Yacht Eureka -- The sHipsbLog for the Whingin' Pom

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Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child
Soyen Shaku
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Had a great Chinese meal , TIME in East Street, then saw SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE, loved it. Earlier walked by the marina, had a hot chocolate with marshmallow… very tourist like in my own town.

Yesterday was a very enlightening Retreat day with Stephen Bachelor, author of BUDDHISM WITHOUT BELIEFS at the Bodhi Garden, and on Friday night did a DJ gig in Lewes for SUSSEX RIGPA ~ Sogyal Rinpoche's group, he wrote THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING.

Very interesting article in the Guardian magazine on Saturday called GULAGS IN THE SUN* where Thomas Keneally mentions the Pacific Solution and Nauru. Good to see the profile being raised.

*
"The other week, on Australia Day, I was involved in an Australian
citizenship ceremony, at which we sang:

'For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share... '

It seems to some Australians a great loss of innocence that such anodyne
lines cannot now be sung without a shared wink of irony with a kindred soul,
someone as disappointed as I am over the Australian government's infamous
detention policy for asylum seekers."

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It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

The Invitation
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/
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Yesterday, in an attempt to reduce my ecological footprint*, I drove to Richmond on the River Thames to look at a van to live in.

A three and a half ton Mercedes diseal van, 2.8 engine, with power steering. It’s no spring chicken, (its done 250,000 miles) a bit rusty and tatty needs some TLC, but would be do.

Spring, summer and autumn, cook on a gas fired barbeque in my beachut ~ between the marina and the Brighton Pier ~ shower and email from my gym at the marina, sleep in the van… fired by 'biofuel' carbon-neutral diesel (recycled vegetable oil) so that it would smell like a mobile chip shop. Hmmmm nice.

*http://www.lowimpact.org/
http://www.lowimpact.org/course%20outline%20biodiesel.htm

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"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed - and thus clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
H.L. Mencken
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Last night, low-budget " TOUCHING THE VOID, the true story of two climbers and their perilous journey in the Peruvian Andes in 1985, garnered the Alexander Korda outstanding British film award."* At the UK BAFTA awards.
* http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1149040,00.html

I think that the style of that film ~~ in-depth interviews ~~ cut with reconstruction, could be a template for one of the FLOTILLA films.
Maybe inter-cut with documentary footage and current media coverage.

_____________________________
UN SPY SCANDAL

Yesterday the OBSERVER** (uk) ran the story of GCHQ whistle-blower KATHARINE GUNN.
Described as 'a hero of the human spirit'
She leaked documents about the cynical spying operation by the UK and the USA which undermined the peace efforts of the UN just before the IRAQ WAR.

She is being convicted under the OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT and will appear at the Old Bailey on the 25 Feb. I will aim get up there to demonstrate my support.

** Penn's praise for spy heroine
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1148459,00.html
Britain spied on UN allies over war vote
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1143550,00.html

I am incensed by state sponsored lies and spin and cynical manipulation of public opinion. Many people I talk too are becoming apathetic because they don't believe politicians and feel powerless to change situations. This is very worrying, but quite understandable.

Last year, I faxed this to Tony Bliar:

"12 Feb 2003

Tony Blair PM
10 Downing Street
London WC2

Dear Mr Blair

Re: The increased security alert and the war against Iraq

I must say I am very skeptical of the increased security alerts just announced (tanks at Heathrow airport). Can you tell me what new information led to this?

In reference to The Americans terror threat assessment now raised to "Orange" level, according to MSNBC and NBC NEWS "FBI officials stressed that they had no specific
information indicating that new attacks were planned."

I must concur with H.L. Mencken who said:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed - and thus clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

Yours sincerely"

Of course I never received an answer.

Then on the 11 July 2003 this was the letter I sent, still no reply.

"Tony Blair PM
10 Downing Street
London

"Fishmongers sell fish, warmongers sell war, both may sincerely believe in their product."

Dear Sir

It was with some satisfaction I read of the comments made by Sir Roderic Braithwaite, former head of the joint intelligence committee (JIC), who commented on the overselling of the war.

"… then the real overselling were the continual assessments of an imminent terrorist attack in London, advising housewives to lay in stocks of water and food, I mean all that stuff ... tanks at Heathrow. I mean that, I call that overselling."

I enclose a copy of my letter to you at that time stating the same. It was patently ridiculous because all a terrorist would have to do; would be to pull over onto the hardshoulder of the M25 to attack an aeroplane.

I note as well that Donald Rumsfeld has admitted that no new information was uncovered about WMD but that the old information was now seen through the prism of '9/11'…"

So how to revitalise the political debate so that people don't lose hope, how to feel powerful within this disempowering situation that we find ourselves in.

