I was exhausted when I got home after spending the day sailing. Sculling the heavy boat up the river for a mile and a half against wind and tide took all my energy. We barely moved despite working hard, me with the big Chinese-style sculling oar (yuloh) and Sanny with a paddle or a long pole. For a while at the river mouth I thought we weren't going to manage to get home until the tide turned - some hours yet. Claude and Sanny's boy took turns steering. It was an hour and a half of strenuous work.
But the welcome from my dogs and my wife made me very happy. Even if I have only been out ten hours, the dogs welcome me as though I had been away a month, jumping, barking, trembling, trying their best to talk but unable as they don't have the right physiology. They seem to understand that going sailing for a day isn't just like going into the town shopping, but there's a slight risk that I might not return. Then Rose came out and hugged me so lovingly, listened to my account of the day, laughing at my dry humour and descriptions of minor disasters and difficulties, though she herself had had a bad day with a menstrual headache.
Later when we went to bed I laid my hand on her head gently, and after a moment she put her hand on top of mine and smiled.
Malcolm
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Claude
Claude is my eight-year-old son. Every night I put him to bed. After a little snack and a wash, we sit down on his bed (a mattress on the floor under a mosquito net, like our own) and I read to him. Tonight it was a book about air - non-fiction. After finishing it, we lay down and instead of starting to play "I spy" (his usual ploy), Claude began asking me questions about air, and other things. We talked for about fifteen minutes. I look forward to these times with my son, he's such a lovely boy, and holding him and talking to him gives me intense pleasure. Actually, he has a slight fever this evening, flushed face and glittering eyes. I covered him with his "blanket" (a soft cotton sheet) and escaped, so that his mother would take a turn with him. With her he speaks a kind of mixed language of English and the local dialect. "Mag-lying down, Mummy!" he calls. Rose lies down with him till he goes to sleep.
Claude has been coughing a lot lately, I took him for an x-ray in case the TB he had last year had returned, but the x-ray was clear. So we don't know why he is coughing.
Claude has been coughing a lot lately, I took him for an x-ray in case the TB he had last year had returned, but the x-ray was clear. So we don't know why he is coughing.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Man's best friend
Every day around 7 in the evening I go out to collect the dogs' bowls to feed them. They know why I go out, of course, and immediately the door is opened, there they are, all three of them, wagging their tails, full of life, putting their noses up to be touched, making little noises. I talk to them, pat and stroke them, tell them what fine, lovely dogs they are (they're just mongrels, really.) After we have greeted each other, the female and one of the others start playing with each other, boxing, biting, jumping upon one another. They always do this in front of my feet.
When Rose and I sit outside in the front porch in the evening with a drink, the dogs come round and each in their own way come to show their devotion and seek loving touches in return.
My dogs' simple and unaffected love often brings tears to my eyes. I love them so much.
When Rose and I sit outside in the front porch in the evening with a drink, the dogs come round and each in their own way come to show their devotion and seek loving touches in return.
My dogs' simple and unaffected love often brings tears to my eyes. I love them so much.
Monday, January 03, 2005
My new catamaran
Our daily routine certainly wasn't followed today - we woke at 8:15, more than two hours after school-day reveille. We shall have to do better tomorrow.
Rose cut Claude's hair this evening. As usual, she left it till the last minute. I made some Eccles cakes this afternoon - the first time I have tried them; they turned out OK but were time-consuming to make. They won't sit in the tin for long, I think.
I'm making netting for the front of my new 26 ft catamaran, to go between the forward main beam and the forward netting beam - a slow job. I make a foot or so every day so it should be done in about a week. It's supposed to have a trampoline forward and netting aft, but I have no suitable material for trampolines. I did use some fish net but it was too weak and soon broke, even when used 4-ply, so I am making the new net from #7 rope (3.5 mm diameter) and that should be strong enough to walk on. Aft, there may be a small net next to the aft netting beam, to make it safer to go there, but the whole space will not be covered as the yuloh (large sculling oar to Chinese design) takes up a fair amount of space when in action. I also have to fix my self-steering device somewhere aft of the aft main beam.
