Glaciers are cool (and blue!)

Guest writer: Clare de Mowbray

Returning from 3 weeks in Patagonia, the above words seem to be continually flowing from my mouth. Will I have any friends left if I carry on blethering about these monster ice cubes?

Trekking on a hot, sunny day looking up at craggy, black mountains we got to a high point and were met with an enormous glacier sliding down towards us. The width and height of it was awe inspiring and a completely new visual experience for me. So what were we looking at? The glacier in question was Glacier Grey situated in one of Patagonia's most well know National Parks, Torres del Paine.

The glaciers found in Patagonia are valley glaciers which are located in temperate glacial settings. There is little sea ice, no ice shelves, and no ice sheets. The minimum average temperatures are above 0°C and summer temperatures are higher than 10°C. Anyway enough of the science and onto the colour. Seems that it's all about light - The blue colour is caused by the absorption of red and yellow light, leaving the blue to shine through. The longer the path light travels in ice, the more blue it appears.

The colour of ice can be used to estimate its strength and even how long it has been frozen. Ice is white during its first year because it is full of bubbles. Light will travel only a short distance before it is scattered by the bubbles and reflected back out. As a result, little absorption occurs, and the light leaves with the same colour it had when it went in.

During the summer, the ice surface melts and new overlying ice layers compress the remaining air bubbles. Now, any light that enters travels a longer distance within the ice before it emerges. This gives the red end of the spectrum space enough to be absorbed, and the light returned at the surface is blue.

Arctic explorers and mountain climbers know that old, blue ice with fewer bubbles is safer and stronger than white ice. An added bonus for explorers is knowing that floating camps built on blue ice will last longer. And most importantly glacier ice does last longer in drinks because the ice crystals are larger, which means they melt more slowly.
Salud amigo,
Clare

25th Anniversary of the attack on MV Atlantic Conveyor

An extract from the RN history on the Falklands War
The Cunard Roll-on/Roll-off container ship Atlantic Conveyor was taken up from trade and converted to serve as an aircraft transport. To do so containers were used to provide the necessary services for embarked aircraft and their attached personnel. A particular feature was the use of containers to create a sheltered area to protect the aircraft from the worst of the weather. The ship embarked 8 Sea Harriers, 6 Harriers GR3s, 8 Wessex 5 helicopters and 5 Chinook helicopters.

On 25 May Atlantic Conveyor was with the task group east of the Falklands. A pair of Argentine Super Etendard aircraft carrying Exocet missiles attacked the British ships. One missile was directed at one of the frigates which deployed distracting metal strips (Chaff). The Chaff did its job and the missile flew on having lost its original target. It then acquired Atlantic Conveyor which was hit on the port quarter, starting huge fires. This led to the eventual abandonment of the ship and 12 men were lost. The loss of 3 Wessex and 3 Chinooks was very significant as they reduced greatly the intended mobility of British land forces in the planned campaign to move from San Carlos to Stanley.

By Colin de Mowbray

HMS ALACRITY was just a few miles away when Atlantic Conveyor was hit. We made straight for her to give assistance. Mercifully the sea was calm but the large swell remained. The fire quickly became well established and it soon became evident that it could not be contained. My memory was of the paint blistering and the dull thump of the internal explosions; we were all aware that she was full of explosives.

When the order was given to abandon ship one of the main problems was the height of the ships side. With two, and then one, jumping ladder (a kind of rope ladder) getting into the water was a real problem for the survivors. The life rafts were all bunched up by the ladder and so some were overfull while others were empty. In all over 70 people climbed on board HMS ALACRITY, some unscathed and others not so lucky. It was evident how the aircrew, in their proper survival equipment, had fared so much better. The lessons on survival were all too evident but have we learnt from this?

The 25th May is the biggest date in the Argentinean’s calendar and they were always going to launch a major push on that day. The sinking of both HMS COVENTRY and the ATLANTIC CONVEYOR made this a dark day for the British forces.

LEXIE ON LINE!

SPECIAL REPORT By Thumper de Mowbray

Well this IS Thumping good news! Here we see Lexie Elliott at the age of 93.25 surfing the web on her wireless broadband lap top. Lexie is busy keeping up with her large family and huge fan club around the world from her home in the beautiful town of Kynsna, South Africa. Now none of the oldies – or the not so oldies - have any excuses not to get connected.

For the techies of this world Lexie, chose an Acer 2483 with a Celeron M, 1.73GHz CPU: 1024MB RAM (1GB) memory: 80GB Hard Disk Drive: 14.1 inch TFT display: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950: DVD Supermulti optical drive; Wireless LAN 802.11bg up to 54Mbps.

When she was asked how it worked she replied ‘I was worried the processor would not be fast enough for my needs but it seems to be coping. I definitely glad I went for the upgraded Graphics Media Accelerator. Overall I would recommend this as a good entry level.’

And an Editorial word, if I may…..

I know the site has not been updated as often as it should be but we do need more people to write in. I can’t tell you how difficult all this keyboard work is for a rabbit. Let’s be having you then!
Thumper

Falklands' War - 25 Years On

On Sunday 5 May the Ship’s Company from HMS ALACRITY’s celebrated their 25th Anniversary of the Falklands' War. As before this was combined with the crew from the container ship ATLANTIC CONVEYOR that was sunk by an Exocet missile with the loss of 12 of their ship’s company. Over 70 survivors were picked up by HMS ALACRITY while the ship burnt.

It appears to be a popular time for reunions and I confess to having mixed feelings about them. HMS ALACRITY’s reunion however stands separate from all others as it is a ships’ company that saw war together and, thankfully all returned safely.

As can be seen in the pictures 25 years has seen changes in some of us. For every member of HMS ALACRITY any such gathering is made by the presence of the charismatic and much loved Captain, Commodore Chris Craig CB DSC who continues to recover steadily from his long draw out illness. On balance the Ship’s Company have now all forgiven him for his over eagerness to volunteer the ship for every piece of action around.

