaw. On the same subject, I tried to dig out some information from Richard Paterson, who is Whyte & Mackay's master blender, but he was somewhat reticent to discuss how he could recreate the whisky, if he had a sample. It is not clear that he will get one, but I know he sure wants one. You can get more information about this subject at Whyte & Mackay's "Master Blender" page. Yes the company that sold Shackleton the whiskey is still around, or more correctly, Whyte & Mackay owns the label (Mackinlays Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky).
These early ventures were truly scientific ventures, and a great amount of expense and effort went into planning and outfitting these expeditions. Remember when I mentioned that the Shackleton Nimrod expedition reminded me of the Apollo moon missions? Both Shackleton, and the moon astronauts took cars along on their expeditions. Shackleton's car never performed up to expectations in the harsh Antarctic condition's, but it was the first auto on the continent.
One of the most interesting parts of looking into this meandering missive, is the large amount of documentation there was to pour through. One of the most interesting things I found was at the NZAHT's website, and is the provisioning list for the Nimrod expedition. Amazing to say the least, right down to the prefabbed hut.
Above is a photo of Nimrod expedition explorers in the hut.
I'm not the only one to spot it, but you can see next to the clock, a large advertising flyer for ladies corsets with a young lady pictured sporting one. No doubt in my mind, this is the same type of "Pin Up" that is in my mechanics garage, except his is far more scantly dressed, if at all. I wonder if the flyer it is still around? It is listed on the Nimrod expedition "Provisioning" list link above.
Another fun Shackleton tidbit is this ad that has been floating around for years. Many scholars have researched it, and it is a fake.
I spotted this cute dingy a couple of days before I started to assemble this story. I asked the owner why it was named the James Caird II. He stopped, smiled, and said "Because Shackleton owns the James Caird I".
A last couple of thoughts. I think the NZAHT should give Richard Paterson a wee few drams of the whisky, for a price, and a cut of any sales generated from selling Shackleton's/Mackinlay's whisky. Shackleton won't miss it, and the revenue stream from sales can be put to good use on other projects. Also, if you give him a sample, do a real analysis on the contents. Richard can nose it, but good sample analysis should be done, and Richard, if I have had anything to do with getting you a sample, send me a case of the new Shackleton whisky, I will pay the NZAHT royalties portion, and the freight.
And for the historians, what ever happened to Shackleton's car? I could only find a few obscure references that mention it being donated to a museum. Could it still be in Antarctica, hidden in a snow drift?
Some good links:
Want to see Shackleton's hut? about 900 people a year do, and an expected 80,000 people will visit Antarctica this year, and this is one way to get there.
The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust An excellent site worth spending time at, and they always need help, fiscally at any rate.
The Canterbury Museum The "Whisky" conservation is being done there.
Want to see what Shackleton's hut looks like right now, visit the Penguin Cam at Cape Royds
Lots of Antarctic links here
I have chosen Ernest Shackleton as the focus, because many boaters are familiar, in particular with his audacious 800 mile small open boat journey in the "James Caird" (actual picture of the launching is above), with five crew members from Elephant Island (just off the coast of Antarctica) to South Georgia Island where a whaling station was located, and thus saving all of the crew from the ice trapped Endurance. This and Captain Bligh's 3600 mile small boat trip, are two of the most epic events of this type ever recorded.
Shackleton was one of the major players during the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration", and participated in four expeditions. The first expedition was as a third officer on the Robert Scott Discovery Expedition (1901-1904). Shackleton contracted scurvy during the expedition, and was sent home early in 1903. Shackleton was the leader of his second expedition, the Nimrod Expedition (1907-1909). This is my favorite expedition, because it reminds me of the Apollo missions to the moon. His third expedition is the well known Endurance, or Trans Antarctic Expedition, (1914-1917) which ended early, and well, meaning no lives were lost, because of Shackleton's epic trip to save the crew in the small James Caird. Shackleton's last expedition was the Shackleton Rowett Expedition (1921-1922. Ernest Shackleton died of a heart attack while on board his ship in January 1922, and thus ended the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Okay now, just bear with me a little longer, and we will have some fun. Who owns Antarctica? The answer is a lot of countries have territorial claims, but in essence no one. The continent is open by treaty, to legitimate scientific investigation. There is no mining, industrial, or military activity allowed on the continent.