This cat has four beams, really solid constructions meant to take heavy stresses. They are lashed on with rope, more reliable than metal fixings and lashings allow some flexing of the whole structure. I finished building the cat about three months ago, and with a team of six men and some boys we took it to the river one hull at a time, assembled it on the clay bank of a fishpond and pushed it in at high tide. The fishpond has an entrance from the river, navigable at high tide. Sanny made a stand for it in the river near the bank so that it can be out of the water most of the time, to prevent barnacles growing - a pest in this area. It can be taken off or put on the stand at high spring tides (that's at night in this part of the world at this time of year.)
Since taking it out to sea the first time, I have made some alterations. The yuloh was not sufficiently bent so I introduce a new bend in it - sawed it, planed a new bevel, bolted it together again with epoxy and wrapped it with fibreglass tape in epoxy. This makes a strong join. Then I changed the clews on the reefing positions for the mainsail - the first ones had insufficient patches and began to tear the leech of the sail. I used nylon webbing and stainless steel D-rings, which are easy to make and quite effective. I made the sails myself from nylon canvas - not an ideal material as it is too light and it stretches, but they work fairly well. It's hard to find a suitable cloth here.
I had Sanny spread a thin layer of grease on one hull below the water line, I want to see if this makes it easier to clean.
Rose cut Claude's hair this evening. As usual, she left it till the last minute. I made some Eccles cakes this afternoon - the first time I have tried them; they turned out OK but were time-consuming to make. They won't sit in the tin for long, I think.
I'm making netting for the front of my new 26 ft catamaran, to go between the forward main beam and the forward netting beam - a slow job. I make a foot or so every day so it should be done in about a week. It's supposed to have a trampoline forward and netting aft, but I have no suitable material for trampolines. I did use some fish net but it was too weak and soon broke, even when used 4-ply, so I am making the new net from #7 rope (3.5 mm diameter) and that should be strong enough to walk on. Aft, there may be a small net next to the aft netting beam, to make it safer to go there, but the whole space will not be covered as the yuloh (large sculling oar to Chinese design) takes up a fair amount of space when in action. I also have to fix my self-steering device somewhere aft of the aft main beam.
This cat has four beams, really solid constructions meant to take heavy stresses. They are lashed on with rope, more reliable than metal fixings and lashings allow some flexing of the whole structure. I finished building the cat about three months ago, and with a team of six men and some boys we took it to the river one hull at a time, assembled it on the clay bank of a fishpond and pushed it in at high tide. The fishpond has an entrance from the river, navigable at high tide. Sanny made a stand for it in the river near the bank so that it can be out of the water most of the time, to prevent barnacles growing - a pest in this area. It can be taken off or put on the stand at high spring tides (that's at night in this part of the world at this time of year.)
Since taking it out to sea the first time, I have made some alterations. The yuloh was not sufficiently bent so I introduce a new bend in it - sawed it, planed a new bevel, bolted it together again with epoxy and wrapped it with fibreglass tape in epoxy. This makes a strong join. Then I changed the clews on the reefing positions for the mainsail - the first ones had insufficient patches and began to tear the leech of the sail. I used nylon webbing and stainless steel D-rings, which are easy to make and quite effective. I made the sails myself from nylon canvas - not an ideal material as it is too light and it stretches, but they work fairly well. It's hard to find a suitable cloth here.
I had Sanny spread a thin layer of grease on one hull below the water line, I want to see if this makes it easier to clean.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
A trial shot
Just trying things out this first time. Do I have anything to say?
I read Jared Diamond's piece on "The Ends of the World as We Know Them" and found it interesting enough to save. quote:" Americans are increasingly concerned and divided about where we are going. How long can America remain ascendant? Where will we stand 10 years from now, or even next year?" and a interesting resumé of some other civilisations and their respective abilities to survive, or the reasons for their collapse.
Claude has been coughing for a month and I fear the return of TB as last year with its attendant heavy doses of antibiotic. He's to have an X-ray on Monday.
I read Jared Diamond's piece on "The Ends of the World as We Know Them" and found it interesting enough to save. quote:" Americans are increasingly concerned and divided about where we are going. How long can America remain ascendant? Where will we stand 10 years from now, or even next year?" and a interesting resumé of some other civilisations and their respective abilities to survive, or the reasons for their collapse.
Claude has been coughing for a month and I fear the return of TB as last year with its attendant heavy doses of antibiotic. He's to have an X-ray on Monday.
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