Goodreads - Post#13

The Pull of the Tide is now on 'goodreads'.

This is a free US website designed for book lovers. Its not a selling website like Amazon - imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalogue what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future.

You don’t have to stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing.

Another good book site is here:

http://askdavid.com/

X-Ray Specs - Post#12

Amazon Kindle have just upgraded their reading 'app' which can be used with their own Kindle readers and tablets to include the new 'X-Ray' feature.

X-Ray is where additional information can be provided about a book while you are reading it. There is a separate X-Ray tab on the Kindle reader page and when you tap it, it provides further details about characters and places in the plot.

Unfortunately, they are only offering it on around 2% of their e-books and these tend to be the best selling ones.

Having tried it out, I find it slightly lacking.

Instead of the authors providing the information, Amazon are using clever software to analyse the content and then link to Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon's community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers. In my humble opinion, this makes X-Ray seem a little clinical and disjointed and the warmth of the book isn't communicated properly.

However, it has given me an idea.

I will provide my own version of X-Ray on this blog. It will cover the main characters in the first book, 'The Pull of The Tide' and provide additional character bio's to enhance and illustrate the plot. It will also be available to those Kindle book fans who won't have access to the X-Ray information from Amazon.

Watch out for the first Ex-Ray post !! 

Towing in the Test Tank - Post#11

The hull designs for ships like Aspatria would have been proven prior to building in testing tanks like this one.

This tank is 92 metres long, 6.7 metres wide and 2.5 metres deep. Scale models of the hull design were made from wax, a skilled trade in itself and these were then attached below the cradle shown above and pulled along the length of the tank, with simulated waves generated at the far end. The models could be up to 6m in length and you can see examples of sections of them on the left hand side of the photograph.

These tanks allowed naval architects and designers to test their hull designs to calculate efficiency and stability. Fuel consumption and speed could be calculated in an era long before the advent of computers and CAD/CAM.

This particular example was built in 1892 and is located on the River Clyde, a big shipbuilding area in the 20th century. It still remains in working condition and has been used for training and education purposes until recently. The last vessels it was used to design were some modern RO-RO (Roll On-Roll Off) ferries.

The Shetland Bus - Post#10

The Mallory series of books are set towards the opening stages of the Second World War.

German forces occupied Norway in 1940 and this resulted in many refugees fleeing west to Shetland.

A secret base was set up at Lunna on Shetland and during the winter the same fishing cutters that brought the refugees, took agents, wireless sets and arms to Norway to support the resistance.

At one point, losses were so great that they nearly gave up. It was only through sheer determination that the Shetland Bus continued.

The operation was of great psychological importance to the Norwegian people and at the end of the war, there were 60 illegal radio stations transmitting from Norway, most of which had been put there by the Bus.

Strategically, the Germans were forced to use lots of men and resources to defend the western coast of Norway. The SB missions were one of the reasons that the Germans thought the allied invasion would come via Norway rather than Normandy and they even set up a chain of gun fortresses to protect it.

The Norwegian people have never forgotten the bravery of those involved with the Bus and there is a memorial in Alesund Harbour to them.

The Gully Gully Men - Post#9

The Gully Gully Man was a magician that would visit ships, mainly in places like Egypt. He would perform coin, rope and card tricks and his speed and finesse at sleight of hand would normally leave sailors puzzled and poorer.

Do you know how the man on the bottom supports his colleague one handed ??

Feeling Flat ? - Post#8

Are you feeling low or flat at this time of year?

People keep asking me why I don't publish The Pull of The Tide as a free Kindle book.

There is a saying 'there is no such thing as a free lunch', but what I have done is to change the price of the book.

So, in the run up to Christmas, I have reduced the book price which is now on the Amazon Kindle website for just £1.53 !

For those of you in other parts of the world, the price has also been reduced on Amazon.com in the same way.

Hopefully, now you can stop feeling flat and soar like a bird - enjoy.

Woody's Workshop - Post#7

The ships carpenter was an important man on the old wooden sailing ships. The wooden hull was the only thing between the men and the sea and it had a tendency to rot, split and leak with age.
However, even steel ships like Aspatria carried a carpenter. Traditionally known as the 'Chippy' or 'Chips', the real name of the carpenter on  Aspatria was Archie Woods and so the crew gave him the nickname 'Woody'.

Archie's tasks included oiling and greasing the steering gear (which linked the wheel on the bridge with the rudder down aft), sounding all the tanks and bilges, checking how much freshwater had been used, greasing the winches and routinely repairing hatches, lockers and doors.

'Woody' had a little workshop up in the forecastle (bow) of the ship, which is shown above. He would normally be seen doing his daily rounds, walking about the deck with his sounding rod in hand and being followed by his cat 'Mrs Chips'. How that partnership came to be is another story.