An extract from a period during the Falklands War is copied below which illustrates the extent of the action:

In the build-up to the landings at San Carlos, Admiral Woodward's destroyers and frigates continue to wear down the invaders and D Sqdn SAS makes an important contribution with its Pebble Island raid.
On Monday 10th, as submarine "San Luis" makes her last reported and equally unsuccessful attack on ships of the Task Force and "Sheffield" finally sinks. "
Glasgow" (Sea Dart) and "Brilliant" (Sea Wolf) have taken over as type 42/22 combination from "Coventry" and "Broadsword" and continue their radar picket and bombardment duties off Stanley. That night as "Arrow" moves to the north end of Falkland Sound, sister ship "Alacrity" prepares to sail right through from the south for the first time to flush out any supply ships. As she passes up the Sound, "Alacrity" detects a ship apparently heading for Port Howard, and using her single 4.5 inch, illuminates with star shell. Refusing to stop, the target is engaged in the only surface action of the war and after a number of hits, explodes and sinks with heavy casualties. Reportedly there are only two survivors from what turns out to be the naval transport "ISLA DE LOS ESTADOS" carrying fuel and military supplies. "Alacrity" carries on through to meet "Arrow", and now in to Tuesday morning, both ships head back to the carriers.

93.25 ... not an FM Radio Station

Sadly not everyone has the opportunity to know my favourite Aunt, Lexie Elliott, but there are a great deal of people who do. I publish this collage as an illustration of how we should all be at 93.25 ….. not a Radio station but Lexie’s age.

She lives in the lovely town on Knysna in South Africa where she drives (a senior VW Golf), rides her bicycle (Sir Jasper), swims (in the Hippo Pool), plays her squeeze box at concerts and generally looks after the old people.

The top right picture shows Lexie making adjustments on her flying pig, ‘Piggles’ before he sets off on another death defying mission against ‘Miss Daisy-Moo’ the flying cow from Jersey.

Tin Cans Cars

The picture shows a model car made out of a beer can in Madagascar.

By Guest Writer Ryan Walker (Alias Quiche)

When ever I've been in Africa, Latin America or SE Asia I've been amazed at the skill and resourcefulness of the general population in their ability to reuse everything and make the most useless items that we would throw away into valuable useful objects, such as old car tires made into sandals in Madagascar and the Philippines and buckets in Indonesia.

On a few occasions wandering round towns in developing counties and seeing this transformation of rubbish into some other completely useful form, I started thinking that this would be worth documenting, possibly in the form of a small picture book. For it to ever work I need to collect good quality pictures and stories of the sorts of objects mentioned. Knowing a good amount of people who work in conservation and development and either live or spend lots of time in less developed areas of the world I thought I may have a reasonable chance of collecting the material needed.

So if you come across anything you think maybe useful, get a few good pictures, let me know a story behind it and if I get enough material I will put something together and see if I can find a publisher interested it.

Thanks a lot and hope everyone is ok where ever you are.
Cheers, Quiche
Ryanwalker2@hotmail.com

By Thumper:

Please also forward them to me ad I will punblish them!

thumper.demowbray@virgin.net

Corrupting the Cookie

Whilst visiting The Great Wall Chinese Restaurant in downtown Gosport in some excellent company last week we concluded with the (now) traditional Fortune Cookies. No surprise here, but what is their origin? Thanks to Wikipedia I can tell you.

The Fortune Cookie is a thin, crisp cookie baked around a piece of paper with words of faux wisdom or vague prophecy, usually served with Chinese food as a dessert. The message inside may also include a list of lucky numbers (used by some as lottery numbers) and a Chinese phrase with translation. Despite the conventional wisdom, they were actually invented in California, not China.

The paper slips are always good for a laugh but James Allen, Clipper’s new Training Supremo added a new dimension. After each proverb you add the two words as below:

• Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve …. In bed


• Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world …. In bed!


• Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length …. In bed!


• Learning is lifelong ….. in bed!


• A rich man is not one who has the most, but the one who needs the least ….in bed!


• Your talents will be recognised and suddenly rewarded …. In bed!


• Happiness is a butterfly that may alight upon you ….. in bed!

Thank you James, and is it true you have introduced a new Part D training Course …. In bed?

Anna's Ultimate Booze Cruise

I have just had word with Anna Wardley and her plan to swim the Channel. When I asked her why she is swimming to France and not back she gave me the simplest expalation. 'Colin, I can bring more wine back on the ferry than I can while I am swimming'.

PLEASE SUPPORT HER IF YOU CAN

By Anna Wardley

Between 6-10 August 2007 I plan to swim solo across the English Channel. I know it is going to be exceptionally tough, but I am determined to give it my very best shot. I have been training since October 2006 and am building up my distance in preparation for my attempt at the ultimate marathon open water swim.

The English Channel is approximately 19 nautical miles (38000 yards) or 35 kilometres (35000 mtrs) - wide at its narrowest point (Shakespeare Beach, Dover to Cap Gris Nez, France). Every day there are approximately 600 traffic movements in the Dover Straits, and next August I plan to make it 601!

I will be raising money for the Samaritans (

www.samaritans.org.uk), who offer around the clock confidential support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, and the Philip Green Memorial Trust (www.pgmt.org), a UK based charity that helps less fortunate children both in the UK and overseas. As JustGiving is only able to administer single-charity campaigns, I have an arrangement with PGMT that they will pass on half of al monies raised to the Samaritans, who have also cleared this agreement.

I'll do the getting cold, wet and tired bit and take on the Cross Channel ferries and jellyfish - I hope you will do the generous bit and donate to these two special causes. With your help, I aim to make the pain worthwhile and raise a significant amount for both worthy causes.

Donating is very simple. Click onto www.justgiving.com/swimtofrance The site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Samaritans will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now! Many thanks for your support.

Anna

Tim Hedges leaving spoof

After it was publicly announced that Clipper Race Director Tim Hedges would be leaving after 9 years with Clipper all his work mates had the customary whip round. As Tim was so well known and respected, and in recognition to his long service, everyone dug deep into their pockets and found the odd coppers, foreign coins and a few old buttons that were really being reserved for the next church offering. The result was a spectacular success and there was a surplus of funds, even after buying his discount farewell card.

As I had known Tim for longest I was asked to say a few words. I mentioned his time Skippering Chrysolite in the 1998 race and his subsequent time assisting me with the 2000 and 2002 race so ably, and how I had greatly appreciated his never ending support, wise council and company.

We need to go back to 1996 when a certain Becca Aird ended up as one of four finalists in a Mail on Sunday competition for a place on Clipper. Her training skipper was none other than a certain Tim Hedges. After a total of 70,000 miles of ocean racing between them, several of us found ourselves at a church in Wiltshire to witness what can happen to nice girls who enter strange newspaper competitions.

After his farewell drinks for the office at The Clarence Tim announced that the news of his departure had been greatly exaggerated and he was not really leaving after all! In fact the whole evening was nothing else than a rehearsal for when he does finally leave at the end of May when Joff bailey (ex- New York Clipper) takes over.

I will keep my final farewell until after the next collection and he really does leave!

