My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on March 31, 2007

So far so good for the captain and crew of Earthrace. They have escape not only the tragic events that transpired in Guatemala, but have done so with dignity. (Pete’s comments below) For now, Earthrace is making fast runs north, they have refueled and under a renewed spirit are anxious about continuing their voyage. I’ll include a bit about the energy Pete Bethune is resonating as described by crewmate and chief engineer Scott Fratcher. I’m rejuvenated just seeing what and impressive leader and captain this team has. I’m pulling for a restart, but if you’re headstrong in trying to make up lost time … days … go for it!

Scott Fratcher’s March 29th partial entry:

Pete burst from the aft hatch in an explosion of calling directions, giving orders, taking command, grabbing volunteers from the bystanders and making things happen. It was as if the flash of anger was the mental computer program shifting from “Stuck in Guatemala” to “Were on a round the world race and lets get going!”

He was on the dock directing the fuel filling. He was in the water scrubbing the bottom and calling for others to join him. He was on the phone giving interviews while checking the fuel tank levels. He was sending crew off for food while telling others where passports are located. He was everywhere all at once and it was great to see the old Pete back at the helm of his team.

Earthrace was prepped, fueled, bottom scrubbed, food stuffed aboard, and ready to depart long before the Mexican Port Captain had completed our paperwork.

“This is a cockup! Where is that exit Zarpe?” Pete called between breaths while scraping the bottom. When the paperwork was passed onboard Pete already had the engines running.

The lines were instantly dropped and he was out the harbor mouth in just seconds. The wake produced by our thousand-horse power Cummins diesels sloshed over the “No Wake Zone” marker. By the time I was able to track Earthrace on the net she was already heading north at full speed.

Yes, Pete is back and now it’s up to the Ground Crew to keep up with him, if we can.

Its a good feeling to see everyone rejuvenated and ready to take on new crew in San Diego. I know the new guys will be raring to go and I’m look forward to hearing details from Harold Kraus who’s son Paul has posted comments here. (keep us up to date Paul and I’ll be checking your blog too) Paul’s dad is the oldest crew (I believe?) an is a 76 year-old retired farmer and biodiesel guy from Kansas. In swapping email’s with Paul (on his way out to San Diego) when talking about the pride he has in his dad said, “He has set the bar pretty high.” Mr. Kraus’s ‘sea’ experience comes from a time before many of us were born; he serviced in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. I wish him well on his leg from San Diego to Maui. In U.S. Navy tradition I’ll include “Non sibi sed patriae.”

The honorable Pete Bethune when finally released from criminal proceedings was free to go, but chose to visit with the families of those affected by the accident. It was an emotional visit which enable all involve to add a little closure to the tragedy. Here’ what Pete had to write on the emotional meet up:

We finally managed to meet with the families. All were there except for Gonzalez, the man still in hospital. I start to speak to the group and there’s already a sore ache in my throat. Thirty seconds later and I start to cry, and that just sets of a chain reaction amongst almost everyone there. Ryan across from me is struggling, and he’s got tears rolling down his left cheek. Most of the family members are struggling to contain themselves, as I explain how dreadfully sorry my crew and I are with what has happened, and that we know what a tragic loss it has been for them. In my mind I had ideas of remaining composed, but in the end I just lose it. We’re meeting in a busy fast food restaurant, and many of the patrons are staring at this blubbering group. Eventually we settle down, and the group start asking questions through our Translator. “When my husband cried out, why did you not rescue him”? This is the poor lady widowed by the accident. I explain that Gonzales was struggling under the skiff, and that because he was closer, I helped him first. By the time I’d swum over to where her husband was, he was gone. It’s a thought I’ve had many times since the accident. If I’d swum over to the third fisherman first, I’m sure I’d have rescued him. And my crew would have rescued Gonzalez because he was visible right behind us. But I didn’t. I just made my decision at the time and it’s something I’ll have to live with. “Would you mind if we put your husbands name on Earthrace as a small tribute to him”, I ask the widow. There’s a hush amongst the group, and they all look at her. She’s been crying like many of us and her eyes are red, but now fresh tears start rolling down her cheeks. “I would be honoured if you would do that for us”, she says. Her daughter shows us a photo of him on her cellphone. And they tell us of his nickname. “Pajarito”. Or little bird. Maybe we’ll put that on the boat as well I think to myself. Later in the day we pay a visit to Gonzalez, who is still recovering in hospital. His family from the meeting earlier in the day are there already, and they greet us as we walk in. He’s a tiny little man, but there’s a certain wiry strength about him. I remember lifting him on the stretcher and being amazed at how heavy he was. We go through a question and answer session with him. It turns out he actually went under the main hull of Earthrace as we rode over the skiff. He takes his shirt off to reveal a massive scar from his sternum, all the way down his belly. He’s seems quite proud of it really. His belly was cut open by Surgeons to repair his stomach, intestine, and fractured sternum. Then Ryan sees the scars on his back. “Hey check these wicked scars out Pete.” We never saw these cuts on the night. But there they are. Two big curved scars, one across each shoulder blade, and by the look of them, probably matching our propeller blades. We take a few photos, hug and wish each other well, and we’re off. “You know”, say Ryan, “I’m stoked to have finally met these people today.” I am too. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster of a day, but one that we’ll never forget. For some of us, this probably helps with a little bit of closure. The families were left in no doubt that we were sorrowful for what had happened, and that we did our best on the night to rescue the fishermen. These people are poor, but there’s also a great sense of community and family spirit amongst them. And I know they’ll be OK.

