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The Ascension Island Newspaper |
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The Ascension Island Newspaper |
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WHAT CHANCE FOR GEORGETOWN SWIMMING POOL NOW
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Dear Friends,
Sorry to leave you but I have a medical condition requiring treatment in the UK and so Ginny and I will be away for a few weeks.
In the meantime services will continue each Sunday morning - morning prayer or parade services conducted either by church wardens Cheryl, Mervyn or Mark or by Sue McFall who is a Methodist lay minister.
The annual vestry meeting will now take place on Tuesday May 16th in the junior church at 7.30pm. Anyone interested may attend. It is your chance to find out what the church has achieved in the past year, and also look forward to the future. It is the time to elect the church council and church wardens, together with the officers of the council - the treasurer and the secretary.
Because we are a church aiming to serve a small, diverse and often transitory population, special conditions apply to our church council. Anyone, regardless of denomination, may volunteer to serve providing they attend church regularly. Church wardens, however, must be confirmed Anglicans.
Council members are responsible for generally shaping the life of the church, and expected to help in the practical tasks involved in the running of the building and organisation of worship.
They say that "many hands make light work" so if you can help in anyway please come to the meeting. Hope to be back soon, but it is nice to know that we leave the church in capable hands until we return.
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LETTERS| From the Editors:- Ian
Andrews.
Did you know that it has been 9 weeks since I last sat in this chair thinking of things to write in this column? Things never change do they. And even better still I'm still putting stuff about ships in the paper as well. Some movement on the Georgetown swimming pool front. See the administrators letter on page 3 of this issue for details. Basically its up to us now to form a "league of volunteers" (a local pool etc.) and get it filled up again and in use. Thanks to Gemma and Shaun for inadvertantly providing me with my dinner tonight (I've just finished off Deans "doggy bag" that was brought down by Caz B). Possibly the best chinese meal I've had in this chair ever (well OK the only chinese meal…) Best of luck and get well soon to Father Keith, though not a "god botherer" myself, I'm sure we will miss you. And finally a big thankyou to Cable and Wireless customer services for getting the e-mails for me, especially to Cheryl Herne for sitting in front of the screen and doing the boring stuff. Thanks. (I've also forgotten the password its been so long). All the best Ian THANK YOU Just a few lines to all the Brilliant people on Ascension Island. Thank you for a wonderful two and a half week holiday. To Carolyn and Richard for the great meal on Easter Sunday and the murderous aerobic classes - Phylis, Dakie and Betty for the lovely Sunday lunch - Fiona alias "Dumb Brunette" for all the gourmet delights and hours of laughing. Raxa and Shub for the lovely meals and especially the Can of Guinness after the Dew Pond relay. Robert Frauenstein for the wet and wild fishing trip. Dana Haff and Mama for the visit and lunch on MV Ascension. Meriel and Karen at Exiles for the Lifesaving Bacon and Egg Rolls - Sylvia and Joyce for the "Morning after the night before" remedy - the Coke Floaters! I am now two stone heavier than when I arrived because of the Double Burgers from the VC Diner, Sue-lane for the fun Squash Game. George and Yvette thank you for the fish cakes. Gloria for the Grief! Rachel and Steve Dawn, Fiona and Janet for a wild night last Friday - Joyce thanks for the Drum sticks! Johnny for keeping my teeth in order and not forgetting the Admiral of the Fleet Pat Hobson (Senior Service). To all the guys and gals at telemetry, it's been fun to meet you all. And last but not least, to my best friend Dudley - thank you for a brilliant time I will miss you but hopefully we will be together soon again. Lots of love to you all and sorry if I have forgotten to mention any one. Liz Murphy |
