South of Dunure, Turnberry lighthouse appeared on the horizon.
We took a third luncheon (not liquid this time) at the north end of Culzean (pron. Cullane) Bay.
By the time we got going again the sun had begun to set.
The Culzean coast line was in deep shade...
...and as we paddled under sandstone cliffs, the great castle of Culzean appeared on the skyline.
This was to be our third and last
Ice cold in Dunure
After leaving the Heads of Ayr, the coastline swings round to the SW and we caught our first glimpse of Ailsa Craig.
We then came to Dunure, our second castle of the day, which like the first, was perched right on the edge of a cliff.
We landed within the little harbour below the castle.
In the summer it is full of recreational boats but these two swans had it pretty much to themselves. The
We then came to Dunure, our second castle of the day, which like the first, was perched right on the edge of a cliff.
We landed within the little harbour below the castle.
In the summer it is full of recreational boats but these two swans had it pretty much to themselves. The
Swimming in it
Like most fountain pen enthusiasts, I own far too much ink.
I keep my ink collection in an old, wooden first aid box, the kind that would have been stationed on the wall of a warehouse or factory back in the 1980s. It's large enough to accommodate my bottles, some 20-odd strong. Looking through them, I see that I own three different brands of black ink. Why? After all, black is black, right? Well, not exactly. I bought one bottle of black ink (Diamine Onyx Black), then I bought a bottle of Noodler's Bulletproof Black, and some Pilot IC50 black cartridges for my black Capless. I am settled on the Noodler's now because of its water- etc resistance, and because it works quite well in the Capless. It is my ink of choice for those situations where I have to complete an official form. But then I bought a bottle of Sailor Jentle Grey ink. This fluid does not seem to like any of my pens, so there it sits, unused, and I haven't the gall to pour it down the sink.
Mostly the inks remain unused because I initially liked the colour, but then lost enthusiasm. Diamine Imperial Purple is a case in point, here. Purple is the colour of my old university and I had the bright idea that it would be nice to write in purple ink. Imperial Purple was suggested to me by my colleagues on the Fountain Pen Network so I bought a bottle. It is a nice ink, though I have since found that it fades to a dusty purple colour. This was not what I was looking for. I have since replaced it with another purple, well actually it's called violet on the bottle: Pelikan Violett. This is also the reason why I own several bottles of blue ink (Quink, Waterman, Pelikan, Diamine, Pilot).
Sometimes the inks remain unused because I love the colour but they take too long to dry because they are highly saturated. Private Reserve Plum is a good example. It is beautiful, but takes forever (seemingly) to dry on the page. As I detest smearing this is a big disadvantage.
Sometimes they are unused because they don't work in my pens or I simply haven't tried them in the right pen. Pelikan Turquoise springs to mind; it's a cool colour, behaves well, and yet it's yet to find a happy home in my pens. As a colour, it's a blue which reminds me of glaciers; it's the colour of icebergs. At the moment it lives in one of my Lamy Safaris.
Sometimes there are colours which I enjoy and then don't use for no particular reason. Diamine Orange is the one here. It is a genuine eye-popping orange colour, reminiscent of 1970s orange squash. I really ought to put this back into one of my pens, and soon.
Some inks I buy simply because I like the bottle. I bought Caran d'Ache's Sunset for this reason, but also because it filled a gap in my colour wheel and it is one of my favourite colours.
And then there are inks which I buy, try out, then forget about for a while before trying them again and wonder why I had forgotten about them. Here the winner is Diamine Woodland Green. After all the experimentation with colours I have found that green ink has the most calming effect on me of any of them. Here in England, people who write with green ink are seen as either eccentric or just barking mad, though there is also a century-old tradition of senior military and intelligence officers using it to sign documents and memos. Or are they just the same thing? When I first became enthused with fountain pens, in 2007, I bought a small bottle of Woodland Green. It was lovely, but it was probably too soon in my journey into inks to settle on it as a core colour. I soon put it away to try others.
I suppose I ought to be pleased to join the green-ink brigade because writing in green ink brings me back to one of the reasons for writing with a fountain pen in the first place - to enjoy the sensation of seeing a page fill up with a beautiful colour, even if the text is as quotidian as it gets (and believe me, at work, it is).
Looking again in the box I note that I own only two shades of green ink. How could this state of affairs have come to pass? My favourite colour and only two shades? Right, time to check out some J.Herbin shades. Vert Empire looks very nice though Lierre Sauvage and Vert Reseda are on the want-list too. Argh.
