Thursday 3 October 2013

Low Tide03:46 (1.00m)
High Tide09:58 (2.50m)
Low Tide16:13 (0.70m)
High Tide22:45 (2.40m)
Sea temperature: not taken
Sea conditions: Shallow, quite rough, but calmer then the last 2 days
Weather: sunny, windy
Joined by: The Usual Suspects
Topics of conversation:
The palm oil spillage - this happened 2 days ago and it has taken a while to confirm that the orange waxy lumps are indeed palm oil emulsion from a boat about 30 miles of the coast. The lumps are soft and squishy and revert back to an oily liquid if you rub them in your hands. Our local vet has issued a warning to say that the oil can cause D&V in dogs, if they eat it. So this morning was fun... Bosco is a labrador and therefore anything which is not a stone or sand on the beach is edible. I haven't swum for a few days as it's been so rough that it's kept all but DK and The Poet on dry land, and I still don't fancy colliding with a lump of palm oil so I stayed out again today, which meant Bosco was under scrutiny.

There have been similar cases in the south, where the tanker has been taken to court a couple of years ago:
 "The court heard how an investigation by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency discovered the tanker had off-loaded a cargo of palm oil and had been anchored off the Isle of Wight. Prosecutor Oliver Wilmott said the ship was "at the right place at the right time with the right substance on board". He told the court the ship had been having problems cleaning its tanks and pipes after discharging palm oil in Rotterdam and Hamburg. He added the investigators had found lumps of palm oil on the ship when they went on board a few days later.
The prosecution alleged scientific tests linked the substance found on board with the yellow lumps of wax washed on to the beaches. But defence barrister Ian Lawrie QC questioned that analysis. He told the court that slop tanks on the tanker had plenty of spare capacity for waste material.The case continues."
The Artists's London Gallery Birthday trip - yesterday was The Artist's 80th birthday and so the female swimmers took her on a birthday trip. She wanted to visit the Australia exhibition at the RA and a friend was having a private view in Spitalfields, so the four of us went to town for a girls day out, it's not often one of the swimmers turns 80. There were many lovely components to the day, the art, the relaxed company, the meal at the OXO tower with cake and champagne and the spontaneous input from strangers. Our first taxi driver heard us discussing the birthday and when the LE told him she was 80 his response was "Well tell her I'd take her home!" The waitress at the restaurant decided she was going to go the extra mile and looked after us like royalty, but best of all was Ed, the student busker (@renegadejazz), who serenaded her from the shore of the Thames. 



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