Category Archives: High Seas

When designers put their heads together to make something that looks fast, it generally turns out that it goes pretty fast too. The reverse is equally true, which is exactly what weve got with the SP80 sailboat, which looks like it was imagined by the team at Star Wars and is designed to break the world sailing speed record next year.

As with so many precision engineering and manufacturing companies, be it watchmaking or bicycle production, SP80 is a team based in Switzerland. Since the company was founded in 2018, theyve been hard at work designing the worlds fastest sailing boat, which looks less like the galleys that launched after Helen of Troy, and more like an SR-71 Blackbird jet.

SP80 have designed its sailboat to achieve the eye-watering speeds of 80 knots (150km/h), which if can be actualised in a real-world setting, would shatter the current world record of 65.45 knots (121.1 km/h) that was set in 2012 by the Vestas Sailrocket 2. The vessel itself measures around 10m long, with a pair of stabilizing fin-like pontoons that measure 7m from tip to tip.

RELATED: The Cutting-Edge Material That Makes Richard Mille Watches So Exclusive

In order to keep it as sleek and aerodynamic as possible, the sailboat doesnt actually have a mast or traditional sail, and instead will be propelled by a kite blowing ahead of the vessel. Because of this unconventional design, the vessel requires two pilots, one of whom will steer the boat while the other pilots the kite.

As youd expect in what is effectively an F1 racecar of the high seas, the cockpit of the vessel has been designed with reinforced kevlar elements that can withstand 50G of accelerating force. Boasting bucket seats, 6 point harnesses and helmets for both pilots safety, it will also be the first sailing boat with deployable oxygen masks in case of an emergency.

2023 will be a decisive year, with the final preparations to break the 80 knots record and make sailing history, explained Mayeul van den Broek, co-founder and project manager of SP80.

We are currently looking for the last financial and technical partnerships to take the adventure to the finish line. The whole team is so proud to see this concept becoming a reality and we cant wait to finally unveil and test our final design on the water!

SP80 has already attracted the sponsorship of the watchmaker Richard Mille, a sophisticated manufacturer that actually uses high-end sail making technology to create its extremely robust watch cases. Its a natural fit for both Swiss companies, as SP80 seeks to lock in its final sponsorship partners.

The final SP80 sailboat is expected to be fully built and launched by the end of 2022, with the first attempts at the world sailing speed records to take place near the middle of 2023 in the south of France.

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World Sailing Speed Record Looks To Be Obliterated By The SP80 Sailboat - Boss Hunting

First port in a storm for trawlers moored at West Quay Napier on Tuesday afternoon ahead of gales and heavy seas forecast off the coast of Hawke's Bay. Photo / Paul Taylor.

Rainfall of almost 20mm was recorded in some parts of Hawke's Bay in the first few hours of a forecast deluge brought-on by ex-Tropical Cyclone Fili.

The initial heaviest rainfalls on Wednesday had been from Napier up State Highway 5 towards Taupo, according to Hawke's Bay Regional Council on-line rainfall recordings about 9am.

The latest forecast, for areas outside of Wairoa, is suggesting that rain warnings are downgrading to 'rain watch' scenarios.

There had been 27.6mm at Te Pohue in the few hours to 9am, 19mm on the Upper Mohaka River at Te Haroto, 21mm at Glengarry, and 18mm at the Council's own site near the Napier CBD.

In the Wairoa area there had been 13.2mm in the Ruakituri area, scene of some of the greatest devastation in the rain over the last half of March.

There had been 16.5mm on the Wairoa River at Marumaru, south of the Ruakituri Valley, just 9mm at the railway bridge in town, and in Te Urewera there had been 27mm at Aniwaniwa.

On the Napier-Taupo highway, also forecast to take some impact from the weather, driver Rob Johnson reported about 7am on the SH5 Napier-Taupo Issues facebook page that the worst of the rain at that stage had been "along the plains to Waipunga then again at Titiokura to Te Pohue."

Ruakituri Valley farmer Nukuhia Hadfield, whose was bracing for more heavy rain barely having started the recovery from damage caused on Mangaroa Station northwest of Wairoa since 1100mm of rain fell between March 21 and April 1, said mid-morning: "It's good just now, coming and going. It hadn't been something to wake you up (in the night) and go 'Oh god, not again'."

