Boats as a Resource - for Sea Lions...

We spent a wonderful week in the Galapagos a couple of years ago, and I spent some time watching this sea lion as he got into one of the dinghys, made himself comfortable, got too hot, dived back into the water for a cool-down, then climbed back onto the dinghy again to sunbath - a routine repeated several times!

In charge

Getting comfortable 

 

Ah, this is really cosy

Hmm, getting a tad over-toasted














There's nothing like a cool dip on a hot day...

Now back to sunbathe again!

Modern boats - ferries

Oban is full of ferries:  ferries to Mull, Coll, Tiree, Colonsay, Lismore, Kerrera.  The Oban - Craignure (Mull) run must be one of Calmac's busiest routes











The Clansman and the Isle of Mull sharing berths at the Oban ferry terminal

The Clansman waiting to engulf its cargo like a giant whale.

The Hebridean Princess  heading off down the Sound of Kerrera whilst the Isle of Mull waits to take her place at the quayside.

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The Isle of Mull heading off from Oban to Craignure - passing in front of the Isle of Kerrera, with Morvern in the far background.

Birlinns - ancient galleys

At Dunollie House, Oban, volunteers are restoring a wooden birlinn, Galley Aileach. She was constructed in Ireland in 1991, after an ancient design, and named after a Scottish princess who married an Irish King
(See the Dunollie website for more details).

Stone carvings of birlinns appear through the Highlands and islands:  there is a lovely example carved on a cross in the Abbey Museum on Iona.

 

Perhaps the most famous carved stone birlinn is found on the tomb of Alasdair Crotach Macleod, in St Clement's Church, Rodel, on the Isle of Harris.

There is a birlinn on the base of the Celtic cross at Dunollie Castle, Oban - a memorial to James MacDougall who died in 1953.  The memorial is covered in lichen and the birlinn is a little difficult to see clearly.

Indeed, birlinns feature on the MacDougall coat of arms - here the personal arms of Madam MacDougall of MacDougall, the present clan chief.  This birlinn is the famous 'Galley of Lorne' and is a tribute to the Norse origins of the MacDougalls, who are descended from Somerled, the Norse/Gaelic warlord who held power in the West of Scotland in the mid twelfth century.

Our boat - Kittiwake

Alas, we have only been out in our boat, Kittiwake, for a couple of days this year.  When the weather has been good, we've just been too busy doing other things.  Hopefully next year will be different......

Kittiwake

Fixing things

Sailing in the Firth of Lorne as the sun sets

Sailing is about relaxation. We stopped off one time at the delightfully old-fashioned town of Rothesay, on Bute.

Returning home on a misty evening

Safely back on her mooring buoy in Loch Feochan.

More Fishing Boats

I almost feel guilty when I eat fish -
fishermen have an extremely tough life and their boats are solid, tough, sassy craft.  In Oban, the fishing boats jostle for space with ferries, day-trip boats, yachts, the lifeboat and the lighthouse boat.

More Oban fishers.

 
The Reaper, a fishing boat built in 1901.  It would have been good to see her in full sail, but that would be a bit dodgy in a harbour as tricky as Oban.

Not sure I'd like to be the one to climb the Reaper's mast to fix a broken shackle at the top.

Fishing boats at Tobermory, Mull. The clouds look as if they are part of a stage set.

Ex-boats

 Some boats just get abandoned.... particularly on islands.  Here are some ex-boats

This boat looks rather sad.

Well, maybe this dinghy could be resurrected with some air...........

This boat is not sailing anywhere soon....












We inherited this boat when we bought our house. It fell apart when we tried to turn it over!
Another ex-boat in the garden was full of weeds accompanied by a few strawberry plants.

Fishing Boats on Tiree

Working Boats....

These pictures were taken at Milton, Tiree (see map).
The harbour was created in 1847 to create work and still has about 6 regular fishing boats.  Sadly it is said that most of the catch goes to Spain - apparently we Brits do not appreciate the wonderful wealth of seafood around our shores.  Peter & I did our bit to remedy this on Thursday when we had a wonderfully extravagant platter of local seafood at the 'Cobbled Cow' in Crossapol, Tiree.

 

Visual Research - Project Brief and Ponderings

Project Brief
To photograph feet in different poses and create a rolling blog extending over most of the semester showing the most interesting and appropriate of these photographs.  This blog is to be accompanied by brief comment and analysis, and followed by a summary and evaluation of the results and in particular a critique of the modes of analysis used. The subject matter for the photographs may change if taking photographs of feet is found to be impractical or looks as if it will be an unpromising area to study.

The Methodological Considerations (data gathering and analysis)
Data will be gathered by taking a large number of photographs of feet in different poses (or other such subject as is finally chosen).  The methods of analysis will include Semiotic Analysis, Discourse Analysis and Grounded Theory as become most appropriate during the course of the project.

Equipment needs
A digital camera and a computer with access to the internet.  Also transport to different locations (car/bus/bicycle/foot/boat) as appropriate

Sample considerations
Given the proposed subject matter, the sample size should be large enough to get a good sample of different poses, but does not need to be large for statistical purposes, so around 30 photographs would seem a suitable aim, allowing for more if deemed necessary to the study.

Ethical Issues to be considered
The only ethical issue which could arise is if faces were shown, and these would be blurred or otherwise rendered unrecognisable.

Restraints and Issues expected
Permission may need to be sought for some photographs, but these would be accompanied by the reassurance that no faces or other recognisable features would be published.

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Ponderings......
I started this project thinking that I would look at feet.  Mainly feet with shoes on - in different poses.

As I started to take some photos, I began to think of tracks and journeys.  Walking on a sandy beach on Tiree, I started photographing the tracks of humans, birds and sheep.

  

Thinking about sand, sea and journeys, I thought about boats.  Ah.  Brainwave.  Boats would make a much better story.  So boats it is!