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Posted By RichC on March 30, 2007

Posting of images on personal pages such as Myspace or Facebook or placement of images to forums is a regular practice for those using the internet. Instead of creating personal images or at minimum ‘serving’ them from ones own file serving space, people often leech images from web servers owned by others. This practice is inappropriate etiquette at minimum and perhaps theft. This is often bandwidth intensive when the images being served are large (or contain audio or video) or are used by sites with heavy traffic and can cause problems for the host server, not to mention high bandwidth bills. Don’t do it.

On the opposite side of the coin, the pages doing the ‘stealing’ are susceptible themselves to cunning host site owners. This point was hammered home the other day since the abusing site was the MySpace page of presidential hopeful John McCain. A campaign helper for Senator McCain used a common template to create the page which is free to be used so as long as credit is giving to the creator. In this case it was Newsvine‘s Founder and CEO Mike Davidson. Davidson has no problem with people using his template, but expects users to host their own image files — McCain’s helper did not and ended up using images hosted on someone else’s server … and under someone else’s control. In this case, Mr. Davidson decided to play a prank on the campaign and replaced some of the images on the site, with ones that read a little differently. The details of the story can be found on Newsvine and might make for a good lesson for us all; don’t use the links to images from places other than under your control.

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Posted By RichC on March 29, 2007

For gadget lovers, “Slinging” on the move with a Palm device is now a reality and is pretty impressive! I’m testing the beta release of Slingmedia‘s Palm OS version of the Slingplayer software and it is absolutely fantastic. I’m using the Sprint EV-DO service as my carrier and running the Slingplayer Mobile on my Treo 700p. I expected shaky performance since it was on a cellphone, but instead was shocked at the solid connectivity, lack of pausing, excellent sound and sharp picture. (although watching much more than a news clip isn’t my idea of enjoyment with such a small screen. I can’t imagine trying to watch sports?)

For my first real test I drove to Columbus from Cincinnati on Wednesday morning and watched (but mostly listened … I was driving guys!) President Bush deliver his comments on a new Iraq Spending Bill (plus pork) all tied to a withdrawl time table being sent to him by congress. (whoops … that’s for another post … back on track Rich!) I heard the entire speech without missing a word … and in fact the Slingplayer software and Sprint connection ran flawlessly for over an hour as I drove. It wasn’t until about Jeffersonville on I-71 (halfway to Columbus) that the connection shifted from the higher speed EV-DO rates down to standard Sprint cellphone speed (see Sprint Map). Even then, as long as I switched to only audio the connection stayed solid until a interrupting phone call came in … and I didn’t reconnect since I needed my battery to make it through the day. Concerning the battery — the drain was relatively heavy in the video mode, as I used one half my Seido high capacity 2400mAh battery in about an hour. I had already taken energy saving measures as since it was raining and overcast I could comfortably dim the screen to about 1/3; I normally keep it a tick about 1/2. I would recommend using a 12volt adapter or AC power if significant TV is going to be watched.
The iGrip Flexible mount holds the Treo 700p nicely and using the Stereo Adapter dongle allows me to port the audio through my cars radio. Works well but would rather not have to have a bunch of wires and cassette adapter. (tried an FM modulator with questionable results)

