Baaa

Some page 3 shots, from the Highlands.
Youlookinatme?
Trees n heather n that.

Edit pencil.

The edit pencil has come back and all I did was clear the cache and temp. folders, I don't know.

Re. the photies. the wigwam shot was from the camp site at the Aviemore music festival, called Outsider.


The Outsider is unlike any other festival. So says promoter Pete Irvine of Unique Events, who hopes it will take the idea of the music festival forward.
It has certainly made an excellent start. There might have been top-class headliners such as K T Tunstall and Crowded House over the weekend, but music was just one part of the festivities.
The setting of the Rothiemurchus Estate near Aviemore, always popular for outdoor activities, was used over the weekend for organised walks, bike runs and events to highlight environmental issues. The festival's green credentials were good, with revellers given easy options to choose public transport and recycle every part of their organic and Fairtrade food and drink intake. Not one scrap of litter could be seen. There were also environmental debates and cinema presentations on green issues. Like any wet festival, however, the land was churned into a sea of mud, and it's only once the last truck has left that the potential to make this an annual event can be decided.

The music was undoubtedly the main attraction for most. As impressive as each night's headliners were, the weekend's stand-outs were Americana wunderkind Willy Mason on Saturday; and on Sunday the return of Justin Currie, with a watertight band (handy here) and a set of promising new material as well as Del Amitri favourites.
For those who would rather have a laugh after a hard day's mountain-biking, Karen Dunbar, Craig Hill and James Campbell, with his comedy for kids, were among the stand-ups in The Bothy.
The festival had capacity for just 10,000 a day, and 9000 braved each, despite the mud bath. The feeling was of being at the beginning of something. Keeping it this size may be difficult.
The Herald.

Me.
You would not know about this festival if you are a BBC fan as the BBC was swamped with Glastonbury coverage, http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/06/today_at_glastonbury.html
after all if you have over two hundred staff there you have to justify it, ( all those claims for green wellies,) but did we see Aviemore on the telly in Scotland, not much. So much for the BBC charter, reflecting the cultural diversity of the UK. London centric and irrelevant to Scotland. We will soon be getting Wimbeldon rammed down our throats on BBC 1 and 2. BBC Scotland have no budget for sport in Scotland and by God it shows. Shinty is one of the oldest team sports in the world, but it is on the wrong side of the border. Cricket makes the national news headlines on BBC News when ever the England team play as if it was the first and last thing on the planet. I am going to start a petition to scrap the licence fee in Scotland. I pass the new BBC shed on Pacific Quay every day, it is the ugliest building in Glasgow, out of proportion to all around it and sticks out like a boil on the end of your nose. For all the programme output we now get from BBC Scotland they could run it from a Portakabin.

On the BBC again, I was shocked to see the attack at Glasgow Airport today. BBC had an endless loop of some dodgy mobile phone video running, with really amateur reporting, whilst CNN had a camera across the road in the Hotel with almost live footage and comment from a Herald journalist, smart slick and professional. The BBC were left looking cheap and nasty which they are. We do live in very dangerous times, thanks Tony and George, be careful and vigilante people. I'm so relieved that our eldest son Duncan is out of the RAF, he has just passed his CPL and is about to become and Airline Pilot, good luck son.



More Aviemore.
Harley Davidson -Thunder in the Glen.
Thunder in the Glens returns to Aviemore for 2007, bigger and better than ever. Throw on your leathers and jump on your Harley for Scotland's favourite Harley Davidson festival. Superb scenery, the fabulous ride here, excellent hospitality and lots to do and see. Don't miss the mass ride out on the Saturday when over 2,000 Harleys take to the street and head for the picturesque Strathspey town, Grantown-on-Spey. Bike show, Chapter games, trade stalls and all the usual fun and frolics will be going on.Start Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007End Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007Town: Aviemore & Grantown-on-SpeyPrice: n/a

A wee But n Ben, Glen Feshie. That would do me fine.

Loch an Eilen.
Wigwams at the festival.

