person overboard

While discussing all things boaty and in particular our safety equipment we came across these guys.
http://www.mobilarm.com/
Check it out. If you fall overboard the most likely boat that is going to rescue is the one you fell off- provided they know you fell off. The V100 unit is water activated and sends an alarm directly via VHS radio, to any radios within range, but the closest being your own it will wake anyone on board and at the same time put a waypoint into the boats GPS. Even more brilliant is that it is a Fremantle company.

cyclone?

A cyclone watch was in place for coastal waters Jurien to the South West corner but as this was at least a thousand kilometers away and moving at 35kph we were unconcerned, although Geoff has had us brushing up on Buy-Ballots law. So in calm conditions we motored to The Stragglers and had a great snorkel amid big schools of Herring and Buff Bream. Concern that our biggest pan would not cope with the size of fish Andrew would catch were unfounded. Jennifer elected not to join us on this trip, instead showing remarkable understanding of Andrews fishing prowess and spending the morning at the fish markets. A sort of Buy-Fish law.

Todays picture comes from a handheld on a bouncy boat. Well, there was a cyclone watch current.

fireworks night

We had a great night eating and drinking and then watching the fireworks put on in Fremantle specially for us.

Discovered afterwards that the icebox leaks into the void behind the chartplotter and from there onto the port bunk. Sailing is about avoiding wetspots.

Thanks Holly for the photo.

Truth, beauty, and a picture for you.

Should a writer be flexible with the truth in order to keep the reader interested?

It would be easy in this time of tweets and instant messages to think that in the desire for short sweet messages the truth would be lost in favour of the interesting. Keep the reader interested. Does this allow for the considered development of argument or the thoughtful review of complexities? After all, most things are not as binary as black and white.

Just because a message is short does not mean that it is interesting but equally a long blog is not necessarily any more intelligent that a short. It has always and will always be that a writer must keep the reader interested. I guess it is just easier to scroll over meaningless twitter.

Clever writing might include multiple meanings and words are wonderful like this in a way that numbers are not. Shakespeare was a master at this. Often his minor characters will observe something that we can interpret as either ribald or droll. His situations also very non digital. Two sets of twins, confused, in love with what each other thinks is another. Even death, the most binary of things- you are either dead or you are alive- but in Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet he blurs this line. And of course, this latter is about love, the most annoyingly analogue of human things. Nothing digital about love.

I would love to read what Shakespeare might tweet.

Of love gone wrong or of shipwrecked twins

Of ghosts and the maneuvering of kings

We would think of tears then laugh so sweet,

And later over chardonnay, argue what it meant.

Probably shouldn’t have mentioned shipwrecks in a sailing blog. Here is a picture for you.

communications

Friday, planning day number seventeen thousand! The solar panels are working well, despite today being overcast there is still 13.2 volts at the regulator and more importantly, the fridge is cold. I have been told we need to replace one of our batteries as we have one sealed and one flooded type. Apparently the volts get confused as to which one to go to. Or something like that.
The plan to post daily blogs is also adrift. Sat Phones are so slow we are going to burn through budget faster than a politician at election time. Of course we could just send messages by text but pictures are better. Pictures of the ocean near Jurien. Pictures of the ocean near Geraldon. Pictures of that bit of ocean north of Shark Bay. Pictures of slightly different coloured ocean as we head north and the temperature changes.
I am investigating another method. This comes from the philosophy that everything old will be new again. I can get 15,000km of string and, by holding it taut between two tins, we get instant messaging including the ability to send pictures by sliding them dangled from two paperclips. All those years playing in the backyard treehouse were not wasted.
Here is a picture from a time when we actually took the boat somewhere.

sandale is going to Bali

The plan is to post photos and daily comments on shipboard life as we sail from Fremantle to Bali. Departing April 23rd 2011 as part of the FSC race.