What to do… more actions like the Flotilla that challenge empire.

Yesterday truckloads of Valentines arrived from the post office and next year they say they will have to open a special sorting office just for me.

Which was nice.

Today a lovely family meal at THE FISH FACTORY in Worthing.
("A Handbag!" THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST)

I had red mullet grilled (3) and chips, hmm nice with a very nice white wine.
I like my food and am something of a trencherman.

Back on the coalface of the Flotilla BB we are having a heated debate about the possible filming and script of a documentary.
Interesting stuff.

I wonder if my gene pool is up to the Flotilla challenge, filming, sailing, cooking, knots, human rights…

Now have a spec for Eureka: Looks good.
Eureka is a sloop-rigged Swanson 42. Sloop rig means she has one mast, and one headsail. She was designed by Ron Swanson and is 12m / 42 feet long. She is fibreglass construction, and heavily built for cruising rather than
racing. She is a double-ender, which means she has two 'sharp ends', which is for the purpose of breaking a following sea.

She was lovingly built by
Rob D and Roger C and they intended to call her Imagine. Bought by Michael C (sailed in the MED - Turkey),
ex-Hydrographer (chart-maker) of the Australian Navy, launched in 1981 as Eureka, she sailed around the world. Eureka is now owned by Lance, who has sailed her for the last 10 years up and down the Australian east coast and
into the Pacific.
__________________________

Today my favourite website was:

http://www.studsterkel.org/

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"I believe in the forest, and in the meadow and in the night in which the corn grows"

Henry David Thoreau

~ Borrowing some land from Emerson and an axe from Bronson, Alcott, and accepting a suggestion from Ellery Channing, Thoreau went to WALDEN POND, in CONCORDE, in 1845.
***************************************

It also irritated Rettenberg (a Russian) that his English friends were so ready to lecture him on the backwardness of his country and criticize its system of government - the autocracy of the Tsar. If only Russia would become a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch, he was told, then it could join the community of civilized nations and all would be well.

But was Britain a democracy? Did it not rule, without consent, a large part of the world's population? Had not Britain exploited its maritime supremacy to conquer, annex, seize and sequester any port or patch of land that might serve its vanity and interest?

Alice in Exile
Piers Paul Read
(Set in 1913)

It was interesting to come across this extract when, in the Flotilla project, we are dealing with legacy of empire and colonisation by the Empire of the United* Kingdom

Also when you look at Bliars and Bush's rush to war with Iraq and the mirage of Weapons of Mass Destruction, how Blair ignored enormous groundswell of popular opinion, that we still barely have a democracy.

The Flotilla is highlighting the Australian Government's abusive "Pacific Solution" which incarcerates refugees and their children in a Nauru concentration camp

CLOSE DIEGO GARCIA, BRING BACK THE CHAGOSSIANS

Recently we heard of the "peace fleet" action for repatriation of the indigenous people of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean ~ halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia ~ that came up at the NO US BASES campaign at the World Social Forum in Mumbai this year (and in London next year).

Britain leased Diego Garcia, halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia, to the United States.
Thirty years ago 2,000 Chagossians were relocated, the entire population of the Chagos archipelago, Most of whom live in poverty now on Mauritius.

Olivier Bancoult, leader of the Chagos Refugee Group, is searching for a suitable vessel to return to Diego Garcia with 250 people.**

Just last year a group of Chagos inhabitants lost their fight for the right to return to their homeland, from which they were unlawfully extracted by the United Kingdom more than 30 years ago.

They camped out protest in Gatwick Airport terminal (just half an hours drive from me).

I am amazed at how all these issues interlink and overlap. A different kind of globalisation.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3177260.stm


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/3054271.stm

Breaking news in from Sydney
_______________________________
the Wobbie: The pitbull of the ocean:
Orectolobus ornatus*
SYDNEY

An Australian** swam 300 yards with a shark clamped to his leg before driving a mile for first aid to get it removed.

Luke Tresogglavic, 22, was snorkeling of a beach near Newcastle, 100 miles north of Sydney, quite near Rut and Stavros, when a woebegone bit into his left leg.

Although wobbegongs are one of Australia's smaller shark species, the power of it's jaws has earned it a reputation as the pitbull of the ocean

After wrestling, in the manner of WWF, Mr T. Luke to his friends staggered on to the beach where two sunbathers were open mouthed at his demand for some tinnies of XXXX to ease the pain, they were otherwised engaged studying postures form the KARMA SUTRA at the time.
"Jesus" Mr T expostulated "I am as dry as a dead dingo's donger"

The aforesaid sunbather tried to prise open his mouth, then Mr T said "No not me, the damned shark on my leg!"