Dear Editor We are very disappointed that despite many letters lamenting the closure of the Georgetown pool, no reply has yet been given to any of the point raised. It seems to people on this Island that their views and comments are ignored and do not seem to matter. Please can someone tell us what is going on, whether we are ever going to have our pool back, or are we to see this pool bulldozed and made into a car park as happened to the Saint's pool. We apologise if there is a reply from "Management" in this week's Islander. Sue and Neil McFall. Dear Editor, Saturday April 29 Today the M/V Ascension crossed the equator on our northbound leg returning to Cape Canaveral. We took a nice photo as the bow crossed over the thin blue equator line. Just look at any globe and you will see what I'm talking about. Our speed should increase now that we are going down hill. The earth is a little fatter at the equator so as you approach it you go up hill and then once you cross it you are on the downhill slope. If you don't believe me, just ask those submariners Dave or Dudley after they've had a few beers. We arrived in Carence Bay for our 9th voyage just after nightfall on Friday the 21st and started cargo the next Saturday morning. Sunday proved too rough to do any cargo. The ship was rolling about 8 to 10 degrees in the anchorage to safely lift and handle the containers. When we roll like that the weight suspended by the crane wire acts like a great big swinging pendulum. This load that came down from Canaveral consisted of 91 lifts plus the retrograde returning to Canaveral added up to about 4 days of work. The shutdown on Easter Sunday took us up to a total of 5 days at the island. On Saturday, Dave Rayney, Fiona Glenn, Rachel the RAF medic, Liz Murphy and Chris Turton came aboard for lunch. Mamma, our famous Vietnamese cook laid out a spread of shrimp cocktail, home-made chicken noodle soup, Italian sausage sandwiches and French dip roastbeef sandwiches with natural au jus. After Fiona finished drinking her usual gallon of fresh milk a short tour of the ship was given. Of course the women opted for the flying bridge where a cool breeze was blowing through their hair while the men explored the machinery spaces. My second ever hash took place at the same site as my first ever hash (scout beach hut). When the 1483 edition of the islander came out on Wednesday I was relieved to see that my hash name was forgotten. We departed the island on Wednesday late afternoon and headed home for Canaveral with fair weather and following seas. We should pull in to Canaveral on May 11. Our next return date to the island will be around June 22. Keep an eye out for our hull to come over the horizon. Should anyone wish to contact the ship before we reach Canaveral, our e-mail address is: ascension@sealiftinc.com So, until next time goodbye and thanks to our many island friends. Capt. Dana Haff |
| Letters to the Editor can be sent to editors@the-islander.org.ac |
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GIRL GUIDES' ARMY EASTER CAMP |
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The Girl Guides Easter camp started from Good Friday to Easter Monday. The theme was "ARMY" and this sure went down well with them wearing camo clothing and their appropriate Army name tags I managed to make. The Guide Trainer, Fiona Lucas from the U.K. was camping with us and also this was the girl's first camp to 'live' together in their Patrols in tents and have their own kitchens and fireplaces. There were programmes for them to follow from Friday to Monday and Fiona would award points to each Patrol.
Once the girls were transported to the site in landrovers their tents had to be pitched at the appropriate sites. This was done without shouts for "HELP". The kitchens were set up with gadgets to support drinking mugs, utensils etc… wood was collected for the fires. The cooking was done by the Patrols so the first night was Spaghetti Bolognese. Once cooked Fiona went to each tent to "tickle her taste buds". She survived so I guess it was to her satisfaction. Sitting round the campfire (that refused to light at this particular time) we sang our songs and enjoyed the new songs that Fiona taught us. The girls played a wide game had hot chocolate and went to their tents to relax because lights had to be out by 11 p.m.
Saturday everyone was up bright and early (7:30 a.m.) washed, tents cleaned breakfast eaten and then it was the time that all Patrols dreaded -emptying the toilet!!! The first day was Red Roses (Quarter Master Natasha, Corporal Dayna, Privates Lesley-Ann, Nirella and Penny) who emptied it but lost points because they did not listened to me when I said to take the toilet for a walk down the hill as far away as possible but went up the hill and we could see them digging!!!! Anyway at 9:30 a.m. lunch was prepared (rolls, fruit, crisps and kit kat) and we set off on Cronks' Path and had our lunch on the lawn at Garden Cottage. Thanks Shirley and Lyn for the boiled pudding (Fiona took the recipe back to the U.K. with her) smarties and savouries. We returned to the site by Rupert's path only to have Shanade twisting her ankle so Fiona had to walk backwards and then gave her a piggy back ride whenever the path got a bit wider. Once back at camp the girls relaxed for a while then started to make their Army hats which was going to be judged on Sunday by H.H. The Administrator and Mrs. Fairhurst. The Quarter Masters (Shanade, Jodi and Natasha) helped at the main kitchen to make the Chicken Plo while the Corporals and Privates got showered and had a free period.