National weather agency updated its heavy rain warning for the Wairoa district just before 10am, saying that for the 19 hours 9am to 4am tomorrow, a further 100-150mm of rain could accumulate on top of that already recorded, but 150-250mm was being forecast in the area of the "Whareratas" on State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Gisborne.

The Wairoa district is on high alert after rain totalling more than 1000mm in some areas in barely a week last month.

Possibilities of 250-350mm had been flagged in a warning 24 hours earlier and in a new forecast for the rest of Hawke's Bay, for the 15 hours from 9am, MetService said "warnable amounts" of rain were no longer expected, a "Watch " would be maintained.

Warnings of gales and heavy seas also impacted in the fishing industry, with trawlers berthed in places three-wide at West Quay in Napier by late afternoon on Tuesday.

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Hawke's Bay rain starts but less forecast than in original warnings - New Zealand Herald

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere is a Conservative peer, writer and columnist. He was a Conservative MEP from 1999 to 2020, and is now President of the Initiative for Free Trade.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky set parts of his magnum opus, The Brothers Karamazov, in the Optina monastery near the small town of Kozelsk. Here, his characters debated the books fundamental questions.

How can a benevolent God have created a world full of horrors? Then again, in what sense other than by religious criteria can they definitively be said to be horrors? How, in short, is any morality possible without God?

In April 1940, in the same monastery, Dostoyevskys questions found a grisly non-fictional answer. Optina was used as a base by Stalins security agency, the NKVD. Being Communists, they had been taught that leaving behind the superstition and flummery of Christianity would allow them to make rational judgments not least about the value of human life.

This reasoning led them to condemn 21,892 army officers, priests and intellectuals who had been arrested following the USSRs invasion of Poland the previous year.

The captured Poles, many of whom were held at Kozelsk, had proved unwilling to adopt a properly Soviet outlook. They kept their uniforms too tidy, and continued to observe military rank in captivity. Local peasants recalled that their very bearing made them stand out.

They had insisted on celebrating Christmas in their prison camps. Early in 1940, Lavrentiy Beria, Stalins gruesome security chief, decided to eliminate them and, as was his way, decreed a target number to be shot.

When the time came, the Poles climbed trustingly into their buses, thinking they were being sent home. It simply did not occur to them that they might be murdered without judicial process. One officer, Adam Solski, kept a diary which ended abruptly: They asked about my wedding ring, which I

He and his comrades were driven into the Katyn forest and shot in batches.

The annihilation of Polands military, civil and ecclesiastical leaders was hushed up by the Soviet authorities. By the time evidence reached the West, Hitler had invaded the USSR, and no one wanted to hear about abominations committed by their new allies.

For years, the crime went unacknowledged. But on the seventieth anniversary, 10 April 2010, Vladimir Putin invited Polands leaders to a commemoration at the site of the massacre.

They never made it. In heavy fog, their plane crashed in the forest outside the nearby town of Smolensk, killing Lech Kaczyski, the President, his wife Maria, the Chief of General Staff, the President of the National Bank, the leadership of the governing PiS party, including several ministers, and various senior army officers and clergymen.

Once again, in the same place and on the same date, Poland lost its military, civil and ecclesiastical leaders.

Last Sunday, the twelfth anniversary of the Smolensk catastrophe, I led a delegation of Conservative MPs and peers to place wreaths at memorials for the victims and attend a commemorative Mass in Warsaw, along with Polands President and Prime Minister and the Ukrainian ambassador.

Afterwards, we walked with the congregation, joined by a huge throng outside the church, to hear a speech by the slain presidents identical twin, Jarosaw, who is technically Deputy Prime Minister but who, as leader of the PiS, is the chief force in Polands government.

I can only imagine what it must be like to lose a twin. Norris McWhirter, whose twin brother Ross was murdered by the IRA, once told me: Its not bereavement; its amputation.

From his chilly outdoor podium, Kaczyski repeated his charge that the Smolensk disaster had been a planned Russian assassination. He told the crowd that only force would contain the bandit regime in the Kremlin and that, if Ukraine fell, Latvia and Lithuania would follow.

