Thoughts from Cowal

2011-08-16T22:03:00.002+00:00

The middle section of the Navy's newest Aircraft Carrier passing Innellan on its way to Rosyth.

More Maersk Movement

2010-06-23T19:30:00.005+00:00

Moving through the gloom of Wednesday afternoon on the Clyde, the Maersk Beaumont - under her own power this time and according to AIS heading for Le Havre. Things getting better economy wise? Don't know as there is a Maersk tanker sitting off Arran with Loch Striven as its destination!

Maersk Movement

2010-06-13T17:05:00.004+00:00

Seen just a few mintes ago, the Maersk Beaumont being towed from Loch Striven to Gourock. Earlier the Maersk Boston had taken the same journey and is now sitting off Gourock. It seems that this is the beginning of the process of getting their engines ready for use again.

A few days earlier the SLPerformance underwent this process. She was due to pick up one last load of containers before sailing to the Far East for 'recycling'

The Maersk Baltimore and Brooklyn remain in Loch Striven as I think does the Maersk Bentonville, but only the Baltimore and Brooklyn have their AIS turned on again. Now does this indicate that, for Maersk at least, things are getting better?

When 'Doon the water' is dangerous!

2010-01-16T20:55:00.006+00:00

Woke up this morning to find a fishing boat aground just along the road from our house. It would appear that the Avalon got into trouble last night and the crew were lifted off by helicopter. Thankfully it would appear that all were safe and the biggest casualty was the boat itself.

The Clyde is only a relatively small river, but still dangerous, and the number of wrecks recorded in it confirms this. It was rather windy! I look forward to finding out what happened.

Not a day for going 'Doon the Watter'!

2009-11-22T16:20:00.004+00:00

Not a very clear pic - partly due to it being taken through a window and partly due to the poor visibility. What you see is as enhanced as I could get Elements 7 to give me.

The pic is of the Coruisk making its way down the Clyde to Rothesay. The weather did deteriorate after this and, after the Bute making a run from Gourock at about 3:30pm, sailings were cancelled.

Or Maybe Six?

2009-11-08T16:56:00.004+00:00

Although we hear that the recession is easing it doesn't look that way for shipping companies.

Yet another Maersk container ship has appeared on the Clyde. The Maersk Brooklyn is sitting at anchor off Rothesay Bay and it would seem it is bound for Loch Striven to be laid up with its five other sister ships.

Again it is one of Maersk's newer container ships, built in 2007, and of the same design as four of the others in Loch Striven.

Then there were Five!

2009-11-08T11:25:00.005+00:00

Having heard of the arrival of a fifth Maersk ship I had intended getting my good wife to take me back up Loch Striven to take more pics.

The best laid plans! We did set out, but as luck would have it the wind picked up somewhat and Fiona decided - given my lack of sailing skill - that it would be better to head back long before getting close to the ships.

The picture here, therefore, was taken from the road running along the Loch.

More of Newcastle

2009-08-11T19:01:00.007+00:00

Returning to our Newcastle trip I have to say that I found the 'Geordies' extremely friendly. I don't mean to suggest that I was expecting anything else, but it was simply the warmth and openness of them that I found exceptionally pleasant.

Newcastle, itself, is a strange mixture of very new buildings alongside the very old. Not unusual in a city, but strangely noticeable here for some reason. I mean that in many cities you have areas of new build and areas of old - here you seem to find new almost 'grafted' on to old constructions. Really interesting!

Also noticeable was the night-life in the city. I know that I have portrayed us as the 'country-cousins' come to town, but it was fascinating to see just how many folk were out mid-week eating out and enjoying themselves. I can only imagine what the weekend is like! As noted in my last blog it's good for us wee villagers to get out and see more of the world. They are also a hardy breed in Newcastle - the lassies braving the elements with minimum dress. Lots and lots of bonnie lassies there! Now can I block my wife from reading this?

The Sage, Gateshead

2009-08-08T18:44:00.012+00:00

An excellent three days in Newcastle this week!

