Pictures of my completed Hasagawa Shinkai 6500 research submersible with updated thrusters. I really enjoyed this kit and recommend it. The panel wash did not turn out very well, but apart from that I'm pretty pleased with it.
Images of my first ship kit of Ifremer's 'Le Suroît' in 1/200. Its a great kit and is built mostly OTB apart from....
- PE railings, ladder rungs on A-frame and ladders - Scratch built SAR (Système Acoustique Remorqué) to properly depict the search for the Titanic expedition in 1985. - Scratch built bow thruster. - Added details to the Cyana submersible - 3D printed rigging blocks - Rigging line - Humbrol clearfix windows and portholes - Metal anchor chains - Wire radio aerial
I have had my Gelert solo one man tent for well over a year, and it had never been used. However I recently visited the Azores for work and spent a few days trekking and camping and the Gelert Solo seemed the perfect tent to take.
Its small size and < 2kg weight meant it was ideal, as I was walking with all my gear which including all my freediving equipment. My rucksack weighed over 22 kg in the end which meant it was hard work walking in the very humid and hilly Sao Jorge island of the Azores. The tent is very easy to put up and take down, and not too tricky to get back into its bag providing you roll it up neatly and tightly. It is very small inside, especially with all my gear in it, but I knew that would be the case. I was still able to sleep though, and keep all my gear secure and dry. There were some very heavy down pours but there was never any water or dampness getting into the inner tent. It was also very windy at times but the tent was fine with its low profile helping it survive the winds. The tent only holds its form if on very level ground, which meant when I pitched in the forest the roof of the tent was much lower than it should have been. One negative that had been mentioned by other owners was that the poles are fragile. Near the end of my trip the metal corner pieces in the smaller of the two poles bent, but its was not a major issue. I also replaced most of the poles with candy cane aluminium poles form Alpkit.com which was a good move as they were lighter and more sturdy. The Azores has very rocky ground without much top soil due to its volcanic orgins, making good strong tent pegs a big help when pitching the tent.
For £15 pounds this tent was great and did me well.
Gelert solo with Pico mountain in the background
Gelert solo in wood at Faja Caldeira dos santo Cristo
Gelert Solo tent at Urzelina camp site, Sao Jorge Azores
Inside the Gelert Solo with all my gear. Its a nylon coffin but that is OK.
Gelert Solo tent at Urzelina camp site, Sao Jorge Azores
I bought a pair of MKS sylvan touring pedals for the retro Peugeot touring bike as the old original Lyotard ones were too narrow and damaged. However I could only get one of the old pedals off and to cut a long story short the one that was stuck destroyed the thread in the non-drive side crank arm. So I decided to replace the chainset and bottom bracket and then I can put my new pedals on. Replacing my pedals became more expensive than I planned.
I found a good chainset form planet x / on-one which keeps a bit of a retro look. I also replaced the old cup and cone bottom bracket with a new sealed unit. I'm glad I did replace it as some of the bearings has become loose in the bottom bracket shell. The new touring pedals are great as they are nice and wide so are comfortable no matter what shoes you are wearing. The bearings were not very smooth out the box but not tight enough to be worth taking the dust caps off (not an easy task) to adjust the bearings.
Old Stronglight bottom bracket and chainset
New planet x / on-one touring chainset
New sealed bottom bracket
New on-one chainset on the Peugeot touring bicycle
I had been to try and dive by the
suspension bridge in the Menai Strait before with little success. I went at low
water but the current was extremely strong and the area I was in composed of
thousands of tennis ball sized rocks covered in barnacles with little else.
This video shows that dive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3At4Eq6CH1s).
However during Friday lunch break I went
there again with Ryan Mowat with much more success. Part of that success was
working out when slack water was, which is not the same as time of high or low
water in the Menai Strait. To over simplify it the time of lowest current
velocity is roughly 2 – 1 ½ hours before the time of High or Low water. This video shows some clips from that trip.
Going
at slack water is important for a safe dive where you’re not drifting away, visability
is likely to be better and it means less fining against the current potentially
giving longer dive times. Ryan suggested diving down a subtidal cliff on the
South side of the bridge and it was a great spot. The vis was about 3 m but we
had lots of amazing sessile epifaunal to look including incrusting and
branching sponges, large and abundant Dahlia anemones and deadman’s finger
colonies. Motile organisms included lots of common starfish, edible crabs,
velvet swimming crabs and small spider crabs amongst the sponges. There were no
doubt many other species which I did not observe. I always regret not staying
in one post and looking for smaller organisms, I so often pass over areas
looking more generally at what is there.
It was 5 – 6 degrees C probably and I reached a max depth of 7 metres
during my dives but depth was not the objective of the dives.
Dahlia anemones in the Menai Strait
Common starfish foraging among breadcrumb sponge in the Menai Strait
Common starfish, sponges and an edible crab in the Menai Strait
Dahlia anemones in the Menai Strait
Common starfish feeding amongst breadcrumb sponge with a velvet swimming crab at the bottom. Menai Strait
The finger like structure is either the sponge Haliclona oculata or the bryozoan Alcyonidium diaphanum.
When I got my nice new open cell wetsuit I was really paranoid about damaging it, so here is what I do to keep it in good condition after using it.