I tell you all this because I think it puts Polands response to the Ukrainian calamity in context. I hope Polish readers will forgive me if I observe that, by and large, Poles are not a light-hearted people; but, by Heaven, they know how to rise to a challenge.

We Tory parliamentarians were there as part of a five-day visit, distributing aid to Ukrainian refugees and building a playground for orphans who had been moved en masse to a new facility in Pomerania when the war began. The work was organised through Project Maja, which runs Conservative social action initiatives overseas.

It was our tenth project, and I want to thank the parliamentarians who gave up a slice of their recess: Amanda Solloway, Tom Randall, Natalie Elphicke, James Wild and Baronesses Evans of Bowes Park and Hodgson of Abinger.

We were awe-struck at the unfussy professionalism with which Poland has taken in 2.6 million refugees. Schools have expanded and laid on Polish-language lessons. Newspapers are printing Ukrainian editions. Mobile phone operators are giving away data. Owners of Airbnbs are opening their premises, business consortiums offering free hotel rooms.

More than once, I found myself wondering whether Britain would have coped in the same way. Its not that I doubt the generosity of our people, who are queuing up to open their homes.

Rather, I doubt the capacity of our bureaucracy. Refugee centres would be closed because they were not Covid-compliant, hosts rejected on grounds that they hadnt completed their DBS checks, foster parents required to do diversity training. If that sounds far-fetched, look at the spectacular failure of the Home Office to process visas.

Poles have little time for such niceties. History has taught them the value of self-reliance, which is why they sympathise so deeply with their Ukrainian neighbours.

We remember Poland as the only European ally that was on our side from the beginning of the Second World War to the end. But, from Polands point of view, that alliance worked only one way. Polish servicemen fought at our side in Norway, at Dunkirk, in North Africa, at Monte Casino, in the Normandy landings, at Arnhem and on the high seas.

But we were in no position to return the favour when their homeland was twice overrun.

Unsurprisingly, Poles see the Ukrainian cause as their own; indeed, as the cause of everyone who believes in national independence. In pursuit of that same cause, they recently declared that Polish law was supreme over EU law on their own soil a dispute that has resulted in Brussels fining them a million euros a day even as they accommodate the displaced Ukrainians.

I am not trying to make a point-scoring Eurosceptic argument. Ukraine, after all, has asked to join the EU, albeit in very particular circumstances.

No, my point is a wider one. The war began because Ukraine insisted on being a fully sovereign state. Poles recognise that sentiment. Nationhood, for so long treated as a swear-word in European circles, is again proving its worth as the chief antidote to tyranny.

We declared war in 1939, not because we had been attacked, but in order to defend the sovereignty of a friendly state. We failed. Poland was occupied by the Red Army for 45 years though we continued, at least, to host the government in exile.

Patriotism was the force that inspired us to defend the cause of all nations, that led to the defeat of Nazism and, eventually, of Soviet communism, too. The nation-state remains the most secure container for liberty. Poles know it. So, I think, do we.

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Daniel Hannan: In Poland, proof the nation state is our surest shield against tyranny - ConservativeHome

1. High Seas Treaty Must Reflect Critical Role of Fish in Marine Ecosystems  The Pew Charitable Trusts
2. New high seas treaty to fill vital gap in ocean protection  BirdLife International
3. UN ocean treaty is once in a lifetime chance to protect the high seas  The Guardian
4. Why an international treaty for the high seas is crucial to biodiversity  World Economic Forum
5. The U.N. Treaty That Could Be the Oceans' Last Great Hope  Foreign Policy
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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High Seas Treaty Must Reflect Critical Role of Fish in Marine Ecosystems - The Pew Charitable Trusts

One week earlier, a group of about 350 migrants landed in the Keys.

March 14, 2022, 9:20 PM

4 min read

About 150 Haitian migrants landed on the shores of the Summerland Key in Florida Monday morning, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

According to Adam Linhardt, Director of Media Relations Monroe Co. Sheriff's Office, the group traveled on a single vessel. They're now being investigated by CBP.

The news comes just one week after 356 Haitian migrants reached the coast of the Ocean Reef community in Key Largo, Florida.

