Voor Ben Mijn Nederlandse Vriend (2)

Ben. This is the cover of the First Edition of Johnny Wrays book. In the photograph below is the original painting from which the image on the book cover has been taken.

The caption underneath the painting says "Ngataki - hove to in a storm off the Tasmanian coast, 28th Jan 1935" The glasses in the top right hand of the photograph are Johnny Wrays.

This is (obviously) the name NGATAKI carved by Johnny Wray into one of the main mast deck beams.

Interior photographs of the Ngataki.

Ngataki is wide enough to have cabin seats on either side of the main cabin area and pilot berths behind the cabin seats on either side as well. This old hull could tell some fine old stories!!!!

If you look closely you can see the bent over ends of the staples that Johnny Wray fashioned from galvanised number 8 fencing wire.

As a boat builder myself I have to say I was surprised at the lightness of her framing. She is no doubt strongly built (well tested indeed by surviving a hurricane and completing a circumnavigation of the world) - but the framing is not massive.

The reason why people such as Johnny Wray and his exploits fire the public imagination is multi-layered.

First, such adventures as he enjoyed symbolise the dream of throwing off the constraints and demands of ordinary life to live out a different sort of authenticity, one that appeals to many - Johnny Wrays life and adventures were a life less compromised by the demands of modernity, convention and conforming. Such an approach is one that we would all like to take if perhaps we were a little more brave (or crazy!). Of course today many do take up this kind of life ( The largess of western consumer culture makes it easier) and many (such as myself) contemplate such adventures at the older end of life when responsibilities and the 'worry angst' have been discharged ------ BUT, Johnny Wray took up the challenge in his prime, in the high tide, full flood of his imagination - and as a result is a living symbol of that quest for a different kind of self realisation. In the words of the writer Joseph Campbell, Johnny Wray lived out Campbells exhortation to "Follow Your Bliss."

From a Jungian psychological view he also embodies a different living example of 'The Journey of the Hero' which is a kind of 'Holy Grail' search, which is a search for self realisation, or that which matters most, the ground of our being or 'God' (where the name 'God' is simply a place holder for that which the individual places as his or her supreme value).  Everyone of us lives this out in our own lives to a greater or lesser degree.

From a Kiwi, New Zealand point of view he is a living example (quite literally) of the 'Can Do' attitude, which in Kiwi parlance is the 'Number 8 Wire' mentally - that is - we can do it, and we can do it with the minimum of resources, even if we have to resort to using number 8 fencing wire when the circumstances demand it ---- which all has deep resonances with our colonial Kiwi, breaking in the land, farmer, labourer, worker,  'making do' history.

Good oh ya mate; good on ya Johnny, you're a bloody legend!

Voor Ben Mijn Nederlandse Vriend (1)

Ben. This is the Dutch translation of Johnny Wrays' book 'South Sea Vagabonds' which you read when you were 12 years old. It contains the extra two chapters that were only in the English First Edition and other language translations but not in subsequent editions. As you know your correspondence with Bruce Ansley caused the editors of the reprint some consternation, but despite this the 2014 edition of the book does not contain these two original chapters. It was probably too late for the publishers to do anything about altering the reprint when your eagle eye spied the discrepancy between your Dutch Language Edition and the Second English Edition that I gave to you when you were in New Zealand. This discrepancy is mentioned in Bruce Ansleys Introduction to the 2014 Edition. You are not only mentioned by name in the book introduction but I found out that you were mentioned by Bruce in his speech at the book / boat launching.

We were not able to attend the actual book launching or the physical launching of the Ngataki as that was an invitation only event, but we were able to see her floating merrily at the Halsey wharf at the Auckland Viaduct Yacht Basin - and I have to say she looked absolutely magnificent. The Trust that now owns the boat have had her beautifully restored.

She really did look a 'million dollars' as the saying goes. I doubt whether she has ever looked as good as this.

The cabin sides have been overlaid with beautiful golden heart kauri wood, which has been varnished. She is only 4 feet (metre and a bit) longer than my own yacht but that is where the similarity ends - Ngataki is a substantial yacht - big, bulky, 'beefy', heavy - a small ship in fact. I loved her wide side decks that you could walk around unimpeded on and her beefy no nonsense fittings, rigging etc. It is no surprise to me that she survived a capsize in a South Pacific hurricane. She is built like the proverbial old New Zealand 'brick shit house' (which, yes is a very crude term but has resonance in 'Kiwi Speak').