The trailer on my bike is for Kipper, when we are on the main road, she was not impressed, but had her picture taken by lots of people. She preferred fetching sticks from Loch an Eilen.


Maureen and Kipper on the Strathspey steam train at Aviemore waiting to go to Boat of Garten. Maureen is not wearing a red hat, that is the no smoking sign, some photographer me.
The sign outside the Hostel in Glen Feshie says "free porridge," see what happens when we have an SNP government, all the hills will be doon the way.

Problems

I am having trouble editing this as can be seen by the spelling mistakes. There was a quick edit pencil icon on the page which has gone and despite my many attempts it will not come back, I have asked a question on the google blog help group, and I see others have had the same issue but no sensible reply as yet. If any one knows how to resolve this please do get in touch. In the meantime here are some photies.

Back from a wee break.

Been away for a week in Aviemore, got back last Sunday, and then got back to work Wedensaday. I know it's Saturday! Here goes any way with an update, the weather has been grim, flooding in S. Yorkshire, it seems the best job to have these days is on a boat. It is rumoured that Alec has been seen with plans for an Ark.

I have not taken any river shots since I came back but will take my camera tomorrow and get going again. The Waverly is back up river so should get a few of her.

In the meantime I will post a few from our break.

WISNAE ME :o)

Something big passed this way, Shieldhall Quay got such a fright it collapsed! About time this rotting stinking mess was cleared up anyway, just a pity the whole thing didn't collapse. The painters work was all in vain!

RNAS Lyme Bay from Fairfields.

Sometimes it can be breezy in Scotland! Or to use a Glasgow expression, "aye, there's a wee nip in the air." These hardy souls just turned up their collars and sat it out, despite the smell of coffee and fine wines and spirits wafting up from the saloon below.

RNAS Lyme Bay on the move.

Snug and warm in the POTC saloon enjoying a wee dram or a cuppa, and listening to the dulcet tones of The Mighty Quinn.

Random River shots from last few days.

Boarding the POTC at Braehead. The Pride o The Clyde is a private enterprise run by Alex and Jennifer Gilmour and their son Ryan. Many people are surprised to learn that it is private and not part of the SPT network. It is a successful enterprise purely because of the dedication and hard work and courage of the Gilmours. And of course their dedicated and motivated crew :o) The boat is immaculate, and the service second to none. Regular customers turn up again and again and they love the service. Iain Quinn who is MC on The Waverly has recorded a commentary which is played during the journey. Ian is a well known figure on the Clyde and a very knowledgeable historian. A most enjoyable experience.

Kipper.

Kipper on her trampoline. You can see from her colour why we called her Kipper. We think she is mostly a Patterdale Terrier, maybe someone else knows different.

Holiday tomorrow.

Finished this evening early due to bad weather and no custom. Interesting day with Lyme Bay leaving Fairfield's and making her maiden voyage down river for testing. Much drama with the strong N/E wind gusting!
Tomorrow Maureen, Kipper and I are of to sunny Aviemore for a week in my sisters time share, (thanks Cathy,) so even if the weather is grim we are just going to chill for a week, (not literally we hope,) and maybe do some cycling.
As can be seen I am not very adept at editing this blog thing yet, but I will get there.
If anyone has any advice please feel free to leave constructive comments. What I am doing now is doing the text and pictures as separate entries. I would put text on the pictures but it take a while and they are self explanatory.
Must go now, and upload some pictures and get my gear ready for the of tomorrow, no more for a week.

Busy river.

The Finneston Crane.
Two of three gunboats for The Sultan of Brunei, built here at Yarrows Scotstoun, and waiting for the cheque! The type 45 for the Royal Navy is in the background. 192150July07. Update on the Brunei gunboats is that they have paid the bill and immediately put the boats up for sale. The twist on that is the headroom on the boats will only accomodate persons of 5'6" or less, as they were made to measure for the Brunaians who are quite petite in stature. The other story is that the boats are to sophisticated for there sailors. Although I would take that with a pinch of salt.

A wee laddie thought they were trying to empty thr river using this bucket, who am I to spoil an illusion.
Cruiser pulls into the channel without as much as a call, forcing the POTC to a halt, as he goes down river through the Millennium bridge. Thanks Bob.