150 Haitian migrants land in Summerland Key, Fla., March 14, 2021.

A total 158 people swam to shore from the vessel, which was roughly 200 meters away from land. They were taken into CBP custody when they arrived and will be interviewed and processed for removal proceedings, according to CBP.

"We are fortunate to report that there were no serious injuries or fatalities associated with this smuggling venture," said Walter N. Slosar, Chief Patrol Agent, U.S. Border Patrol, Miami Sector, in a press release. "The criminal organizations that overload these vessels sacrifice the safety of the migrants for the sake of profits."

A remaining 198 people stayed on the boat and were stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard and transferred to the agency's boats. They have since been repatriated to Haiti.

150 Haitian migrants land in Summerland Key, Fla., March 14, 2021.

In January, a "human-smuggling" boat carrying 40 people capsized in the Straits of Florida. Thirty-four people remained unaccounted for in the incident, according to officials.

Five bodies were recovered, and one person was found alive, clinging to the hull of the boat.

"The Coast Guard maintains a persistent presence patrolling the waters around Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, to help prevent loss of life on the high seas," said Lt. David Steele, Coast Guard liaison officer to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, at the time. "These grossly overloaded vessels operate without proper safety equipment and are not built for these hazardous voyages."

Many Haitian refugees have left their country due to the devastating impacts of natural disasters and political instability that have resulted in economic struggles in the country.

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Over 100 Haitian migrants land in Florida Keys on single boat - ABC News

On March 9, a search expedition made a notable discovery: the 144-foot (44-meter) wooden ship known as the Endurance, that once carried explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew to Antarctica, had been found 3,000 m (10,000 ft) deep in the Weddell Sea, 106 years after it sank in ice-crushing conditions. About 320 kilometers (200 miles) away, a different kind of search expedition was taking place in the Weddell Sea. A research team led by Greenpeace was documenting vulnerable marine ecosystems in this part of the Southern Ocean, capturing images of corals, sponges and other organisms that had never been seen before.

John Hocevar, the ocean campaign director for Greenpeace, who piloted the two-person submarines used in the expedition, said they had been able to explore further south than they expected due to the dramatic decrease in sea ice.

There is less sea ice in the Antarctic waters than at any time in recorded history, Hocevar told Mongabay on the phone while aboard the Arctic Sunrise, which, at the time was passing through the Drake Strait en route to Ushuaia, Argentina. On the one hand, it was amazing for us to be able to explore areas that had almost always been covered with ice, but on the other hand, its a little horrifying to see firsthand how quickly climate change is impacting Antarctica.

Through a series of 12 dives, the team identified nearly a dozen new vulnerable marine ecosystems, which, by the definition proposed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), include cold-water coral reefs and sponge fields. These ecosystems tend to be very slow-growing and provide habitat protection for other organisms.

The teams documented a range of organisms, including ice fish, deep-sea worms, bottle-brush corals, glass sponges and jellyfish-like hydroids. They also took samples of some organisms for further study.

We found a surprising concentration and diversity of marine life, even in areas that are usually covered by ice and have never seen sunlight, said Hocevar, who compared some sites to tropical coral reefs in terms of their diversity and abundance of life.

The colors are really incredible, he added. Most of the life down there is in the orange, yellow and red palette.

Research expeditions in the Southern Ocean have traditionally used dredges or nets to collect samples of deep-sea organisms, but this expedition was able to collect images and video of marine habitats in the Weddell Sea while creating minimal disturbance to the environment.

That is why the sub is such a powerful tool, Hocevar said. We are able to gather video data that allows us to see how these species live, how they interact with other species in their natural habitat. Ive sent video clips of [ice] fish to the worlds leading expert on that type of fish and they had never seen images of them alive before.

Suzanne Lockhart, a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences and leading scientist of the expedition, said that its important to protect the Weddell Sea for a number of reasons, including that it propels circulation for the global ocean.

You can think of the Weddell Sea as the heart of the worlds ocean and that it helps pump and drive circulation, Lockhart told Mongabay in a phone interview. And so a healthy heart, of course, is going to lead to a healthier ocean overall.

Vulnerable marine ecosystems like cold-water coral reefs also draw in carbon dioxide, which is then buried in the earth when the corals die, Lockhart said.

