Underwater Advertising?

 Possibly to attract business from passing scuba divers or submariners?

 

Société des Régates de Courseulles

Which presumably is the local yacht club at Courseulles who seem to have a couple of nice J80's in the fleet.

I really like these boats, some friends had one about 20 years ago and I remember having some of the most fun sailing in all sorts of conditions, screaming up and down the Solent.

We went out to see the start of the 2005 Volvo around the world race start off Cowes and wanting to keep well out of the way ended up heading east back towards Cowes after the fleet had passed only to encounter about 100 or more power boats at full tilt, chasing after the Volvo fleet, causing most horrendous wash and chop, the J80 just ploughed on through it all.

 Some good pictures on the Société gallery

Malawi

 Mrs BB and I were not the only ones who've been away over August,

Joseph together with thirty-five Hampshire Explorer Scouts returned home after almost a month in Malawi where they were joined by local Malawi scouts undertaking work on three village schools, building 181 new desks and repairing further 41, repairing and painting 17 classrooms which were badly in need of attention, also constructing a kitchen and a toilet block.

 

The outbound flights, first leg London to Ethiopia with a five hour stopover before taking the second flight to Lilongwe the capital of Malawi took around 24 hours followed by a very bumpy 6 hour bus journey to the Ntchisi forest where they camped for two nights to become acclimatised, daytime temperatures 25 degrees cold at night and with tropical twlight falling around 17.30 the evenings were dark. Another very long and bumpy bus journey took them to Mzuzu where they set up camp for the work on the local schools.

The uncomfortable bus journeys were just an introduction to how different things are in rural Africa. Cooking for example throughout the month was done over open fires, there was a rotation every 6th day when each of the teams took a day off the work on the schools to cook for the whole group which involved a trip to the market for supplies. One day chicken was in short supply so “Jeremy” was acquired at the market and carried back still alive and clucking, which was a first time, close up experience with the food chain.

Building desks involved going to the market, selecting and bartering for a huge pile of raw timber, which then had to be transported, sawn and cut before being made into desks. Previously in many of the classrooms the students sit on the floor which is especially a problem for the girls who culturally are under pressure over modesty, so sitting at a deck is a major improvement in their ability to participate in class.

 

Many of the classrooms required substantial repairs to the concrete floors and walls and with that completed all 17 were repainted, many for the first time and with murals to make school a much better experience. A library was built at the Mpamba Primary school. The local economy is so poor that money isn’t available for even basic repairs.

The construction of a kitchen at the school means that that children can be fed which encourages attendance. The kitchen was very basic, just walls and a tin roof. There is a preparation area, a pantry with cooking done on open fires.

A couple of local builders were brought in to help with the construction of a toilet block at the campground which is used by local scouts. Again nothing very sophisticated just walls, a roof and no plumbing, it’s called a “long drop” for obvious reasons.

During the stay a local businessman heard of the project and kindly donated 2million Kwacha (about £800) to the project, a lot of which was used to provide books and mosquito nets which were distributed to local families as malaria is a major problem. He also returned with a Malawi television crew who broadcast a news feature about the project.

It wasn’t all work, the team had Sunday’s off and visited local churches and other recreational events. When the work was completed there was yet another bumpy bus ride to a beautiful  camp site at Makusi on the shores for Lake Malawi for a couple of days, followed by a safari at the Nkhotakhota reserve.

 

At the end of the project the team also donated their expedition tents to the local Malawi scouts.

Returning back to England after 24 hours of traveling was an emotional experience for the explorers and families alike, with no phone or internet coverage for over a month the only communication had been 3rd hand updates on a face book group. All of the explorers were asked to give their reflections, many of which were about the huge disparity between life in Africa and England, the life lessons and especially resiliency and team work they had learned and most significantly the warmth, friendship and appreciation of the people in Malawi. 

Sailors away from the sea

I've long had this thought that the only place a sailor can live away from the sea is in the mountains, that and thoughts about perhaps not impending, but not too distant retirement led to us spending three weeks in a mountain village in southern France to test the theory.

The region comprises lowish mountains, ranging upwards from 250 meters above sea level, at one point the motorway reaches1120 meters (3600 feet if you don't like the metric system), not dissimilar heights to the Lake District but with sunshine and good food.

 

The idea was to see if we really might enjoy living in the mountains and perhaps the nearby rivers might be enough to satisfy the water lust, but if not the Mediterranean is only an hour a thirty minutes away. 

Ancient woodland paths abound, this one a section of what was a pilgrim way which connected Nimes to Santiago de Compostela, shaded by boxwood trees there were literally clouds of butterflies on hot days, not to mention a rather large black snake which I later identified as probably a Montpelier snake, venomous but not fatal.

The softer low hills soon give way to sheer cliffs and plateau, so a 5km hike is very different proposition to my daily walk along the Hamble river, but the views were spectacular. Below Mrs BB leads the way past some significant boulders.

 The nearest town and shop was 5 miles away and 200 meters down in elevation, so walking back from the pub was definitely a non starter. Although there were a lot of cyclists it being France, I did bicycle to a nearby village which was pretty much all uphill, nothing that an electric bicycle wouldn't solve and concluded that we'd need three cars just for redundancy to get around.

Almost every village and town had a twelfth or thirteenth century bridge, church, tower and often all three.

During the whole time we were there we only saw 6 English cars and four of those were at a not too nearby major town which is popular as a center for kayaking and rafting. What was noticeable was how friendly and welcoming everyone was. those who could would often reply to our school level French in English and those who couldn't we managed to get through with a smile and "pas problem, merci and/or bon journee.

Looking good

Making South Street look good, not the average builders sign, spotted in Emsworth

 

Hamble History

 A couple of Hamble views that have cropped up recently on local social media. 

Below 1930's view up the river, it's hard to pinpoint exactly the location, but looking up river somewhere adjacent to the current HYS, Port Hamble marinas or possibly the old Luke's yard now the Royal Southern YC

And famously a cover of the Radio Times from 40 years ago, featuring the Laser 28 Flying Fish (which is still moored in the river) and members of the cast who appeared as Leo, Tom and Tracey Howard. 

There are some episodes on youtube, it's pretty bad but back in the day I was an avid watcher and might even admit to having had a bit of a crush on Susan Gilmore AKA Avril Rolf daughter of the curmudgeonly owner of the Mermaid yard. 

 Must have had a deep influence on me as I scraped together enough money to buy my first yacht shortly after, it was the 80's and all that.

Floaters

 Slightly risque named cafe just below the motorway bridge on the way up to the upper Hamble.

 Great for kayaks, paddle boarders and the like, there didn't appear to be access from the pontoon, hopefully they get enough passing trade, who can also hold on tight when the tide's running fast.