For over 50 years now New Zealand has taken care of the historical Antarctic sites located in the Ross Sea area. In the late fifties attention was drawn to the condition of the early expedition outposts, and some attention started to be paid to these historic sites. By 1960 a more formal plan had been drafted to undertake restoration. The New Zealand Antarctic Society had primarily managed the historic restoration efforts, but never quite had the needed resources. The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust was founded in 1987, and has managed the restoration activities to date. Since then Shackleton's hut has been mostly restored (work will always be ongoing), and over 5000 artifacts from the site have been added into the Shackleton collection. Activities are well underway at other sites, including Scott's hut. I don't need to remind you that work at these sites is part time. I understand the winters are a tough time to work outdoors, and the summers don't always have to be kind.
Above is a more contemporary view of Shackleton's hut, after a great amount of effort.
Okay, lets have some fun now. It's Whiskey time! This is a very small part of the conservation effort, but the massive publicity over finding a case of 100 year old Whiskey, in the Antarctic of all places, had to have provided a welcome boon to the NZAHT's conservation efforts. A documentary film is being made, and who doesn't like a good story over a whiskey, or about whiskey? I averred to one of the conservators that it is their story to tell, and here you will find a terrific bog written from the "Whisky" conservator's point of view, and with great photo's titled The Great Whisky Crate Thaw. On the same subject, I tried to dig out some information from Richard Paterson, who is Whyte & Mackay's master blender, but he was somewhat reticent to discuss how he could recreate the whisky, if he had a sample. It is not clear that he will get one, but I know he sure wants one. You can get more information about this subject at Whyte & Mackay's "Master Blender" page. Yes the company that sold Shackleton the whiskey is still around, or more correctly, Whyte & Mackay owns the label (Mackinlays Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky).
These early ventures were truly scientific ventures, and a great amount of expense and effort went into planning and outfitting these expeditions. Remember when I mentioned that the Shackleton Nimrod expedition reminded me of the Apollo moon missions? Both Shackleton, and the moon astronauts took cars along on their expeditions. Shackleton's car never performed up to expectations in the harsh Antarctic condition's, but it was the first auto on the continent.
One of the most interesting parts of looking into this meandering missive, is the large amount of documentation there was to pour through. One of the most interesting things I found was at the NZAHT's website, and is the provisioning list for the Nimrod expedition. Amazing to say the least, right down to the prefabbed hut.
Above is a photo of Nimrod expedition explorers in the hut.
I'm not the only one to spot it, but you can see next to the clock, a large advertising flyer for ladies corsets with a young lady pictured sporting one. No doubt in my mind, this is the same type of "Pin Up" that is in my mechanics garage, except his is far more scantly dressed, if at all. I wonder if the flyer it is still around? It is listed on the Nimrod expedition "Provisioning" list link above.
Another fun Shackleton tidbit is this ad that has been floating around for years. Many scholars have researched it, and it is a fake.
I spotted this cute dingy a couple of days before I started to assemble this story. I asked the owner why it was named the James Caird II. He stopped, smiled, and said "Because Shackleton owns the James Caird I".
A last couple of thoughts. I think the NZAHT should give Richard Paterson a wee few drams of the whisky, for a price, and a cut of any sales generated from selling Shackleton's/Mackinlay's whisky. Shackleton won't miss it, and the revenue stream from sales can be put to good use on other projects. Also, if you give him a sample, do a real analysis on the contents. Richard can nose it, but good sample analysis should be done, and Richard, if I have had anything to do with getting you a sample, send me a case of the new Shackleton whisky, I will pay the NZAHT royalties portion, and the freight.
And for the historians, what ever happened to Shackleton's car? I could only find a few obscure references that mention it being donated to a museum. Could it still be in Antarctica, hidden in a snow drift?
Some good links:
Want to see Shackleton's hut? about 900 people a year do, and an expected 80,000 people will visit Antarctica this year, and this is one way to get there.
The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust An excellent site worth spending time at, and they always need help, fiscally at any rate.
The Canterbury Museum The "Whisky" conservation is being done there.
Want to see what Shackleton's hut looks like right now, visit the Penguin Cam at Cape Royds
Lots of Antarctic links here
Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Popular How to do the j-stroke and canoeing
How to do the j-stroke and canoeing can be considered one of prefer to in the at this moment Can easily from capture google and bing In an effort to deliver worthwhile material to audience it was used to look for that next importance shots available How to do the j-stroke and canoeing And even these you may find out at present, all of these visuals had been regarded within the biggest source of information.