"They couldn't remove it," said Mr T, an attractive welder. "It was stuck there. I decided I had to get into the car."
"I was hurting like hell. The shark was thrashing around all over the place." It reminded him of that one night stand in the back of the car recently. He wedged the 2ft long shark against the gear lever s he drove with one hand to a surf club.
Lifesavers there could not break the wobbegong's grip so they plunged it, still attached to Mr T's leg, into a huge bucket of fresh water and drowned it.

*
The Wobbegong Shark - Orectolobus ornatus
http://www.boattalk.com/sharks/wobbegong.htm
Size - 10 feet in length.
Diet - The Wobbegong has wormlike projections around its mouth that it uses to suck prey into razor like teeth.
Habitat - indigenous to Australia and the coastal reefs of the Pacific on the ocean bottom, waiting for fish to approach.
Reproduction - The female hatches about 20 pups within her body, then gives birth to them.
**AUSTRALIAN
Pronunciation: o'streylyun
Definition:
1. [n] the Austronesian languages spoken by Australian aborigines
2. [n] a native or inhabitant of Australia
3. [adj] ofor relating to or characteristic of Australia or its inhabitants; "Australian deserts"; "Australian aborigines"

Synonyms: Aboriginal Australian, Aussie, Ozzie




See Also: Aboriginal, Aborigine, Australia, Australian Aborigine, Austronesian, Austronesian language, Commonwealth of Australia, denizen, dweller, Dyirbal, inhabitant, Jirrbal, native Australian, Walbiri, Warlpiri

Definition:
\Aus*tra"li*an\, a. [From L. Terra Australis southern
land.]
Of or pertaining to Australia. -- n. A native or an
inhabitant of Australia.

Matching Terms: Australia, Australia chestnut, Australian Aborigine, Australian ballot, Australian blacksnake, Australian capital, Australian cockroach, Australian coral snake, Australian crawl, Australian Desert, Australian dollar, Australian grass tree, Australian hare's foot, Australian heath, Australian magpie, Australian nettle, Australian nettle tree, Australian pea, Australian pine, Australian pitcher plant, Australian reed grass, Australian sea lion, Australian state, Australian stilt, Australian sumac, Australian sword lily, Australian terrier, Australian turtledove

Kovalam Beach § Kerala

5.30 awakening to hear the Iman softly calling the faithful to prayer, then a pack of feral dogs howling at the moon, the old women tending the Shiva Temple just outside my window (Park Lane Hotel, just back from the German Bakery) gently chanting Om Namaha Shivaya.

Dawn and its chi kung on the beach and then meditating and yoga by the waves… a Kashmiri tea and fruit pancake at the "German Bakery" for breakfast, tea at "Fusion" cafe to watch the fishing nets being hauled in, a scene unchanged since Biblical times…
Watching the sun go down outside "Santana's" in the evening for fresh fish and coconut rice.

After a long walk, with BRUNO ~ CHRIS's chocolate Brown labrador, around the Novington Estate in the South Downs that surrounds Brighton and a pint of mulled Old Ale in the JOLLY SPORTSMAN pubJust had a § TALI MEEN § Kerala Fish Fry which took me back to Kovalam Beach just this New Year gone, 2004.

PRACTICALY ALL NON-VEGETARIAN FAMILES WHO LIVE ALONG THE SOUTH INDIAN COASTS PREPARE THIS DISH ON A DAILY BASIS. USE ANY FIRM FISH, SUCH AS COD, HADDOCK OR MONKFISH.

PREPARATION TIME 30 minutes + 30 minutes resting
_______________________________________________
500g (1IB) WHITE FISH CUT INTO BITE-SIZED PIECES
HALF TEASPOON CUMN SEEDS
1 TEASPOON ANISEED
12 DRY ED CHILLIS, DE-SEEDED IF WISHED

rub the fish pieces with some salt, rinse, drain well and leave in a colander*. Blend the spices with the garlic and salt to taste to a smooth paste. Dry the fish. Smear the fish with theground mixture and leave it for 30 minutes,
Heat the oil in a wok** (making sure that your martial arts technique of "wok qi"*** is up to scratch) when oil nearky smoking add the fish and fry until golden brown and mildly crisp, about 15 minutes. Serve with lime wedges, rice and a lenti dish. Nice.