I keep my ink collection in an old, wooden first aid box, the kind that would have been stationed on the wall of a warehouse or factory back in the 1980s. It's large enough to accommodate my bottles, some 20-odd strong. Looking through them, I see that I own three different brands of black ink. Why? After all, black is black, right? Well, not exactly. I bought one bottle of black ink (Diamine Onyx Black), then I bought a bottle of Noodler's Bulletproof Black, and some Pilot IC50 black cartridges for my black Capless. I am settled on the Noodler's now because of its water- etc resistance, and because it works quite well in the Capless. It is my ink of choice for those situations where I have to complete an official form. But then I bought a bottle of Sailor Jentle Grey ink. This fluid does not seem to like any of my pens, so there it sits, unused, and I haven't the gall to pour it down the sink.
Mostly the inks remain unused because I initially liked the colour, but then lost enthusiasm. Diamine Imperial Purple is a case in point, here. Purple is the colour of my old university and I had the bright idea that it would be nice to write in purple ink. Imperial Purple was suggested to me by my colleagues on the Fountain Pen Network so I bought a bottle. It is a nice ink, though I have since found that it fades to a dusty purple colour. This was not what I was looking for. I have since replaced it with another purple, well actually it's called violet on the bottle: Pelikan Violett. This is also the reason why I own several bottles of blue ink (Quink, Waterman, Pelikan, Diamine, Pilot).
Sometimes the inks remain unused because I love the colour but they take too long to dry because they are highly saturated. Private Reserve Plum is a good example. It is beautiful, but takes forever (seemingly) to dry on the page. As I detest smearing this is a big disadvantage.
Sometimes they are unused because they don't work in my pens or I simply haven't tried them in the right pen. Pelikan Turquoise springs to mind; it's a cool colour, behaves well, and yet it's yet to find a happy home in my pens. As a colour, it's a blue which reminds me of glaciers; it's the colour of icebergs. At the moment it lives in one of my Lamy Safaris.
Sometimes there are colours which I enjoy and then don't use for no particular reason. Diamine Orange is the one here. It is a genuine eye-popping orange colour, reminiscent of 1970s orange squash. I really ought to put this back into one of my pens, and soon.
Some inks I buy simply because I like the bottle. I bought Caran d'Ache's Sunset for this reason, but also because it filled a gap in my colour wheel and it is one of my favourite colours.
And then there are inks which I buy, try out, then forget about for a while before trying them again and wonder why I had forgotten about them. Here the winner is Diamine Woodland Green. After all the experimentation with colours I have found that green ink has the most calming effect on me of any of them. Here in England, people who write with green ink are seen as either eccentric or just barking mad, though there is also a century-old tradition of senior military and intelligence officers using it to sign documents and memos. Or are they just the same thing? When I first became enthused with fountain pens, in 2007, I bought a small bottle of Woodland Green. It was lovely, but it was probably too soon in my journey into inks to settle on it as a core colour. I soon put it away to try others.
I suppose I ought to be pleased to join the green-ink brigade because writing in green ink brings me back to one of the reasons for writing with a fountain pen in the first place - to enjoy the sensation of seeing a page fill up with a beautiful colour, even if the text is as quotidian as it gets (and believe me, at work, it is).
Looking again in the box I note that I own only two shades of green ink. How could this state of affairs have come to pass? My favourite colour and only two shades? Right, time to check out some J.Herbin shades. Vert Empire looks very nice though Lierre Sauvage and Vert Reseda are on the want-list too. Argh.
Jetting off for some winter sun on Costa Clyde
From the mouth of the Doon we paddled under the grim walls of Greenan Castle, which is perched right on the edge of the cliff. Castles are one of the great features of paddling in Scotland. They are a reminder that what are now apparently remote places were once lived in (and fought over) by our ancestors.
We bumped into Richard, from Ayr, who was trying out his shiny new Rockpool GT. I
We bumped into Richard, from Ayr, who was trying out his shiny new Rockpool GT. I
Gently flows the Doon.
Our first port of call was the River Doon.
It was high tide so we were able to paddle right up to the tidal weir...
...and give the kayaks a quick rinse...
...before heading back downstream. Since the 1930's the Doon has lost a third of its flow, which is pumped through the hills of its watershed into the catchment of the River Dee. This river flows into the Solway through a series of dams
It was high tide so we were able to paddle right up to the tidal weir...
