maritime

  In contrast to my earlier article on food at sea in the 1950's here is a summary of information gleaned from a recent article in  the Economist (December 20, p32). The largest current cruise ship is the Star of the Seas at 250000 tons she is the largest playground at sea for 7600 guests and 2350 crew. With a dining room of 500 tables and 25 other restaurants 6000 people will eat in a 2.5 hour period The chef with his 344 other chefs and 1700 catering staff will have served and cleared up 100000 meals in one day. This is not take away food but fresh food prepared on board ship daily, a lot of it. A sample of the magnitude of the food on board is 25000 items of which include 15000 lobster  tails and 400 tons of bottled water.  In one day they will serve 6800kg of protein.  This requires large storage facilities. 210 square metres alone for frozen fish. The dry store holds 4 tons rice and 2 tons sugar and there are chilled rooms for milk, cream, butter etc. A thr...

  Seafarers today live like kings. They have all the food requirements that you would get in a hotel or a cruise ship. Deep freezes fresh vegetables etc. It was very different in the 1950s and 60s on board a 1920s reciprocating steam engine ship. The primary task of the ship, of course, is to go from A to B, but production of fresh water for the boiler to run the engine's and also for consumption by the crew was very important. But if there was a lack of fresh water it was the crew that suffered. There were no refrigerators. So the production of ice was quite important to maintain not only the beer cool, but the fresh vegetables cool. To combat this we often carried fresh meat in the form of live chickens, goats, sheep, etc. They used to live in boxes aft. So maintaining a healthy diet was quite a task for the purser. We had to order food at every port we arrived at. So leaving the UK, winter or summer, the first port was Port Said at the northern entrance to the Suez Cana...

  Merry Xmas to you all. Here is another article from the pen of my brother, Peter. The smell of fried bacon still, lingered as we set off to collect Richard.   Mum always insisted we start the day on a good breakfast.   We walked through the garden and over the bottom stile grabbing a handful of peapods as we passed the rows.   Away on the distant hillside a plume of smoke followed the tank engine pulling its few carriages up to the cliff top station.   As we approached the top of the bank we heard the clatter of Len’s horse and cart before it came into view.   Len looked as he always did, covered in black dust, as a coalman should look.     The red pantiled roofs of the cottages were spread below us like a garish scarf.   Seagulls sat on chimney pots squawking the news at each other and contemplating the likelihood of tasty fish morsels when the fishing boats returned. We ran down the bank past the fish shop and up a narrow cobbled...

  My brother is an entertaining writer of short stories, Here  is one on our childhood memories . Memories Memory is a funny thing.  As my mother entered her final years, she seemed to have an incredible recall of events and people from over 80 years in the past.  Whilst still aware enough to remember who the prime minister was, she would have trouble remembering what had happened to her in the last week.   My memory for some things is poor; I am dreadful at remembering names.  I can recall that I know the face, but often not the association or the name.  On the other hand, my wife’s memory for names and faces is amazing.  She still on occasions meets and remembers people who she knew at primary school.   I can remember numbers, places, names of places and events.  It probably says a lot about the kind of people we are.  My wife is a warm, friendly people person.  I can remember numbers.   But the purpose of this piece is ...

  I used copilot to draft this article and then edited it. My experience was that it limited my creativity and it took just aas long to edit the artificial intelligence derived draft as to start with a blank page. A Personal Account of a Memorable Getaway Introduction There’s nothing quite like escaping the arrival of winter with cold and long nights with a well-earned holiday. Recently, I had the pleasure of spending a week in Ischia in Italy, and I’m delighted to share my experience. Whether you’re seeking adventure, relaxation, or a bit of both, Ischia offers an abundance of delights that make it a great destination. Accommodation We stayed in a small hotel in the main town on the island, a quiet oasis set back from the main road into town. Reminded me of other southern Italian towns with open arches instead of doors all painted white. Activities and Attractions Boat tour: To explore the southern coat of this volcanic island revealed stunning bays with small village and also lar...

 Background The Navigator possesses 2 personal traits that greatly enhance his ability to navigate. His eyes and his ears. Both require he or she have the highest medical standards for sight and hearing. Colour blindness is not an option if you are to be a deck officer as you must be able to distinguish between the major navigational colours of red, green and white. The navigator is trained to identify conditions in his maritime environment. The sky, the horizon, sea surface and objects around him, all need to be analysed and translated into navigational decisions. He must be able to differentiate them by day or by night. By day During the day he normally has a focus on weather. [1] To start interpreting weather for navigation purposes, the navigator first turns to the barometer. The marine barometer [2] is quite special, not at all like the circular aneroid barometers seen on land. Instead it is a glass column filled with mercury. The scale on the side facilitates the r...