Arrived on Wednesday - the last time we were here was over twenty years ago - and very pleasantly surprised by how the city has developed.

Stayed in the Jurys Inn and even more surprised at the standard and quality of the hotel (we don't get out much!). Honestly not advertising, but extremely pleasant with excellent staff and superbly spotless accommodation - would go back there again!

Why were we there? Well, my musical son was playing at The Sage with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland as part of an extensive tour taking in Aberdeen, Gateshead, Katowice and Krakow - Poland and ending in Apeldoorn - Netherlands.

We opted for 'The Sage' to hear their performance and it was excellent. The music was varied. Under their conductor Takuo Yuasa, they played Antonin Dvorak's Hussite Overture op.67, the rather unusual, but strangely enjoyable, Cello Concerto by Witold Lutoslawski featuring soloist Alexander Baillie and a superb rendition of Ein Heldenleben by Richard Stauss. A really great evening's entertainment added to by great food and service by The Sage prior to the concert.

One of the benefits of living in a wee Scottish village is the appreciation of experiencing the big world outside now and again.

Newcastle - you really lived up to it. Brilliant!

More on Newcastle and Gateshead - places and people - to follow!

Not Sailing Again!

2009-08-01T20:09:00.006+00:00

We had hoped to get away on the boat again this week, but a combination of me - the sailing wimp - and high winds has meant that we are still at home! The first picture is of the jetty at the sailing club from where we row out to Katana and the second shows Katana, in the centre of the picture, dipping forward into the water. Sorry, Fiona! Bet you wish you'd married a real sailor!

There have been days when the comment has been made that it was 'a great day'. Unspoken were the words - 'for sailing'. I do pledge to keep trying and get out there as much as I can. There that's public! Can't go back on it....:-)

However, on the up-side of this we have made some progress in researching our family tree - getting back to the 1700's in some branches of the family..... and Fiona bought a flexible laundry basket from our new hardware store having failed to buy one across the water!!

The next highlight in Dunoon's life is the opening of Morrison's on Monday. We look forward to it because we might get our Co-op back!!

Loch Striven

2009-07-23T20:06:00.010+00:00

It's quite fascinating what seems to interest people around the world. Having checked my sitemeter lately I noticed that many of the hits are from people interested in the Maersk ships laid up in Loch Striven - and these hits have come from as far as South Africa and Switzerland.

The ships also appeared the other day again on Scottish National news giving what I reckoned to be a fairly sympathetic insight into processes being undertaken to 'preserve' the ships in the hope that they will go into service again. Certainly the Captain interviewed did not want to see the ships laid up any more than the residents living around Loch Striven.

I can't quite decide where my thoughts lie with the issue, but can't quite help thinking that there is a bit of 'Not In My Back Yard' coming into the argument. There has certainly been some heated local debate on the Clydesights web site.

I'm sure the debate will continue.

Caladh Harbour

2009-07-17T18:18:00.010+00:00

On the way home the other day Fiona decided to treat me to a little sail through Caladh Harbour - something she had avoided doing until only a couple of years ago.

Essentially this involved leaving Wreck Bay, heading towards Loch Riddon and the bit of coastline shown in the second picture and continuing until a house appeared over our left shoulder. At this point a quick handbrake turn to the left was required and we sailed between the CCC pole on shore (starboard) and the white beacon on our left (port!). The instructions are very clear - stay mid-channel! Obviously completely convinced by Fiona's expertise, I was totally un-phased by all of this and happily snapped away with my camera and before I knew it we were through and heading back to the Burnt Islands - Fiona was most put out that I was not more 'wowed' by this diversion. Doesn't she realise us old sea-dogs have seen it all?

More Sailing!

2009-07-16T19:29:00.009+00:00

Dragging me, once again, kicking and screaming from in front of the TV Fiona decided that the weather was perfect for us to have a sail and overnight stay at Wreck Bay. 'Weather...perfect' meant little wind and nothing to be scared of..... not her - me!