Liverpool Transport Vision

There have been worries expressed due to the expected high demands on the Liverpool transport framework during the 2008 – the year the city celebrates their turn as European City of Culture. With the shelving of the much needed metro tram system a well known Merseyside civil engineer has been looking for alternatives further a field.

‘I think I have found a practical answer’ said Mr Alastair Soane-Smugly (ASS).

'I have invested my own resources to follow up my new scheme of Jumbo Elephant Transport –or JET-ASS for short. My wife and I have carried out initial trials of the scheme and the picture shows us on the number 6 JET which is the express from Meols to Hoylake, a distance of over 1.5 miles.'

‘The joy of JET’ stated Mr S-S, ‘is that it is not affected by traffic as any cars are merely brushed aside or simple trodden on. Also, as road works now represent the permanent state of all the roads in the city centre, we see these will not be a problem as they represent the normal terrain for the prime movers of this revolutionary system.’

When asked if the JETs would be required to be routed round the streets when they were empty like the Liverpool buses Mr S-S answered ‘Absolutely not! They come with very experienced Mahouts who will be able to direct them in assisting with the many building projects underway in the city. In addition the Parks Department are also keen to be involved in an attempt to improve the quality of their roses.’

Mr S-S did not see that the capacity of JET-ASS would be a problem. 'We are looking at adding capacity to existing systems so this must be a bonus.' He confirmed they would be intergrated into the Park and Ride system to to get traffic off the Trunk routes.

The trial continues.

Happy Easter from Thumper!

On behalf of all the loyal followers, HAPPY EASTER.
Try this link for to celebrate with me
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1186822421376
...and have a thumping good holiday!
TdeM

Marina (nearly) at Keppel Bay

One of the interesting sites I enjoy in Singapore is seeing the building progressing at Keppel Bay where new marina is taking shape. When the Clipper visited last January they were based in a temporary purpose built marina in front of the Caribbean development (on the right of the picture). This prestigious residential development is built around the old dry docks of the famous Keppel shipyard. The largest dock, capable of talking a battleship, is in the foreground. http://www.caribbean.com.sg/homebythesea.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keppel_Harbour

The fantastic new marina will be on Keppel Island and accessed by the new bridge. It will be ready at the end of 2007 and officially opened during the visit of the Clipper Fleet in January 2008.

The latest project, just announced, is another vast residential complex with striking architecture to be know as Reflections.
http://www.kepcorp.com/press/press.asp?RID=1415&L=&Y=2007&Q=1

Dr Juma joins the NHS

An exciting new dimension on providing a whole range of medical services by one specialist has recently been introduced by the NHS. Due to the probability of being overcome by the demand, Dr Juma’s surgery address remains a secret at present.

In Case you can not read his services they are:

• Bewitched people
• Swollen body
• Lost Lover
• Insanity
• Diarrhoea
• Madness
• To make men’s pennis strong
• Women with pregnancy problems (By TdeM: Probably as a result of above)
• Vomiting at all times
• Misfortunes
• Demand debts
• Remove misunderstanding with anybody
• Court cases
• Casino specialist
• Bad luck
• Customer attraction etc

Bugis Street re-visited

The name Bugis Street brings backs memories to those who were in Singapore many years ago. For those in the forces serving in Singapore Bugis Street was always the last call on a run ashore. Wherever one was in town on the way home there was always some annoying person in a group who would insist in a final beer at Bugis. What was the attraction?

In the ‘good old days’ the street was full of colourful street bars with beautiful transvestites, known as kaitais out to trick visiting over tired sailors and others. In fairness to those who were fooled the Kaitais were identified by their superficial beauty. The story went that you could tell them from the genuine women by their Adam’s Apple or the size of their hands. The classic call by those tricked was ‘Bloody Hell – it’s got a meat and two veg!

World adventurer Martin Read, a former Royal Marine who served in Singapore, asks ‘Are the Kaitais and three legged dogs scavenging in the monsoon drains still there? Is Fatties now really a five story posh restaurant?!’

Well Martin I am afraid Bugis Street is a respectable street market now and even has a MRT (Tube) station named after it. The Kaitais have to moved out of town but I am told are very much in existence. Lack of time has precluded further research.

Excuses, Excuses

By Thumper de Mowbray
Great News! A real grumpy complaint has just come in from a dedicated Colin’s Place fan, called Queenie. This is my first proper complaint and therefore I will enjoy handling it with the diligence, respect and the utter contempt that it deserves ……

Dear Thumper
I am extremely concerned that your Master is not updating his Blog as often as he should, thus not taking care of those poor unfortunate people who have actually fallen to the addiction of such a site.

If for some reason - and it ought to be a good one - this has just been an oversight, that can be accepted - as long as it is not due to bone idleness or total disregard for those that have supported him so loyally up to now.

I therefore trust you, Thumper, to get things sorted forthwith and accept only the strongest and most plausible excuses from the Master himself. I shall be patient and await your reply with great anticipation – but little expectation of satisfaction.

Warmest regards - and bunches of carrots
Queen of Grumps

Colin‘s Reply
Thumper, thanks for passing on the note from the Queen of Grumps (QOGs). The explanation is simple. I placed one entry on the Blogsite in China and then the authorities swooped and closed me down. I was unable to get onto the site on any computer – I was totally ‘Shanghaied’ even though I was in Qingdao. I quickly moved hotels and then changed my flight and hid in Beijing. What a shame as I was about to tell the story about my new Dinner Jacket and suit (cost £70 total) which were supplied without buttons - I had to go to anther stall to get these! So much to tell, so little time to blog. I am now in Singapore and getting back to normal.

Please pass on my apologies to QOGs, and I will find a way to beat the 1,313,973,713 Chinese who seemed to get one over me this time.
Colin

Gambi Benromach

Location: Qingdao
Occasion: Signing of Qingdao Clipper
Guests: Vice Mayor Ms Zang
Toast: Benromach Single malt http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/op_brandsBenromach.html

As we have come to expect in Qingdao when the hosts here stage a function they do it well, extremely well. After the official meeting and speeches Madam Zang, the Vice Mayor of Qingdao, hosted a superb banquet to celebrate the event.

The banquets hosted by the City and the Olympic Sailing Committee are not only grand affairs but also fun. I took the opportunity to present Madam Zang with a bottle of Benromack malt whiskey from Glasgow's sponsors Gordon MacPhail. The bottle was duly passed around and enjoyed with various cries of ‘Gambi’ – or bottoms up …. one of the few Chinese words in my vocabulary.