Putting carbon into these skeletal structures and things like coral means it will be there while the coral lives for hundreds of years, hopefully, she said. When they die it gets buried back into the earth instead of getting recycled back into the system. So protecting these coral communities is really important to help combat the rapidly changing climate.

Hocevar said this research expedition aimed not only to document vulnerable marine ecosystems, but to build support for two ocean-related negotiations: a U.N.-backed oceans treaty that may be approved this year, and an ongoing bid to establish three marine protected areas (MPAs) in Antarctic waters.

Negotiators are currently meeting in New York to discuss the establishment of the U.N. treaty that would provide a legal framework for protecting marine biodiversity and the high seas, the vast expanses of ocean over which no country has jurisdiction. However, a decision may not be made until later in the year, Hocevar said.

Peggy Kalas, director of the High Seas Alliance, a partnership of organizations working to protect the high seas, has called the treaty a once-in-a-generation chance to build meaningful protections for an environment that supports life.

With climate change and industrial-scale overexploitation now causing a startling decline in marine biodiversity, we may not get another chance, she said in a statement.

In October, the CCAMLR will hold its annual meeting to discuss a number of issues, including the proposal to establish three MPAs in the Weddell Sea, East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. Collectively, these MPAs would safeguard about 4 million square kilometers (1.5 million square miles), which is about 1% of the worlds ocean. CCAMLR has previously failed to establish these MPAs, mainly due to China and Russia blocking the proposals.

Rodolfo Werner, a senior adviser at Pew Charitable Trusts and the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), said the Russian invasion of Ukraine will add a layer of complication in getting these proposals approved, although he said he wasnt sure what the impact would be. Both Russia and Ukraine are members of the Antarctic Treaty and CCAMLR. But while complications are expected, Werner said its more urgent than ever to protect the ocean around Antarctica.

Antarctic conservation cannot wait, Werner told Mongabay in an email. The impact of global warming and the increasing fishing interest to the area are calling for the creation of marine protected areas as soon as possible. That is why we will not stop working on promoting this and trying to get MPAs over the line this year too.

Banner image caption: Video still of a Cygnodraco mawsoni, seen among orange primnoid bottle brush corals and colonial tunicates. Image by Greenpeace.

Elizabeth Claire Albertsis a staff writer for Mongabay. Follow her on Twitter@ECAlberts.

FEEDBACK:Use this formto send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.

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Vulnerable Antarctic reefs reveal wealth of life as rich as tropical corals - Mongabay.com

Roger Parloff analyzed a U.S. district court judges dismissal of the felony charge that has become the single most important weapon in the governments arsenal in Capitol insurrection cases.

Chris Carpenter analyzed the increase in the use of digital evidence in the prosecutions of the Jan. 6 rioters.

Benjamin Wittes posted the second episode of The Aftermath, which covers the early phases of the criminal investigation launched by the FBI even as the perpetrators of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were heading home:

Katherine Pompilio announced this weeks Lawfare Live, which featured a Q&A with Wittes, Natalie Orpett and Rohini Kurup about the second episode of The Aftermath.

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of Rational Security in which Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Quinta Jurecic and Scott R. Anderson discussed a new filing by the Jan. 6 committee and support the U.S. and its allies should provide to the Ukrainian government:

Rozenshtein hypothesized about how the Ukraine-Russia conflict would have played out had Donald Trump still been president of the United States.

Howell also shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Wittes talks with Katerynaa Ukrainian law studentabout life as a Russian-speaking Ukrainian in Kharkiv before and after the Russian invasion, about getting out of Ukraine, and about being a refugee law student in an adjacent country:

Howell also shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Anderson sat down with Michael Kofman to get a sense of the state of the conflict in Ukraine and where it might be headed. They talked about what's gone wrong for Russia so far, how Western assistance is empowering the Ukrainians and how both sides are likely to adapt as the conflict enters its next stage.

Pompilio posted the criminal complaint that charged a Russian-American woman with acting illegally as a Russian agent in the U.S. for at least 10 years.

Pompilio also announced next weeks Lawfare Live, in which Anderson will answer questions about everything you wanted to know about sanctions but were afraid to ask.

Ingrid Wuerth examined whether foreign sovereign immunity applies to sanctions on central banks.