In this photo you can see the wide side decks and heavy no nonsense outboard rudder. She also has substantial bulwarks around the sides. Considering the fact that she doesn't have life rail stanchions and lines around the side decks these bulwarks  give the crew some foothold and sense of security.

This was a nice touch and for those who have read the book you will understand why. The basket of oranges is a reference to the boxes of oranges the crew of the Ngataki were able to pick in the orange groves on Raul Island in the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand to supplement their stores of food. I have a photograph of myself taken in these very groves on Raul Island in 1970 when I did a Pacific voyage in the yacht 'Nessie 2' - a photograph that I will post at a later date.

In a tent next to the wharf where the Ngataki is now moored there were a large number of glass display cases which contained a lot of Johnny Wray / Ngataki memorabilia. I took lots of photos which I will post on my next blogpost about the Ngataki as well as telling you some amazing information about this great old ship and her people!!

For Christian

This is a class photograph sent to my by one of my ex pupils Christian May. He is in the second row from the back, second in from the left.

I remember Christian very well and if my memory serves me correctly it was to him that I lent a copy of JRR Tolkiens Lord Of The Rings, a weighty tome of a book (over 100 pages) which he promptly devoured! he was great reader.

He is also remembered fondly by my wife Christine who also taught him at Raumanga Kindergarten, (as were several others in this photograph) - just a short distance from where this photo was taken in 1983 at Raumanga Primary School.

Looking at myself in the photo it seems prophetic that I received this photograph from Christian today, for I see that I am wearing a Cardy (Cardigan) LOL - something that retired 63 year old men are supposed to be notorious for !!

Thank you for the photograph Christian - 2014 marks 40 years of pretty much continuous teaching practise in the classroom - To look back over the years makes me smile and wonder how come it all went so fast!

A Rhetorical Moment

Shipmates, the fact that there is no question mark after the word 'cares' makes these words a rhetorical question - that is, a question that doesn't require an answer - Which means that the words are a statement rather than a question - no that's not complicated, and, it's my statement, "Who cares, I'm retired".

...... and because it's a rhetorical question that doesn't require anyone else to answer it, I shall continue the statement and answer the rhetorical question myself. Why? because I can.

Who cares? Well ME of course, I care a lot about my retirement .... and may my fabulous retirement unfold forthwith from this day forward ..... and the story of some of it's wonder and fabulousness (spellcheck tells me 'fabulousness' isn't a word, but bloody 'pffhah' and 'phhttt' to that) may very well find its way onto this Blog Spot.

An Important Video

No one except evil psychopaths are happy with the wars and man made disasters that blight this planet. But it is good to always remember that the evil that often dominates the news every day doesn't represent the human goodness that exists within ordinary people everywhere. I think that we can celebrate this fact without ignoring these heart breaking tragedies. People of good will can stand in solidarity and sympathy for the victims and their families who are dealing with these unspeakable crimes. But in seeking justice we must never demonise or dehumanise anyone.

Que Sera Sera (What Will Be Will Be)

Here are two people that I love. Charlotte and Nathan. As I type they are in England enjoying some time with Nathans mum. When they return Charlotte will enter year three of her Nursing degree and Nathan will continue his degree in Mathematics and Philosophy, completing it in November.

Every year of his studies Nathan, along with a few other students, has been given a high achieving student award. To obtain this a student must have an average A+ score in all assignments and exams - no mean feat. Charlotte has also surprised herself with very high marks in her nursing studies.

Nathans goal is to get some sort of scholarship to Oxford University where he will complete his PhD. Of course he will require his father in law, who taught him everything he knows, to visit regularly so that he can straighten out any illogical arguments in his philosophical treatises and point out the odd adding mistake in his maths - tough work for me, but someone has to do it. So I shall not argue about living in Oxford from time to time, and there are compensations such as good pubs and bookshops. And of course daughters need their mums, so Christine will be able to be there for Charlotte.

But it's all early days and if a junior lectureship was to come available in New Zealand who knows... No pressure Nathan!!
Just remember the grandchildren have to be bilingual - English and New Zillan. Your father in law requires them to be able to say 'fish and chips' and 'fush and chups' why?  - coss uz in New Zillian are chuss duffrunt.

Maori Language Week

Shipmates - Zane Alexander Smith was one year old on the 21st of July 2014 - An auspicious day and one month after the anniversary of my heart operation on the 21st of June 2013. Both of these events are not really connected except in my own mind. I remember wondering before the operation whether I would live through it all to see Christine and the children again and also whether I would  live to see our first grandchild. I made it through and I am not disappointed. 