...and give the kayaks a quick rinse...
...before heading back downstream. Since the 1930's the Doon has lost a third of its flow, which is pumped through the hills of its watershed into the catchment of the River Dee. This river flows into the Solway through a series of dams
"Did you see those three madmen at Seafield?".
After the recent snows, the Ayrshire coast was one of the few places in Scotland not to be under a blanket of snow. Even the Arran mountains seemed to have escaped with a light dusting. However, a chill northerly breeze kept the temperature down to minus two Celsius.
Phil, Jim and I had left shuttle cars at Maidens and then driven back to Seafield at Ayr for a trip past three of the four castles
Phil, Jim and I had left shuttle cars at Maidens and then driven back to Seafield at Ayr for a trip past three of the four castles
Snowy Glasgow
We had a little more snow in Glasgow yesterday, we have had snow in the garden since Friday 26th November.
It took over 4 hours to get home from work yesterday. My wife abandoned her car but I picked her up and was mighty glad to get the car home. A rear wheel drive automatic is not the best on snow but winter tyres made all the difference.
We were lucky some people had to spend the night in
It took over 4 hours to get home from work yesterday. My wife abandoned her car but I picked her up and was mighty glad to get the car home. A rear wheel drive automatic is not the best on snow but winter tyres made all the difference.
We were lucky some people had to spend the night in
Tony Marks Racing Announces New ARCA Racing Series Team for 2011 Season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tony Marks Racing Announces New ARCA Racing Series Team for 2011 Season Canadian Maryeve Dufault to Pilot the Entry. Toledo, OH (Dec. 7, 2010) –Tony Marks Racing (TMR) announced today the intent to run a full season in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards with Canadian driver Maryeve Dufault piloting the No. 50 TMR entry. At the helm of the team will be owner Tony Marks, while day to day operations will be overseen by veteran crew chief Larry Moore, who will manage the car preparations out of the teams shop in Toledo, Ohio. |
Team Owner Tony Marks has been involved in a variety of racing endeavors over the past 25 years and after a late season ARCA Series test at Rockingham Speedway he was keen to expand his racing peration. "Last season tested at Rockingham Speedway and saw very promising results," said Marks. "Through our relationship with Dodge and our interest in expanding our racing program, we were presented with an opportunity and pursued conversations with Maryeve to join our team and put together a full season entry for 2011. Maryeve had displayed great ability in her outing at Montreal and we look forward to putting her in the position to be successful in 2011 with the Tony Marks Racing team."
Dufault was sponsored by the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram Quebec Dealers Association for the 2010 Canadian events and despite a tough outing in the Montreal race where she finished her day with heavy contact and was unable to complete the race, her driving skill impressed a Dodge racing representative who then facilitated an introduction to Tony Marks Racing. The team will begin their 2011 preparations in earnest with a three day closed test scheduled for December 11-13, 2010 at the ½ mile oval at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. During the three day test, the team plans to run Maryeve Dufault in the ARCA entry as well as test driver Jared Marks, son of team owner Tony Marks, in both an ARCA and late model car. The team will continue their testing program at the ARCA Series test at the Daytona International Speedway January 11-13, 2011 in preparation for the season opening ARCA event on February 12. About Tony Marks Racing (TMR): Tony Marks Racing was founded in 2009 through the passion for racing of team owner and former driver Tony Marks. Marks is the successful owner of TMT, Inc., a logistics, warehousing and packaging company with over 400 employees whose customers are mainly comprised of Fortune 100 companies. Marks began his racing career in 1985 getting behind the wheel of everything from drag racers, Dirt Late Models, SCCA Formula Fords, USAC F2000 Open Wheel and ARCA cars. Tony personally raced until 2005 amassing numerous wins, championships and track records along the way until he then changed his focus from driver to owner and began building racing programs for his children Jared (16 years old) and Rachel (13 years old). Under the auspices of TMR, Jared began his racing career in 2002 in quarter midgets and now competes in late model, CRA, ASA and ARCA Series events while Rachel continues her development program racing quarter midgets and Bandoleros. |
Winter has arrived on the Clyde.
The sun slipped away behind the Little Cumbrae and Arran.
We now started our crossing of the Hunterston shipping channel.
As we approached the Hunterston deep water ore terminal we could hear the noise of the grab cranes unloading the MV Red Gardenia.