How to do the j-stroke and canoeing - it's also been placed with the hope which we are in a position to motivate essential to many people. This short article may function like a research when you are confused to choose the right guide The How to do the j-stroke and canoeing reports could very well be your opportunity being placed on the task program, as it has its own plan will feel more satisfied How to do the j-stroke and canoeing - Very beneficial in your case accordingly everyone are trying to look for a dependable resource which usually can assist you locate ideas with out distress. remember in order to save this site, simply because perhaps eventually you'll need this back again when a person's inspirational strategies.
That fish box is strong enough most of these guys just use them to keep the beer cold anyway
Nothing better than a good fish story, especially when the fish is so big, you can't spread your hands wide enough to show people how big it really is. The fish is a Warsaw grouper (hence forth referred to as Gigantor), caught in about 650' of water about 140 miles off the coast of Sarasota, and the best guess is that it exceeds 200 lbs. It took three people just to get it into the boat, and as you can see, it dominates a 6' fish box. I will add the actual weight in the comments box, when I get it later today.
The boat is a popular, and higher end center console fish boat, and in general, is a well constructed vessel. The owner loves to fish, I mean really loves to fish, and he does a lot of tournaments. The boat is crammed full with fishing gear, coolers, lot of extra gas containers, and bean bag chairs for over night expeditions.
So enough of Gigantor, see that black crack in the picture below, at the edge of the fish box? That is not where the fish box should be. The back of the box has fallen down about three inches, and now water, and or ice can slosh out of the back end of the box into an area, I suspect was not supposed to have water at all.
It was hard to tell exactly what had happened, because the box had Gigantor the grouper in it, and numerous spectators were hovering around, but the aft center of the box didn't appear to have anything fastening it.
The box seems at first blush, to have been just tabbed with fiberglass in the corners, and under the weight of the fish, and ice, the tabs just failed. The seas were calm, so I ruled out the fact that pounding in 4' seas, with Gigantor in the box could have exacerbated the problem. The attachment was just not adequate, and you can see the torn fiberglass in the corner below. Bad design? Bad manufacturing? I don't know, but this builder can do better than this. The repair will be interesting, because all of the fish box installation was done prior to installation of the deck. I'm sure that this builder will take care of the problem, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. If you want real fishermen to buy the boat, the fish box has to be able to support real fish. Gigantor has had the last laugh as payback for his untimely demise, and all the beer was kept in real coolers.
Just as a side note, I will amend this blog tomorrow with a couple additional photos of the grouper on the scales. The final measured weight is 206 lbs. It is worthy of the name "Gigantor", and boy did it produce some fillets.
Jason Boyll, from the fishing team" Get'n After It!" emailed me a picture of Gigantor hanging on the scales in Cortez Fl. It is impressive, and these guys are are fishing monsters.
Building the Optimist dinghy frames
Winter is flying by, and we are diving into our three-boats-at-once project. We have spent some time getting to know the CABBS plans. It's helped to have found some pretty nice images of other folks working on their Optimists. Nothing like a picture to make things clearer.
Here is where we would like the project to be the next time we get to work on the Optimists:
Pictured below in red are the frame stations that we are working on in the accompanying video, and how they will support the other members. We have completed the bow frames (1) and attached the bows to the strongback. The bow must be angled back at 22 degrees as can be seen below. The rest of the frames (2 and 3) are perpendicular to the strongback.
If any readers happen to stop by and read this post and watch the accompanying video, feel free to leave a comment about the "real" way to build these prams. My brothers and I have sailed boats and fixed-up wooden boats, but we've never attempted to build any from plans. This has been a fun and challenging experience so far.
You may notice from the video that we have been using scrap lumber. We have a lot of odds and ends of wood lying around, so to save on cost we have used old lumber as much as possible. We need these boats to last about ten years - we will see...
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Scene of the crime
I got the call at 11:00am. The boat was a wreck, and the TV was gone. I asked if anything else was missing or damaged. The owner said no. I shuddered. I already knew what had happened. I reached through the window, stuck the red light on the roof and turned on the siren. It was no doubt zombies. The undead were hard at work again.
I see the undead shambling around town in their cars and boats all the time. Moaning impatiently in long lines while waiting for the early bird specials. Staring vacantly at their smart phones trying to figure out how they work. The undead do indeed walk among us everyday.