*colander: Col´an`der
Noun 1. colander - bowl-shaped strainer; used to wash or drain foods

At the bottom of the immense cavity burrowed hundreds of small extinguished craters, riddling the soil like a colander, and overlooked by a peak"
Round The Moon by Verne, Jules

All the while I was eating, and after that when I was drinking the punch, I could scarce come to believe in my good fortune; and the house, though it was thick with the peat-smoke and as full of holes as a colander, seemed like a palace.
Kidnapped by Stevenson, Robert Louis 

** wok - Cantonese pan with a round-bottomed pan that ranges from 1 foot to 4 feet in diameter. Almost every Chinese family owns one. It is most often used for stir frying, but can also be used many other ways, such as in steaming and deep frying or to make soup. One advantage of woks is that the shape produces a small, hot area at the bottom while using relatively little fuel.

Stir frying is a Chinese cooking technique commonly used in Chinese restaurants because of its fast cooking speed. Cantonese restaurant patrons judge the chefs by their "wok qi"*** (their ability to bring out the qi of the wok, which shows in the food as the look, smell and taste).

A round bottom pan called a wok is heated to very high temperature. Then, some oil is put in, followed by seasoning and the food items. The food is stirred and tossed very quickly using a big metal spatula. Some chefs will lift the wok to the side to let the flame light the oil, or a dash of wine spirit, on the food to give it extra flavor. Most dishes are cooked this way within 30 seconds.

Some dishes that require more time are cooked by adding a few dashes of water after the stirring. Then the wok is covered with a lid. As soon as steam starts to come out from under the lid, the dish is ready. In this case, the food is stir fried in high heat for the flavor and then steamed to make sure it is fully cooked.

Stir frying at home often cannot achieve the same great flavor as in restaurants mainly because the wok is not hot enough and the wok is too small to allow fast tossing. Most home kitchens are not equipped to handle the large amount of oil vapour produced as a byproduct of proper stir frying.

Many western cooks on TV demonstrate stir frying on low heat with a small wok and a stirring motion comparable to tossing a salad. This is a western adaptation of stir frying, but is dissimilar to the traditional Chinese method.

In a joke sports introduced by the German comedian Stefan Raab woks are used in bobsleigh track. In November 2003 a first "official" championships was held in Winterberg, Germany.

This morning a large thump on the mat announced the arrival from Ruth, my sailing guru, in Newcastle, Australia of my ZEN & the Art of MARINE RADIO**: MARINE RADIO OPERATORS HANDBOOK (** everything you wanted to know about marine radio but were afraid, or couldn't be arsed to ask)

This morning I have learnt that if the Eureka is in '...grave and imminent danger..." we send a DISTRESS SIGNAL; M A Y D A Y, then the DISTRESS CALL;
MAYDAY
MAYDAY
MAYDAY
THIS IS
EUREKA (+ CALL SIGN)
EUREKA (+ CALL SIGN)
EUREKA (+ CALL SIGN)

and then the DISTRESS MESSAGE
POSITION
NATURE OF DISTRESS
OTHER

So even though I am a borderline nerd, even I may have been bored by this before, but now my life and others may depend on it, it all seems compelling bedtime reading.

Comforting words from the
WORST-CASE SCENARIO BOOK:
"A shark attack is a potential danger for anyone who frequents marine waters, but it should be kept in perspective. Bees, wasps, and snakes are responsible for far more fatalities each year, and in the United States the annual risk of death from lightning is 30 times greater than from shark attack."

"How to Fend Off a Shark

1. Hit back. If a shark is coming toward you or attacks you, use anything you have in your possession—a camera, probe, harpoon gun, your fist—to hit the shark's eyes or gills, which are the areas most sensitive to pain.

2. Make quick, sharp, repeated jabs in these areas. Since sharks are predators and will usually only follow through on an attack if they have the advantage, making the shark unsure of its advantage in any way possible will increase your chances of survival. Contrary to popular opinion, the shark’s nose is not the area to attack, unless you cannot reach the eyes or gills. Hitting the shark simply tells it that you are not defenseless.

How to Avoid an Attack:
1. Always stay in groups—sharks are more likely to attack a solitary individual. Do not wander too far from shore. This isolates you and creates the additional danger of being too far from assistance.

2. Avoid being in the water during darkness or twilight hours, when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage.

3. Do not enter the water if you are bleeding from an open wound or if you are menstruating—a shark is drawn to blood and its olfactory ability is acute.

4. Try not to wear shiny jewelry because the reflected light resembles the sheen of fish scales.

5. Avoid waters with known effluents or sewage and those being used by sport or commercial fishermen, especially if there are signs of bait fish or feeding activity. Diving seabirds are good indicators of such action.