Rinsing your open cell wetsuit after use
If you have been using the suit in the sea, freshwater or pool it is always a good idea to wash it in freshwater afterwards. After a dive a put all my neoprene into a bin bag for the journey home. This keeps everything else form getting wet and helps protect the suit from damage. I fill my empty equipment box with freshwater in the bath and wash my wetsuit in it. I don't use soap or anything, just cold freshwater. make sure you fully soak the inside and outside so no salt water is left in the neoprene. Pouring water down the sleeves / legs helps reach all the suit.
Drying your open cell wetsuit after rinsing
I use a clothes horse placed in the bath to dry my wetsuit and equipment. I dry my open cell wetsuit and socks inside out, this is the best way to do it in my opinion. I never got the inside dry properly when just keeping it the right way round. The open cell inside will not take long to dry when inside out (e.g. overnight) and then you just turn the jacket and trousers the right way round to dry the outside which won't take long and won't be dripping water by then either. Water can pool in the hood so it is a good idea to tip the hood up a few times just after rinsing. Easy.
Drying an open cell spearfishing / freediving wetsuit
Storing your open cell wetsuit
Creasing, compressing and stretching your wetsuit all want to be avoided when drying and storing an open cell wetsuit. Hanging it up is not easy to do without avoiding these problems I have found and just laying it out takes up lots of room. Folding the wetsuit is best avoided because it will make permanent creases and compress the neoprene along these creases compromising its effectiveness and keeping you warm. What I find does the job is rolling up the trousers in the jacket and tucking the arms in. By rolling it you avoid making creases and it ends up not taking up much space for storing and transporting.
Spearfishing / freediving open wetsuit rolled up for storage
Let me know if you have any other methods which work for you.
My tank is ticking over nicely. The two cuttlefish have been entertaining lots of guests over Christmas. However I am concerned about one of them. The eyelids are tightly closed and its movement does not appear to be under full control. There is a slight bulge to the rear of the mantle and it seems to be slightly positively buoyant. Not sure if I will remove to form the tank yet for quarantine but is still seems to be feeding which is encouraging. Apart from that the cushion stars, sea urchin, anemones, top shells, periwinkles and netted whelk all seem to be doing well. The odd periwinkle falls prey to the cushion stars but that is not a problem. Here are some pictures and videos below.
Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) in British native marine aquarium.
Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) in British native marine aquarium.
Small brittlestar in native marine aqurium
'Baby' Asterina gibbosa cushion star in native marine aquarium
Snakelocks Anemone viridis in British native marine aquarium. Sea urchin Psammechinus miliariscan be seen in the background.
I was given two small Sepia officinalisby Dr. Nick Jones (http://www.bangor.ac.uk/oceansciences/staff/php/staffdetails1.php?person=0064) at the School of Ocean Sciences which were left
over after experiments they were conducting on egg hatching. I made sure I had some
fine shell gravel in my aquarium before adding them into the tank. They like to
burrow so normal pea gravel would likely be too coarse to allow this. I have
had them almost two months now and both are growing well and seem to be well adjusted
to living in my aquarium. I have no chiller, the seawater is dependent on the
room temperature. I have been feeding them on Crangon crangon brown
shrimp, common prawn P. serratus and the occasional small sand goby. They
need a good source of live food and are really amazing to watch as they stalk
and attack their prey. This hunting is often accompanied by vivid pulses of
colour across the mantle of the cuttlefish. They have been great inhabitants of
my aquarium but as they grow larger I will probably need to find a new home for
them. Here are some pictures and video.
Sepia officinalis Common cuttlefish
Sepia officinalis Common cuttlefish feeding on a prawn
A collection of recent highlights from my snorkelling and freediving around Anglesey in North Wales. Seeing the plumose anemones at St. George's pier was a real highlight for me. All the dives had very poor vis, maybe 1 - 2 metres. You can still see amazing marine life in poor vis if you are willing to give it a go, and go down into the murk.
Trying out my new mask at a small cove in Trearddur Bay, Anglesey. It was high tide so there was no that much life to see apart form plenty of Fucus. It was still a fun session. Here is a little video from it. I'll add some more but the editing takes ages on my laptop.
My old Tusa mask with the hyperdry purge valve that made equalising tricky
I previously
used a Tusa Liberator Plus mask with the Hyperdry purge valve for snorkeling. It
is great mask for scuba but the problem with the purge valve is it makes the
nose piece very rigid. This made equalising quite tricky. I have now bought a
black Beaver Odyssey Low volume mask from Anglesey Divers scuba shop in
Holyhead. I have only tried it once but I really like the mask. It fits my face
well and the silicone is very soft. It also has a frameless design. Not sure
why they call it ‘frameless’, as it still has a frame, but it basically means
the straps attach to the silicone skirt instead of the plastic frame like most
masks. The lenses are smaller than my old mask but I can probably see more. I
guess the low volume design bringing the lenses closer to the eyes keeps a good
field of view. The straps adjust really easily by pushing some buttons on the
buckles which will make adjustments easy, even with gloves on. Anyway I have
only done one session with the mask within an hour of buying so I’ll see how I
get on with it. Equalising is much much easier thanks to the soft nose piece. It comes with a box as well which is good.
Beaver Odyssey Low volume mask (Suitable for Spearfishing / Freediving)
Buckle attached to the silicone that makes it a 'frameless' mask
Beaver Odyssey Low volume mask (Suitable for Spearfishing / Freediving)