Michael C. Petra discussed whether neutral states can seize belligerent merchant vessels on the high seas and retain their neutral status during armed conflict.

Jordan Schneider shared an episode of ChinaTalk in which he and Matej imalk discuss if the war in Ukraine will accelerate changes in opinion towards China:

Schneider also shared another episode of ChinaTalk in which he and Una Aleksandra Brzia-erenkova discuss the Latvian perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

David Priess shared an episode of the Chatter podcast in which he sat down with former Estonian President Toomas Ilves to discuss his parents' experience fleeing wartime Estonia, the 2007 cyberattacks on Estonia, and why the new Russian invasion of Ukraine has (so far) lacked a major cyber warfare element:

Jaime Lopez and Brady Worthington examined the extent and limits of the International Criminal Courts jurisdiction over the conflict in Ukraine.

Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck shared an episode of the National Security Law Podcast in which they discuss and debate topics ranging from the International Criminal Courts jurisdiction over war crimes on Ukraines territory to the House Foreign Affairs Committees hearing on the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force:

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Evelyn Douek and Jurecic spoke with Alex Stamos about how various platforms, from Twitter to TikTok and Telegram, are moderating the content coming out of Russia and Ukraine right now:

Paul Rosenzweig discussed if there is a way to improve content moderation on platforms.

Stewart Baker shared an episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast in which Gus Horwitz and Mark MacCarthy review the tech boycott that has seen companies like Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Adobe pull their service from Russia:

Matthew H. Murray explained how divestment from Russia by foreign business could increase pressure on Vladimir Putin.

MacCarthy analyzed the Open App Markets Bill that was just approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Alvaro Maraon posted President Bidens executive order on ensuring responsible development of digital assets.

Nicol Turner Lee shared an episode of TechTank in which Lee and Renee Cummings discuss whether civil rights and algorithmic systems coexist and, if so, what roles do government agencies and industries play in ensuring fairness, diversity, and inclusion:

Chesney posted a registration link to the U.S. Cyber Commands Annual Legal Conference.

Mary Brooks and Rosenzweig announced the White Hat Cyber Forecasting Challenge.

Maraon also posted the indictment of Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyia key member of the REvil ransomware groupfor his alleged involvement in a variety of cyber crimes.

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast, in which Priess sat down with Garrett Graff to discuss the Watergate scandal. They discussed the evolution of Nixon's thinking involving the tapes that he recorded of his White House conversations, the order that the Secretary of Defense gave during the height of the scandal to warn soldiers about following the commander-in-chief's orders, and more:

Pompilio posted the intelligence communitys annual threat assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for 2022.

And Teresa Chen, Sam Cohen, Alana Nance, Han-ah Sumner and Alex Vivona discussed the Biden administrations new Indo-Pacific Strategy and more.

And that was the week that was.

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The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post - Lawfare

When Herman and Candelaria Zapp set out in a 1928 jalopy the car is called Graham-Paige from Buenos Aires, the world was a different place. There were no smartphones, the internet was in its infancy, a place of knowledge and hope rather than disinformation and division, the twin towers stood tall in New York, and Russia was a diminutive shell overshadowed by its Soviet past. Since 2000, the Zapps have travelled to over 102 countries across five continents. For most of their trip, they depended on the kindness of strangers. The couple estimates that they have been hosted by over 2,000 families for the rest of the time, they lived out of the car.

The Zapps home is the road. They have had four children in different countries, and in an era of strict visa regimes and rising insularity, managed to treat borders as what they truly are arbitrary and artificial lines on a map. As the family expanded, so did the car. It was re-purposed and expanded to make room for the growing family. The trunk carried kitchen supplies, the engine doubled up as a stove and grill. And then there are the trials and tribulations between them, the family has suffered from Ebola, dengue, malaria and been stranded during the pandemic.

When the couple left their home to become nomads, they had been married six years, had well-paying jobs and a home. The giving up of the middle-class paradise, though, was clearly worth their while. Already, Herman now 53 is contemplating sailing around the world. For all that has changed in 22 years poor countries have become middle-income ones, wars are back, as are tensions on the high seas some things hopefully havent. On their second trip around the world, too, the Zapps will hopefully find hospitality.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on March 15, 2022 under the title Home is a journey.