Conclusion: My first day of ‘Slinging’ on a Treo was successful and I have no reservation recommending it to those with high data rate cell service. Keep in mind the battery use and if you are waiting for one of those ‘thinner’ Palm OS phones do keep in mind the smaller batteries. Nevertheless, I think the Slingplayer running on the Treo is just plain cool … at least until the newness of this gadget wears off.
🙂

Category: Cellphone, Technology, Video-TV | 1 Comment »
Tags: palm, slingbox, slingmedia, slingplayer, streaming, treo, tv

Posted By RichC on March 28, 2007

Topped off with B20 at my regular Mt. Gilead Sunoco biofuels station today and can’t help but grumble as the prices continue to go up. ULSD was selling most stations for about $2.64 on my way north and saw them a little lower in northeast Ohio. Nevertheless, I’m not going to complain too much knowing my biodiesel purchases circulate dollars in the U.S. and probably support Ohio farmers. (preferable to Venezuela or the Middle East IMHO) Besides, I drive a Volkswagen TDI and at 46.5 MPG (last fill) am using less fuel than most vehicles on the road … and running a cleaner renewable fuel to boot.

Also … Earthrace is off and moving again. I’m not sure what’s happening but the Captain’s Log from yesterday didn’t look as if they would be moving??? (see below)

Captain’s Blog (27 March 2007)

More delays. Captain’s Blog. Day 17. We leave Antigua at about 8am and drive back down the hills to Puerto Quetzal. It’s like leaving a sanctuary. This has been such a wonderful stop and we’re all disappointed to go, but we have a date with a Judge later today. We’re also looking to have things ready for us on Acapulco, but we’re not sure what speed we’ll get with the reshaped propellors. They were both pretty gnarley after the accident, and GC5 spent a good day smacking them back into shape. But what speed we’ll get we’re not exactly sure. So as soon as we get to the Navy Base we’re in to see El Comandante. “Yes Capitan. Of course you can take out your boat for a test run.” We’d asked this many times the previous week, and he’d been resolute in refusing us. It seems he’s remembered El Presidente wants us looked after. “I think we’ll get between 13 and 15 knots”, says Scott confidently. I have no idea, but I had a dream last night it was twenty, so I go with that. Ryan comes back with his “It is what it is”. Our concern is if we only get 5 knots, we’re 4 days from Acapulco, whereas if we get 20 knots, we’re there in one day. We ease Earthrace out from the dock and idle up. There’s a flurry of activity with Navy personnel worried we’re doing a runner. I gently ease forward on both throttles and almost immediately shudders go thundering through the thin carbon hull. GC5 looks alarmed. We try each engine individually. It seems they are both equally stuffed. “Oh man. All we’re getting is 6 knots”, says GC5 dejectedly. It seems between 6 and 7 knots, the props just start to shake too much. I take a peak down in the engine bay. The port engine is rocking sideways in a series of belly dancer like jiggles, its rubber mounts surely stressing under the additional motion. So we need our new props. Hytorq in Canada machined them for us, and they’re currently with David in Acapulco. So we hatch a plan for David to get them airfreighted same day from Acapulco to Tatachilla in Southern Mexico. GC4 will drive up to Tatachilla in Mexico to pick them up, hopefully with some kind of escort, and get them back over the border by morning time, then back to Puerto Quetzal by noon. GC5 then installs them on Earthrace. By which time hopefully I’m a free man. It seems a plan destined to come unstuck. Word comes through our meeting with the Judge has been delayed until later in the day. Fernando is working on it. Finally at 1:10pm, he comes back. “Captain, the Judge will meet with us. There have been developments.” By the time we drag everyone away from emails, 20 minutes has passed. Lionel is driving along some old goat track of a road to get us to the location where the Judge sits. “Is this the main road”, I ask? It is one of them I get back in a translation from GC5. The road gets worse and worse. Dogs and chooks are running everywhere, and Lionel is intent on stopping for every little pothole he can find. Then he gets lost, and is asking local service stations for directions. In the end the 30-minute run starts to eat up hours. I’m sitting in the car getting more and more pissed off with Lionel, not helped in demeanour with my sprained ankle. It’s gotten worse instead of better. My toes are an ugly black, and the lower muscles all look red and inflamed. It’s at the stage now where I can only walk for very short periods, before the pain of blood rushing to the area gets too much. So I resort back to hopping everywhere. Finally Lionel gets us to the area but we cannot find the courthouse. Hours late we wander / hop up the stairs to where the Judge sits. Our legal team is there, with Fernando looking nervous. “Have you seen the Judge”, I ask. It turns out we’re next. A few minutes later and we’re sitting in front of her. Where are the legal team from the families and the prosecutor I’m wondering? After about 15 minutes of Spanish, we’re ushered out. “Captain. We will all meet the Judge again tomorrow at 11am. There is another issue. The Ministerio Publico have now requested you be detained and your boat to remain impounded, so that you may face further charges.” Which charges I’m wondering, as until now there have been no charges at all? “We have their court documents,” says Fernando, “and tonight we will read them.” Something else worries me. We still have not met any of the fishermen or their families. We’ve been hassling our lawyers from very early on we’d like to meet them, but it never seems to happen. I broach the subject with Fernanado, who assures me we can meet with them all immediately before the court appearance. Fernando then hauls me off to a hospital in Guatremala City to have my leg seen to. It’s even uglier than it was this morning, and the angry red zone is surprisingly working its way up my leg. “An infection, Sir”, the Doctor says, pointing out how hot the inflamed area is. An intravenous injection of antibiotics, a prescription, a decent brace, and I’m on my way. Big day tomorrow.