Most of the time you can get away from zombies by just walking away from them. They careen around like molasses in January. But a few of them cause real trouble, and that's when I get the call. I'm the Installer, professional zombie hunter, and marine technician.
The cops were already on the scene when I arrived. I took one look at the scene, and my worst fears were confirmed. "This is the work of zombies alright," I averred out loud. The cops were incredulous, but I'm used to this.
"You're crazy as a loon," the cop said. "There ain't no such a things as zombies."
He smirked and went back to smearing carbon black on everything looking for fingerprints. "That won't work," I said. "The undead don't leave good prints to find." "Well if you're so smart, tell me how you know zombies did this?"
"Well it's easy to see officer. Just look at the scene. They lurched past thousands of dollars of navigation equipment, and just took the five year old television. The map chips in the chartplotters were worth more than the TV. They didn't have any tools so everything was just ripped out. Zombies aren't very good with tools. They can barely stagger you know."
"They also ignored the Bose stereo in the cabinet, another sign of feverish brains at work."
"All of the cables were left in place too. But the coup de gras is the George Romero zombie movie marathon on TV tonight. If I was you officer, I would sure have a chainsaw in the front seat of the car for your rounds tonight."
This all had the hallmark of addled intelligence at work. The TV will never be found, and it's lucky nothing else of value went missing. We will beef up security on the boat. I'm closing this case, and will help acquire and install a new LED TV. It's time for a beer, and a fried brain sandwich, my favorite.
Sunday, 23 April 2017
Most Modernized Equipment for Lifting The House
House lifting has conveniently improved with the entrance of modernized equipment for assistance and higher performance. Some of them are as follows:
The unified jacking system:
The unified jacking system allows for multiple hydraulic jacks to be controlled and synchronized from a central point in order to maintain the safest lift conditions and stay within the tightest tolerances of balance on heavy lift projects.
Unified jacking machines blend the multiple jacks and make them function at the exact same rate and supplies the oil evenly regardless of the amount of load its bearing. It’s capacity can increase drastically by connecting more than one jack to each of the unified outlet. The connection of two jacks will only extend half stroke before the main unit runs out of stroke, then the locks must be set , reset the main unit and continue with the second half of the lift. Most of the unified machines contain extra oil to support the movement of the additional jacks per outlet.The best way to explain how "helper" jack outlets work is to think of a long, narrow house with a heavy fireplace at one end. If you are using 6 jacks you would put a pair of jacks at each end of the building and two in the middle. You find out that the heavy end cannot be raised even with those two jacks at full pressure. You can place two jacks each connected to one "helper" outlet next to each of the two unified jacks under the heavy end of the building. If the jacks at the light end are both at 2000 PSI, and the two in the middle are at 3500 PSI, and the two overloaded jacks were at 6000 PSI, the average and the pressure on the helper outlets will be approximately 4000 PSI. The helper jacks will assist the overloaded unified jacks to lift the load, without traveling faster than the unified jacks and lifting the load off of the unified jacks. If you were to put the "helper" jacks under the light end they would pick up the load faster than the unified jacks and they would run away with the load.
Buckingham Power and Coaster Dollies:
Buckingham Power and Coaster Dollies feature a heavy-duty frame, a gooseneck front end and a heavy-duty three-position tongue designed for external towing when necessary. Rated at 45 Ton (4600 PSI) with a 5" bore, 16" lifting cylinder with the option of a 7" bore, 16" lifting cylinder. Our Power Dollies feature Poclain drive hubs; posit action, caster steering and optional hydraulic steering for the most advanced dollies on the structural moving market. Whether Power or Coaster, our dollies are designed for hard work and stress-free moving with well-marked handles and gauges for ease of use and handling. They are upgradable with Hydraulic Power Steering, heavy-duty pull tongue.
These machinery works robotically to get job done with their extensive feature and work capacity, work of hours is speeded up and done efficiently.
Saturday, 22 April 2017
Confluence of the West River and the West River
For two years we have been trying to meet. It was first supposed to happen in Seattle, but she moved east. Not long after, I moved east, not near, but not too awfully far away. Then a year and a half of misses went on....bad weather postponing the canoe trip meeting numerous times.
Finally all the things aligned.
We met for the first time in the garbage patch park on the edge of the West River. The West River is a New Haven urban river, but once one runs the gauntlet of abused park land, it becomes a rather scenic trip that few people bother to try.