We left just before 7:00pm and headed up towards the Kyles. The weather was good though more cloudy than I would have liked and with a rather cool wind blowing down from the Kyles resulting in me - the wimp - wearing jumper and sailing waterproof jacket. Summer in Scotland!

However we arrived at Wreck Bay - I've always thought it a strange name for a safe anchorage - at about 9:00pm and another first for us! With no one else on board i.e. the boys or someone else competent, we managed to anchor. It made me think that either Fiona had more confidence in me on the helm - unlikely - or that she had great confidence in her own judgement and ability - much more likely! A couple of whiskys later and everything was much cosier - apart from Fiona 'fretting' slightly whilst waiting on Low Tide - due at Midnight - in order to make sure we had enough water under us. We did! A good night and as you can see from the photos we awoke to a brilliant morning. The first photo is looking into Wreck Bay and the only other yacht anchored there. The other is looking further up towards Loch Riddon.

I could get used to this sailing lark if only the weather was always like this.

Loch Striven

2009-07-12T16:48:00.006+00:00

On our way to see the Maersk Container ships moored in Loch Striven we passed the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Bayleaf.

RFA Bayleaf was built by Cammell Laird -launched in 1981 and was accepted into service in 1982. She has a length of 560 feet and a beam measuring 85 feet.

Here we see her moored alongside the Loch Striven POL (Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant) depot. The depots storage tanks are built into the hillside above the ship and are fairly well landscaped - their shapes only noticeable on closer inspection.

...And where they ended up!

2009-07-12T15:50:00.009+00:00

All four Maersk owned container ships are now secured part way up Loch Striven. They are the Sealand Performance, Maersk Beaumont, Maersk Baltimore and Maersk Bentonville.

I know that there is some controversy about their presence here, but sailing round them yesterday I found them, quite simply, fascinating. My son has had experience working on container ships and this is the closest I have been to one (or four!) and now can appreciate their sheer scale.

They are moored alongside each other with Yokohama fenders (according to an extremely knowledgeable source at http://clydesights.com/) between them to protect them from damage.

Not Sailing!

2009-07-09T19:56:00.006+00:00

One of the four Maersk owned container ships anchored off Cumbrae and Bute recently. This one was just off Bute and, like the others, was waiting to proceed up into Loch Striven for a longer term anchorage.

Three of the Maersk ships featuring the accomodation block in the centre of the vessel are only recent builds - 2006 & 2007, but are too large to be as cost effective as previously hoped due to the present down-turn in container shipping. The photos are courtesy of my wife from our small yacht as she sailed past it.

TSC Sailing

2009-05-22T20:14:00.004+00:00

I'm sure that my anonymous friend didn't really want to see pictures of the start of the sailing season ......but here they are!!! :-)

A nice day - not much wind, but the Clyde looking good. There is life outside school!!

Wish you were back?...:-)

Back at Last!

2009-05-04T19:32:00.004+00:00

In answer to my anonymous post requesting an update on the school, I have included a couple of photos of the working school - almost two years on!

My office less tidy! The corridors less austere.

How is the new school working? Well OK! There are still many issues to be resolved - leaks, doors not working, all-weather pitches still not in use, over-sensitive fire alarms, poor sound-proofing. However education continues in a better building than we had. Brilliant staff overcoming the difficulties every day.

Me? Older and more stressed! Broke a mirror today - seven years bad luck! Seven years to retirement - at least there will be no surprises!

Since I've started!

2008-05-03T22:02:00.003+00:00

Although not blogging, I've not been totally idle. Lots of walks and photographs just in case I started again. Over the Easter holidays some days walking - a particularly good day around Loch Tarsan.

The day was exceptionally beautiful and the water like glass. A great day's walk!

We did make it into the New School!!

2008-05-03T21:13:00.005+00:00

We did make it into the new building, but by the skin of our teeth.

Every new building comes with a 'snagging' list. Ours will last into the 22nd century by the looks of it. Overall though an improvement on the old building.