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Posted By RichC on March 28, 2007

Although I’ve written before about solo sailing nightingale Donna Lange and her impressive skills as a sailor and musician, I wanted to update that today she is navigating through the Virgin Islands — a detour from her original ‘direct to Rhode Island’ course. Perhaps later today, or early Thursday, she will be setting the hook at Marina Cay (aerial photo above) at the northeast corner of Tortola. Donna’s around the world sail has brought her full circle already, although she’s not calling it finished until her planned mid-April homecoming in Bristol, Rhode Island.

In recent log entries and emails, her disposition is excellent … even though she been playing grease-monkey working on her cantankerous diesel engine. Sailboat engines are notoriously the curse of boat ownership … driving some to turn engines into mooring anchors. When running, a well maintained auxiliary can keep batteries topped and make navigating tight quarters, strong currents or zero wind significantly safer. The ace mechanic in this situation was at least able to get the engine running, but she still needs some knowledgeable help — any diesel guru looking for and excuse to go to the Virgin Islands? Hopefully she’ll be able to coax a friend over to diagnose and possibly fix her electrical/starter problem. Fortunately for Donna the winds have been excellent and have pushed “Inspired Insanity” quickly; Donna and her boat have logged over 100 nautical miles almost everyday since departing Cape Horn in late January. (see plots and logs) I know she is enjoying the last months of her voyage, but I detect an anxious tone in wanting to get home. Fair winds Ms. Lange.

EDIT: Noted by Donna 3/28/2007 – “This morning held a lovely sunrise, St. Maarten in the foreground. By dusk tonight, I should have a full shadow of all of the Virgins, just 20nm ahead. I will drop an anchor in the night at a very accessible beach just north of the Baths on Virgin Gorda, just inside the channel where Neil V will meet me in the morning. If i get delayed with light winds we will catch up at Marina Cay.”

Interesting aside:
While pinning Donna’s track while approaching the islands on Google Earth (18°17’8.06″N 62°56’50.41″W), I spotted and interesting plane crash near Anguilla. Clicking the photo to the right will open a large screenshot of Google Earth and the photos someone pinned to the wreckage. Interesting ehh?

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Posted By RichC on March 27, 2007

It is nice to be able to take pride in one’s alma mater and with the Ohio Northern University robotics team winning the “2007 Robot of the Year” award, its just enough to be a little boastful. Believe it or not, way back when … when I was a polar bear trudging across the ‘tundra ‘(walk to class in the middle of winter and you’ll know what I mean) … tying manufacturing to robots was just getting its start in old Taft Hall. Twenty-five years later, the department and professors now oversee this important manufacturing technology which has a significant place in the curriculum. The university turns out well trained students and each year the improvements continue as technologies advance. The department prepares graduates that can quickly adapt to modern industry methods which are vital to the continued manufacturing success of our country. Ohio Northern University assembles an impressive team of students yearly that engineer and design industrially competitive manufacturing robots on par with universities of any size. Kudos to this years team; the announcement makes me proud to be alumni. (BTW … its a beautiful campus and well worth a visit if you know someone looking for an excellent, but smaller, university)

