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Miles Smeeton
Miles Smeeton (1906-1988) and Beryl Smeeton (1905-1979) were an outstanding couple of travellers, pioneers, explorers, mountaineers, cruising sailors, recipients of numerous sailing awards, farmers, prolific authors, wildlife conservationists and founders of the Cochrane Ecological Institute, a Canadian non-profit charity responsible for successfully reintroducing the swift fox to Canada. Biography Brigadier Miles Richard Smeeton, DSO, MBE, MC was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1906, and was educated at Wellington and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Green Howards in 1925 but transferred to the Indian Army in 1936, joining Hodson's Horse. During the Second World War he served with the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade in the Western Desert and commanded Probyn's Horse in action against the Japanese in Burma in 1945. He was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry at Bir Hacheim on 27 May 1942 and the Distinguished Service Order for successful leadershi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruising (maritime)
Cruising by boat is an activity that involves living for extended time on a vessel while traveling from place to place for pleasure. Cruising generally refers to trips of a few days or more, and can extend to round-the-world voyages. History Boats were almost exclusively used for working purposes prior to the nineteenth century. In 1857, the philosopher Henry David Thoreau, with his book ''Canoeing in Wilderness'' chronicling his canoe voyaging in the wilderness of Maine, is considered the first to convey the enjoyment of spiritual and lifestyle aspects of cruising. The modern conception of cruising for pleasure was first popularised by the Scottish explorer and sportsman John MacGregor. He was introduced to the canoes and kayaks of the Native Americans on a camping trip in 1858, and on his return to the United Kingdom constructed his own 'double-ended' canoe in Lambeth. The boat, nicknamed 'Rob Roy' after a famous relative of his, was built of lapstrake oak planking, dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bermudan Rig
A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 1600s; the term ''Marconi'', a reference to the inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi, became associated with this configuration in the early 1900s because the wires that stabilize the mast of a Bermuda rig reminded observers of the wires on early radio masts. Description The rig consists of a triangular sail set aft of the mast with its mainsail raised to the top of the mast; its luff runs down the mast and is normally attached to it for its entire length; its tack is attached at the base of the mast; its foot (in modern versions of the rig) controlled by a boom; and its clew attached to the aft end of the boom, which is controlled by its sheet.''Boats, Boffins and Bowlines: The Stories of Sailing Inventors and Innovations'', by George Drower. The History Pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million people. Its direct effects killed 67 people and inflicted $11 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ) in damage. The damage wrought by the storm was more costly than any Atlantic hurricane preceding it. At its peak strength east of the Lesser Antilles, Hugo was classified as a Category 5 hurricane—the highest rating on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Over the course of five days, Hugo made landfalls on Guadeloupe, Saint Croix, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina, bringing major hurricane conditions to these and surrounding areas. Lesser effects were felt along the periphery of the hurricane's path in the Lesser Antilles and across the Eastern United States into Eastern Canada. The scale of Hugo's impacts led to the retirement of the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Cruising Club
The Royal Cruising Club (RCC) is a British yacht club founded in London in 1880 to support leisure sailing. It is most widely known for the series of pilotage books produces under the auspices of the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation, a registered charity. Membership of the RCC is restricted to no more than 400 and is by invitation only although some if its awards are open to all yachtspeople. Notable members have included include Erskine Childers, Arthur Ransome, Hammond Innes, Peter and Anne Pye, Bill Tilman, Blondie Hasler, Adlard Coles, Miles and Beryl Smeeton and Eric and Susan Hiscock (Eric Hiscock was Vice-Commodore from 1959 to 1963) Awards The RCC presents annual cups, medals and prizes some specifically for its members but also unrestricted awards for feats of outstanding exploration, seamanship and services to cruising. The first award in 1896 was the members Challenge Cup, which was held by the winner for a year and was awarded to the member who duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruising Club Of America
The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is an international organization of cruisers whose objects are to promote cruising and racing by amateurs, to encourage the development of suitable types of cruising craft, to stimulate interest in seamanship, navigation and handling small vessels, and to keep on file all information which may be of assistance to members in cruising in any waters. About The CCA was launched in the winter of 1922 at Maskells Harbour on Nova Scotia's Bras d'Or Lake by a handful of experienced offshore cruisers interested in cruising The founders included Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, F.W. (Casey) Baldwin, William Washburn Nutting, Jim Dorsett, and William A. Wise Wood. Today the club has more than 1,400 members, including 116 women. Members range from 25 to 99 years of age, averaging 70.7 years. CCA members report owning 1,036 boats, averaging 41.3 feet. This includes 702 sailing yachts, 225 powerboats, and 49 "undesignated" boats." CCA's members personify the intere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Water Medal