We start in the afternoon. The water is high...spring levels with a high tide that passed by an hour earlier. Our first bird sighting is a very large wild turkey. A and I glide over shallows that I've had to wade in the past. The current isn't too bad, and the downed blocking trees of previous trips have deteriorated enough that we have easy passage with just a minimum of limbo gymnastics. Osprey fly overhead, not as a rare occurance, but rather a quite normal one.
We talk about things and become familiar. And, we talk with people on the banks who all seemed to be surprised to see a canoe. We get to my previous high point, a place where the river becomes shallow under West Rock. But, it is more the current that turns us back. To continue up is to wade, and that's not the point of this trip.
We spot one kingfisher, a couple of wood ducks, two egrets, a great blue heron, several red wing blackbirds, another wild turkey, a muskrat, and a few Canada geese. And we take out as the sun is beginning to go to the long shadow light.
Friday, 21 April 2017
The St Ayles skiff
I have mentioned this before, now we are further down the road and the class is even larger, maybe we can start our own class here in South Africa and have 'raids' as many other countries are doing?
From Alec Jordan:
Welcome,
Thank you for showing an interest in the St Ayles skiff. Your life may be about to change, hopefully for the better, as you
discover the joys of boat building and being on the water as part of a community.
Those of us who were involved in 2009, at the start of what was then the “Scottish Coastal Rowing Project”, under the auspices of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, had a pretty good idea that building and rowing the newly designed St Ayles skiff
would be a very rewarding and sociable experience. We knew friends in our own community and some in neighbouring
areas might well catch on and get an enthusiasm for the concept too. However, we have been somewhat taken aback by
the speed at which the fever spread, not just around the Firth of Forth, which we might have expected, but initially along
the coasts of Scotland, then down into some lovely parts of England, and then around the world.
Therefore, it is worthwhile trying to look at what is so special about this boat, and the way it brings communities together.
Perhaps most importantly, the St Ayles is not something you just buy off the shelf. It is supplied in a kit form, which means
that the basic hull shape and dimensions will be the same for each boat. However, a great deal of work goes into transforming sheets of precut plywood parts into the graceful shape of a St Ayles skiff. It’s that work which is enormously rewarding, and can be done by you, in your community, with your friends, some of whom you will know already and some of
whom you have yet to meet, but all of whom you will have a special bond with. You and your community will be very
proud of what you create, and it will have touches which make it unique.
Then you and others will start to row your community skiff. Many of the rowers will have lived beside the sea for years,
but never looked at their community from seaward before. Just as you discovered the rewards of teamwork when building
the boat, rowers will discover the joys of teamwork in making the boat sweep gracefully through the water, and making
her ride purposefully over the waves. During the build some experienced woodworkers will have shared their knowledge
with learners, a rewarding experience for both. Now on the water the same thing will happen, with experienced rowers
and mariners will share their experience with newcomers. Some of those newcomers will be youngsters, some will be pensioners, but all are discovering that joy of working together with others to achieve a goal.
Coastal rowing is a very accessible sport. You do not need huge resources or specialist knowledge to become involved. All
the rowers have a contribution to make to the forward movement of the boat, and all share the same rewards.
As I write this, I am greatly looking forward to welcoming St Ayles skiff rowers from Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia,
Netherlands, England and Scotland to the first St Ayles World Championships. This is a chance to bring together a worldwide community and I look forward to hearing all the stories of how these rowers became involved.
Open the link to read the rest of the text and view the pictures.
http://scottishcoastalrowing.org/files/2013/06/PDF-Final-Full.pdf
We can supply these boats as kits for your own construction, or as completed boats to your order.
Roy
the Wemyss Skiff
Ian at the front and Alec at the rear.From Alec Jordan:
Welcome,
Thank you for showing an interest in the St Ayles skiff. Your life may be about to change, hopefully for the better, as you
discover the joys of boat building and being on the water as part of a community.
Those of us who were involved in 2009, at the start of what was then the “Scottish Coastal Rowing Project”, under the auspices of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, had a pretty good idea that building and rowing the newly designed St Ayles skiff
would be a very rewarding and sociable experience. We knew friends in our own community and some in neighbouring
areas might well catch on and get an enthusiasm for the concept too. However, we have been somewhat taken aback by
the speed at which the fever spread, not just around the Firth of Forth, which we might have expected, but initially along
the coasts of Scotland, then down into some lovely parts of England, and then around the world.