Injection Molding Cell Using KUKA KR3 Robot Wins National Robotics Challenge

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — KUKA Robotics Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of industrial robots, today announced an injection molding cell using its KUKA KR3 robot won the Gold award in its division and was named the “2007 Robot of the Year” at the National Robotics Challenge held March 9-10, 2007 in Marion, OH. The cell was designed, built, programmed and entered into the competition by the robotics team at Ohio Northern University’s (ONU). The KUKA robot is one of seven robots that KUKA Robotics recently announced it had provided to ONU’s Robotics Technology Center of Excellence.

“We are delighted to be a part of ONU’s winning cell as the National Robotics Challenge is one of the premier robotics and engineering events in the nation featuring real world categories including best manufacturing robotic work cell and robotic problem solving,” said Stuart Shepherd president of KUKA Robotics.

“The students really have something to be proud of, since last fall they had nothing but a blank sheet of paper,” said Dr. Adam Stienecker, assistant professor of technological studies at Ohio Northern University. “The award-winning entry was made possible by their hard work and the KUKA robot which served as an important building block in the project.”

The award winning cell featured the KUKA KR3 robot which processed poker chips within the injection molding cell. The KUKA KR3 is a 6 axis robot which can be mounted on the floor, a table or ceiling. It is capable of handling up to a 3kg payload and has a reach of 635mm.

Founded in 1871, Ohio Northern University, located in West Central Ohio, is a private university offering a diverse, dynamic and unique learning community, with rigorous professional programs in partnership with the arts and the sciences. Its 3,500 students study for graduate and undergraduate degrees in five colleges: Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Business Administration, Pharmacy, and Law. Ohio Northern takes pride in being a student-centered, service-oriented, values-based institution. It is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

KUKA Robotics Corporation, with its parent company KUKA Roboter GmbH, Augsburg, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial robots, with an annual production volume approaching 10,000 units, and an installed base of over 75,000 units. The company’s 5 and 6 axis robots range from 3kg to 570kg payloads, and 635mm to 3700mm reach, all controlled from a common PC based controller platform. KUKA robots are utilized in a diverse range of industries including the appliance, automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, logistics, food, pharmaceutical, medical, foundry and plastics industries and in multiple applications including material handling, machine loading, assembly, packaging, palletizing, welding, bending, joining, and surface finishing. For more information contact KUKA Robotics at866-873-5852 or visit their website at www.kukarobotics.com.

The KUKA logo is a registered trademark of KUKA Roboter GmbH. KUKA and KUKA KR3 are trademarks of KUKA Roboter GmbH. All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies.

Source: KUKA Robotics

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Tags: ohio northern, onu, robotics, university

Posted By RichC on March 26, 2007

Volkswagens are often considered a ‘driver’s car,’ a vehicle that most car buyers can afford, unlike many European cars imported to the U.S. The engineering built into these vehicles is exceptional although they are not without their small quirks. Many go unnoticed until well into ownership or only when a problem occurs.

One such quirk, or maybe its was just a pet-peeve of mine, is the outside mirror defog/defrost heat switch, which is often left in the ‘on’ position in VWs. By leaving the switch at the ‘in-between’ setting, the heaters for each door mirror continues to operate even when they are not needed. I’ve met many an owner that leaves the defog/defrost mirror heaters are on. The downside besides the continual electrical drain, is that their lifespan may be shortened if not turned off. (OFF being turned to either the “L” or “R” setting.

Thankfully this problem has been noted by VW engineers and the switch has been change. The new switch offers an ‘off’ position as well as the L (left) and R (right) adjustment … AND a dedicated Defog/Defrost setting. This may only be a ‘small’ improvement but Volkswagens attention to details is appreciated.

_

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Tags: mirror, tdi, volkswagen, vw

Posted By RichC on March 25, 2007

Early spring bulbs are blooming in Cincinnati and the grass is turning green — and growing already. (ugh) I noticed the thermometer hit 80*F on Saturday and perhaps the same today. I think winter is behind us?
My son’s rugby team had their second match of the season (and second lost unfortunately), but the opposing team was excellent. The game was well played and teams even enjoyed socializing a bit over pizza and pop afterwards — besides weather couldn’t have been better for those of us just watching. It was a great day to be outside to enjoy the game … and also for taking a couple photos of my son.

