Monday, January 30, 2017

When you are old - 莫文蔚- 当你老了

当你老了 - 莫文蔚

WHEN YOU ARE OLD

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Le Cléac'h smashes Vendée Globe race record in spectacular style - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Finish arrival of Armel Le Cleac’h (FRA), skipper Banque Populaire VIII, winner of the sailing circumnavigation solo race Vendee Globe, in 74d 3h 35min 46sec, in Les Sables d'Olonne, France, on January 19th, 2017 - Photo Jean Marie Liot / DPPI / Vendee Gl



When French sailor Armel Le Cleac'h won the 24,500 Vendée Globe race his nemesis Alex Thomson was 38 nautical miles behind: a margin of difference of 1/10 of 1%!
It was one of the most thrilling finishes the solo round the world race has ever seen. It had been  74 days of round-the-buoys racing intensity when Le Cléac'h was finally crowned victor in the long-running battle with British skipper Alex Thomson for the top spot in the solo round the world race, regarded as one of the toughest sporting challenges known to man.


 News - Le Cléac'h smashes Vendée Globe race record in spectacular style - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Le Cléac'h, 39, from Brittany, sealed the win – and a place in the Vendée Globe history books – crossing the finish line at 1537 UTC to complete the course in 74 days, three hours and 35 minutes. His time sets a new record for the race, beating the previous record of 78 days 2 hours 16 minutes set by French sailor François Gabart in the 2012-13 edition by three days, 22 hours and 41 minutes.

Meanwhile toward the back of the fleet on day 70 Rich Wilson aboard Great American IV has rounded Cape Horn.  He has 6,300 nm to go.  This is his LOG of the Cape Horn rounding.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Alex Thomson sets solo 24 hour distance record // Vendee Globe


After 21,000 miles and 71 days only 75.96 miles separates the two leaders.  With 700 nm to go in light air. A Thursday January 19 finish is expected in Les Sables D'Ologne, France.
Alex Thomson sets Solo 24 hour distance record
Thomson has been playing catch-up since Le Cléac'h took the lead on December 2 but as the race enters its final few days he has transformed from the chaser into the hunter, ruthlessly stalking his French rival in the hope of being able to deliver the killer blow before the race is up. 
The British skipper delivered a timely warning to French skipper Le Cléac'h today when he smashed the world record for the greatest distance sailed solo in 24 hours. Hugo Boss skipper Thomson maintained a staggering average speed of 22.4 knots in the 24 hours leading up to the 0800 UTC position update to notch up 536.8nm. The distance breaks the 534.48nm record set by François Gabart in the 2012-13 Vendée Globe that he went on to win, beating Le Cléac'h by just three hours. In that respect the new record could be considered a good omen by Thomson, who is aiming to become the first Brit in the race's 27-year history to win it. He actually beat Gabart's record two weeks into the race, sailing 535.34nm in 24 hours, but the rules of the record state it must be superseded by one whole mile. Thomson previously held the record between 2003 and 2012 with a distance of 468.72nm. The new record will now be ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.
p.s. Rich Wilson on Great  American IV is making 12 kts. 150 miles from Cape Horn and 7,100 from the finish

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Approaching the Horn // Rich Wilson // Great American


Great American IV, skipper Rich Wilson (US) at start of the Vendee Globe, in Les Sables d'Olonne, France, on November 6th, 2016 - Photo Jean-Marie Liot / DPPI / Vendee GlobeGreat American IV, skipper Rich Wilson (US) au départ du Vendée Globe, aux Sable
Rich Wilson's Great Americcan IV

These are the harshest conditions that the singlehanded fleet have experienced at Cape Horn! Indeed, a depression in the Southern Ocean is generating a NW’ly wind, which is really packing a punch as it hits the Andes cordillera. The situation is expected to last throughout Sunday with a temporary lull tonight before another unsettled system rolls over the top of Patagonia on Monday. The sea state is particularly dangerous as it funnels through the Drake Passage (just over 400 miles wide), further complicated by the fact that the Vendée Globe competitors have to respect the Antarctic Exclusion Zone (AEZ) which is only 80 miles south of Cape Horn.