Therefore, it is worthwhile trying to look at what is so special about this boat, and the way it brings communities together.
Perhaps most importantly, the St Ayles is not something you just buy off the shelf. It is supplied in a kit form, which means
that the basic hull shape and dimensions will be the same for each boat. However, a great deal of work goes into transforming sheets of precut plywood parts into the graceful shape of a St Ayles skiff. It’s that work which is enormously rewarding, and can be done by you, in your community, with your friends, some of whom you will know already and some of
whom you have yet to meet, but all of whom you will have a special bond with. You and your community will be very
proud of what you create, and it will have touches which make it unique.
Then you and others will start to row your community skiff. Many of the rowers will have lived beside the sea for years,
but never looked at their community from seaward before. Just as you discovered the rewards of teamwork when building
the boat, rowers will discover the joys of teamwork in making the boat sweep gracefully through the water, and making
her ride purposefully over the waves. During the build some experienced woodworkers will have shared their knowledge
with learners, a rewarding experience for both. Now on the water the same thing will happen, with experienced rowers
and mariners will share their experience with newcomers. Some of those newcomers will be youngsters, some will be pensioners, but all are discovering that joy of working together with others to achieve a goal.
Coastal rowing is a very accessible sport. You do not need huge resources or specialist knowledge to become involved. All
the rowers have a contribution to make to the forward movement of the boat, and all share the same rewards.
As I write this, I am greatly looking forward to welcoming St Ayles skiff rowers from Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia,
Netherlands, England and Scotland to the first St Ayles World Championships. This is a chance to bring together a worldwide community and I look forward to hearing all the stories of how these rowers became involved.
Open the link to read the rest of the text and view the pictures.
http://scottishcoastalrowing.org/files/2013/06/PDF-Final-Full.pdf
We can supply these boats as kits for your own construction, or as completed boats to your order.
Roy
Thursday, 20 April 2017
Classic Wood Boat Plans Shows The User How To Build Over 500 Different Types Of Boats See Our Products
.jpg)
Click Here For More Information...
Download Boat Plans to Construct Your personal Boat
MyBoatPlans is really a complete collection of 518 , 40 videos and about 500 pages of boat building guides. I've just purchased the entire package and this really is my overview around the item:
What exactly is MyBoatPlans?
The solution delivers step by step blueprints on more than 518 boats and video lessons on boat developing. The creator, Martin Reid delivers a basic, efficient and user-friendly program to construct any kind of boats within a simple way. MyBoatPlans shows the user how you can develop more than 500 different types of boats ranging from straightforward canoes and kayaks to complex styles like a cabin cruiser.
The Pros:
Under are a few of the points I was actually impressed with.
- An enormous Array of Plans To choose from
They give you detailed plans and diagrams, total with color photos and examples on a lot of types of boats. Sailboats, skiffs, canoes, kayaks, houseboats, paddle boats, yachts, catamarans, flat-bottom boats, dinghys and dories, to name a number of. There are numerous plans accessible for each kind of boat, so you have some range to choose from.
- The video section is complete
The 45+ videos on boat developing leaves no stone unturned. It consists from the entire boat building procedure from conception for the final item. It really is excellent for beginners who want an easy to comply with video guide on boat building. You will find also videos on boat repair and boat design calculations that are wonderful for professional builders
- Fantastic bonuses included
The bonuses you get with this item are great. You get a Cost-free boat designing software program, a book on boat building suggestions and the boat-builders handbook which can be massive in and of itself.
- Complete Color Pictures
I appreciated the quantity of full colour images and diagrams which are integrated in the manuals. I am a very visual person, so it is easier for me to adhere to a image or diagram instead of reading paragraphs.
- Funds Back Policy
The 60 day cash back assure is constantly appreciated. I like seeing a merchant who stands behind their product 100%. It puts the customer at ease, understanding that they are not going to shed a cent if they select to not use the technique.
The Cons:
- It requires a although to download
As a result of the huge quantity of content offered, there is certainly about 900 megabytes to download. This may possibly take a even though for those who have a slow connection. Nevertheless it is possible to go for the DVD edition within the members area so that solves the concern if you are on a slow network
- Less than 20 mega yacht designs
I'd prefer to see far more mega yacht styles and plans. This will be wonderful for professional boat builders like me that are thinking about mega yacht designs.
MyBoatPlans is really a complete collection of 518 , 40 videos and about 500 pages of boat building guides. I've just purchased the entire package and this really is my overview around the item:
What exactly is MyBoatPlans?
