A Floating Home With A Difference,

a 'house yacht',

designed for those of us that like cruising, but want to keep the comfort of your own home, the Arkup is a luxury yacht shaped like a 4,300-square-foot modern villa. It can float like a boat, or rise above the waves using hydraulic pilings, for added stability in case of rough waters, and it’s reportedly built to withstand a category four hurricane, 

the floating villa doubles as a luxury sea vessel, thanks to its two 100 kW/272 hp electrical engines. It features four bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, 4 bathrooms, a swimming platform, retractable deck, and a roof covered with solar panels that make it completely self sufficient in terms of electricity, and thanks to a rainwater purification system, the chances of the 4,000-gallon fresh water tank going dry are very small,

while not designed for rough sea conditions, this amazing floating home can rise above water with the help of four hydraulic piling systems. The Arkup can reportedly rise up to 30 feet, which is plenty for coastal waters, “We can’t match the navigational capacity and speed of a yacht,” Arkup co-designer, Nicolas Derouin, told the Miami Herald newspaper. “You couldn’t cruise around the world, but you could use Arkup in the Bahamas or British Virgin Islands, for example.” the Arkup house yacht reaches a maximum speed of 7 knots and has a range of 20 nautical miles that can be further increased with additional battery banks or backup generators, so how much I hear you ask? yours for just $5.5 million, but, and here is the good news, for the not so well off millionaires there is a cut price version, according to the manufacturer’s website, you can order custom house yachts for as low as $2,267.000, well that's a relief!

The Shape Of Things To Come

if you live in Paris,

photograph crédit Alain Thébault et Anders Bringdal. LP/Guillaume Georges, the SeaBubbles as they are called, is a potentially new form of electric transportation, and the newest hope to beating the Parisian traffic, known as a “flying taxi”, the SeaBubbles resembles a vehicle straight out of a science fiction film, being oblong, glassy, and having the ability to glide across water without making a sound, the craft has a top speed of 20 miles per hour, as it rises nearly 30 inches above the water using wing-like structures known as 'hydrofoils' that are designed to reduce drag, 

inside, the vehicle holds up to four passengers, who face one another as if riding in a London taxi, according to Le Parisien, whose reporter snagged a ride inside the futuristic vehicle, designers say the taxi — which has been tested up and down the river Seine in the heart of Paris — can be hailed using a smartphone app and could be available for rides as early as next year, pending final licensing, it looks like great fun, I wonder who gets to drive it? the first passenger in I guess, or perhaps it has a simple set of instructions that if pressed will take you to your choice of jetty, if it is a success the craft could be coming to a city near you.

I Have Always Dreamed Of Living On A Boat,

impractical I know,

but it did not stop me dreaming, and of course the main problem is size, so I was interested to hear that an aircraft carrier was up for sale from the Brazilian Navy, so it will certainly be big enough to live on board, I decided to look up a few facts about the carrier, France sold Foch to Brazil in 2000, and the renamed Sao Paulo carried out exercises and launched Brazil’s AF-1 Skyhawk attack planes from her flat, catapult-launch deck, similar to U.S. carriers and the Charles de Gaulle, France’s sole remaining fleet carrier, Brazil paid France $12 million for the carrier but sank $100 million more keeping her seaworthy, fires broke out aboard the vessel at least twice, once in 2004 and again 2012, the accidents forced costly repairs and kept the carrier in port for long periods of time, Sao Paulo was supposed to rejoin the fleet in 2013, but the accidents kept sidelining her. “By the end of 2016, Sao Paulo was still undergoing repairs and there were reports that it might take another decade to get the ship fully operational again,” Joe Trevithick noted at The War Zone, “By the time the Brazilian navy finally decided to just retire the ship in 2017, it was the world's oldest commissioned aircraft carrier,” Trevithick continued, “In the better part of two decades that the flattop had flown the Brazilian flag, she had spent just 206 days at sea.” so a bit unreliable then, and where do I get $1.275 million from as the opening bid? also where would I park it? no I think we will stick with the flat! but it has to be said, a snip considering what was paid for it, and the money spent on repairs! picture source: Brazilian Navy.

