ONBOARD Atlantic sketch
Shooting fl ying fi sh DAN HOUSTON RECALLS A MID ATLANTIC ADDICTION
It’s after lunch and I’m off watch for a few hours and, seeing as the sun is out and the sea is that deep navy blue colour, I decide to take a photo of fl ying fi sh. I tote my camera with its long lens fi tted and wedge myself up for’ard between Eilean’
Pressure s gunwale and the comfy contours of her bowsprit. This shouldn’t take too long – I have been noticing whole squads of
“Three dash out just 8ft from me – I snap away but there’s nothing”
fl ying fi sh coming out of wave tops, spooked by our bow wave, no doubt. They course away down the troughs of this downland sea, rising up over crests and switching direction as graceful, really, as swallows at that height. They do fl y higher, of course, and we’ve been seeing their little smudges on the sails for days now, and fi nding their dry and inert bodies on deck in the morning… I cradle the camera into my face, index fi nger on the shutter causing the lens to servo in and out of focus as the waves pass by. I wait, get tired, then, as I look the other way, three dash out just 8ft from me – I snap away, but there’s nothing when I look later, just some blurred silver dots against the smart darkness. I shift my position, balance the lens on the
capping rail, throw one leg out under the winch. It’s a case of waiting and waiting. I can do this.
An hour passes and then another; each time the fi sh come out, I see them too late and my reaction times feel like slow machinery as they dart away, dive into a wave, emerge the other side, paddle their tails in the water and then catch some wind and soar away, like low-level fi ghter aircraft between mountains.
I give up. “I’ll see what I can do,” says Captain Andy, strolling to the foredeck. He’s seen me at this a couple of times now. I watch him adjusting the settings on his Canon SLR and feel slightly despondent. But an hour or so later, the sun is setting and Andy is looking like I did earlier. “Not that easy,” he admits ruefully. We agree it’s like an addiction, but without the high. “I’ve probably got some that are just slightly out of focus,” Andy ventures. “But that’s the whole point,” I rejoin. “There’s no shop for ‘slightly out of focus…’ no shop for that.”
62 CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2012
washer Very powerful and eff ective, especially with the turbo lance in use, Kärcher’s Dirt Blaster shifts very hard to move grot in seconds. Fitted with a water-cooled electric motor ensuring longevity, the pressure washer has a hose reel located on the top for easy access, and comes with a fan lance for when a lower pressure is required. There is a wide range of extras, like a patio cleaner, and various brushes and accessories that can be fi tted to the business end of the lance. Great machine! Kärcher K 5.700. Output pressure 140 bar, weight 14.5kg, water consumption 7.6 litres per min, 2,000W. From £296 at B&Q
Tel: +44 (0)1295 752200
www.karcher.co.uk
BEST OF BRITISH
Union Jack handkerchiefs
These silk handkerchiefs have a hand-rolled hem
and would be a fi ne adornment to any suit or blazer, either as a three-point or a ruffl e.
They are block printed onto the silk in the traditional way, where only four are struck at a time from one square yard of silk – thus each is slightly diff erent from the other. £27.50
Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 5181,
www.peckhamrye.com
Dan sailed across the Atlantic on the Fife ketch Eilean. CB286
For those of us whose wallet is a little more ‘crew’ than ‘owner’, Marks & Sparks has some nice cotton hankies with a similar design for £6 per pair.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100