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An Argentine couple lived on the road, travelling for 22 years. Meanwhile, the world changed and hopefully, didnt - The Indian Express

Four kayakers were helped ashore by lifeboats off the north Dublin coast on Sunday afternoon after getting into difficultly in strong winds and high seas.

Howth RNLI in north Co Dublin launched both its lifeboats in response to reports that six kayakers found themselves in difficulty off the coast of Malahide.

One person was reported to have capsized and was struggling in the water amid poor weather conditions with strong easterly winds and one-metre-high seas.

Four kayakers were rescued from the sea north of Malahide with two members of Howth inshore lifeboats crew entering the water and helping the kayakers ashore at Donabate beach.

The other two kayakers made their own way ashore on the southern side of Malahide estuary and were assisted by the Howth Coast Guard Unit.

Thankfully, this call-out in difficult conditions ended well with all kayakers returned safely to shore, said Howth RNLI inshore lifeboat helm Lorcan Dignam.

He urged kayakers to carry a handheld VHF radio or a mobile phone in a waterproof pouch with them in case they find themselves into trouble while out on the sea.

Weather and sea conditions can change very quickly, so its really important to check the weather forecast and what the tides are doing before you go out on the water, he said.

The RNLI operates more than 238 lifeboat stations in Ireland and the UK. It is run independently of the coast guard and government and relies on voluntary donations.

Since its foundation in 1824, RNLI lifeboat crews and lifeguards are estimated to have saved more than 142,700 lives.

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Kayakers rescued off Dublin coast in poor weather conditions - The Irish Times

The Rolling Stones are esteemed for their unapologetic take on rock n roll. Bursting onto the rhythm and blues scene in London in the early 1960s, the band arrived with an edge that set them apart from their peers: Keith Richards.

Danger and Keith Richards come hand in hand, and whether it be on stage, in the studio, or otherwise, he is well known as being musics resident bad boy. Something akin to a musical Evel Knievel, hes had many brushes with death over the years owing to excess and has come back from the brink on countless occasions. Bringing a genuine scent of danger into music, there will never be anyone like Keith Richards.

This propensity for danger helped The Rolling Stones establish their USP, differentiating themselves from the sugary pop of The Beatles and the introspective soul of The Kinks. They appealed to anyone who had a penchant for the darker, raunchy side of rock and roll that was first championed by Chuck Berry.

Nothing was going to get in the way of them having a good time, the police, the media or otherwise. It was Richards who led the charge, and none of this would have happened without him, a testament to his rough and rowdy ways.

There have been many instances of musicians who claim to live on the edge in public, but at home, they love nothing more than a mug of hot Horlicks and getting cosy under a blanket watchingFriends. This is not Richards though. Even his detractors cannot argue that he is not genuine. To this day, he lives out the rock n roll dream, something that puts many wannabees who are three times younger than him to shame.

Although he has lived a wild life and one that has spawned countless insane anecdotes, every so often, Richards does allow himself a period of downtime, which is crucial for a man who has notoriously kept the wick lit at both ends. During these times of quiet, out of the media eye, the musician likes to keep himself busy by reading. The pictures of his vast library confirm this, and in terms of size, it gives us laymen something to aspire to. He loves fiction, non-fiction and everything in between.

One thing is clear, though, he is a lover of tales set on the high-seas, which may come to little surprise, given his iconic pirate-esque garb, role inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,and position as musics resident swashbuckler.

One of the series he loves the most is Patrick OBrians classic Aubrey-Maturin series, the first of which is the iconicMaster and Commander.The book was adapted into a celebrated feature-length film starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany in 2003. The 20 novel series is renowned for its well researched and detailed portrayal of early 19th-century life, so theres no surprise that Richards loves it as hes an avid lover of history.

Of the books, he said: You can never go wrong with any of Patrick OBrians books. If youve seen the movieMaster and Commander, its the first movie they made out of his books, theyre very, very interesting.

If youre ever struggling with what to read next, Richards is right. The Aubrey-Maturin series makes for a captivating experience, and for history lovers wanting to immerse themselves in the chaotic lives of seamen in the Napoleonic Wars, look no further.

Watch Richards talk about the books below.

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Why Keith Richards loves the 'Master and Commander' books - Far Out Magazine