The solution delivers step by step blueprints on more than 518 boats and video lessons on boat developing. The creator, Martin Reid delivers a basic, efficient and user-friendly program to construct any kind of boats within a simple way. MyBoatPlans shows the user how you can develop more than 500 different types of boats ranging from straightforward canoes and kayaks to complex styles like a cabin cruiser.
The Pros:
Under are a few of the points I was actually impressed with.
- An enormous Array of Plans To choose from
They give you detailed plans and diagrams, total with color photos and examples on a lot of types of boats. Sailboats, skiffs, canoes, kayaks, houseboats, paddle boats, yachts, catamarans, flat-bottom boats, dinghys and dories, to name a number of. There are numerous plans accessible for each kind of boat, so you have some range to choose from.
- The video section is complete
The 45+ videos on boat developing leaves no stone unturned. It consists from the entire boat building procedure from conception for the final item. It really is excellent for beginners who want an easy to comply with video guide on boat building. You will find also videos on boat repair and boat design calculations that are wonderful for professional builders
- Fantastic bonuses included
The bonuses you get with this item are great. You get a Cost-free boat designing software program, a book on boat building suggestions and the boat-builders handbook which can be massive in and of itself.
- Complete Color Pictures
I appreciated the quantity of full colour images and diagrams which are integrated in the manuals. I am a very visual person, so it is easier for me to adhere to a image or diagram instead of reading paragraphs.
- Funds Back Policy
The 60 day cash back assure is constantly appreciated. I like seeing a merchant who stands behind their product 100%. It puts the customer at ease, understanding that they are not going to shed a cent if they select to not use the technique.
The Cons:
- It requires a although to download
As a result of the huge quantity of content offered, there is certainly about 900 megabytes to download. This may possibly take a even though for those who have a slow connection. Nevertheless it is possible to go for the DVD edition within the members area so that solves the concern if you are on a slow network
- Less than 20 mega yacht designs
I'd prefer to see far more mega yacht styles and plans. This will be wonderful for professional boat builders like me that are thinking about mega yacht designs.
San Jose and Almeria – Sailing the Costa de Sol of Spain
We cast off from the fuel dock at Garrucha with a full tank of diesel which was a very good thing as we again had to motor sail along the coast to San Jose as the wind gods still didn’t want to play the game. We did put the mainsail up and got a little bit of a lift out of what breeze there was but with just over forty miles to cover trying to go by sail alone would have never got us close within daylight hours. We were getting a bit tired of the sound of the engine but that’s life.
 |
| We couldn't leave the mainsail in the bag any longer. |
We saw a few flying fish along the way which was nice. They’ve been few and far between in the Med and it’s always very entertaining watching how far they can glide over the waves before splashing down.
We also spotted a huge, development onshore that had been very obviously stalled for quite some time and now well and truly plastered with a huge ‘Ilegal Hotel’ sign that covered a number of floors. It was out in the middle of nowhere and daubed with all sorts of graffiti including one sign saying ‘DEMOLICIAN - YA’. We’ve heard all sorts of tales of buildings going up without anyform of planning approvals and could only guess there was an interesting story behind this one too. We’d loved to have known the facts but given the size of the massive resort it’s a fair bet to say some bank somewhere that financed it has taken a serious hit to their balance sheet.
 |
| Maybe this was Christopher Skase's final project. |
We rounded the headland and entered the shelter of the bay at San Jose in the late afternoon. It was a very attractive little spot with an interesting looking town stretching away behind the beach. There was a small marina but as we expected conditions to stay reasonably calm for the night we elected to anchor outside near the beach. As we began to relax with sundowners in the cockpit we counted 34 small boats come out of the marina in a one hour time space and headed all over the bay fishing. We couldn’t believe so many boats could fit behind the breakwaters in the tiny marina but it was obviously a bit bigger than it looked. About 8.30pm someone must have sounded a dinner bell because all of a sudden they were all coming back in at once creating some serious peak hour traffic at the harbour entrance.