Whanau are the true riches of this world - and as it is Maori Language Week this week in Aotearoa New Zealand it is appropriate to say this ......

He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

 

Shiver Me Timbers Shipmates If It Isn't - Sea Fever (Again)

Painting by Claude Monet

Shipmates, if I've posted this poem before I give you permission to whack me with a teak belaying pin; but in defence I think some things bear repeating.

Sea Fever

By John Masefield 

I must go down to the seas again, 

to the lonely sea and the sky, 

And all I ask is a tall ship 

and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel's kick and the wind's 

song and the white sail's shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea's face,

 and a grey dawn breaking,

I must go down to the seas again,

 for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear 

call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day 

with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown 

spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, 

to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way 

where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from

 a laughing fellow-rover,

And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream

 when the long trick's over.

I Am Reading Richard Llewellyns Book - How Green Was My Valley.

Reading can sometimes be like eating blackberry pie, you can taste the writing and that taste lingers for a long time. Richard Llewellyns writing is a bit like eating blackberry pie ...... but Llewellyn writes far better about taste than I do:

“I wonder is happiness only an essence of good living, that you shall taste only once or twice while you live, and then go on living with the taste in your mouth, and wishing you had the fullness of it solid between your teeth, like a good meal that you have tasted and cherished and look back in your mind to eat again.”

I have no doubt that the pointy heads will wring their hands and muse through their musing beards and state that this book is some sort of literary opium ( aka, pie in the sky bye and bye!) for the chattering classes but I have found Richard Llewellyns writing endearingly poetic, lyrical, seductive and yes, nostalgic and sentimental. To read this book is to smile continually for the duration of each reading. To read this is to experience a roller coaster of emotion as the tale weaves its way among the family dynamics of Huw Morgans family and their life in a Welsh coal mining valley. I unashamedly love this writing.

" Growing up in a mining community in rural South Wales, Huw Morgan is taught many harsh lessons - at the kitchen table, at Chapel and around the pit-head. Looking back on the hardships of his early life, where difficult days are faced with courage but the valleys swell with the beautiful sound of Welsh voices, it becomes clear that there is nowhere so green as the landscape of his own memory."

It is very difficult to choose an excerpt of Llewellyns writing as an example as every single page has wonderful lyrical passages, but as I am feeling hungry at the moment, I will share this exquisite gastronomical example, one of many wonderful examples as I read my way through this roller coaster of feelings book.

"O, blackberry tart, with berries as big as your thumb, purple and black, and thick with juice, and a crust to endear them that will go to cream in your mouth, and both passing down with such a taste that will make you close your eyes and wish you might live for ever in the wideness of that rich moment".

.... and that's just the food!  LOL

If you would like to read other quotes from Richard Llewellyns book then click the link below;

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2329482-how-green-was-my-valley

AT 63 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME 26/6/51

 

Well shipmates it was my birthday a few of days ago on the 26th of June and I turned 63. Me 63! When did that happen!!  Can you believe it? 63 years since that vintage year of 1951! A year when many very modest and unassuming people were born.

Of course reaching this age with so many T shirts to choose from throws one into a dilemma - Just what does Moi wear for goodness sake - Especially when the messages on each shirt speaks the truth so clearly! - Although the message on the yellow T shirt may be a bit dodgy, I do have two stents in a couple of my arteries, which makes my parts only 99.9999% original - And the green T shirt doesn't have the words 'Full Bodied' on it, as does the blue shirt (so it's not telling the whole truth) - And the black shirt states "The Best 1951 Vintage' implying some sort of competition when clearly if Moi were to wear it, there simply wouldn't be any competition at all - So I will have to stick with the Blue shirt - So blue it is shipmates - Good strong boys colour, matches my eye colour (and my jeans) and reminds me of important stuff like seas that need to be sailed on. 

Roll on 64?  - Well, no; not quite yet; ask me again in 12 months time. 

(Actually I think I would wear all of these T Shirts. When you are me; and 63; you tend to look pretty damn good in just about anything)   : > )   ROTFL

Everyone I Love Is Here

                                             

Gone Sailing

Can't think of anything better to do.

For My Mum on My Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of my heart bypass operation. It is not so much that I have a lot to say about this, or have a lot to think about my operation - its more about feeling - a huge feeling of gratitude to those who operated on me and to family and friends who supported and looked after me after the operation. My thinking about all of this has been about someone else.
 
Today I thought a lot about my mother who had two of these operations. She didn't survive the second one. She died of a massive blood clot on the operating table. If she had survived and lived on she would now be 91 years old.