At 8:00 p.m. Crocky came to help transport us up to the Challenger to join the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers to sing around the camp fire, watched fireworks and had a hot chocolate drink. I also ended up with a "brownish-purple" face after following one of Johnny's gags and I just had a lovely cool shower before I had left. Thanks for a 'cheerful' evening "me hearties".
Easter Sunday, after breakfast and the cleaning of tents had finished, the Snowdrops (Quarter Master Jodi, Corporal Kassie, Privates Carly, Teri and Roberta) went on their way to empty the toilet and very quietly too. At midday Mr. & Mrs. Fairhurst, the Brownies and Guides' families and friends started to arrive to share our Easter BBQ lunch with us. We ended up with umpteen cakes for tea as well. Best fed Army in the world we were that day. It was great to see so many people there and we felt that the amount of work we put into this camp was well worth it. Snowdrops won the hat competition. While a 'friendly' game of volleyball was played the Brownies, toddlers and younger boys went on an Easter Egg hunt in which Lieutenant Verena laid earlier. Once the hunt had ended cake and juice were served to the Brownies before they were taken back to their parents. All enjoyed the teas and cakes then the Guides had a Scavange Hunt Fiona had prepared. This hunt was to take their minds off the shower and we did not hear a moan about who will be warming water for the shower. It did worked, Fiona. At 8:30 p.m. the campfire was lit and we did some jolly good singing seated on the logs around the campfire and ended with our TAPS (the Guides end of evening song).
Our last morning of camp we were expecting to have a lie in but was waken by the White Roses (Quarter Master Shanade, Corporal Kirsty, Privates Danielle Williams, Tara Lawrence and Mashay) collecting wood for their breakfast. General Winnie tried to tell them they had enough time but they took no notice and carried on with their preparation, in which in the end paid off as they had extra 20 points for cooking their breakfast (Eggy bread and bacon), cleaning and packing up their tents and emptying the toilet without a murmur only the sound of Private Mashay laughing her head off could be heard because the toilet slipped in the hole rather then got tipped!!!! All in all the WHITE ROSES won the plaque for the highest points - WELL DONE GIRLS.
By this time the sound of landrovers and a bus could be heard as Charles, Lenny, David and Peter all drove up to help to transport the equipment and all of us back to the main road of Ashpit. Without their help we could not have gone on this splendid camping and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves from the first day to the last.
On behalf of the Girl Guides, Winnie and Verena I would just like to say a 'HUGE THANK-YOU' to the following people:-
Mr. Dave Rayney for the water supply;
Robert for his helping hand throughout the camp;
Chris (PTI) for the tables & chairs;
Norman and The NAAFI for the loan of ice chests; In-flight for the ice (it lasted until Monday);
The Galley for the 'Plo' dixie and urns;
Peter & Coral, Charles & Sharon, David & Joyce, Lenny & Gerwyn helping with pitching and folding of the kitchen tents;
Johnny and the Scouts for the loan of the kitchen tents and siren;
The Carpenter Shop boys for the fire wood.By the time this article comes out in publication, Fiona will have settled back in the U.K. but I know she will view it on the website. A very special THANK-YOU must be expressed to Fiona who came as a Guide Trainer and left as a friend to the whole unit. We enjoyed every minute of your company and we were overwhelmed to hear that we are updated in our unit. I just don't know why we bit the tops of our fingers when D.C. Mrs. Joshua said, "A Trainer will be arriving for the Easter"!!! Looking forward to visiting you and your girls in the U.K. in the year 2002!!!