Knuckling down to it

Sir Robin, now just over 2,000 miles from Norfolk, Va. would be the first to agree when Ian Burns said he was going to ‘roll up his sleeves and get stuck in’. Ian, runs the Red Star and Red Sail magazines in Qingdao and played a major part in the last Clipper visit to Qingdao in March 2006.

His current project is a groundbreaking Arts and Music Festival in Qingdao due to open in an old warehouse in ten days time. While setting up the exhibition space he was using an electric plane without a proper safety guard and badly injured the knuckle on one finger. He is now in Qingdao General Hospital making a good recovery although ‘Excused guitar playing’ for a while. As can be seen he is receiving visitors, in this case the famous Julia from the Olympic Sailing Committee and Colin de Mowbray, who is currently visiting Qingdao.

Ian took part in the final part of the last Clipper race. All his many friends in Clipper wish him a speedy recovery and suggest that next time he employs one of the 330 million carpenters in China to shorten the bit of wood.

Junk Sailing

This picture needs little explanation. It is Hong Kong Clipper departing from Hong Kong in April 2003. Up until the 2000 race the Clipper yachts were named after famous Clipper ships such as Arial, Serica, Thermopile, Mermerus, Chrysolite and so on, which meant a lot to nautical historians, but little to most other people. These names were in general quite difficult to spell correctly and almost impossible to pass over radio circuits to Chinese radio operators … and many others!

In 2000 the boats were named after UK cities as part of The Times millennium project. In 2002 three of the boat become international, namely Cape Town, New York and Hong Kong. This has set the stamp on the current race format.

Here Hong Kong Clipper’s local supporters club had got together and chartered one of the few traditional junks remaining in Hong Kong. Even today racing round the world in a relatively small yacht is still a great achievement. To think that the Chinese sailed their junks everywhere is an amazing thought, especially on the windward legs!

T-Shirt Dirty Nelly’s

This is one of my rarest and most treasured T-shirts modelled here by Nurse Lucy. Fullers, known as Dirty Nelly’s, was a wonderful example of a true ‘All American Diner’ in Phoebus which is in Newport News, Occasionally we would go there from the US Naval Air Station at just across the water in Norfolk, Virginia. The portions at Fullers were enormous (as were the staff and all the diners) and it was extremely reasonable – hence the logo on the back ‘EAT DIRT CHEAP AT FULLERS’

The main reason why I am so attached to this T-shirt is because it became one of my main cycling shirts and so has seen gallant service and many thousands of miles in France, Spain and New Zealand …. a true friend that has absorbed gallons of sweat in its time.

The VELUX 5 OCEANS yachts are in the process of arriving in Norfolk Virginia at present and I am sure all those involved will be sampling some American Dinners, but none will come close to matching Fullers. As my experience is now 25 years old I suspect that, if food poisoning did not get Dirty Nelly, then the cholesterol will have. My money is on the T-shirt being the sole survivor!

SARS Scare Patient Catches GDL*

This picture was a real scoop! In April 2003 the Clipper Race arrived in Hong Kong at the start of the SARS crisis. For those with short memories this stood for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. In the end there were 8,096 known cases reported of the disease and 774 deaths (a mortality rate of 9.6%). See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SARS

The acronym in this context was new to me, and I think everyone else. SAR of course is Search and Rescue but I had worked in Hong Kong before the turn over to China where it was agreed the ex-colony would be known as an SAR, or Special Administrative Region of the PRC. If you live in South Africa you know SARS as the SA Revenue Service, in other words the Tax Man. Conversely surgeons would think of the Society of Academic & Research Surgery.

Back to the photo ….. Just before dawn on the day the Clipper Race was finally going to depart from Hong Kong for Singapore I received a report that one crew member was suffering from a high temperature and a fever. Immediately the affected crew member was taken to a local hospital for all the thorough checks. The all clear was finally given but not before the South China Morning Post hit the street with a front page exclusive of ‘Clipper Race Crew Contracts SARS’. It then went on to say that the crew member was in fact their special correspondent, Anna Wardley who was now quarantined in her room at the Excelsior Hotel.

Before the paper was published there were only five of the 450 rooms occupied. Immediately the paper was published the other four guests checked out. Anna was the sole guest and forbidden to leave her room. The staff, who drew the short straw to look after her, wore masks and full protective clothing. They pushed trays of room service along the floor to her from the door with long bamboo poles.

The effect of SARS during this visit was that all tourists left and the relations and friends of the crew members at home imagined it was like the Great Plague in London in 1665 with everyone stepping over dead bodies in the street. For us, we were annoyed that the Rolling Stone Concert was cancelled but the Rugby 7s were not and enjoyed even more.

I would not pretend it was not a challenging time but all was finally overcome and Anna eventually re-joined the race in Singapore once her Bronchitis was better!

Anna Wardley finished the Clipper Race and after running the PR for the RNLI joined Clipper Ventures before the last race. She is currently Head of Communications and presently recovering from a nasty dose of GDL* which, we trust, is not as serious as her previous deceases. We hope she will be better soon.

* Gosport Dreaded Lurgi …..

Galapagos - Christmas 1996

In 1996 the eight Clipper yachts and their crews celebrated Christmas in the Galapagos Islands. With no travelling staff and few concrete arrangements made beforehand, a great deal of trust was put on the rumour that the Naval Captain, who ran the Port, was a whisky drinker. He was! The result was that after a very protracted system of clearing us in we all have an excellent visit.

No establishment was able to take all 120 crew and so we dived between two super restaurants in the hills. Unfortunately by this stage in the race various friendships within the Fleet made splitting the party across straight boat lines virtually impossible. Anyway, most people had a Christmas to remember, especially the restaurant owners and the giant tortoise who said that he had celebrated the occasion a 104 times before.

The T-shirt picture shows one of my crew members wearing her mystery present from her skipper. It was taken with a fast exposure – she did not wear it more than a thousandth of a second. I suspect when she sees it on the blog it will not stay up for too long …. so enjoy it now.

Art, fresh from Africa

Listen carefully; I say this only o n c e ….

I have just discovered a website with a whole lot of very colourful and original painted designs of tablecloths – they are all done by a South African artist called Alexa (know to all as Fuff) Kirsten and are really fantastic!

Now Colin’s Place is not here to sell things so all I will do is put you in touch with the website at www.coloursrsa.co.za and let you take it from there.