I have a big regret about the lead up to my mums operation. The last time I saw her, just before her operation she looked old and pale and frail. I gave her a hug before I left and wished her well for the operation, and then I hesitated and felt somehow self conscious about telling her I loved her. I wish to God I had told her I loved her. I bloody kick myself that I didn't. What an idiot I was. So today mum, if you are listening, I love you very much indeed.

The lesson here is not new and is as old as Adam - Tell the people you love, that you love them every day, because one day they may just slip away from you.

So the 21st of June is a day of heart operation remembering for me. It will always remind me of life and death and my dear old mum.

Mum, I had this poem published in the newspaper death notices for you.

“Here the whole world (stars, water, air,
And field, and forest, as they were
Reflected in a single mind)
Like cast off clothes was left behind
In ashes, yet with hopes that she,
Re-born from holy poverty,
In lenten lands, hereafter may
Resume them on her Easter Day."

C S Lewis

And Mum, this old Irish Blessing was on the back of the printed order of service at your funeral.

“May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand”

I hope you like them - Pal

And mum, I know that not many people read or comment on this Blog but I don't give a rats arse about that - this is my very own Journal, its therapeutic, its something for me - but best of all I know that you read it every day.

DESCRIBING TRUTH

Painting - Marc Chagall
.

 What is the best description of truth ?
Scientism? Literalism? Dogmatism? Monotheism?
Or are the best descriptions intuited from the Symbols, Metaphors and Paradoxes of -
Mythology
Literature
Poetry
Painting
and
Music?

 1 - The early physical body action of homosapiens show evidential patterns of individual play

           behaviour.

2 -- When I was young I really, really enjoyed myself playing in my backyard environment.

3 -  

 " Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs

About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with dasies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light "

And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
       In the sun that is young once only,
               Time let me play and be  
       Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
               And the sabbath rang slowly
       In the pebbles of the holy streams.

All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
       And playing, lovely and watery
               And fire green as grass.
       And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
       Flying with the ricks, and the horses
               Flashing into the dark.

And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
       Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
               The sky gathered again
       And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
       Out of the whinnying green stable
               On to the fields of praise.

And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
       In the sun born over and over,
               I ran my heedless ways,
       My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
       Before the children green and golden
               Follow him out of grace,

Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
       In the moon that is always rising,
               Nor that riding to sleep
       I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
               Time held me green and dying
       Though I sang in my chains like the sea.


--- 'Fernhill' - Dylan Thomas
 

GIFTS

I see my daughter as a woman, and not as a woman who is my daughter.

I see my sons as men, and not, as men who are my sons.

How Green Is My Valley

“Everywhere was singing, all over the house was singing, and outside the house was alive with singing, and the very air was song.”

- Richard Llewellyn, How Green Was My Valley

A Good Read?

 The book "Understanding Men" has finally arrived in book stores.

Dance, Love, Sing, Work, Live

Dance, as though no one is watching, Love, as though you've never been hurt before, Sing, as though no one can hear you, Work, as though you don't need the money, Live, as though heaven is on earth. - Rumi

Yep shipmates, sounds like reasonable advice to me.

The Opening of Eyes

This is a Utube video that I first saw and listened to on my old friend Kelvins Blog. I was astounded by this poem as have many others who have been at a stage in their lives where they have been receptive to its teaching.

The heart of the poem I feel is in the image of Moses fallen to his knees before the lit bush or the man removing his shoes to enter heaven only to observe that they were standing on holy ground the whole time. All of us go on pilgrimages and journeys of one sort or another and long for personal transformation. This poem tells us that we do not need to go looking for "it" but that we perhaps need to 'look' in a different way - and that we are in fact on the transformative path now.  Waking up, is all about waking up to the awareness that we have in a sense arrived already - this very day where we live, work, have our being is the context in which we are transformed continually by the act of living - becoming conscious of this fact is I feel helpful to anyone who seeks any sort of enlightenment or enlargement of consciousness. It would of course be an act of hubris to think that I am in any way 'enlightened' in any great spiritual sense, but I think the concept of 'Mindfulness' that this poem is implying has helped me along on my own shambling way.

The key is I feel, not to shut oneself up in a cave and meditate but to live fully engaged with the world in a detached ('non attachment') way - which sounds like a paradox (which it is) (there is truth in paradox). Live fully, responsibly, morally, without hubris or ego, transcending the self (putting others first) and embracing fully without 'attachment' ---- much easier said than done of course.