 |
| San Jose looked like a nice place to explore. Next time hopefully. |
On Sunday we had planned to have a look around the town but after checking the forecasts we decided this may not be a good place to be in the 15 to 20 knot south-westerlies predicted for the evening. It was time to go so San Jose went on the list of places to stop at on the way back east next year. Up came the anchor and we set sail to Almeria. Yep. We actually got the white bits up and had a fantastic sail around the cliffs of Cabo de Gata and then right across the big bay all the way to just off Almeria itself. The wind strengthened and turned through the afternoon and we were able to go with it only needing to tack out from shore at the very end. With the wind now sneaking up above 20 knots we were getting a bit overpowered. We could have reefed the main to reduce sail but as we were only a mile from the harbour elected to simply drop it and motor the rest of the way in.
 |
| A great sailing day to Almeria had us all smiling |
Almeria is a very large commercial port with a lot of big shipping, particularly large ferries. There’s a marina just outside the inner harbour but when we rang them asking for a berth they at first said OK then a minute later decided they suddenly had no room. This was despite us being directly outside the entrance looking at empty berths inside. Apparently they primarily cater for permanent berth holders and aren’t too keen on casual visitors. We must not have seemed important enough for them.
 |
| We cheekily anchored between the marina and inner breakwater. |
By now the wind was gusting in the 25 to 30 knot zone with quite a lumpy sea so we had no desire to be heading back out in it. No anchoring is permitted in the inner harbour but we decided there was room between the inner breakwater and the marina so we simply dropped anchor there, made sure we were well hooked in and let out plenty of chain. We were very happy to be behind the protection of the main, big breakwater. but even so, a fair size swell was finding its way around its end making things a little less comfortable than the marina would have been but such is life. We were dancing around a bit on the end of the chain but at least we were safe and this was free. We just hoped no one came along and told us to move on.
 |
| With 30 metres of chain out we swung in a 60m arc but there was room |
Fortunately the wind dropped out a little after midnight and Monday morning dawned nice and calm with clear blue skies. It was time for a day ashore checking out the city. First stop was the Vodafone shop to get Marc and Karen’s internet data topped up. Marc goes into severe withdrawals and may be found in the foetal position whimpering if he can’t download his London papers each morning while Karen’s IPad has all our weather forecast apps on it so this was definite priority.
 |
| A beautiful morning in Almeria harbour |
 |
| Almeria is a very attractive city to wander around |
We then wandered the streets and checked out the excellent fresh food, meat and seafood markets in the city centre before settling in for lunch at a very cool old restaurant/bar. Eventually Karen managed to get us out the door and off on an ABC tour (Another Bloody Castle). Her tourist guide said that next to the Alhambra in Granada, the Alcazaba of Almería is one of the main castles in the south of Spain. It was constructed in the X century by the Califa Abderramán III. It offered shelter to 20,000 people at one time so we had to have a look.
 |
| Off for our ABC Tour (Another Bloody Castle) in Almeria |
 |
| Ameria's cathedral started life as a mosque before being christianised. |
It was a fair walk through the streets, past the cathedral, up the lanes all guided by Karen’s IPad’s maps to get to the base of the hill. Here we found a sign proclaiming the castle open 10.00am to 8.00pm on weekdays. Cool. It was only 2.30. We could see a set of closed doors ahead so deduced that the entrance must be up the steep road that ran beside the castle and off we went.
 |
| We went right up to the top of the Alcazaba of Almería, on the outside. |
Reaching the top we discovered another set of locked doors so after a short break to get our breath back we set off back down to the bottom where we now found the doors open. A bit weird but what the heck. In we walk and straight to the ticket window manned by a man in uniform who we ask for three tickets. ‘No tickets’ he says. We immediately think it must be free but our illusion was shattered when he followed his opening statement up with. ‘Is closed’. It was now five past three. Go figure. So much for the sign outside proclaiming opening hours till Eight PM. Oh that’s right. This is Spain.
 |
| It looks nice from the entrance, which was as far as we got. |
Sergeant-Major Karen, then marched us back through the streets down into the old town where the troops mutinied and headed to a cafe for a bottle of wine. As we were finishing our tipple we noticed some very ominous looking dark clouds appearing over the ranges so high tailed it back to the boat in case the approaching thunder produced any nastiness. On our return we found another yacht had joined us in our little anchoring spot and we immediately started calculating chain lengths and swing room making sure we had clearance. Our wild experience in Santa Ponsa on Mallorca was still fresh in our minds so we were more than happy as the storm rolled by to the west without as much as a spot of rain falling on us. Another bullet dodged.
 |
| We're a bit gun shy when we see skies like this since being belted in Santa Ponsa |
For more about our travels and lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/DreamtimeSail?ref=hl
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)