The four sailors involved have already taken steps to prepare for the storm: Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Matmut), Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline), Alan Roura (La Fabrique) and Rich Wilson (Great American IV) have really slowed up since Saturday, whilst trying to get in as much southing as possible to skirt the AEZ where the wind is lighter. However, some 250 miles from Tierra del Fuego, the wind is already reaching more than twenty knots and the foursome is expected to make their entrance into the Atlantic with 35 to 40 knots of breeze, peaking at 50 knots in the squalls.
Rich Wilson (Great American IV): “We rocketed through the night in a manner that is not at all my style. Yet there seemed an opening to get to Cape Horn if we went very fast and the wind gave us the chance, so we did. It was shocking and noisy and bouncy and noisy and big seas and the boat ricocheting and noisy and fast, fast, fast. And yet, when all was said and done, our little boat icon on the position reports showed 14.9 knots. So for the leaders of this race, who routinely would have little boat icons showing 19 knots, or 21 knots, what must that be like on board other than petrifying. It’s the one aspect of this I do not understand: how can those sailors tolerate that stress? When we do a tack gybe, the first part is to roll up the fractional gennaker. This is a long, hard, grind on the pedestal winch at high speed, or as fast as you can muster. For me, my asthma becomes problematic, not that I have an asthma attack or an anaphylactic episode, but just the fatigue of breathing at a level of 70-80%, when I clearly need 100%. These boats are monsters to manoeuvre singlehanded. Maybe if the storm delays a little bit it will be better. But hope has little role at sea. We await the next weather report forecast and will continue making our plans.”

Friday, January 13, 2017

Hot and sour fish soup

Port Clyde Fresh Catch

Author: 
Recipe type: Appetiser
Cuisine: Maine
Prep time:  
Cook time:  
Total time:  
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 bunch scallions; whites cut into ¼ inch pieces, greens cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 4 ounces shitake mushrooms, stemmed, and sliced ¼ cup cornstarch
  • 2 plum tomatoes, cored, cut into large chunks
  • 12 ounces firm white fish (pollock) cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 6 ounces bay scallops
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the scallion whites and cook until slightly tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the ginger and cook about 1 minute. Add 7 cups water, the soy sauce, sugar, salt to taste, ¾ teaspoon pepper and the mushrooms. Cover and bring the broth to a simmer. Mix the cornstarch with ¼ cup cold water and gradually stir into the broth. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring; the broth will thicken slightly.
  2. Add the scallion greens, tomatoes and white fish to the broth, and simmer until the fish is opaque, about 3 minutes. Add the scallops, vinegar, and salt and pepper to ta(the scallops will cook instantly from the heat of the soup). ladle into bowls.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Two leaders cross the equator - Vendee Globe

Sailing aerial images of the IMOCA boat Hugo Boss, skipper Alex Thomson (GBR), during training solo for the Vendee Globe 2016, off England, on September 16, 2016 - Photo Cleo Barnham / Hugo Boss / Vendée GlobeImages aériennes de Hugo Boss, skipper Alex

News - Thomson joins Le Cléac'h in the north after record-breaking run - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Sunday, January 8, 2016



Alex Thomson has become the second Vendée Globe skipper to pass the Equator back into the northern hemisphere, setting a new race record in the process. The British skipper of Hugo Boss passed zero degrees latitude at 1712 UTC yesterday, 16 hours and 49 minutes behind leader Le Cléac'h. Thomson's passage from Cape Horn has taken 13 days, five hours and 30 minutes, smashing 2012-13 Vendée Globe winner François Gabart's existing record for the passage by 14 hours.

The 42-year-old Brit took 62 days, five hours and 10 minutes to cross the Equator heading north after starting the solo round the world race from Les Sables d'Olonne in France on November 6 – more than three days ahead of Gabart's record-breaking run. Incredibly Thomson rounded Cape Horn on Christmas Day lagging behind Le Cléac'h by almost 500 nautical miles, but favourable conditions in the South Atlantic saw him reel in his French rival, at one point getting to within 50nm of Le Cléac'h's Banque Populaire. The delta separating the pair was this morning fixed at 146nm as both skippers tried to wiggle their way through a very active Doldrums located just north of the Equator. Le Cléac'h had a slim advantage at the 0400 UTC rankings with speeds of seven knots compared to a painful four knots for Thomson. The unstable, light winds currently stretch around 600 miles to the north of the duelling pair, hampering their progress towards the finish line.

Meanwhile American Rich Wilson is in 14th position.  At 128 west he is still 3,000 miles from Cape Horn at 66 west.  He is 6,000 nm behind the leaders with 9,000 nm to finish.


Sunday, January 1, 2017

Northern shrimp study: Maine trawlers, trappers selected

http://m.penbaypilot.com/article/midcoast-fishermen-chosen-participate-shrimp-research-winter/80458