In my latest (publishable) dream I was standing on the quayside waiting for my ship to come in. I had been waiting for this ship for a very long time. As I caught a glimpse of it on the horizon, I received news that the ship had been infiltrated by treacherous rebels, and that we’d […]
Category: History
I did once visit the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior. Not the current ship to bear that name, but it’s predecessor. She was an old Aberdonian trawler, cut down the middle and lengthened to accommodate various fast daughter craft on her main deck, ready for commando-style launching while underway at sea. At that time, around 2009 […]
It’s dim now, but what I remember most about that night was the physical pain. My mother woke me in the middle of the night in a state of total hysteria. ‘Get up, now! It’s Tony! He’s in the hospital! Get up, NOW!’ My left ear was in agony. It felt like it had been […]
Why does the whole world have to listen to America? Why is everyone supposed to care about this place, no matter where they live on earth? What is so important about this society? And can’t we just ignore them? Aren’t they just evil, selfish, bad, no-good merchants of death and inequality? The USA is a […]
Aloha to the illusion of history. I shouldn’t really be writing this. I’m meant to be writing a navigation training course for a client, for submission to the coastguard for approval next week. But I’m now becoming a person for whom the urge to write becomes a pressing question. No other activity can proceed until […]
I’ve returned home. After one month at sea, we proceeded directly to Ireland for a little road trip vacation. We had planned to stay with a friend, who sadly had to cancel at the last minute. We decided to go anyway, as the kids had been looking forward to it. Also, we badly needed to […]
We rushed up to Aberdeen and demobilised the diving and mooring spread in record time. I’m glad we did because we’ve been sat here for eleven days off-hire, with another few days to go before it looks like we’ll sail. The Shetland job is cancelled now, so it looks like we’ll be ‘rock-bagging’ out of […]
Promotor Fidei, Punk. It has been one week since the anointing of King Charles III. King Charles the sausage-fingered. Sadly, William did not turn up in an Apache helicopter seeking trial by combat in a challenge to the throne, as I had hoped he might. The changing of robes, crowns and carriages was televised with […]
Conclusion. Happy Saint George’s Day, fellow dragon slayers! We have plenty of dragons to slay today. The borders are open. The pound and the dollar have nearly lost 100% of their value. The media actively avoid real information. The warmongers dress in sheep’s clothing. Consensus is manufactured, then called truth. Our city buildings fly the […]
Categories
The Bite of the Age
Whitby is an amazing place. Its scars and memories are on display. Its heroes remain alive. We sailed past Lindisfarne to get here, but this is Northumberland. The kingdom of Vikings, where peoples are known by their distinct identities, changing tribal monicker as you progress down the coast. Geordies, Sand-dancers, Makems, Smoggies, Monkey-Hangers and Ringers. […]