"The real miracle of life is that we are something rather than nothing. We can lose our identities and names and gain new ones like a pilgrim, only to find significance in all that we had taken for granted."  

I have known Kelvin for nigh on 50 years now. We recently met, had a few drinks and a meal together and talked solidly for over 4 hours.

I asked him at one point, "What do you make of our friendship? " - I said, "In many ways it is an unlikely friendship because we are in fact quite different people."  He thought about this and then replied saying that our lives, going back to our school days, especially our individual spiritual development has had many parallels, and he went on to explain what he thought some of those were - and I think he is correct in that.

He is correct, and if he wasn't then I would never have understood the poem or he would have never posted it.

C.S.Lewis in his book "The Four Loves" states that the nature of romantic love is such that two people sit face to face and look at the object of their obsession - and that the nature of friendship is such that two people sit side by side and look together at the mutually shared interest.

I think that the basis of my friendship with Kelvin is that because of what has gone before in our personal history, we both hold this poem in high regard; we both understand this poem, and it is this shared understanding and desire for personal transformation that is part of our friendship - and my own world is richer and fuller for that friendship and the insights that he brings and shares.

The poem brought forth the image of Moses removing his shoes, only to observe that he was standing on holy ground the whole time. This reveals that we long for and commence on pilgrimages and journeys throughout our lives, only to discover we were standing on that transformative path all along, and that we did not need to go looking for it. - See more at: http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2014/05/david-whytes-solace-the-art-of-asking-the-beautiful-question#sthash.5hdzBWSV.dpuf

The poem brought forth the image of Moses removing his shoes, only to observe that he was standing on holy ground the whole time. This reveals that we long for and commence on pilgrimages and journeys throughout our lives, only to discover we were standing on that transformative path all along, and that we did not need to go looking for it. - See more at: http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2014/05/david-whytes-solace-the-art-of-asking-the-beautiful-question#sthash.5hdzBWSV.dpuf

The New Shed

Well shipmates let me tell you a tale that happened a year or two ago just prior to my life changing heart attack. 

When I look at the state of this old shed I am amazed that we put up with this eyesore in the backyard for so long - but there you go - no accounting for human stupidity is there.  As well as being an eye sore the old shed was very much past its used by date. It had a dirt floor, was damp and dingy with a forehead whacking door entrance.

Demolishing it was all heat, dust, cuts and bruises - and several trailer loads to the city dump.

Several trailer loads of topsoil and my collection of "might come in useful one day" old bricks and rocks were required to build up the sloping base, but it still required one cubic metre of concrete.

The final touches being added to the plastic damp course and reinforcing steel by Alex - hard worker par excellence.

The old fulla takes a break for a photo. I was 103kgs in this photo - As I type I am 85kgs and losing steadily - a result of post heart attack sensibilities.  This is week one of the build  and I was completely buggered, a sign of things to come no doubt.  Shoveling builders mix and cement in Northlands summer heat is not for the faint hearted and especially not for a 103kg fatty with blocked arteries.

My son Alex. He was an absolute tower of strength. Without his help and patience I would still be mixing concrete.

Flash concrete pad troweled off. Time for a beer.

Time to read the good set of instructions that came with the kitset shed.

 

Our lovely tea lady showed exemplary diplomacy in keeping away from two bears building a cave. She sometimes (not very often) exhibits the persona of a woman from the days when men were men and built things and women were glad of it - but she does know how to discriminate between clever sayings that husbands tend to bandy around in their blog posts and the real lay of the land LOL.

Some visitors to the building site developed a form of snow blindness when looking at the old fullas shirt. The young fulla here just shakes his head wryly and sensibly puts on his sunglasses.

Flash shed!  Did we build this?

Yes, we did build it, my son and I, and a very, very useful shed it has proved to be. And it has raised the visual appeal of our backyard by about, say, a zillion percent!

Now shipmates this new shed malarky is one thing - but a real sailers boat builders shed in which a major restoration of say - a little yacht in need of a lot of understanding and TLC is quite another - This issue is becoming a major obsession with me - soooooo - what to do? what to do? Hmmmmm - There just has to be a way to fix this problem, but being a bear of little brain it may take some time to solve, but don't worry shipmates leave it to me - I won't find a solution overnight, but I will find one.

One last thing - take a careful look at the last three photographs above and try and work out what colour this shed is. The panels all came pre painted, we haven't painted the shed at all. Isn't it interesting how colour changes with the light? What we think we are seeing one day may well be different the next - sun shine and clouds - they always alter our visual reality and how we feel.