June 5th. At breakfast time, noticed a very large ship going down Channel. It proved to be the MSC Zoe (which with several sister ships) is one of the largest container ships in the world (as of August 2015), it being the third of a series of ships built by the Mediterranean Shipping Company. She takes her name from the four year old granddaughter of Gianluigi Aponte, the Mediterranean Shipping Company president and chief executive.
MSC Zoe was constructed by Daewoo in South Korea for $140m. The ship’s particulars are: at a length of 395 metres and has a draft of 16 metres. She has a capacity of 19,224 TEU (containers) and a deadweight of 199,272 DWT. The vessel’s massive main engine is a two-stroke MAN B&W 11S90ME-C diesel engine, which has a height of 15.5 m (51 ft), a length of 25 m (82 ft) and a breadth of 11 m (36 ft). The engine has a maximum continuous rating of 62.5 MW (83,800 hp) at 82.2 rpm and a normal continuous rating of 56.25 MW (75,430 hp) at 79.4 rpm. Her single five-blade propeller has blade lengths of 10.5 m (34 ft) producing a service speed of 22.8 kn (42.2 km/h; 26.2 mph)
By Hummelhummel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42056503
June 6. In view of last night’s un-seasonal gale, I have added a Page* setting-out the Beaufort Scale, the universally accepted scale for wind speed. In mid-Channel at about 8-9am this morning, it reached Severe Gale force. Nowadays – even in tv/radio weather forecasts, the term ‘gale’ or ‘storm’ are often misused, so here’s the correct calibration! *Scroll back to the top of the ‘Reflections’ blog screen and click on Beaufort Wind Scale. The sea has been wild all day with 2-3 metre waves breaking on the beaches; even by the evening, the wind speed was still registering in the region of Force 7 – ‘Near Gale,’ very un-seasonal for June!
June 11. There was very good visibility tonight out into the Channel where the cruise liner Arcadia, was slowly passing west along the Sussex coast on passage to Southampton, when I noticed a cluster of lights and orange glow on the very far horizon. On doing a simple exercise or two on Google Earth, it would seem to be Boulogne, some 45 miles to the south-east!
Today, a 350 tonne transformer was transported by road from Shoreham to Ninfield, see link https://sussex.police.uk/news/drone-footage-captures-abnormal-load-journey-through-east-sussex/
June 13. After an apparent absence of about a week due to the un-seasonal windy weather, swifts have returned this morning to hawk insects high above St.Leonards old town. These enigmatic birds have been one of my favourite birds since early childhood.
Late afternoon on the 13th and one Hastings Arrows that’s never going to find its destination! The engine compartment and almost the whole of interior of the bus being gutted.
June 18. My strawberries now in full production on the wonderful Marina Allotments! I came across this thought prvoking quote while on Twitter: “For every kilogram of vegetables you grow yourself, you’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2 kilograms…”
Noticed this colony of relatively large digger wasps under the attractive stone flagstones in Pevensey Road.
June 19. Heatwave. These fella’s have the right idea while working in the heat!
While picking another dish-full of strawberries this evening, I heard an approaching bird call and immediately thought I know what’s making that call. On looking up, a pale-looking ring-necked parakeet flew over, did a circuit nearby and then disappeared towards neighbouring housing. A summer escape or from a feral colony nearby?