I do in fact know the artist and have visited her studio in Wellington, just over an hour out of Cape Town. We have several examples of her work at home including a Millennium T-shirt calendar. Her work might be of interest on an individual basis or, conversely, I am sure there are some very good business opportunities in selling her work outside Africa. Do look at the website or contact her at: stapole@mweb.co.za

Sunday's Blonde Joke

A plane is on its way to Toranto when a blonde with tight red trousers in economy class gets up and moves to the first class section and sits down.

The flight attendant watches her do this and asks to see her ticket. She then tells the blonde that she paid for economy class and that she (and her tight red trousers) will have to sit in the back.

The blonde replies: "I'm blonde, I'm beautiful, I'm going to Toronto and I'm staying right here."
The flight attendant goes into the cockpit and tells the pilot and the co-pilot that there is a blonde bimbo sitting in first class that belongs in economy and won't move back to her seat.

The co-pilot goes back to the blonde and tries to explain that because she only paid for economy, she will have to leave and return to her seat.

The blonde replies: "I'm blonde, I'm beautiful, I'm going to Toronto and I'm staying right here."

The co-pilot tells the pilot that he probably should have the police waiting when they land to arrest this blonde woman who won't listen to reason.

The pilot says: "you say she is a blonde? I'll handle this. I'm married to a blonde. I speak blonde." he goes back to the blonde and whispers in her ear, and she says: "Oh, I'm sorry." and she gets up and goes back to her seat in economy.

The flight attendant and co-pilot are amazed and ask him what he said to make her move without any fuss. "I told her, first class isn't going to Toronto."

T-Shirt: Glasgow 2014 Bid

I heard rumours about Glasgow bidding for the 2014 Commonwealth Games while I was in Singapore at a reception in given by the British High Commission to parade the Games baton on its way to Melbourne for the 2006 Games. The batten has a very busy programme as it visits all the competing Commonwealth countries in the four years between the Games – looking after it must be a fun job!

Since these whispers Glasgow has pulled out the stops and must now be one of the favourites for the Games. I was given this T-shirt in Jamaica where the Glasgow 2014 Bid Team visited to make their case to Jamaica and the other Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean. They based their presentation on Glasgow Clipper and the Clipper Race; an inspired and highly successful bit of promotion. Only when one becomes involved in these bids does one realise the scale of commitment by all the Candidate Cities.

The spirit and passion behind the Glasgow bid is infectious. Many of us now feel personally involved and I would love to see them win. …. and all they gave me was the T-shirt, which I briefly lent to Lucy for the photo.

Heroes in Bulgaria

There was tense drama in the Bulgarian mountains earlier this week in two completely separate, and spectacular incidents, both of which could have had fatal endings.

Beads had just completed the journey to the popular Bulgarian ski slopes from her beach home in Mombassa (by way of Holland, Somerset, Scotland and Beachy Head). She hired her snow board and made her way to the highest chairlift. Snapping into her binding she set off down the savage mountain. With crisp and elegant movements she stood out as a natural. Other boarders stopped and marvelled at her skill.

Ahead was a 90 year old snow boarding Granny resting before the descent. To Beads' horror she spied a pack of lean, hungry and fierce wolves to her side. The situation was desperate … without a moment’s thought for her safety, Beads veered towards the predators making ear screeching howls (they were very scared!) With a quick wiggle she whooshed back, bundled up the Granny and, with a triumphant shout of ‘Chicken-out-of Hell’, headed directly down the Black run with ‘Lucky Gran’.

……..It took several minutes for the spectators to dig them out of the drift. When they emerged, the Granny was safe – HURRAY – the wolves had fled – HURRAY – and Beads was a local hero – HURRAY – and when Beads tried to wave it was apparent she had broken her right wrist less than 20 minutes into her holiday – BOO HOO.

Later that morning Bead’s boyfriend, Sander – known as Jaap – was fairing better. Taking a well earned rest, he was marveling at the skill of the young school children on their skis. Bobbing here and bobbing there, the class then stopped to regroup as their instructor handed out some Bulgarian biscuits. To his horror, out of the corner of his eye, Jaap saw the giant driverless piste -basher start to roll down the hill out of control towards the helpless children. With no thought for his safety he chased the run away machine until able to climb into the cabin over the thrashing tracks. He lunged for the control levers and pulled with all his might. The force brought the machine around – it had stopped a metre from the terrified children.

……..it took several minutes for the spectators to dig Jaap out of the drift. When he emerged he saw the children were safe – HURRAY – he was a local hero – HURRAY – and when Jaap tried to wave it was apparent he had broken his right wrist less than two hours into his holiday – BOO HOO.

Editor’s notes:

1. The outcome of these events (that happened to Sarah de Mowbray and Sander Den Haring) is accurate, we are not yet in a position to confirm the factual accuracy of the rest of the account!
2. Please note that as a Dutchman Japp chooses to wear this orange Sentosa Island T-Shirt presented to Colin in Singapore!

Brazilian Trophies

The Clipper Races to Brazil are always colourful and fun. The parties are quite the best, even if they only have 48 hours to organise them. The most memorable act was when one of the warrior dancers spun like a top on his head. WARNING: Do not try this at home or in the Office.

The picture on the left shows a young Alex Thomson (23!) collecting his first prize on behalf of the crew of Arial. The Clipper Fleet had raced from Madeira and this was the start of Alex pulling out an unstoppable lead and eventually winning the 96 Race. The figures on the right are some that have been presented to me either on the race or when running it. They prove to be a challenging cleaning task.

Another of the great memories from Salvador, apart from Dayse, was the girls that ran the crew information desk. Dominique, the visit coordinator, took his job of interviewing them very seriously and spun the process out over several weeks. The result was that they all spoke good English, where all very well educated, had super rich Daddies and were quite, quite beautiful. This time however I have gone for a picture of Alex ….. sorry.

People - Joe Caddick

It is always a joy when one interviews potential crew members for the Clipper Race and then get to know them well over a period of two years or so while they train and then sail on the race. Joe Caddick is just such a person. A great character and true Scouser he now runs his family business which builds Water Witch vessels that go around harbours collecting rubbish. They have been immensely successful and are used in hundreds of ports round the world. This of course meant that Joe’s circumnavigation in the Clipper Race was a sales tour, and as such obviously gained the attendant financial advantages!

The original pollution control workboat was invented by Joe’s father Francis who was a barge operator specialising in the transport of solid waste. Francis developed the Water Witch in the early 1960's to solve the dangerous problem of floating debris, in the Port of Liverpool.

The unique design was an immediate success - now there are Water Witch workboats providing a reliable service world-wide including, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, USA, South Africa and throughout Europe. http://www.waterwitch.com/

The photo shows a very smart version of one of Joe’s Water Witch’s in Glasgow harbour pushing its own gash barge. Note Glasgow Clipper in the background.

