Winter Visitor

A small part of the rear fence blew down in the recent windy weather and some more local wildlife have been coming into the garden to join the squirrels and birds who are well fed by Mrs BB at this time of year.

This young deer was quite at home even though I was clearly visible and busy banging about in the kitchen getting lunch ready.

I guess I'll have to fix the fence sooner or later, but not just yet.

Scoosh

Great name for a fast trimaran.

Sounds like it's going fast even with the mast down.

Mo-boating

My friend Malcolm bought a motorboat last year but what with one thing an another it wasn't until a cold February weekend that we went over to Port Solent to see her.

It's Italian, super stylish and while it would perhaps have been better to be aboard in the sunny Mediterranean, it is a lovely boat.

Erica and Joseph enjoying how the "other half live", will I ever get them back aboard a heeling and pitching yacht again?

Joseph spent a bit of time deliberating over the controls and how everything worked, needless to say everything is powered and the walnut dash looks like something out of a Bentley.

On balance we took that as a thumbs up, we're looking forward to a trip out when the weather warms up a bit.

Barging about

I love the details on these old barges, finding the interplay of shapes and textures an endlessly fascinating aesthetic as well as functional.

Especially so on a bright and sunny, winter day (probably the only one this winter or at least it feels like it).

While I find interest in the fine detail, the overall picture is pretty nice as well.

South Bank

In case you haven't heard the Lego Batman Movie has hit the screens. Down along the South Bank en route to a meeting I passed the promo being filmed on a freezing cold and dark morning so snapped a picture for Joseph (he's not the child in the picture).

Having got my phone camera out I decided in the spirit of mindfulness, to capture a few more pics rather than rushing past on way to my meeting just along by the Tate Modern.

Looking back towards the Batman event and the location for a number of film and TV scenes, this public area is under threat from the proposed garden bridge - so if you'd like to preserve this beautiful part of London please sign the petition - the arguments against the bridge are well articulated.

Above an old wharf, the OXO tower and the London skyline shrouded in mist.

 An old and now almost derelict, low water, stone quay with steps leading up to the OXO building, there's probably some interesting history to discover.

The old pillars between Blackfriars road and railway bridges formed part of the original railway bridge, built at this point across the Thames in 1864, when the London Chatham Dover Railway was extended across the Thames to what was then St Paul's Station.

The railway bridge designed by Joseph Cubitt was a very ornate design, but was only four tracks wide, so just 20 years later, the second railway bridge was built to increase capacity.

Above landmarks of the new London skyline the Toaster and the Cheese-grater lost in the mist with the famous (infamous) bouncy bridge crossing the river.

Ribs

A couple of years ago I did the RYA Powerboat 2 and safety boat so that I can help out with the Peanut and Cadet sailing sessions that Joseph is enjoying down at Hamble River SC. Both courses were quite fun and involved a lot of racing around on the club's ribs, all of which got me wondering if we should buy one as part of the family fleet.

Inevitably when you start thinking about things, you also start noticing things that were previously ignored. The top photo looked small enough to go on the drive yet big enough to get across to the Isle of Wight quickly and safely, until that is I noticed the engine. I'm guessing the rib is 18 feet or so, with over 100HP, quick it would be, safe; well it can probably handle that power, but the opportunity for error seems high, not to mention  scaring the pants off the passengers.

This one brought home one of the major downsides to a rib, the tubes. Proponents will point to the fact that a rib can still function with deflated tubes which is a great safety factor, but the cost of repair and replacement of old tubes is high, and from a maintenance perspective not something that is easily done DIY, beyond fixing a small puncture.

Neptune

Is a cute little tender we spotted  tied on the foreshore close to high water mark near La Trinite sur Mer.

Lightweight Neptune looks easy to row, is well maintained and by the looks of things more than a few years old, a great little tender.

Emsworth views - swing to the tide

My regular reader may have noticed that we like going to Emsworth which is a pretty town on the northern shore of Chichester harbour with a couple of good cafes and pubs.

Thanks to fellow blogger and Emsworth resident Steve who sent me links to local photographer John Tweddell and the magnificent photographs he takes of the area.