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Posted By RichC on March 25, 2007

A CinciTDI friend forwarded a CBC news segment on peak oil and I thought it was interesting enough to share. (Thanks Mike) The ‘rattle’ of the little 1.9 liter diesel is definitely noticeable to those familiar with our VW oil (or biodiesel) burners. Not all of us necessarily agree with the Peak Oil position as presented in the news segment, but who knows where the ‘peak’ is? Perhaps we are past it now, but considering what I’ve learned about oil shale and Canadian oil sands, I believe we have a significant amount of untapped petroleum available, even if it will be more difficult and expensive to extract. Nevertheless, there will come a day when cheap fossil fuel is gone and renewable and more environmentally friendly fuels will be priced on par with petroleum. We would be wise to continue to pursue alternatives.

The clip below may only be interesting because it stars a VW TDI and the fact that it is being filled with biodiesel, but offers yet another reason to continue alternative fuels. (CBC sort of misrepresented the B20 as ‘not’ being petroleum, when in truth it is 80% oil and only 20% biodiesel)

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Posted By RichC on March 24, 2007

More Earthrace talk and another update … yes, I’ve become enamored with this project. Currently I’m working to get a little U.S. media coverage of their situation; we’ll see what comes of it? I’ve received a few emails from Pete and project members and in reading the recent blog postings have concluded that the tragedy might be taking a slight turn for the better. (for the family of the the dead and injury fisherman and for Earthrace and its crew) Including above is a photo of the Guatemalan fishing skiff that was hit earlier in the week by Earthrace; it was recently towed to shore and being reviewed for evidence. The good new is that the insurance company for Earthrace has arrived at a settlement with the families of the Guatemalan fisherman and by doing this it doesn’t necessarily pin the blame on the crew or captain of Earthrace. This settlement should eliminate at least the civil suit so that only the criminal component remains. More from Captain Pete Bethune below.

The family settles. Captain’s Blog. Day 13. (23 March 2007)
Guatemalan people are an interesting mix. Most are short, and with a heavy Mayan influence. The odd one is average or tall, most probably descended from Spanish ancestry. And every now and then you’ll see a stunningly beautiful combination of genes. Lance has been sniffing around a couple of lookers at the local hotel. “Fat chance you have”, says Ryan.

10am and word comes through that an agreement has been reached with the family. This is good news. Our insurance will pay a sum of money to assist the family of the lost fisherman, the medical bills of the injured fisherman, and also to purchase a new fishing boat, hopefully complete with white light. It’s actually not a huge amount of money, although by Guatemalan standards I suspect it is. I have mixed feelings about insurance paying out. On the one hand I see it as an admission of guilt, which Fernando assures me it isn’t. But on the other, it does allow these families to move on from what has been a devastating tragedy. They are a desperately poor people, and the team sees this every time they leave the military compound. It still has me meeting the Judge on Monday, and he will make a decision on whether I’m to stand trial in their equivalent of a criminal court. Assuming he doesn’t delay us again. I’m still pretty confident however he’ll let us go. I give GC4 a call on her cellphone. “Lets see if the family will meet us now”. We’d been trying to meet then from day 1, but the lawyers had been fending us off. Now that a settlement has been reached, I’m hopeful they’ll let us at least express our sorrow at what has happened. I’m not sure if the family will want to know the story of what happened that night, but they should at least be given the chance to find out. We’re also keen to see Gonzalez. We spent such an intense night with him aboard Earthrace, and I see the one positive thing to come from the event was we were able to save him.

“Props all ready to go”, says GC5 as he comes rolling into the office. GC5 is like a Trojan. He slings himself at jobs and continues to get them sorted. He’d be one of the most productive people I’ve worked with on Earthrace, and he continues to amaze me with his work rate. It means, subject to getting some antifreeze and engine oil, Earthrace is ready to leave. Just a pity we won’t be allowed to.

My ankle has improved slightly, and I can put a little weight on it now. Although it is uglier than ever, now a combination of blue and yellow. But it is on the mend. I remain under military guard in the compound, with my ever-present shadow, but the rest of the team can come and go as they like. Ryan is staying with the GCs at a hotel now, and turns up at the base for the day. And the lot of them are buggering off to a city nearby for the weekend. Which is quite depressing, when I’ll be stuck here. But them’s the breaks.

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