When the Clipper Race started from Liverpool Joe organised a formation of Water Witch’s to join the steam past.

I took this picture of Joe in Qingdao, China – not a lot of doubt about which football team he supports.

People - Hilary Lister

GUEST ARTICLE BY KELS GILKISON
If you found yourself completely quadriplegic, unable to move anything other than your mouth, eyes & head, what would you do? What would you be thinking? Would you want to end you life? A bit hard to do though, when the hand you need, can only be your own and it is paralysed.

I have been asking myself what would I do, how would I cope? The reason? Not because I find myself in this position, but because I am now organising a different kind of sailing event. Not a race, in a sense, but the dream of a quadriplegic lady.

You may have read or heard about Hilary Lister. In 2005, she sailed solo across the English Channel to enter the record books for completing the world’s longest solo sail by a quadriplegic. Hilary sailed by sucking & blowing down two straws, (one to sheet in and out the sails, the other to move the rudder from side to side). She took 6 hours and 13 minutes to cross the English channel in a 26’ Soling. Quite an achievement, even for an able body solo sailor!

Now Hilary wants to sail around Britain. Hilary is leaving in June this year from Cowes and will be sailing anti-clockwise around Britain, via the Caledonian Canal and down the east coast of Ireland. She’ll be stopping at many ports on her 3-4 month sail.

Hilary is an inspirational woman and I often forget when chatting with her, that she is quadriplegic. She is incredibly witty and bright. Hilary is also a qualified Biochemist, but unfortunately never got the chance to work in her chosen field.

Hilary’s condition did not happen overnight like many quadriplegics. Hilary did not dive into a shallow pool nor was she involved in an accident. Hilary actually has a progressive degenerative disease (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) that has slowly moved up from her feet to her neck, leaving her paralysed as it moves upward. Diagnosed when she was 15, it was not something a teenager really needs to deal with. Hilary knew that it would only be a matter of time before the disease took away the use of all her limbs. Still, she never let her condition control her life and as the disease slowly took away the use of her legs, then her arms, she found other things to do until such time as the only thing left to move, was her head. So she took up sailing……!

'Would I have that same spirit, were I in her position?' It is a question I often find myself asking. Hilary tells me 'Of course I would, anyone would', but I’m not so sure.

I said I was involved in a race of a different kind. Well it is a race in a way, Hilary’s life expectancy is only a few more years, so to her it’s a race. A race to sail solo round Britain before her own time runs out.
You can read more about Hilary on her website www.hilarylister.com

Kels kels@two-chapters.com

NAS v OSS

Top: Sarah buys fresh fish in Hong Kong - OSS
Bottom: Thumper buys lettuce over the internat - NAS

FEATURE BY: Sander Den Haring
New Age Shopping, or ‘shopping on line’ is fast becoming the norm. I shall call this by the TLA* acronym NAS. Conventional shops obviously still exist for what I shall call ‘Old School Shopping’ or OSS. We still enjoy spending hours on end wandering from shop to shop, social interactions, getting the right size, advice and some things just cannot be found.
* Three letter acronym

Most of us have purchased an item online and have had mixed feeling from enjoyment, boredom, hatred, doubts, elation or many other emotional feelings. Let's face it though, isn’t that what all shopping is all about?

Of course you can mix NAS and OSS. One tactic that works well is requesting advice about the various items from shops and once all the information has been gathered, and your decision made, you then surf the net and explore the different prices offered. This is getting the best of both worlds but it is fair on the shops? Well the the shops offer a service and. if this is good enough, they will survive. If not, sadly, they will not; I, and I suspect you, will not be treating them as a charity.

There is an abundance of stock to be purchased from the internet and http://www.google.com/ will most likely lead you in the right direction but here are some of my own favourite sites that I pass on to those brave enough to venture into the electronic shopping mall.

http://www.7dayshop.com/ : Very useful link for electronic/computer accessories such as batteries (rechargeable and not), flash memory, cameras, camera memory, ink cartridges and toners, writeable media (cd’s, dvd’s etc).

http://www.mx2.com/: Similar to 7dayshop but more for ink cartridges, digital cameras, mp3 players.

http://www.play.com/ : If dvd movies, books, games or music is your hobby then visit this e-shop you must.

http://www.amazon.com/ This e-shop is very well known for its books but you find a variety of other items for sale as well. The thing about the books I like is that they will also give you the choice between a new book and a second hand book (if available). One can also sell books through this website.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ : The very well known e-auction they also have similar sites in different countries. You need it, they got it. Also if you wish to clear out your loft, house garage, don’t throw it away, rather, take a photo, place it on ebay and get money for it!

The next three sites all deal with printing digital photos (also develop and print negatives and even slides). However, they all have a multitude of sales and good deals.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/
http://www.dlab7.com/ : cheapest prints I’ve found thus far
http://www.photobox.co.uk/: allows you to set up a user account and share your pics with anyone who cares to look at them and print them. Only need to upload pics once and continually print then from there. Also a wide variety of other photo things available (pic on mug, custom made calendar, posters etc…)

There are a multitude of other e-shops in the worldwide mall and we would all like to learn your favorite stores. Please send Thumper the addresses and let’s shop till we drop …..or until the batteries in our laptops die, or the internet connection is lost, or until our bosses disconnect us from the internet.

T- Shirt: CARNEIGI'S, Wanchai HK

Carnegie's - HOME OF THE LEGENDARY LADIES NIGHT! Wednesdays FREE Champagne all night for all ladies. The only bar in HK where you can actually dance ON the bar!

Yes, this is all true and what is more they were enthusiastic sponsors for some of the Charity nights at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club during the Clipper visit in 2003.

http://www.carnegies.net/.

Although getting the converted T-shirt, what I did not know was why it was called Carnegies read on!

The chain of bars around Asia is named after the famous Scot, Andrew Carnegie. (1835 – 1919). A major and widely respected philanthropist. He is known for having built one of the most powerful and influential corporations in United States history, and, later in his life, giving away most of his riches to fund the establishment of many libraries, schools, and universities in Scotland, America and worldwide.

Carnegie, a poor boy with fierce ambition, a pleasant personality, and devoted to both hard work and self improvement, started as a telegrapher. By the 1860s he had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, as well as bridges and oil derricks, and built a fortune as a bond salesman raising money in Europe for American enterprises. In the 1870s he founded the Carnegie Steel Company, a step which cemented his name as one of the “Captains of Industry”. By the 1890s it was the largest and most profitable industrial enterprise in the world. He sold it in 1901 and devoted the remainder of his life to large scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, and scientific research
With grateful acknowledgement to Wikipedia

el Morro Castle, Havana

This decorative plate was presented to me when the second Clipper race visited Marina Hemingway, just to the west of Havana, in December 1998.

