The soaring fool is airborne again Coriolistic Anachronisms - A Vancouver Blog

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May 28
   Vintage! This is a random post. The year was 2006...

An incredible oceangoing giant

I was recently posting from the waterfront and mentioned a passing ship, to which someone replied: « Where’s the picture of the ship? » Well, here we go.

The ship was Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess. She was back in Vancouver a couple of days ago and I went for a closer look. The 116,000 gross tons ship is as impressive up close as she is from a distance. Imagine a gentle giant with the looks of a spaceship and carrying up to 3700 people across the seas …

Built in Japan at the cost of a half billion dollars, the Diamond Princess (as her sister the Sapphire) is 952 feet long, has a beam (width) of 158 feet and totals 18 decks! She features very prominent enclosed and extended bridge wings and her trademark jet-engine style decorative pods on each side of her funnel. Her electric propulsion system is remarkably environment friendly and driven by a gas turbine / diesel engine combination.

As my friend Silvia was commenting as we stared in awe, mankind – despite its rather dark tendencies (see my previous post) – can certainly show tremendous imagination and infinite creativity. The things we build are simply fantastic. If only we could show the same talents when it comes to our spirituality…

[Next post will feature the love of my life when it comes to ships:
the twin sisters Club Med 1 and Club Med 2.]

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2006-05-28 20:40 • Posted in Photoblogs:

12 Comments

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  • 1 - Sigrid says:

    « Un HLM sur eau...très peu pour moi. »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-29 12:05 •
  • 2 - Vince says:

    « Ma chère Sigrid, je crains que tu n’aies rien compris. ;-)

    Premièrement, c’est de la réussite technologique et artistique que je parlais surtout. D’un point de vue purement pratique, ce navire est une merveille, deux fois et demie plus grand que le Titanic. Et sur un plan esthétique je trouve ses lignes superbes. Bon.

    Quoiqu’il en soit, ce n’est pas non plus un HLM. Il ne s’agit pas d’un logement mais d’un moyen de transport temporaire, agréable, confortable et sophistiqué. Je ne suis pas sûr de pouvoir expliquer le plaisir de prendre la mer à une terrienne, :-p mais essaie juste d’imaginer te levant à l’aube et sortant prendre ton café matinal sur le balcon de ta cabine, alors que les glaciers de l’Alaska défilent devant toi.

    Bien sur, tu as peut-être deux ou trois mille personnes regardant le spectacle avec toi. Et alors ? Si c’est le nombre de gens qui te gêne, permets moi de te rappeler que tu prends quotidiennement un train bondé à craquer pour aller travailler dans un centre-ville frénétique et cela représente une densité humaine bien plus élevée que celle du bateau…

    « Bon, faut imaginer, hein! » ;-) Moi je ne sais pas si je ferais une telle croisière, mais si c’était le cas, je voudrais ce bateau là.

    Any way, the reason for my post was mostly to point out that if we could only think as big and as magnificent with our minds and souls as we do with our toys, then we’d be all set for a real evolution... :-) »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-29 12:29 •
  • 3 - Vince says:

    « Besides, if you think that’s big, you should see the Freedom of the Seas, which made her maiden voyage earlier this year. With 160,000 grt, she’s the largest cruise ship ever built, period. She’s 237 feet tall, 1,112 feet long, carries 4000 passengers and 1300 crew, and one Captain. ;-)

    And then wait for the new Genesis class, currently being designed, that will carry 5400 passengers... ;-) »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-29 12:46 •
  • 4 - NewYorkAngel says:

    « Ben, moi, j’ai jamais fait de croisière non plus sur un giant boat like the one you’re talking about.(Am I mixing languages again?..This would be new!). Anyhow, for some reason that I cannot explain, I really like the picture with the chairs, the windows and the blue thingy.
    Eso era solo para hacer una diversión en medio de la conversación entre Sigrid y tu para tranquilizar el ambiente. Y otra cosa que no tiene nada que ver, has visto que estabas escribiendo un articulo sobre un barco de crucero y al mismo tiempo, en mi blog, la musica que estaba escuchando yo era ‘Take you on a cruise’. Alors, hasard ou réalité scientifique?! ;-)
    My Spanish is crap...Olé! »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-29 12:53 •
  • 5 - Anonymous says:

    « I have a dream... Une croisière dans les Caraïbes ou dans les îles grecques.
    Mais il faut absolument qu’il y ait des buffets fabuleux. Must be hungry... »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-29 16:38 •
  • 6 - sigrid says:

    « The picture Angel mentions is precisely the one bothering me.
    Standard, identical, rabbit cages.
    No.
    The Club Meds were the ones and only. Otherwise: no.
    As for my train, it carries about 250 people at a time. I abhor crowds. »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-30 07:03 •
  • 7 - Vince says:

    « Anonymous: j’espere bien pouvoir un jour t’envoyer en croisiere dans les iles grecques, se serait bien ton tour! :-)

    NYA: we’ve got a problem; Sigrid doesn’t like modern art... ;-)

    Sigrid: I can see we’ll never agree on this. Ok, I’m calling the shipyards and cancelling Freedom of the Seas unless they make each cabin different. I can hear them scream already... Va pas etre content, l’architecte naval. ;-) »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-30 10:37 •
  • 8 - Sigrid says:

    « Tu sais ce que je lui dit à l’architecte naval? :)



    (Answer: Who is John Galt?) »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-30 11:57 •
  • 9 - Sigrid says:

    « Je dit, Tudi, il dit, nous disons, vous disez, ils ditz. »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-30 12:00 •
  • 10 - Anonymous says:

    « Les rêves sont toujours plus beaux que la réalité. Et je refuse d’arrêter de rêver. Tant pis pour la croisière dans les îles grecques... :-) »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-30 18:50 •
  • 11 - Vince says:

    « Anonymous: Correction, les rêves ne sont PAS toujours plus beaux que la réalité. Il y a des cas où la réalité est imbattable. Il n’y a qu’à me regarder. ;-)

    Sigrid: Là pour une fois, tu m’as largué... Je suppose que tu citais, mais quoi?

    NYA: If your Spanish is crap, then I’m afraid to put an adjective on mine... ;-) No querida, tu español me parece bien chévere! O así que dirían en Costa Rica, tuanis!

    Pura Vida, maje! ;-) »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-30 23:59 •
  • 12 - NewYorkAngel says:

    « Sounds like I should go to costa Rica to improve my Spanish cause for now, tuanis sounds like tuna fish to me!! ;-)(You’ll have to explain please...). Pero, solo por tus palabras tan amables, un beso fuerte querido! »

    Date of comment: 2006-05-31 14:12 •

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We now go back to current chronological entries:
Random Entry: Bouillabaisse at Cassis - Take Two  
 Next: Good Bye Minnesota | Previous: Up before the sun
Jun 5

The soaring fool is airborne again

It had been almost a year since I’d left the ground under my canopy, like a flea hoping off the back of an elephant. Now, that’s way too long.

So today I drove an hour east of Montreal to the mighty Mont Yamaska, a small hiccup on the flat expanse of the Eastern Townships, hoping for flyable conditions. It was a partial success. The winds were a little weak, from the southwest, facing the main launch pad. After waiting over an hour for some thermal activity to come our way, I decided that walking back down was not an option, mostly because of the black flies swarming around my face. I unpacked my paraglider, hooked up to the harness, put gloves and helmet on, strapped the vario to my leg, and waited some more.

There’s a lot to be said about waiting in the paragliding activity. It forms character. It teaches patience. It lets you sweat profusely and makes you wish you were somewhere else. Like at the shaded terrace of an alpine cafe with a beer mug in one hand and an ice cream in the other. Or vice versa. And then it gives the bugs a chance to fly suicide missions into your ears.

Here’s how I would define the essence of aerial wisdom:

Success is the result of good judgment.
Good judgment is the result of experience.
Experience is the result of bad judgment.
Bad judgment is the result of black flies.

I once took off against my own advice from this very same site, in a fierce crosswind and without my speed bar, only to find myself flying backwards as soon as I was airborne. But today the gods were smiling upon me and finally, the sun appeared through the clouds, triggering a few thermals that lazily ascended the hill towards my vanishing patience. Four or five wings launched, I was next, a few more followed.

We managed to soar for a while, fighting hard to gain a mere 200 or 300 feet above the pad, turning tight to stay in the lift at each end of the run. Then the sun went away again, and sinking air was everywhere. I headed for the field, crossed the road, followed an S shaped approach and didn’t quite flare enough while landing, so I actually had to run a few paces. A year is a long time to wait for a twenty minutes flight. But how sweet it was!

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2005-06-05 20:03 • Posted in Cool:

1 Comments

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  • 1 - la beloeilloise says:

    « say what you want, protest, smile ironically, die of shame, I don’t care,
    I’m going to say it : you’re a born writer ! »

    Date of comment: 2005-06-06 08:16 •

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