Tourist Information
Archive for May, 2010
Automatic Identification System AIS Update for Sailboats and Yachts
01 year ago
As more of these AIS products for sailboats and yachts come onto the market, I thought it was time again to run a brief review of what might be best to suit your requirements for you and your sailboat.
Like GPS, when that technology first hit the market, it was slow to be taken up by recreational yachties, and was several years before it was embraced fully by the sailing community. I believe that at the time, that was partially due to the general unreliability of its predecessor, Satnav, and folks took some time to understand that GPS was not of the same stable and was much more reliable and accurate. The other main advantage of GPS over Satnav was that a vessels’ position was shown constantly as opposed to an update every six or twelve hours.
As an example of the growth of GPS, I can recall the first time I sailed in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), of the fleet of 130 yachts, only twenty or so vessels had GPS units installed, and of those, most were receivers only, just gave lat/long data and nothing else. Five years on in 1995, when I did the ARC in my own vessel, every yacht of the then 140 fleet had fully fledged GPS units installed. Since then, the proliferation of units, both hard wired and hand held has been astounding, along with the reduction of cost, which in turn has made them affordable for all boaties.
AIS systems for the sailing community are currently going through a similar acceptance period. Already, there are a greater variety of units coming onto the market and the price also is gradually decreasing, to the point where a basic AIS receiving only unit can be purchased for around $400.
You may have read about young Jessica Watson who is currently making the sailing trip of her life to be the youngest person to circumnavigate, single handed. Following her earlier contact with a merchant vessel on her shakedown cruise, she has since sailed north from Sydney, crossed the equator and now making good progress heading down to the Roaring Forties and Cape Horn. She is making excellent progress and in good shape to tackle the challenging sailing ahead
I am sure that if she had had installed an AIS unit on her ‘Ella’s Pink Lady’ in the beginning, it would have given her a warning of the approaching vessel in sufficient time to get up on deck and take avoiding action to miss the freighter. Suffice to say that whilst in Sydney making final preparations prior to leaving port, a AIS system was installed.
To many, it would seem to be just another electronic device to clutter up your nav area and something else to go wrong and cause you trouble. However, as this technology is available, easily installed and not costly in its basic form, why not use it – after all, if it saved you just one potential collision incident at sea during your voyage, it would have been worth it
There are already a number of brands available, starting with a ‘receive only’ unit from Comar, their AIS-Multi for $400, moving up through the Simrad range, Yacht Digital, Icom (you can check them all out on the internet) etc. , to the top of the range currently, from Furuno. This is the Navnet 3D which integrates AIS capabilities into a suite of chart plotting, GPS and 3D radar. This total package price is around $8500.
There is an excellent four minute video demonstrating the Furuno Navnet system you can see on Youtube and click on ‘Navnet 3D sea trial showing radar overlay and AIS’. Alternatively you can type in ‘Furuno Navnet 3D Sea Trial’ into Youtube and it will come up.
You can read more about close shaves with commercial vessels in my ebook ‘Voyage of the Little Ship Tere Moana’ downloadable from my website for sailors www. sailboat2adventure. com
Vincent Bossley is a sailor and publisher living on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia. He has his own www. sailboat2adventure. com website for cruising sailors, sailors planning their lifetime adventure, armchair sailors, virtual sailors and indeed anyone who has ever dreamt about sailing off into the oceans of this beautiful planet of ours. He offers an extremely useful package of \\\\\\\’101 Dollar Saving Tips for Sailors\\\\\\\’ gleaned from his experiences that could save the voyager many hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars during their voyage. Included is his 135 page download illustrated ebook \\\\\\\’Voyage of the Little Ship \\\\\\\’Tere Moana\\\\\\\’ of his own four year sailing adventure to many of these tropical paradises. Also FREE is the \\\\\\\’Ten Top Tips\\\\\\\’ to look for when purchasing your dream sailboat by internationally renowned marine surveyor Mark Clarke. Vincent is passionate about getting budding sailors started on planning their own odyssey. You can visit him anytime on his www. sailboat2adventure. com website
UN says Nth Korea is exporting nukes
01 year ago
UN says Nth Korea is exporting nukes
UN experts say North Korea is exporting nuclear and ballistic missile technology and avoiding sanctions.