Cheryl
(Field Marshal)******************************
GIRL GUIDES CAMP CAMO
On Friday 21st April the Guides started their 4 days and 3 nights camp at the Scout campsite. Half past eleven the tents were pitched and kitchens were set up. Saturday night we went to the Challenger with the Scouts did some campfire singing and watched fire works that was good fun. Sunday we had our parents up which was funky stuff. Monday dragged on until 2 p.m. when everything went into the trailer and off we went back home to our parents. My Patrol is called Red Roses and it was the first camp for myself, Penny and Nirella and we enjoyed it very much.
By:- Lesley-Ann Henry
Friday 21st April all Guides met at the Ashpit with their gear for their first real camp then took the bumpy ride to the Scout's ground. Everyone dressed in camouflaged gear. We pitched our own tents, did our own cooking and washing. It was a lot of fun. Fiona Lucas the Guide Trainer joined us and did inspections each day (without any help from Cheryl or Winnie) and gave us tips. This camp was harder but we all enjoyed it. We had the chance to experience what guiding in England is like at their camp. Our Patrol the Snowdrops had a few problems with cooking breakfast Monday morning but everything else was fine except emptying the toilet! We had to do it - no excuses. Monday we packed up and headed home.
By:- Jodi Joshua
The Guides Easter camp this year was with a difference as we had our Guide Trainer, Fiona Lucas camping with us to train the Leaders. There wasn't much to tell as we are updated in our Unit. We had to sleep in our Patrols and pitch our own tents and owned our kitchen. Altogether each Patrol had 3 tents, 1 for sleeping, 1 for a kitchen and the other to put our belongings in. Fiona inspected the Patrols about 3 times a day and did spot checks as well. We all liked having Fiona there with us and we felt so at ease although she came as a stranger. She taught us all new songs and games to help us to remember and understand the 8 points in Guiding. We were invited to The Challenger with Johnny and the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers for a sing along and fireworks. At the end of the camp we packed up, took photos and waited patiently to hear the amount of points each Patrol had gained. In 3rd place was Snowdrops, 2nd place was Red Roses and 1st place was our Patrol White Roses.
By:- Kirsty Anthony
Last week Clarence bay was a veritable hive of activity with visiting ships.
The MV Ascension was here again, delivering supplies to the US base. See their letter for details.
USNS Pathfinder was off of Ascension for a day or two conducting tracking activities with US ballistic missiles. The ballistic missiles landed off Ascension to the SouthWest at around 8 pm Sunday night, always an awe inspiring sight.
The "Eco Warrior" vessel "MV Greenpeace" (above) was anchored off of Georgetown for 3 nights to facilitate a small crew change before setting off on Friday lunchtime. Not much is known about her future schedule, though she is believed to be heading for the coast of South America. MV Greenpeace replaced the Rainbow Warrior after it was allegedly sunk by the French secret service. Details of the vessel and the Greenpeace organisation can be found at www.greenpeace.org
And finally the RMS St Helena arrived at 2.30pm on Monday afternoon after a scare about her schedule. The RMS St Helena is suffering from problems with her starboard variable pitch propeller, which means that she is having difficulty with controlling her speed. At first it was feared that the St Helena would not return to Ascension for her second shuttle run, but after divers inspected the starboard propeller at Jamestown, Saint Helena, it was decided to keep to schedule. It is not yet known whether or not the RMS will require another dry-docking to facilitate repairs, if it does they will most certainly be carried out in Europe
Statistics for the week ending 1st May 2000.
Max (deg C) Min (deg C) Rainfall (mm) AIRHEAD 31.1 26.4 Trace TRAVELLERS 29.8 24.0 3.2 GEORGETOWN 32.0 25.0 0.9 RESIDENCY 26.8 20.3 5.8 ST. HELENA 23.7 17.8 2.4 (28.8 hrs sunshine) FALKLANDS 10.5 Minus 1.2 25.6 BRIZE NORTON 17.9 8.0 15.2
ASCENSION SEA SWELL FORECAST (based on data available on Monday afternoon): The swell picked up over the last few days, and it looks set to continue from the south or southeast. However, it should be around the one to one and a half metre mark. Now that's what I call a swell forecast!