Our hosts in Cuba were The Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba with the ever cheerful Commodore, José Miguel Díaz Escrich. José is still very much in evidence and continues to encourage yachtsmen from all nations to visit his marina.

The plate shows el Morro Castle which dominates the eastern entrance to Havana harbour. It was built by Juan Bautista Antonelli, an Italian engineer in 1589 when Cuba was under the control of Spain.

Built in response to raids on Havana harbour, el Morro protected the mouth of the harbour with a chain being strung out across the to the fort at La Punta. It first saw action in 1762 when Lord Albemarle landed in Cojimar and attacked the fort from its rear. It fell because the English could command the high ground so when they had handed the island back to the Spanish the fort at La Cabaña was built to prevent this happening again.

Sunday Quiz - Thumper MRE

Several observant people have asked me why I have MRE after my name. I thought this would be a good question to throw out to everyone! Please send your suggestions (polite ones please) to me at thumper.demowbray@virgin.net by Saturday 24 Feb. The answer will be revealed next Sunday and there will be a mystery prize for the first correct answer pulled out of the hat.
Thumper MRE, Editor, Colin's Place

Eco Warriors from Devon

Here’s a fun website about a Devon carpenter who is going to sail around most of Britain in his tiny home made boat spreading the word that low carbon living is fun and easy.
In each destination visited Mukti Mitchell and his boat, “Chance”, will be greeted by local and national celebrities as well as famous environmentalists. There will be events displaying low-carbon products from insulation to bicycles, public transport, local food and low-energy holidays - all the elements of a low carbon lifestyle.
“A lot of the best things in life are low-carbon by nature – exercise and socializing are good examples – and the really good bit is that low-carbon activities save money and make you feel good” - says Mukti. Details can be found on his web at http://www.lowcarbonlifestyle.co.uk/

Maybe Mukti and his near Devon neighbour Sir Robin Knox-Johnston should get together. The later is on his low-carbon trip round the world in the VELUX 5 Oceans Race.

Great news, recently in, is that he has moved up to third place. He has done this with almost zero carbon emissions but does have limited supplied of ‘the barley’ and ‘the grape’. It is worth remembering that there were 8 entrants in the VELUX 5 Oceans Race, 7 of whom started and five that are still racing. It is definitely worth looking at Sir Robin’s progress as he approaches Cape Horn. http://www.velux5oceans.com/

Should we be looking at the carbon credit generated by the Clipper Race. 180 people sailing 35,000 miles? That’s 6,300,000 miles of carbon credit…….

Note by Editor Thumper:
The Editor is not totally convinced about the above logic. What would happen if no boats sailed on the Clipper Race or if Sir Robin had stayed at home? In these cases would there be more damage to the environment than with them sailing? Maybe we should be sending more people off to sail round the world to save the planet. Please let me have your comments!

People - Patrice Wymore Flynn

This is a picture of a very special lady we met when the Clipper Race visited Port Antonio in Jamaica in June 2005. Patrice Wymore Flynn is Errol Flynn’s widow and she lives on an estate in the hills behind the picturesque harbour. She and Errol Flynn moved to Port Antonio in the 1950s and he was responsible for developing tourism to this area, including raft trips down rivers on bamboo rafts – still a popular attraction today.

While the Clipper Fleet was in port the marina was renamed Errol Flynn Marina and Patrice, as Guest of Honour, won everyone’s hearts by her wonderful presence. The picture shows her on the bridge of the Jamaican Coast Cutter at the race start. The insert is of my signed T-shirt which is only worn for very special occasions – in this case leaving Yeovil Hospital with my new body parts.

There are several books on the colourful life Errol Flynn lived. I have just ordered the following – purely in the name of research:
My Wicked, Wicked Ways by Errol Flynn • First Pub 1959
http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Wicked-Ways-Errol-Flynn/dp/1845130499

COMPETITION - Name the bride!

Happy memories of this wedding in Hawaii of two Clipper crew members in Feb 1997. Here I am checking on the bride’ teeth as part of my duties as Skipper of Chrysolite in the first Clipper race in 1996. Of course in those days Skippers and crew took reefers jackets as part of their shore rig, just in case they had to go to a wedding, …. and as for the pig tail, that lasted until Singapore.

Well if you are an Aussie marrying a Brit it is quite logical to get married in Hawaii, that way it is really inconvenient for all the families and friends. The wedding was in the Chapel of the Sea in downtown Honolulu just behind the famous Waikiki beach. This was 4 years before the race went to the marina at Ko Olina on the west end of the island where there were two ‘wedding chapels’ in the grounds – both full booked every hour, on the hour – mainly by Japanese. Is this a challenge coming up for crew in the next race?!

Name the Bride and Groom to claim a collector’s T-shirt. Names please to thumper.demowbray@virgin.net Draw for the winner will be made Friday 23 Feb.

Me and my Bosideng!

The Clipper Fleet was due to visit Shanghai in March 2003. Part of the sponsorship for this visit was from a Chinese firm called Bosideng who are reputed to be the largest manufacturers of down jackets in the world.

Because of berthing problems and the onset of SARs the boats never got to Shanghai and so only the winning Glasgow crew and the three staff got jackets. A great shame as I can honestly say that the jacket is quite my favourite*. Light and warm and very comfortable and it packs up into a tiny space. In fact it is so, so nice that mine has been stolen by my son – I suspect he will return it for the summer.
*Skillfully modelled here by the beautiful Nurse Lucy

Quote from the Bosideng website:
For down garments, the shell fabrics currently in vogue both at home and abroad including extra fine peachskin flannelette …… whitened fabrics having high scientific and technological content are used. As for color, faking into consideration the fashion color popular at home and abroad, we apropriately control the aroma and lightness, bravely use contrast color, combine if and the variable "O", "A" and "H" shapes into one organic whole and have designed many new garments fit for people of different age groups and with different cultural tastes……..
http://english.jschina.com.cn/gb/jschina/english/biz/products/userobject1ai936417.shtml

Sir Robin does it with Gordons

The picture shows a slightly unusual scene, even for the Point Yacht Club in Durban. During the Clipper Race visit to Durban in November 2005, the day before the race start, one of the yachts had a problem with an air bubble in their main binnacle (compass). The liquid is only in the compass to provide damping so the delicately balanced card does not jump about and spin round as it is affected by the acceleration and deceleration caused by the boat’s movement.

