HUMANITY TURNING A BLIND EYE

I am think I am devoid of emotion, yet I feel  a weird sort of black hole in the pit of my stomach when I hear that people who are so desperate for a life, who will risk their lives by going through hell and high water to try and get a chance of a better life, will  be allowed to seal their fates at the hands of the unscrupulous and unchecked traffickers who put their human cargo out at sea in dubious overcrowded boats.  It is reported that the same traffickers are not averse to ramming and sinking the boats.  They don't care what happens to the refugees so long as they get their money from them. Are the traffickers untouchable?

Funding to rescue services at their current levels is being stopped. Britain is in the forefront of it. The replacement will be a very limited coastguard service. 

Since when did humanitarianism stop beyond a three miles coastal limit, or less?  What perverse rationalisation is being played out;  politicians argue, the more likely people think they are to be rescued out at sea, the more they will attempt the journey with all its attendant risks. What methodology is proposed to support this theory?  Who is going to watch the drownings and count the bodies to try and prove it? 

Perfidious Albion.

WHERE DID IT GO?

The boat was hiked out of the water, along with other small boats, as protection against the effects of the threatened tail end of Hurricane Katia.  At the end of August, there was havoc in the small harbour when the sea swell, the winds, strong tides and the torrents of rain pulled larger boats from their anchors and small open boats were in difficulties with the copious amounts of rain that fell.  One such small boat was pulled out to sea, never to be sighted again. Thus, we battened down the hatches, here at home too, as best we could, and waited for the storm. 

We appear to have been in the eye of the storm, and apart from a breezy day and night, and down pourings of rain in a windless morning, today, we have, this time, been spared. 

The cleaning of this boat is almost complete. Then, a protective cover will be put over the boat while it is in 'dry dock'.

ALMOST A PORPOISE-LESS TRIP

There was some query as to where the ship started out, was it from Tilbury Docks, many miles East of London, or was it Southampton U.K. on the South coast of England. Whichever port this cruise liner came from, she was more than a delightful sight when I saw her.  The passenger I spoke to joined the cruise ship in Edinburgh!

  She has an elegant hull, a good old fashioned shape that makes this boat a real romantic cruise boat, in my opinion.  This beauty far outstrips the clinical-looking Cruise liners that pack people in container boxes piled high on a barge base.  The ship currently takes about 800 passengers, considerably fewer than the other monstrosities that sail the seas.

The main comment was that the passengers, thus far, had not been in a port for any length of time.  On the future itinerary, was a visit the Pharoes, Iceland and Poland.

As it was a relatively calm day, we motored around the bay.  Some small working boats were moving around,  one guy was stretched out on his open boat, having a rest.

 

A couple of intrepid canoeists wisely hugged the coast line.  Knowing their craft were not suitable for going out any further into exposed deep waters, they turned at the cliff head and set on their return to base.

I was hoping to glimpse some water life, including porpoises at play.  The first bird I saw  was a puffin, too far away to photograph.  I watched a Bonxie, (also known as the Great Skua) land on the sea like a skimming amphibious craft.  These birds have voracious appetites.   They are related to The Arctic Skua.






 It seemed it was going to be a 'porpoise-less' trip, then all of a sudden a pair of fins broke the surface of the sea, then arched dark shiny bodies appeared.  In the blink of an eye they disappeared, re-appearing moments later in a different spot.   Further over, I saw another pair of porpoises diving together.  The porpoises moved so fast, and because I had no real idea where they might re-appear from the deep dives they indulged in, (they were probably feeding) most of my photo shots are of disturbed whirls of water where the porpoises had showed up.  Just one picture shows a fin and a little of the body, in the far distance.  Hopefully, you will be able to make out the disappearing porpoise to the right of the picture.