Sea temperature around Ascension Island: 28 deg C
ASCENSION ISLAND: The weather over last week has remained fine. There has, at times, been rather more cloud but it has remained mostly dry. I say 'mostly dry' for there has been about a quarter inch of rain up the Residency. The mountain has obviously benefited from this rain as it now looks very green indeed and, as I write this summary, the mountain is completely clear of cloud.
ST HELENA: Gary Thomas reports:- The week began with a very cloudy/sun-less Monday ending with light rain & fog late afternoon. Tuesday, however, the sun returned and continued through to Saturday becoming cloudy on Sunday. Several light showers over the weekend concluded a fairly dry week.
U.K: Low pressure to the west of the UK brought the familiar April mixture of sunshine and showers. Apparently there were some heavy showers and some thunder as well. However, with southerly winds it got quite warm, and in the sunshine doubtless it would have been very pleasant indeed.
FALKLAND ISLANDS: The wind direction remained predominantly westerly and that means near normal temperatures with some sunshine, but also showers or longer spells of rain. Not bad weather, but those folk that I spoke to who are here on R&R were in no doubt about which weather they preferred.
Firstly, let me and my colleagues wish you all a very happy May Day! I expect, if we had one here in Ascension, that we should all be dancing around the 'maypole'. We should have hankies in our hands and bottle tops nailed to our 'maysticks' and we should probably slap each other around the face. Perhaps it's as well that we don't have a maypole in Ascension...
So, what has been happening in this hive of activity we call 'The Met Office'? Well, there's been a lot of talk about grass. In the short time that I've been here the grass has grown, and grown, and grown. It's ridiculous, isn't it? Dark Slope crater is no longer dark sloped and Mountain Red hasn't been red for some time now. There's grass growing on Letterbox, and even the cliffs around Spires Beach are grass covered. It's lovely the way that it blows in the wind, and fortunately the locusts haven't really materialised yet. However, with one or two people having had haircuts recently, it's almost as if the island could do with a hair cut itself!
I suppose these are meteorologically related subjects. The figures above show pretty conclusively that the mountain attracts much more rain than elsewhere. Obviously that's why Green Mountain turns out to be so green. What I find so remarkable about the weather here is how warm the nights are. The above figures show the lowest temperature achieved here at the Airhead was 26.4 degrees Celsius! That's incredible, isn't it? That would pass for a hot Summer's day back home, and the temperature here fell no lower than that last week. Not only that, but at the cool and lofty Residency the temperature fell no lower than 20.3 degrees!
Georgetown again takes the biscuit for recording the highest temperature on the island, and it's no wonder that people in Georgetown constantly complain about the heat. I expect they could do with a swimming pool to cool off in...? Travellers is a cooler place to be, and it tends to be that bit more windy so that has a cooling effect too.
Reports are coming in that the Dew Pond is a rather muddy climb at the moment. With all that cloud and rain up there that is no real surprise, but the question is, do we run the Dew Pond on Sunday in running shoes or Wellingtons? April tends to be hot and mainly dry, but as we saw early last month when it rains - it really rains.
These heavy showers are part of life in the tropics, but where do they come from? I suppose you would define the tropics as that part of the world that sees the sun directly overhead. It is the intense heating from the overhead sun that causes the air to warm up and rise. This actually occurs in a distinct belt right around the world, and we call it The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, or the ITCZ for short. That's the modern name, but it is also referred to as the Equatorial Low Pressure Trough, and in days of yore it was known as 'The Doldrums'.
This circulation of the air was first suggested by George Hadley in the 18th century. He suggested, not unreasonably, that warm air rises and then cools and sinks again. This circulation is now known as a Hadley cell. George Hadley is also remembered at our Headquarters in Bracknell, where our large Climate Research unit is known as The Hadley Centre.
The tropics largely divide into two massive Hadley cells, one north of the ITCZ and one to the south. In between we have the ITCZ where the warm air rises forming towering Cumulonimbus clouds. These are not small clouds by any means, they can be as high as 9 or 10 miles high. When you get convection over that sort of height it is no wonder that torrential rain occurs.
