Humour, Maritime or otherwise

[David Fox]

I must go down to the sea again.
Poem by Barrie Youde, Ship Nostalgia 9.10.2015
I must go down to the sea again,
to see who is where, doing what?
Whose youthful ambition won Master’s position?
And otherwise those who did not?
Did no-one else count, in the slightest amount, except for the man with four stripes?
Are the rest of us fools? A disgrace to our schools?
Condemned to a lifetime of swipes?

I must go down to the sea again.
The Master, yes, I will salute him,
The son-of-a-gun his position has won; and no man on board can refute him.
But what of his ship? And what of his trip? A heap? Or an elegant liner?
Or a lucrative trade where a fortune is made? Who is richer? Or poorer? Or finer?

I must go down to the sea again, where mostly I met honest men,
Who stood on their feet in an honourable fleet; in magnitude, as it was then.
Where each played his part, from a variable start, and did so for better or worse;
Took the smooth with the rough, the fine and the bluff,
with barely a chance to rehearse.

I must go down to the sea again. The leaves are beginning to turn.
The seasons roll on and the summer is gone: and still there’s a living to earn,
For those with the will and the guts and the skill and the courage to see it all through,
Where men still enjoy things they dreamed as a boy; remembering once I did, too.

I must go down to the sea again. It taught me all things that I know,
In my youth and my prime in that long ago time. I cannot today let it go.
There is work to be done and a goal to be won in the interests of those still at sea,
As I throw in my lot, it is all that I’ve got of the privilege granted to me.

[David Fox]

While most people had battened down the hatches (now there's a good nautical term in common use, hatchboards, tarps and wedges) due to this wind, schools closing, parks out of bounds etc, one of our number was experiencing this in Shetland.

Stop press while I reduce it.

Shetland 2022-02-16 15.07 -1.jpg (23.82 KiB) Viewed 6891 times

Its not often as still as this, but more akin to Wellington. Note the number of trees.

Saturday in East Yorkshire

East Yorkshire-2.jpg (17.54 KiB) Viewed 6891 times

Can be windy here as well, flat and treeless.

[David Fox]

Rumour has it that Kawasaki and Yamaha are closing many of their plants due to declining bike sales. Apparently, the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles, and Generation X is only buying a very few, and the next generation, the Millennials, aren’t buying any at all.
A recent study was conducted to find out why.
Here are the reasons why Millennials don't ride motorcycles and why sales are down:
1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat.
2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on.
3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving.
4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one.
5. Don't have enough muscle to hold the bike up when stopped.
6 Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency care.
7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning.
8. They can't afford one because they spent 12 years in college trying to get a degree in Humanities, Social Studies or Gender Studies for which no jobs are available.
9. They are allergic to fresh air.
10. Their pajamas get caught on the exhaust pipes.
11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil.
12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen.
13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch.
14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding.
15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did.
16. Motorcycles don't have power steering or power brakes.
17. Their nose ring interferes with the visor.
18. They would have to use leg muscle to back up.
19. When they stop, a light breeze might blow exhaust in their face.
20 It could rain on them and expose them to non-soft water.
21. It might scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy.
22. Their man bun wont fit under a helmet.

[David Fox]

PHOTO-2022-06-06-19-30-28.jpg (41.56 KiB) Viewed 6616 times

[David Fox]

P45.jpg (51.04 KiB) Viewed 6479 times

Leave means leave Boris.
Now we have the BOJO Mutiny.
Perhaps he should be a Party Arranging Consultant,
Parties-To-Go.

[David Fox]

Trussed up.jpg (200.13 KiB) Viewed 6142 times

PHOTO-2022-10-15-10-00-49.jpg (39.15 KiB) Viewed 6142 times

IMG-20221015-WA0000.jpg (81.47 KiB) Viewed 6142 times

Short stays.jpg (127.98 KiB) Viewed 6103 times

Cuckoo.jpg (44.33 KiB) Viewed 6103 times

Plan B.jpg (228.95 KiB) Viewed 6103 times

[David Fox]

IMG-20221022-WA0001.jpg (35.21 KiB) Viewed 6097 times

And homeless

Strays.jpg (117.68 KiB) Viewed 6097 times

IMG-20221025-WA0002.jpg (70.21 KiB) Viewed 6079 times

IMG-20221025-WA0000.jpg (57.67 KiB) Viewed 6079 times

999

C077B9F2D98D4B469250AA5797CB2BE6.png (173.34 KiB) Viewed 6028 times

0E5A00723729432AAA4C43D997DB1827.jpg (18.6 KiB) Viewed 6028 times

[David Fox]

Colour of braid.
The Purple denotes the colour of the Engineer's face when the compressed air is about to run out due to over exuberant engine movement's by those up top who should have had the Jetty brought to them.

Courtesy of Ship Nostalgia forum.

[David Fox]

Painting.jpg (66.72 KiB) Viewed 5902 times

[David Fox]

With the recent light feathering of snow no doubt there would have been people calling in that they were snowed in despite driving a Chelsea Tractor.

Too Much Snow.png (215.52 KiB) Viewed 5341 times

25% of the schools were closed in the southern softies area south of Watford Gap, yet only about 1" of snow.
I am sure most of us walked to school in up to 4" of snow in a pair of wellies, winter shorts and gaberdine school mac and thought nothing of it, was in the playground snowballing and making slides and then going out to play in the snow when we got home that evening.