6. Use extra caution when waters are murky and avoid showing any uneven tanning and brightly-colored clothing—sharks see contrast particularly well.

7. If a shark shows itself to you, it may be curious rather than predatory and will probably swim on and leave you alone. If you are under the surface and lucky enough to see an attacking shark, then you do have a good chance of defending yourself if the shark is not too large.

8. Scuba divers should avoid lying on the surface, where they may look like a piece of prey to a shark, and from where they cannot see a shark approaching.

9. A shark attack is a potential danger for anyone who frequents marine waters, but it should be kept in perspective. Bees, wasps, and snakes are responsible for far more fatalities each year, and in the United States the annual risk of death from lightning is 30 times greater than from shark attack.

Extreme Survival
http://www.worstcasescenarios.com/mainpage.htm

THE WORST CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht page 46

The ship sank. It made sounds like a monstrous burp. Things bubbled at the surface and then vanished. Everything was screaming: the sea, the wind, my heart. From the lifeboat I saw something in the water.

I woke up with a start, the magic realist novel I am reading, THE LIFE OF PI, had fallen from my hands, this is the beginning of PART TWO: The Pacific Ocean, Chapter 37...

But this is the stuff my nightmares are made of.

Two big fears for me to confront on the Flotilla trip; drowning, I only learnt to swim at age 24, and my other irrational deep-rooted fear of sharks from too many JAWS repeats, and in THE OBSERVER yesterday (Sunday 9 Feb 2004) the tragic story of Bethany Hamilton America's teenage surfing sensation who lost her arm in a shark attack.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,1140756,00.html

So a time to whinge and a time to die...

The ship sank. It made sounds like a monstrous burp. Things bubbled at the surface and then vanished. Everything was screaming: the sea, the wind, my heart. From the lifeboat I saw something in the water.

I woke up with a start, the magic realist novel I am reading, THE LIFE OF PI, had fallen from my hands, this is the beginning of PART TWO: The Pacific Ocean, Chapter 37...

But this is the stuff my nightmares are made of.

Two big fears for me to confront on the Flotilla trip; drowning, I only learnt to swim at age 24, and my other irrational deep-rooted fear of sharks from too many JAWS repeats, and in THE OBSERVER yesterday (Sunday 9 Feb 2004) the tragic story of Bethany Hamilton America's teenage surfing sensation who lost her arm in a shark attack.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,1140756,00.html

So a time to whinge and a time to die...

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain


Hi, my name is Joty and I an a white male living in Brighton, England. This is my first blog so I will welcome any feedback on how I am doing. I will try not to whinge too much. Promise.

Somehow I managed to find myself as part of the crew on Yacht Eureka as a part of the FLOTILLA OF HOPE campaign sailing the high seas for the people trapped on the small pacific island of Nauru. I feel very privileged to be apart of this human rights adventure.

"Some of us (myself included) have gone from observer to participant to activist!!!"
Ruth Boydell
Sailing Guru to Flotilla of Hope

Although I have been politically aware and active for some time, my sailing experience is limited to three sailing on the Norfolk Broads in the UK…
http://www.huntersyard.co.uk/

I started off in the great cloud of people who are learning from and listening to the
arguments of the various human rights and peace movements.

I seem to be moving into the bull’s-eye,
where the most active and most visible people hang out at the center.

I am aware of the whole circles of people surrounding this centre who are discussing the arguments, donating money, learning, and changing their minds.

As I wrote in the FLOTILLA OF HOPE bulletin board:

" Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing…
…Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness - and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we're being brainwashed to believe."

Confronting Empire
ARUNDHATI ROY
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM BRAZIL 2003

The 'Flotilla' is one notable expedition which is confronting empire at this pivotal time:
a part of what JOANNA MACY calls THE GREAT TURNING.

"The Great Turning is a name for the essential adventure of our time: the shift from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization."
http://www.joannamacy.net/html/great.html

This quest will shine a light into the darkness for the people of Nauru and giving them hope, a light at the end of the tunnel; a light of inspiration for others of us in the rest of the world.

"Many people don't get involved in the Great Turning" writes JOANNA MACY "because there are so many different issues, which seem to compete with each other. Shall I save the whales or help battered children? The truth is that all aspects of the current crisis reflect the same mistake, setting ourselves apart and using others for our gain. So to heal one aspect helps the others to heal as well. Just find what you love to work on and take joy in that. Never try to do it alone. Link up with others; you'll spark each others' ideas and sustain each others' energy…"

The flotilla is a living example of this."

Enough for today

Basta
As they say in Italy,
ENOUGH.

Do they say basta pasta!?