The Blue Water Medal is an honor awarded annually by the Cruising Club of America for a remarkable sailing feat. The first award was issued in 1923. Winners *Webb Chiles (2017) *Michael J Johnson (2016) *Tom and Vicky Jackson (2015) * Skip Novak (2014) *Jeanne Socrates (2013) *David Scott Cowper (2012) *Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson (2011) on Wanderer III "for 24 years and 135,000 miles of sailing the oceans of the world with a focus in the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean". This is the second Blue Water Medal earned by the Wanderer III, the first being with Eric and Susan Hiscock who made two circumnavigations with her and received the Blue Water Medal in 1955. *Alex Whitworth (2010) "for a circumnavigation of the world via the Northwest Passage west to east." *Annie Hill and Trevor Robertson (2009) *Peter Passano (2007) *Minoru Saito (2006) * Anthony Gooch (2003) "For his very well planned and executed single-handed nonstop circumnavigation from Victoria to Victoria, Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magellan's circumnavigation, Magellan–Elcano expedition, which sailed from Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain in 1519 and returned in 1522, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pacific, and Indian Ocean, Indian oceans. Since the rise of commercial aviation in the late 20th century, circumnavigating Earth is straightforward, usually taking days instead of years. Today, the challenge of circumnavigating Earth has shifted towards human and technological endurance, speed, and List of circumnavigations#Miscellaneous, less conventional methods. Etymology The word ''circumnavigation'' is a noun formed from the verb ''circumnavigate'', from the past participle of the Latin verb '':wikt:circumnav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rogue Wave
Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are unusually large, unpredictable, and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous to ships, even to large ones. They are distinct from tsunamis, which are often almost unnoticeable in deep waters and are caused by the displacement of water due to other phenomena (such as earthquakes). A rogue wave appearing at the shore is sometimes referred to as a sneaker wave. In oceanography, rogue waves are more precisely defined as waves whose height is more than twice the significant wave height (''H'' or SWH), which is itself defined as the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record. Therefore, rogue waves are not necessarily the biggest waves found on the water; they are, rather, unusually large waves for a given sea state. Rogue waves seem not to have a single distinct cause, but occur where physical factors such as high winds and strong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trekka (round-the-world Yacht)
The Trekka was a light utility vehicle manufactured in New Zealand between 1966 and 1973. It is the only vehicle designed and manufactured in New Zealand to have entered commercial production for an extended period. It should not be confused with the Renault Kangoo Trekka 4x4, the Kangoo having been marketed by Renault from 1997. Development The idea for an agricultural utility vehicle based on the Škoda Octavia engine, drive train and separate chassis came from Philip Andrews, who had taken over the Motor Lines vehicle assembly company from his father. When Motor Lines was taken over by Noel Turner, Andrews was able to convince him of the market potential of such a vehicle. At that time in New Zealand agricultural vehicles attracted no tariffs and there was no government limit on the number of such vehicles that could be sold. Turner discovered that a prototype of a small utility vehicle had been made by an engineering company in Kawerau using an engine based on a British ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Guzzwell
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died c. AD 30), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (lived c. AD 30), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope John ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez Islands), Cape Horn marks the northern boundary of the Drake Passage and marks where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. Cape Horn was identified by mariners and first rounded in 1616 by the Dutchman Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire, who named it after the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands. For decades, Cape Horn was a major milestone on the clipper route, by which sailing ships carried trade around the world. The waters around Cape Horn are particularly hazardous, owing to strong winds, large waves, strong currents and icebergs. The need for boats and ships to round Cape Horn was greatly reduced by the opening of the Panama Canal in August 1914. Sailing around Cape Horn is still widely regarded as one of the major challenges in y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clipper Route
The clipper route was the traditional route derived from the Brouwer Route and sailed by clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The route ran from west to east through the Southern Ocean, to make use of the strong westerly winds of the Roaring Forties. Many ships and sailors were lost in the heavy conditions along the route, particularly at Cape Horn, which the clippers had to round on their return to Europe. The clipper route fell into commercial disuse with the introduction of marine steam engines, and the opening of the Suez and Panama Canals. It remains the fastest sailing route around the world, and as such has been the route for several prominent yacht races, such as the Velux 5 Oceans Race and the Vendée Globe. Australia and New Zealand The clipper route from England to Australia and New Zealand, returning via Cape Horn, offered captains the fastest circumnavigation of the world, and hence potentially the greatest rewards; many grai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