Read more on BigPond News
Candy Claws – Catamaran
31 year ago
Home video of a family touring the USA over the course of 5 months and 14982 miles. Let the saga of the happy wanderers commence. Song: Catamaran by Candy Claws. This is what summer feels like.
Woolacombe Ravers
11 year ago
by admin
in Special Interest Travel
Some debauched, hedonistic goings on from deepest Woolacombe.
The Benefits Of Free Stamp Collecting Catalogues
01 year ago
by admin
in Accommodations
Stamp collecting is a worthwhile hobby. Stamp collecting and philately as well are popularly shared by many people all over the world as their favorite past time. It is one educational endeavor where a person can spend considerable effort and time.
What Is Stamp Collecting?
Stamp collecting is concerned with saving postage stamps from the letters. It involves earnest efforts to search out old stamps. It also includes the collection of objects related to stamps like envelopes with stamps on them. The stamp collector is very likely to find a another stamp collector just about everywhere due to the popularity of the past time. In United States alone, the population of stamp collectors reach 20 million.
Stamp collecting, however, must not be confused with philately. Philately is the study of the stamps. Studying the stamp does not necessarily include the collection, nor does stamp collection necessitates the study. Most collectors simply enjoy the act of acquiring stamps.
Ways of Collecting Stamps
Most serious stamp collectors are not just into accumulating the stamps. They choose a certain aspect or detail and focus on it. There are just so many ways by which a stamp collector may narrow down his or her focus.
One way is to collect only the stamps of a certain country, it may be of the own country or a foreign one.
Some would be interested with the illustration featured in the stamp, for example cats, butterflies, airplanes or religious figures.
There are people concerned only with stamps released on a certain year, like the year they were born or when a certain historical event took place. This can be more challenging yet still very much rewarding.
The Challenge
With the onset of the email technology, people now are less likely to receive a letter in their mailboxes. Thus the chances of acquiring more stamps are lessened. Still, the search goes on even if one cannot convince enough distant family and friends to communicate through snail mail.
The Stamp Catalogue
A stamp catalog or also stamp catalogue is a list or directory of postage stamp types. This will simply consist of a register of descriptions and prices of the stamps. This is not to be undermined. This is an essential tool for any serious philatelist.
Initially, this catalogue were just used to help the dealers with the prices. Stanley Gibbons for one, still uses the stamp catalogues for that purpose.
As time went on, philately as a past time developed as well the function of the stamp catalogues. The catalogues started featuring additional details regarding the stamps. It can include the date the stamp was issued, the color variations and many more. Philatelist recognized its significant purpose that it cannot help but to become widespread to most people.
Stamp catalogues have different coverages. Only a handful is out there that cover the worldwide coverage: Michel catalogue, Stanley Gibbons catalogue, Scott catalogues and Minkus catalogue.
This worldwide coverage is very considerable given that there are thousands of new stamps released every year from different countries. Each new stamps will have to be described. Furthermore, the prices of the stamps must also be taken into account. For some publishers,the prices are determined by collecting the data from dealers and auctions.
Some catalogue publishers even give out specialized volumes. These contain additional details, most of the time according to nationality.
Most countries would have their own catalogues or their ‘national catalogs. ‘ The postal administrations may come up with these catalogues. The experience with them however is that they do not supply the full details of the stamps featured. The leading dealer or publisher in the country can also initiate the effort to put up a catalogue.
Some examples of the ‘national catalogs’ are the Brusden-White in Australia, Ma catalog and Yang catalog in China, Facit in Sweden and Anfils in catalog in Spain.
Stamp shops have stamp catalogues that can be purchased. At present, thanks to the Internet technology, stamp catalogues can easily be accessed for purchase online. Most web sites on stamp collecting can link to another site that offers these stamp catalogues. The price range would usually depend on the kind of stamp catalogue.