Monday evening. Day of today to attend ENT clinic. Been busy over week end, will need to keep a written Log as it is difficult to remember what took place. Took a few shots so will post the best of them from Friday to Sunday, the river has been busy. Had a charter on Saturday evening which went well. (50 for a birthday party.)

Bridge warf being upgraded, presumably more housing and office space. I just wish that they would put some river users infrastructure in as there is very little. We need more pontoons, and we need a slipway in the city centre. how about a marina facility and some light marine engineering facilities. I started on the river in 2000 with a company called Glasgow Ducks, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?grid=T6&xml=/travel/2001/04/19/etwkd18.xml which sadly folded. Mainly because we had to travel down to Renfrew to access the river on the only slipway we could get, and even that has now been gobbled up by Braehead. Glasgow Ducks was based on a WW2 amphibious troop carrier, which was converted to a bus, and took people on a tour of the city and then into the river. Colin and Laura Graham were very courageous and brave starting this business, but the maintenance costs brought on by the running down to Renfrew, crippled the company before it got going. We were all angry and gutted as they had put together a good team, who worked hard to make it work. These tours are going strong in London. http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/

Glasgow needs a slipway. Glasgow made the Clyde, and the Clyde made Glasgow, lets bring the river to life again, and start using it, not being ashamed of it and trying to ignore it.

This evening on the river.

Today started of badly as we had an alternator failure. Whether it was the alternator bearing failing or the belt failing is hard to say. We finally got going for the evening charter starting at 1900 from Glasgow. A group of Canadians who are from the company involved in the St. Enochs centre. Someone told me that we were having a group of Finish people, when they arrived I thought "these Fins speak excellent English," :o)
We had a pleasant uneventfull sail down to the Jubilee Hospital Clydebank and back to Glasgow against the tide.
Tomorrow we hope to get a full day of service, and if the weather is like today, we should get good trade.
Took some shots this evening. The chap at the helm is Irvine who is a Paisley Buddy and a very good boatmaster. He loves his job and working on the Clyde. As we all do. Must get of to bed, medical tomorrow to get my Boatmasters licence revalidated.

.

We can all dream can't we? Some day.

Tuesday 5th. June. PM

Keep getting lost with this stuff, forgot my user name, password etc. Last day of untill next week, in at work 0830 tomorrow to take POTC to King George, (KG5) dock to refuel and get the jobby weecher to empty the toilet. We have an onboard chemical toilet, which we have to have a holding tank for, and it one of my least favourite tasks putting the suction hose down the tank and listening to all the jobbies weeching up the pipe. I have a sinus problem right now so no sense of smell, but it makes no odds as you can see the smell. If the tide is low, the smell in the dock is bad enough as it seems to hold onto stuff and it is just down stream from Shieldhall sewage works, who of course never pump any nasties into the river, aye right.
Enough about jobbies.
The weather forecast tomorrow seems pretty good so here's hoping for a good days trading, full boat every trip! Must remember to take the camera and try and get some shots for the blog.
Must go and make my grub for tomorrow.

Just finding my way around this Blog thing how to use it etc. I become really annoyed when I cannot post my country as Scotland, and have to click the generic United Kingdom option. I am a Scottish nationalist. Always have been always will be :o)

back again

Here goes with a blog which I have meant to start for some time. Monday is supposed to be a good day to start new projects so it's Monday.

Last week I began full time again as a skipper on the Pride o The Clyde. http://www.clydewaterbusservices.co.uk/ So the plan is to use this blog as a kind of daily log, and also to sound of about anything that takes my fancy.

My other project is to develope a utility business that I have been involved with for a while but have not got it going properly.http://www.utilitywarehouse.co.uk/entrance/index.taf?exref=858626 This will in time take me to the point where we have our own boat http://www.electriccatamaran.com/ and sail to the Mediterranean sun. It is an ambition or a target. I visualise that every day, and setting a target means you are more likely to achieve it, than if you had not.