Sunday, November 12, 2006
well yesterday was a fun day.
we went to the national maritime museum for "an afternoon of sea stories".
with our usual disorganisation we didn't leave in time. i'd hoped to spend some time wandering around the museum before the presentation, but as it was we arrived about 5 mins after it started. we didn't miss much but by the time it finished the museum was closed and we missed out.
the presentation was excellent. Keith Gordon, the first presenter, talked about the ship, RMS Niagra, and how it was sunk in New Zealand waters during world war 2, and the lengths that a bank in england went to, to get back the gold from 120 metres.
then Don McIntyre told us of his experiences sailing singlehandedly around the world in the 1990 boc challenge race. coincidentally, my brother used to work for another of the sailors in that race, Kanga Birtles. it was a very interesting tale and his yacht had several cameras positioned around it to record his travels, including getting knocked over and then righting again in the southern ocean. something that happened to most of them a few times.
Mark Spencer talked to us about some of the shipwrecks in Australia, including the Catterthun and the Cumberland. he also talked a little about a project to explore an Australian submarine sunk in Turkey in the first world war. apparently his group has been given some money by the australian government to go back next year and document/photograph it. i'm waiting for the next installment.
then Steve Carruthers talked about the "missing" midget submarine that attacked sydney in 1942. i admit, i didn't think that talking about a missing midget submarine was going to keep me entertained for 45 minutes, but it waas interesting and although i may not cough up $40 for the book just yet. i'm waiting to see what happens with this next as well. they have a few new interesting search sites, which at the very least, will provide a few new shipwrecks.
now to feed the kidlets and see what the day brings
we went to the national maritime museum for "an afternoon of sea stories".
with our usual disorganisation we didn't leave in time. i'd hoped to spend some time wandering around the museum before the presentation, but as it was we arrived about 5 mins after it started. we didn't miss much but by the time it finished the museum was closed and we missed out.
the presentation was excellent. Keith Gordon, the first presenter, talked about the ship, RMS Niagra, and how it was sunk in New Zealand waters during world war 2, and the lengths that a bank in england went to, to get back the gold from 120 metres.
then Don McIntyre told us of his experiences sailing singlehandedly around the world in the 1990 boc challenge race. coincidentally, my brother used to work for another of the sailors in that race, Kanga Birtles. it was a very interesting tale and his yacht had several cameras positioned around it to record his travels, including getting knocked over and then righting again in the southern ocean. something that happened to most of them a few times.
Mark Spencer talked to us about some of the shipwrecks in Australia, including the Catterthun and the Cumberland. he also talked a little about a project to explore an Australian submarine sunk in Turkey in the first world war. apparently his group has been given some money by the australian government to go back next year and document/photograph it. i'm waiting for the next installment.
then Steve Carruthers talked about the "missing" midget submarine that attacked sydney in 1942. i admit, i didn't think that talking about a missing midget submarine was going to keep me entertained for 45 minutes, but it waas interesting and although i may not cough up $40 for the book just yet. i'm waiting to see what happens with this next as well. they have a few new interesting search sites, which at the very least, will provide a few new shipwrecks.
now to feed the kidlets and see what the day brings