The old established belief is that the liquid in the compass is pure alcohol and many a ship has come to grief after its binnacle has been drained and replaced with water or some unsuitable liquid. I will not go into the irresistible attraction between pure alcohol and seafarers other than to say that on occasions some may have mistakenly believed there are better places for this than in a binnacle, even if it has the reverse effect to damping the humans who drink it.

Sir Robin immediately rose to the challenge. The whole compass would have to be drained and then filled with the best substitute available. In this case it was Gordon’s gin. Having settled down at the ‘regulars’ end’ of the bar, he found no shortage of volunteers. Unfortunately the screw hole which was used for filling the compass was very small and the only way of filling it was with a syringe. This was slow and thirsty work. After several cries of ‘a double for my compass and the same for my friends’ it became obvious to all (other than those involved), that success was by no means guaranteed.

The Bar staff at the Point Yacht Club are smart and pointed out the merits of buying gin by the bottle and slowly and surely the filling hole became smaller – and kept on ‘ …bloody well moving around’.

And the outcome? Justin Haller, the Maintenance Manager (left of picture) fitted a perfectly working compass the next day two hours before the race start.*
* This was the one he bought on a ‘sale and return’ the previous afternoon ….earning him the name of Just In Case Haller.

New York City Sports Commission

This is a genuine American Base Ball Cap and was given to me in 2004 by Ken Podziba, New York City’s Sports Commissioner. The Mayor of New York has various Commissioners who run the different City Departments. Ken Podziba has been in the post since Feb 1988 and is responsible for many of the arrangements in getting visiting sports events to New York. He was also very involved in New York’s unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Olympics – hopefully we will see him in London.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sports/html/home.html

In the right hand picture the Commissioner is presenting a plaque to Sam Fuller who was skipper of Liverpool 08 for the race from Jamaica to New York in July 2006.

People - James Landale

If you missed The Last Duel on BBC 2 last Friday night, don’t worry as I am sure it will be shown again. It’s a story of two men who fought to the death with pistols in 1826. David Landale, a respected merchant, reluctantly provoked into an unwanted duel, the other a professional soldier, steeped in military tradition. The professional soldier also happened to be the merchant’s bank manager. It would end with the death of one man and mark the demise of a 600-year-old ritual.

One hundred and eighty years after the duel was fought, James Landale, a descendant of the linen merchant, and an ex-Clipper crew from the 2000 race retraces his ancestor’s steps. James has also written a book on the subject called Duel. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duel-True-Story-Death-Honour/dp/1841958220
James was Political Editor for The Times when he crewed in London Clipper. His fiancé, Cath meanwhile was a crewmember in Jersey Clipper and so there was great rivalry between them, especially as one waited impatiently for the other to finish. James is now the Chief Political Correspondent of BBC News 24 but has found time to publish as second book called Landale's Cautionary Tales - comic verse for the 21st century. ISBN: 1 84195 847 6
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Landales-Cautionary-Tales-Comic-Century/dp/1841958476/ref=pd_sim_b_2/202-7297246-3084669

With Hilaire Belloc firmly in mind James Landale has created a gallery of awful children doing dreadful – but very modern – things. His book of warnings for children and parents alike brings Belloc’s verses bang up to date, for example:

Percy
Who Swore and broke the Law

The foulest mouth I ever knew
Belonged to Percy Pelligrew,
A little boy who thought it fun
To swear and curse at everyone.
He’d say ‘damn
this’ and ‘balls to
that’
And ‘stuff it up your effing hat’

So did you know a Percy Who Swore and broke the Law or a Gloria Bone who:

was Apt to
Drone
All day upon her Mobile
Phone.
The moment she got out of
Bed
She clamped the thing fast to
Her head
And would put it down only if
Her signal was a tad Skew-Whiff.

Here is poetic justice for the modern sins of children and, occasionally, their parents too.
Meet Gloria, a young shopaholic who learns the value of money the hard way (Moral: “If you shop until you drop / One day the trust fund will stop”); or Jonathan, who picks more than his nose (Moral: “Orificial exploration / Is but good in moderation”).

T-Shirt CARDIFF

This T-Shirt was one of the Cardiff Clipper crew shirts in the Clipper 05-06 race which was presented to me. With the advantage of a strong red colour and a fearsome Welsh dragon, Cardiff had simple and effective branding on their boat and their banners.

Cardiff's school programme was very enthusiastically run and included a comprehensive display in the Cardiff Bay museum. This had a life sized mock up of part of the Clipper cabin with bunks and even the yacht’s heads (toilet) to illustrate what living conditions were like for the crew.

ISLA DE LOS ESTADOS

The VELUX 5 Oceans race site reports: Shortly before 21:30 UTC last night, the Swiss skipper scorched passed the Horn on a single gybe at 16 knots, leaving the infamous island to port. ….The 10:20 UTC position poll places Stamm just past the Isla de Los Estados, north-east of Cape Horn in the South Atlantic.

This great achievement by Bernard Stamm brings significant memories back to me and I know a select band of others .... but for a completely different reason.

Here is a summary of an event in the area not far away on 10 May 1982:
That night as HMS ARROW moved to the north end of Falkland Sound, sister ship HMS ALACRITY prepared to sail right through from the south for the first time to flush out any supply ships. As she passed up the Sound, ALACRITY detected a small ship apparently heading for Port Howard, and using her single 4.5 inch, illuminated with star shell. Refusing to stop, the target was engaged in the only surface action of the war and after a number of hits, exploded and sank with heavy casualties. Reportedly there were only two survivors from what turned out to be the naval transport ISLA DE LOS ESTADOS carrying fuel and military supplies. ALACRITY carried on through to meet ARROW, and on Tuesday morning, both ships headed back to the carriers.

Being a member of HMS ALACRITY’s ship’s company I can tell you we were doing more than ‘flushing out’ enemy ships. Prior to the planned landings at San Carlos, up to date information was required on the threat of mining in the narrow straits to the north of the Sound. Frigates aren’t normally used as minesweepers and no one on board needed to be told what our mission really was.

It turned out that ISLA DE LOS ESTADOS’ cargo included mines due to be laid in the Sound. There can be no better example of the perfect way to sweep mines than sink the ship carrying them. It therefore gives me great pleasure to refute CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION in Scuttlebutt 2268 published 26 January 2007 when they stated:
Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

For information, 2007 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Falkland’s War