Occasionally, at this time of year, parts of the ITCZ break off and head for Ascension. That's when we get the sort of rain and thunder we saw last month. It's a problem if you are flying aircraft. Every aircraft that comes from the north (or obviously to the north) has to fly through the ITCZ. Generally this is not a problem with modern radar, but last week we had a radar problem and so flying through the ITCZ was not an option.
The most significant rain in the tropics falls over land, where temperatures soar much higher than they do over the ocean. If conditions are right, then areas of cloud will gather themselves along the ITCZ, and as they pass westwards may form into tropical storms, perhaps eventually becoming hurricanes. There are other things that I want to pass on, but they will keep for now.
So, the ITCZ has an awful lot to answer for, we can sometimes see it very clearly on our satellite images here at the Met Office. The tropics are certainly a fascinating place to work, I love it. But enough of education, as my father used to say, "We are all born ignorant, it's only education that makes us stupid!"
'bye now!
Teessider
NEWS FROM THE
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Although hand guns were never really numerous in the 16th century, several countries became alarmed at the prospect of their use by criminals and attempted to ban them. Emperors, kings and other great men disliked hand guns because of the advantages they gave to would be assassins. A would be murderer with a dagger might be stopped by an alert guard before inflicting mortal injuries, but a killer with a small and easily concealed firearm was more to be feared.
Like most new inventions, handguns soon gained general acceptance and as time went by, were made in a variety of styles and price ranges. These included double barrelled models and guns with a single sliding lock which could be adjusted to serve several touch holes in succession. These were called organ guns as they looked like church organ pipes. These must have been more spectacular than dangerous except perhaps to the firer.
Apart from its early use by cavalry, the pistol never became a significant military arm although it was very often carried by soldiers. Mounted men usually had one or two pistols in holsters on their saddles and although handguns remained secondary to the sword, they proved useful in the close quarter melee which often developed after a cavalry charge. It was of course impossible to reload pistols in the thick of hand to hand fighting, so for this reason some combatants favoured double-barrelled arms. However, the need for an extra lock tended to make these rather bulky. The Royal Navy used pistols to equip boarding parties and the like and some of the naval officers favoured brass-barrelled pistols with bell mouths, since these were somewhat easier to load in a patching boat and were less liable to corrosion.
In Britain the methods of law enforcement were not then highly effective (even in the major cities and towns) and most people of substance, in particular travellers considered it prudent to take steps for their own protection. Those apparently prosperous enough to be worth robbing, usually carried a pair of pistols, unless they were rich enough to be accompanied by a retinue of armed retainers. Likewise, many householders kept a pistol in a convenient place in their sleeping quarters. Relatively few people habitually carried firearms after the 18th century, though a great many appear to have owned them, ranging from the elegant little models to fit into a waistcoat pocket or even a lady's muff, to travellers pistols firing a one ounce ball.
My thanks to people who have handed in items in this period. Cheers for now. Keep safe.
Bryn the SERCO armourer
Hash number: 799
29 April 00This week's HASH showing was up from hashes past. Meeting up at the Ariane site the HASHers waited for that first on-on. A-Drain briefed that this weeks hash had loose stuff, acouple of circle checks, bar checks and back checks. The on-on was given up the road we went a couple of klicks past the station and off we went heading for the coast. Up a little then down a little, circle check, back check then bar check. Once again a circle check was before us Which way do we go as all turn to A-Drain for guidance. On-on that away, I THINK?? Could it be he that set hash has lost his way? But no fear the legendary hash trail is before us, away we go. Are we coming to end of hash as we stood at power pole 71? No, that would be too easy. Its up the cliff we go with climb-climb. Across the ridge we go before heading down in closing out this weeks HASHer's adventurer.
This weeks HASHers: Small Thing, Sniffy, Dozy Ha'Porth, Near Miss, A-Drain, Frank-n-Furter, Ma Bell, Warp Speed, Morticia, Occaisional, Herbie, Woods Wrecker, Nocturnal Emission, Colgate, Grasshopper and Graham Smith
NEXT WEEKS HASHERS: Near Miss and Colgate - from English Bay
ARMOURER
