maritime

Navigators toolchest- Before charts Background Of all the tools the navigator uses the chart is his most used one and where all the position-finding data is deposited. It is the tool that describes the historic and current position of the ship. So how did the sea chart or chart as it is called come about? Before charts-the oral traditions Seafarers crossed the oceans long before there were charts. The Vikings, the Pacific Islanders and the Arabs did not have charts, yet they managed to cross oceans. In the case of the Pacific Islanders, vast distances. Essentially, they were tuned in to their maritime environment. They were aware of prevailing winds, swells, waves. They could detect how close they were to shore by clouds on the horizon, by birds appearing around the ship. They could interpret the colour of the sea as an indicator of water depth or ocean current. Their senses were tuned to changes in wind direction and strength, so important on frail ships with limited man...

Opposite our house there used to be 2 attractive wooden detached houses in their own grounds with big gardens full of trees. They have now gone to be replaced with no less than 6 houses on one plot and 5 houses on the other plot. From two families to 11 families!! This is the current scene around the second house (the yellow house partially demolished) with the nearest construction producing 2 of the five properties. Note the six birch trees on the property and the adjacent property, the one on the right has been topped as they cannot chop it down, thank goodness. Note how ugly it with this “top pruning”.   The consequence of this type of “eplehagen” development are substantial: ·          There seems to be no standard design relating to the houses demolished. For example, of the eleven new houses only three retain a traditional gable roof, the remaining eight have flat roofs with terraces. ·       ...

  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...