Discounted rates can also be offered by some web sites. Take note however that the discount may only apply to certain catalogues, usually those that covers a certain period only.
What may sound better is a free stamp catalogue. Free stamps are usually offered by stamp companies or even a particular web site on stamp collecting. Some would offer free copies of their catalogues. The free stamp catalogues may not be as comprehensive as the worldwide catalogues but they can still be very useful resources for a dedicated stamp collector.
One can easily avail of these free stamp catalogues offer as they are often used to promote the web site or to serve as a token for being a regular in the web site. So, simply grab the chance of this offer. There is nothing to lose only a free stamp catalogue to gain.
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Where can i go on vacation and stay in an overwater bungalow?
11 year ago
by admin
in Accommodations
I like Bora Bora but it costs a lot. Are there other tropical places similar to Tahiti that are cheaper? But not $3000 per ticket to fly there? Like around the Caribbean?
Cheap Brussels Hotels Offering Excellent Amenities
01 year ago
by admin
in Accommodations
Brussels-Capital Region, Brussels Region or simply Brussels, is the European Union’s de facto capital city. It is Belgium’s largest capital that comprise of 19 municipalities including the French Community of Belgium, Flanders and the capital of Belgium – City of Brussels Proper. From a tenth century fortress town it has grown into a metropolis with over a million inhabitants. Its metropolitan area alone has an estimated population of more than 1. 8 million. It is for this reason that Brussels became Belgium’s largest town.
After WWII, Brussels played an important role in international politics. With the main EU institutions and NATO, it became the polyglot home of various international organizations, diplomats, civil servants and politicians. From its Dutch-speaking ancestors, it has become more of a French-speaking city. Although a majority of its inhabitants are French-speakers, either language possesses official status. Hence, as these linguistic tensions remain, even the language laws of municipalities surrounding Brussels invoke much controversy for Belgium.
When it comes to the economic status of Brussels, it serves as Europe’s center of administration. Its economy rely largely on services and is dominated by world as well as regional headquarters of European institutions, multinationals, administrations and other related services. There are also numerous craft industries like the Cantillon Brewery (1900s founded lambic brewery) in this city.
Fritkots, Frites or French Fries
The best frites or “fritkots” as locals call it is a Brussels delicacy you should definitely try. Although there is much debate on where you can get the best frites, there are actually lots of stores you can go to for these “fritkots”.
Apart from Barriere de Sain-Gilles, St-Josse’s Martin and Antoine, various other places sell these with ketchup, mayonnaise or whatever sauce you can imagine. For the locals, they love “andalouse” with their “fritkots”.
Chez Martin – This is a small place run by the affable and calm Martin. This place is a serious contender in Brussels for having the best frites. Here, you can have your fritkots over Café Gambrinus.
Maison Antoine – Their tasty fries come with a wide array of sauces. Located near the European Parliament, you can have your frites in one of the many cafes and bars that carry the sign “fries acceptes”. (As a note, especially if you’re a vegetarian, these fries are actually cooked in beef fat)
Cheap Brussels Hotels
Sofitel Brussels Toison d’Or – This hotel is situated near the fashionable Luisa district. It offers well-appointed rooms and elegant amenities. The nightly rate ranges from €99 to €495 for each person. Breakfast isn’t complimentary and it costs €25 per person. Another alternative is a Quick fastfood joint next door.
Hotel Metropole Brussels – This is the only nineteenth century hotel that is still operational. It is located along Brussel’s historic center and only a short walk from the Royal Theater de la Monnaie, the Bourse and the Grand Place. This 5-star hotel offers 313 suites and rooms, 12 meeting rooms, a fitness center and an award winning I’Alban Chambon gourmet restaurant.
Stanhope Hotel – This hotel is located by Rue du Commerce 9. It lies in the center of the European district. It is near the Grand Place, Sablon and the Royal Palace. It offers 108 well appointed rooms, including two apartments. They’re open for extended stays.
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