I Read The First Part Of This Post Back In 2012,

it was about Crossrail,

which is a 73-mile railway line under development in England that crosses London from east to west, well they uncovered a 100 year old ship slipway near Canning Town, east London,

 but not just any old slipway, this is the slipway of the Thames Ironworks, 

 which as any British football fan will tell you gave birth to the Thames Ironworks Football Club, or as it is better known today, West Ham United,

so what has all of that got to do with Peru? well the answer is that today I read about one of the ships built by the Thames Ironworks is still going strong! well it does now have a newer engine, but it is still floating and working, in 1861, the Peruvian government undertook a daunting task: to build two warships on Lake Titicaca--the highest navigable lake in the world. The lake formed part of Peruvian-Bolivian border and Peru wanted to be prepared for any future hostilities, Peru contracted two British shipbuilders for this purpose. There were no modern roads leading up to the lake. So the builders brought the ships' components by mule 225 miles through a desert up to the lake for assembly. No piece could weigh more than 392 pounds--the maximum weight a mule could carry, the shipbuilders completed the Yavari in 1870 and the Yapura in 1872, the Yavari is now a museum ship and for a time offered bed and breakfast, but the Yapura, which is pictured above, is still in service, photograph Peru Navy, for a insight of the journey, and the fact that the gunship did not have guns and at one time ran on lima poo, there is a short read about it here.

It Is A Story We All know,

and knowing how it ends,

 we still flock in our droves,

 to see the same event repeated,

 over and over again,

 as each generation falls under the spell,

of the Titanic, so here for a change, that is not featuring the sinking, here are 36 photographs of the great lady being built here, and in case you are wondering, here is a list of of Titanic movies – including some of the posters from various productions, that have been made about the RMS Titanic:

In Nacht und Eis, a 1912 film produced in Germany. It was thought lost until a collector discovered a copy in his collection in 1998.

Saved from the Titanic, a 1912 film starring Titanic survivor Dorothy Gibson.

Atlantic, a 1929 film that is highly fictionalized. It was retitled Titanic: Disaster in the Atlantic in American home video releases.

Titanic, a 1943 German Nazi propaganda film directed by Werner Von Klingler.

Titanic, a 1953 film starring Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb and Robert Wagner, directed by Jean Negulesco.

A Night to Remember, a 1958 film based on the disaster.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown, a 1964 film starring Debbie Reynolds as Titanic survivor Margaret Brown.

S.O.S. Titanic, a 1979 made-for-television film.

Raise the Titanic!, a 1980 “B-Movie” film based on the novel by Clive Cussler.

Titanica: IMAX, a 1995 IMAX documentary film about the Titanic narrated by Leonard Nimoy.

Titanic, a 1996 television mini-series, starring George C. Scott, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Peter Gallagher, and Tim Curry.

No Greater Love, a 1996 made-for-television romance movie in which a young woman takes charge of her young siblings, upon losing her fiance and parents in the disaster. Based on the Danielle Steel novel of the same name.  

Titanic, a 1997 blockbuster film directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Gloria Stuart (older Rose) and Billy Zane: grossing $1,842,879,955 worldwide.

Titanic: The Animated Movie, a 2001 Italian animated musical directed by Camillo Teti

Titanic II, a 2002 short film that spoofs the 1997 James Cameron film whilst referencing the real-life sinking of the Titanic

Ghosts of the Abyss, a 2003 3-D IMAX documentary directed by James Cameron and starring Bill Paxton,

and in case you did not know, the RMS Titanic was an Olympic-class passenger liner owned by British shipping company White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom. For her time, she was the largest passenger steamship in the world, 

On the night of 14 April 1912, during the ship’s maiden voyage, Titanic hit an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on 15 April 1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 people, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.

The high casualty rate was due in part to the fact that, although complying with the regulations of the time, the ship did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone aboard.

