Captain's Log.

More than once I've been accused of being a 'Pincher.' Like a bloody common criminal, I felt. I stole the wind? How does that work?  Wind pinching is a sailing term. There is no robbery, no real crime afoot. It just means I'm sailing a yacht way too close to the breeze. One degree more into it and the boat would stall. Stalling is not ideal. A sailing boat relies on the wind for forward movement so its captain can control it's behaviour through the water. It's called navigating. A stalled boat is uncontrollable, vulnerable, unnavigatible. It's better to turn away from the wind to maintain power and control of the boat. Craig got me into sailing years ago. I took to it right away. The first thing he noticed was my ability to read the wind and find the highest windward angle for his boat. I remember that day well. We took his Hartley 16 out onto Moreton Bay and headed out to Peel Island on a single tack. That one 'tack' thing ...

Chances are, Peter Elvison means nothing to you. He's nobody because the Internet is a large place. It's impossible to know everyone at once, living or dead. But there are some out there who'll do an Internet search in the not-to-distant future and type in the words Peter Elvison - to find out more about who the Mandurah man was. Perhaps you didn't know he was sick, he'd passed without anyone telling you or maybe you're sad you didn't make it to his funeral.  Perhaps you did attend but look for answers to questions you're unable to ask Peter. Things go like that. Life passes us by too fast. We miss stuff and feel annoyed. And in that vain, I'm providing my own memorial here on the Internet. It probably won't answer all your questions or alleviate every hurt but perhaps the mark I leave on this blog will give you some kind of peace.    Peter was my close friend. He died last week and we celebrated his life yesterday. (...

Every gardener in each state of Australia adopts a common plant for their home gardens, something that thrives with little attention or effort. Brisbane's Signature Tree 2 'Poinciana' Brisbane's Signature Tree 1 'Jacaranda' In my old state of Queensland, Poinciana, Jacaranda trees (see above) and Bougainvillea dot the suburbs. That's okay for Queensland and the east coast of Australia  but what about the other states? What about one I moved to recently? Much of Western Australia is on a similar latitude (at least Brisbane / Perth are) and I expected to see similar vegetation when I moved across. This was not the case.  In Western Australia (Perth to Mandurah) there's a different plant duo that dominates yards, car parks, commercial precincts and such. It's Rosemary and Lavender ! I suspect it comes down to soil. The west doesn't have any! Much of the west coast (metro areas) is covered in sand. There's no nutritiona...