Sporting Legend - 9th May

Vega
Hugh and Annie
Tue 9 May 2017 17:38
The wind is holding up and we had some boisterous squalls yesterday afternoon with wind up to 30kts and heavy rain. I had to use the main rudder at one point to help the Hydrovane in the big gusts which meant wearing my sailing jacket for the first time in months! One of the showers was so heavy it flattened the sea in the way that heavy rain does. You still get the swell coming through but the surface of the water becomes smooth and you may get a mist of spray that makes everything seem calm and mystical - even with 30kts of wind howling through.
We ran under just the genoa last night but with the wind still up to 25kts it was quite a rolly ride. The big waves come in groups at fairly regular intervals. One big breaking wave roared up from behind and you had to look up to see the noisy foaming crest glinting in the moonlight before the boat rose like an elevator as the wave lifted us up and passed underneath with nothing more than a whimper. You know then to expect two or three more in quick succession and which will set up a good roll.
We have had two items of news that are worthy of recording. Mailasail, who run our Iridium account, got our monthly dollars payment and the amount of available data mixed up. Thinking we had a large amount of data remaining I took a quick look at the BBC news web site to catch up on the headlines. The most significant one was that Marine Le Pen had not won the French presidential election. Joy!! It looks like Europe is not following in the UK's footsteps and taking a populist move to the right. On reflection I am pleased for Europe that the UK will no longer be in a position to carp, criticise and undermine and I fervently hope that the EU goes on to consolidate the social, economic and political gains that can flow from an ever closer union.
From my informed perspective in the middle of the Pacific I am beginning to understand what it may have been like in Germany in the 1930's. In the UK the right is consolidating power, there is no effective opposition, we are pursuing policies of insularity, intolerance and nationalism and vested interests are consolidating their stranglehold on our policies and institutions. It's really scary stuff and it worries me that the majority of the electorate is being pulled along this direction without rising up and putting a stop to it before it's too late.
The second piece of news is that my brother Andy tells me that Brighton and Hove Albion has gained promotion to the Premiership (or Premier League - sorry James). My Grandfather Joe Wilson was, in the 1930's, centre forward (James?) for Newcastle United which I suppose made him the Alan Shearer of his day. After Newcastle he moved south and played for Brighton - as did his brother Glen. Although by invitation Joe made guest appearances for many of London's top football clubs he remained staunchly loyal to Brighton and when his playing days were over he stayed on in various roles. Through Joe we as a family would get some insight into the professional game. Although staunchly loyal he was not treated particularly well by the club; high moral values are not the driving force behind the professional game (as we all know). Nevertheless we have folders full of press cuttings and memorabilia that I am still hoping brother James will be cataloging and digitising - maybe as a retirement project?!
Before football Joe was a Durham coal miner, presumably around the time of the Jarrow marches or maybe just a few years afterwards. For me mining therefore follows a family history and I have a heightened social awareness as a result. My grandmother would tell of their miners cottage in Greenside with its outside toilet and tin bath in front of the parlour fire where Joe would wash after a day down the pit. It is why I know how people will be treated in a less regulated economy where rampant capitalism is given free reign. I have seen first hand the coal mining communities destroyed by Margaret Thatcher's Tory government and why I know full well what this government is doing to public services and the direction it will take us when Teresa May gets her mandate in June.
On a concluding lighter note you may have noticed that, sadly, I didn't inherit my grandfather's sporting prowess. Part of the reason for this is that for a while I was at school with Trevor Francis, who went on to become the worlds first million pound transfer fee footballer. At age 11 Trevor was clearly going places in the world of football and he was given the responsibility for choosing those who would play the game as their school sport. The others would play rugby. Trevor clearly didn't recognise my footballing pedigree and I played rugby from that point on. I wasn't much good at that either but interestingly Glen Wilson's grandson is now playing for rugby Premiership club Newcastle Falcons.
The Pacific night sky for Nick -

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