She was built in 2005 and has a dead weight of 76,300tons. After unloading here for another 36 hours she left for she left for Port Skaw in
We now started our crossing of the Hunterston shipping channel.
As we approached the Hunterston deep water ore terminal we could hear the noise of the grab cranes unloading the MV Red Gardenia.
She was built in 2005 and has a dead weight of 76,300tons. After unloading here for another 36 hours she left for she left for Port Skaw in
ACT - GOODYEAR TO PRESENT THE ACT SPEEDWEEKS CUP
For Immediate Release ACT – 120610-65 Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) has announced that Goodyear, the official tire of the 25 year-old short track sanctioning body, will be the presenting sponsor of the first ever “southern swing” for the ACT Late Models on Sunday, February 13 and Monday, February 14, 2011. Last month officials from ACT and New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Florida announced that the ACT Late Model teams would become part of the historic World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing (WSASCR) at the well known ½ mile speedplant. |
For over four decades northern race teams and fans from Maine to Minnesota have made the annual pilgrimage to the ‘World Series’ at New Smyrna during Speedweeks at Daytona. “In the old days, the late Richie Evans would run out of the NASCAR Wednesday night awards banquet and rush down to make sure he was in the feature at New Smyrna that night. Junior Hanley, Gary Balough and a whole host of modified and late model racers made New Smyrna their ‘off-season home’. It is going to be a lot of fun to bring our northern ACT Late Model teams to Florida,” said Tom Curley, President of the American Canadian Tour. “ACT race teams have supported Goodyear for the past seven seasons and we are really pleased to be the presenting sponsor of the first Goodyear ACT Speedweeks Cup,” said Scott Junod, Goodyear Sales Manager, Short Track Racing. “I have seen a lot of ACT events over the past few years, and I think the fans going down to Speedweeks and the World Series of Asphalt Racing at New Smyrna are going to be in for a terrific short track show. When ACT announces the format for the two 100-lap events it should be a whole lot of fun to be a spectator. Goodyear is happy to be a part of this inaugural ACT event in February during Speedweeks,” concluded Junod. Over thirty teams from throughout the Northeastern United States and Canada have indicated they have interest in attending the Goodyear ACT Speedweeks Cup event at New Smyrna Speedway. “We feel confident that we will get the 24-26 teams we are hoping to have for this event, and as soon as teams see what the interesting format and purse structure is going to be, we expect to be able to release a very competitive field of entrants by the first of the year,” said Nick Bigelow, spokesman for the American Canadian Tour. Entries for the New Smyrna event will be sent in mid-December, and more information will be forthcoming throughout January 2011. For additional information contact the ACT office at 802.244.6963, www.acttour.com, or media@acttour.com. -30- |
Autodrome St-Eustache - Abandon de la bannière NASCAR
Réunion Sportsman du samedi 4 décembre à l'ASE. Les dollars resteront 100% au Québec ! C'est sous le signe de la détente et de la convivialité qu'un peu plus d'une quarantaine de personnes faisant partie de plus d'une vingtaine d'équipes ont répondu à l'invitation de la direction de l'ASE et se sont présentés à la réunion de la division Sportsman tenu samedi après-midi au VIP de l'Autodrome St-Eustache. La majorité ce ceux-ci se sont même présentés en fin d'avant-midi, répondant à l'invitation de prendre le dîner sur place, servi par Madame Ladouceur et sa fille Annie. |
Beaucoup de bonnes nouvelles bien accueillies par les équipes de courses ont été annoncées. Parmi celles-ci celle de l'annonce de l'abandon de la bannière NASCAR qui fera économiser dès leur adhésion de 350 à 400$ par équipe au niveau de l'achat de licences et permis de puits et surtout un fond de points qui bondira de 10 000$ à 26 200$ pour les onze courses de la saison 2011. « Nous avons apprécié les années passées sous la bannière NASCAR, nous avons accumulé de l'expérience, mais nous sommes d'avis que le retour d'argent dépensé par les pilotes et l'organisation de l'ASE pour détenir cette bannière, un retour qui se situe aux environs du tiers de ce nous (et les équipes) envoyons aux USA, était devenu insuffisant et c'est pourquoi nous avons décidé de payer nous même le fond de points et de distribuer directement aux équipes de courses une grande partie des sommes qui