Sunday 15 April 2012

Ships, the sea and prizes

15 April 2012

A nice bright sunny day here in Dorktown, just the right sort of day for getting out and about with me camera.  However, it is Sunday so apart from the supermarkets there's not a lot happening around town today.  I could of course go off for the day but I'm hoping to get away for a few days on Tuesday so I'm saving my energy for then ;-)))

So it's been 100 years since the Titanic sunk. - if it was the Titanic that is.  There is debate over that.  I read some time ago about the discovery of the ships propellers and a number found on it.  It seems that each one had its own individual number engraved on it and the number of the one that was found was supposed to be on Titanic's sister ship.  I'm not normally into conspiracy theories but this one does sound interesting.  Whatever the truth of it, the sister ship was also sunk in the Med; during the First World War when she was carrying troops and supplies.  Or was it that the propeller of this one that was found with Titanic's number on it ... it was a long time ago now that I read it so I can't be totally sure.
   
There's also debate about just how much blame should be placed on the shoulders of the captain.  For me he should take all the blame!  Why?  Well, it has been a long held sea law that the ship's captain has overall responsibility for what happens on his ship while at sea.  Even if he was being pressured by the ship's owners to steam at full speed, it was his order that set the ship's speed, not the owners, no matter how much pressure they brought on his head.

The accident was in my opinion the fault of the captain.  However, the heavy loss of life is purely down to the ship designers and owners for not have enough life rafts and boats so that all the passengers could get off the sinking ship.  Top and bottom of it all was a string of errors that led to such an appalling loss of life. 

Thankfully now all ships have to have enough life boats for everyone to be taken off the ship to safety.  However, life is rarely so easy.  The latest shipping loss is the one off Italy where people died.  Before that there have been instances in the Philippines where ferries have gone down with huge numbers lives lost.  The ferry leaving port with its bow doors open; another ferry sinking in Scandinavia with many lives lost.  No matter how many life boats a ship has, if the ship sinks before the boats can be lowered, then there is little or nothing anyone can do about.  In 1951 Nicholas Montserrat wrote a book called The Cruel Sea; he understood just how cruel and fickle the sea can be.

With this in mind then today's photo is this one ... 

Bretagne as she entered Portsmouth around 2 years ago. 
A woman meets a gorgeous man in a bar.  They talk, they connect, they end up leaving together. They get back to his place, and as he shows her around his apartment, she notices that his bedroom is completely packed with sweet cuddly teddy bears.  Hundreds of cute small bears on a shelf all the way along the floor, cuddly medium-sized ones on a shelf a little higher, and huge enormous bears on the top shelf along the wall.
The woman is surprised that this guy would have a collection of teddy bears, especially one that's so extensive, but she decides not to mention this to him, and actually is quite impressed by his sensitive side.  She turns to him... they kiss... and then they rip each other's
clothes off and make hot steamy love.  After an intense night of passion with this sensitive guy, they are lying there together in the afterglow, the woman rolls over and asks, smiling,
"Well, how was it?"
 
The guy says..  "Help yourself to any prize from the bottom shelf."

No comments:

Post a Comment