Most house moves are traumatic, but the move of a whole school at the last minute proved to be considerably more so. The top picture is of my new office and the other is of our Forum.

At this point I must apologise for the long delay in posting another blog - a combination of the move and loads of work connected to it and some degree of feeling that I had nothing interesting to blog about!! However, after talking to one of my year group who had discovered my blog, I have promised to start updating the blog.

Having mentioned my year group I officially lost mine on Wednesday 30th April. Our system is that a Year Head takes a group through from S1 to S4 then they move on to the Formal Depute in S5 and the Head in S6. Personally I don't like this system - I would much rather be with them until the end of S6. This group has been particularly good over the course of the last four years and I am sorry to lose them.

From Grey to Great!

2007-07-15T19:46:00.000+00:00

What a difference a couple of days makes to us here on the Clyde. Racing at Toward in glorious sunshine and a view up the Kyles that would make the Scottish Tourist Board forgive me for my previous Blog.

Sorry - just a self-indulgent post to mark a great day out on the boat!

Mm - I'm in danger of becoming a fan of sailing!

A Grey Day on the Clyde

2007-07-13T18:53:00.000+00:00

Having been dragged - almost - kicking and screaming from the comfort of my chair and away from another riveting episode of Murder She Wrote I found myself back on the water again.

The picture is taken from on board our boat Katana looking out from the moorings as we were about to go for a sail this afternoon. "We should have gone this morning!" was the cry, but we went anyway.

The clouds and rain that you see did indeed move up towards us and we did get wet - sorry Scottish Tourist Board! It's still raining and cool despite forecasts of the warmest summer ever - global warming? Ah well!

...And from the front Window!

2007-07-11T16:30:00.000+00:00

One of the many things I love about living here is the variety of what you can see simply from the windows of the house. From deer in the back garden to Tall Ships at the front of the house.

The ship in the photo is the Tall Ship "Tenacious" heading up to Glasgow for the River Festival which takes place on the weekend of 14 and 15 July.

The Captain of "Tenacious" is one Barbara Campbell - a local woman hailing from Kirn. Barbara is so enthusiastic about sailing that she has given up her own time to deliver several talks about this remarkable ship and it's capacity to take crew of various abilities. One of these very informative and enjoyable talks took place at Toward Sailing Club last year.

The ship can take a voyage crew of 40 in addition to 12 permanent crew. Up to 20 crew can have physical disabilities and it can cope with up to 8 crew in wheelchairs. "Tenacious" provides a superb sailing experience for all who take part.

'Shy' Garden Visitor

2007-07-11T15:16:00.000+00:00

Just back from a very pleasant week at Center Parcs near Penrith and it's nice to see that after the kind of 'artificial' wildness of Whinfell Forest, we can enjoy 'real' wildness in our back garden.

Despite the inconvenience of them eating all the plants they can find, it is still rather nice to see mother and her 'baby' visiting the garden on a fairly regular basis. The photo was taken from our kitchen window and the young deer was munching outside the outhouses in the back garden.

Away from school - it doesn't look finished yet and the date given for entry, before we went off on holiday, is Friday 13 July - and down at Center Parcs, we enjoyed a rather active time. I have made a mental note, however, that at 51 it's not a good idea to launch yourself back into games of squash - particularly with two fit teenage boys! I did, however, keep my end up until the last day when bits of me finally broke down. All credit to my wife - the PE teacher - who despite similar degrees of unfitness managed to beat me hands down. Back to the drawing board and the multi-gym!!

The Front!

2007-07-01T17:14:00.000+00:00

It just dawned on me that all the pics I have taken of the school have been from the back - taken from the vantage point of the old school - so today I ventured round the front, only to discover that from the various possible vantage points there you can't really take a decent pic of the place! You'd really need a shot from a helicopter - or a very long ladder to get the elevation! So I've taken a couple of shots just for the sake of it anyway!

The bottom picture is a close up of the front of 'The Forum' - the glass-fronted area that will contain all the kids during breaks.