The ship had a total lifeboat capacity of 1,178 people, although her capacity was 3,547. A disproportionate number of men died due to the women-and-children-first protocol that was followed.

The Titanic used some of the most advanced technology available at the time and was popularly believed to have been described as “unsinkable.”

It was a great shock to many that, despite the extensive safety features and experienced crew, the Titanic sank. The frenzy on the part of the media about Titanic’s famous victims, the legends about the sinking, the resulting changes to maritime law, and the discovery of the wreck have contributed to the continuing interest in, and notoriety of, the Titanic.

We Had Heard,

there was a new girl in town,

 so we had to go and have a look,

 on to the number 54 bus,

 and past Peter Pans playground,

 or pool as it was known,

 many years ago as kids you could hire a small boat and you could paddle around the lake, it was such great fun, but the boating finished years ago, as did the miniature steam train rides

 back to the journey, into Catford

 and the cat over the sign, 

 not a flattering view of it I am afraid!

 we arrived in Blackheath village,

 and made our way past the flower shop,

 and up the hill,

 to the heath,

 where Diana spied this, 

 an ice cream van, 

 what a better way to start a cold day,

 we both decided there was one way better,

 two ice creams each!  

 ice creams finished we were now in the center of the heath,

 and then into the park,

 where the daffodils were putting on a good show,

 showing the many varieties that are now available,

 no leaves on the trees yet,

 but the show under them made up for it,

 we walked to the view point,

 and made our way downhill, 

 if you look carefully you can see the masts of the Cutty Sark, but it was not this lady we had come to see,

 the Maritime Museum.

 in the distance,

 we arrived at the bottom of the hill,

 and made ourway to the square,

 and into the market,

which was not so crowded today,

 but there were still,

 plenty of stalls to look at,

 with all manner of goods on sale,

 but first things first,

 Diana was hungry as she did not have breakfast, so whilst she queued for a snack,

 I had another look at some of the stalls,

 it seems today,

 that jewelry was the theme,

 as there were several stalls selling necklaces and brooches,

 by now Diana was being served her snack,

 in previous visits the place has been packed, but I guess Tuesdays are just slow days for the market,

 we made our way past the Reddoor cafe where we had tea and cakes last time we visited, 

 and there she was,

 the Cutty Sark,

 next to the dome which houses the staircase down to the pedestrian tunnel,

 that goes under the Thames,

 as we approached the bank, 

 we could see the lady we had come to see, 

 in the distance,

 we past the Japanese shop on the waterside path,

 looking back to the Cutty Sark and tunnel entrance, 

 and looking back again, 

 Diana was catching me up, 

 well here she is, the new girl in town for just three days,  

 she is the Dar Młodzieży, and is a Polish sail training ship designed by Zygmunt Choreń, a prototype of a class of six, the following five slightly-differing units were built subsequently by the same shipyard for the merchant fleet of the former Soviet Union, Her sister ships are Mir, Druzhba, Pallada, Khersones and Nadezhda, Dar Mlodziezy has been owned by the Gdynia Maritime Academy since she was built in 1981, Her name means “the gift of youth” and she replaced the beautiful frigate Dar Pormoza which had trained future officers of merchant and fishing fleets for over fifty years, for the technical Dar Mlodziezy was launched in November 1981 and put into service in 1982, she is a full-rigged ship, with a sail area of 3,015 m2(32,450 sq ft), and has a length 08.8 m (357 ft),

 and yes I had to get into the picture!

 well we both did,

 isn't she lovely! we would have loved to go aboard, but it appears the event was a sell out before she even docked, so there it is, 

 next stop tea and cakes, but this time at the Monsoon cafe, 

 cherry cake for Diana,

a current scone cream and jam for myself, delicious,

arriving home it was feet up for a few quiz and antiques shows, and after our evening meal and a couple more from the Celebrity Antiques Road Trip 

it was then another mystery from Poirot, The Big Four, another that we had not watched from the box set before, and great fun and mystery it was too, we are only making one post today as the moment I finish this we will be getting ready for another day out, so with that we were off to bed.