étaient payées à NASCAR…. » de préciser le directeur des opérations courses de l'ASE, Yves Ladouceur, le tout sous l'œil approbateur du président-fondateur de l'ASE, Monsieur Claude Aubin, qui nous a honoré de sa présence, et du président actuel Alan Labrosse, ainsi que d'une partie de l'équipe des officiels qui seront en place en 2011. Étaient sur place, des recrues qui s'illustreront en 2011 telles que l'équipe 422 du jeune Marc-Antoine Demers, l'équipe 73 de Steve Lagacé, le 71 de Claude Charest et Stéphane Aubin qui a annoncé « publiquement » son arrivée en Sportsman avec l'ancienne voiture du champion Steve Côté. Parmi les autres. Martin Goulet et Mario Bergeron qui ont été les premiers à se procurer leur licence ANCA SPORTSMAN 2011, Dave Coursol, André Coursol, Cindy et Mathieu Francoeur, Jason Labrosse, Sébastien Joseph qui pilotera l'ancienne voiture de Jonathan Bouvrette, Sébastien Dussault, Jean-François Bouvrette, Isabelle Tremblay, Benoît Juteau, Jonathan Bouvrette qui devrait faire quelques apparitions en 2011, une présence remarquée et appréciée a également été celle de Mario Carrier qui nous a annoncé son retour en 2011. L'équipe de Maxime Pelletier, le nouveau papa, était également représenté par Mario Lajoie. D'autres pilotes qui pourraient bien revenir plus régulièrement assistaient également à cette rencontre, parmi eux Normand Lavigueur qui n'a pu participer autant qu'il l'aurait voulu en 2010, et un autre qui n'est pas passé inaperçu, Guy Jubinville qui travaille très fort pour conclure une entente et revenir en piste en 2011. Il faut préciser que l'implication de NASCAR dans le système se situait exclusivement au niveau de la gestion des points et du paiement du fond de points. Le reste de la gestion (procédures de courses et règlementation) a toujours demeuré sous sanction ANCA même sous la bannière NASCAR. D'autres mesures économiques ont également été annoncées dont un système de gestion restrictif et contrôlé d'achat de pneus en 2011, et l'acception d'une deuxième marque de carrosseries moins dispendieuses. Quelques procédures de courses ont également été améliorés, parmi celles-ci, le fait que les points iront aux équipes qui pourront se doter d'un pilote de réserve qui leur permettra d'accumuler quand même des points en l'absence du pilote attitré, le tout sujet à certaines conditions qui seront déterminées un peu plus tard cet hiver. Le système ANCA prévoit également un système de pointage pour les qualifications, ce qui n'était pas le cas en NASCAR et un retour aux positions de départ déterminées par les moyennes inversées des trois dernières finale, tel qu'appliqué à toutes les autres classes de l'ANCA. En ce qui concerne le nombre de tours des finales, ils seront de 75 tours par finale qui comportera une interruption de 6 minutes au 50e tour et dont les 25 derniers tours seront disputés sur le vert. La confrontation ASE 150 sera également de retour en 2011. Cette confrontation en sera une de « voitures » qui mettra aux prises les SPORTSMAN et les SUPER-SPORTSMAN de l'est du Québec dans une finale mixte de 150 tours. « Nous avons en main une entente avec Monsieur André Poulin, Président des SS qui nous assure sa collaboration et la présence de vingt pilotes et plus de cette populaire organisation » de renchérir Yves Ladouceur. Il a également été annoncé que la série LMS de M. Tom Curley sera de retour à 3 reprises en 2011 et que la course NCATS sera remplacée par le St-Eustache 200 ACT le 16 juillet avec possiblement un ou deux gros noms qui se joindraient à nos vedettes de l'ACT comme participants à cette épreuve. En résumé, les changements et dispositions qui ont été favorablement accueillis par les équipes présentes et une confirmation qui rassurera tout le monde : NOS SPORTSMAN SONT LÀ POUR RESTER, une citation qui était attendue et qui en a rassuré plus d'un.
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Mad dogs and seakayakers smitten by the cold in the Tan.
Rounding Gull point at the south of Little Cumbrae island we now faced a 10km paddle into a cold NE breeze. The big chill had begun!
We sought some shelter by taking the inside passage between Little Cumbrae and Castle Island.
I wonder if a committee chose the name of this little and if so how many times they met?
Tony said hello to the caretaker's friendly but barking mad little dogs...
...
We sought some shelter by taking the inside passage between Little Cumbrae and Castle Island.
I wonder if a committee chose the name of this little and if so how many times they met?
Tony said hello to the caretaker's friendly but barking mad little dogs...
...
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