Master and Commander - Page 4

shorty943 · 11-24-2007, 08:35 AM

(Carry the 1, furtively looks around, counts the remainder on left toes)

That makes you, your own mother.

Eh Goddesses can do that. Or so it is writ.

Greg · 11-24-2007, 02:27 PM

Oh! Now I get it! I means "fluffy rose" in Old Low Dwarvish!

Miros1 · 11-24-2007, 05:34 PM

Shorty, yep, that's it, exactly!

Greg, that's quite likely!

Greg · 11-24-2007, 06:20 PM

Meawhile, back at the books, Post Captain Jack Aubrey and Doctor Stephen Maturin are sailing about India in HMS Surprise.

Jack would prefer to be on a cruise looking for prize ships so that he can retire his debts and marry his beloved Sophie, but the Indian Ocean seems to be barren of such adventures. Stephen has offered marriage his own beloved, who at the moment is inconveniently the mistress of a rich Jew who happens to be in Bombay at the same time. 'Tis a mightily tangled web.

I like the stories lots more when they get back onto the ship. Jack and Stephen were last seen crawling about the foretopmast, enjoying the view and reveling the wonder of it all.

shorty943 · 11-25-2007, 08:32 AM

Yeah, Bombay is a tangled web alright.

Me thinks the good Doctor pursues the wrong lass.

She won't be happy on a sailors pay, after "keeping company" with a "Lombard".

Heed the old Admirals words.

"Harbours, rot ships, and men".

Attributed to Admiral Benbow. Royal Navy.

Greg · 11-25-2007, 05:49 PM

It gets worse. They just found out that the three French men o' war that Jack Aubrey was hoping to take as prizes are three thousand miles away. The good news is that this has given him time to get the Surprise sailing quite lively and his crew very quick on their guns. At last report, she was making 11 knots and 8 fathoms with the wind.

shorty943 · 11-26-2007, 01:10 AM

Wow. 11+ knots.

In one of them bathtub shaped things?

Big wind up her skirts there.

Greg · 11-26-2007, 02:56 AM

Here's a really great resource:

Late 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Naval and Naval Social History

This is a nifty book on that site:
Boys Manual of Seamanship and Gunnery
It's dated April 1871, a lifetime after Jack Aubrey's adventures, but it seems the navy changes slowly.

Greg · 11-26-2007, 03:13 AM

Awesome ship models:
Building the frigate BLAAE HEYREN 1734

shorty943 · 11-27-2007, 02:53 AM

Good sites Greg, thank you.
Must check later to see if my first Admiral's battles are mentioned.
My first sea posting at 16 was the carrier, I discovered that the Fleet Commander, Rear Admiral Dover, had been a boy cadet of 14 years old, serving aboard HMS Prince of Wales during the battle that sank the Bismark.

When it comes to seamanship, the Royal Navy and The Admiralty, have lead the way for centuries.
The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship has been evolving over almost 500 years now. Certain things have proven to be the only safe way, over hundreds of years of trials and disastrous failure.
To this day the ships parts, naming conventions stand firm.
The system of watchkeeping to share the load, is still the same today, as it was in Jack's day.
The formal separation of the "lower deck", the "mid deck", and the "aft deck"
ranking and quartering.

Of course as I mentioned before, the ship's "inhouse" formality depends very much on her size.

And as for those model makers. What can you say?

Greg · 11-27-2007, 04:49 PM

But, alas, not too many mizzentopmasts on aircraft carriers.

Daydream: I'd like to see that model builder put together a whole harbor scene, with some of the ships under full sail and others being warped in, some being loaded, maybe one in dry dock. That would be really cool!

shorty943 · 11-27-2007, 11:00 PM

Do you have any idea how high up that would be?

That would be a hazard to the shuttle!

And that daydream would take some work.

The instructional models the Navy Shipwrights build, with apprentice help, take long enough. We used to be "familiarised" with various different ship class layouts by cut-away models. Up to 30 feet long in meticulous detail. Lift off decks, down and in you go section by section. Made using the official ships makers plans.

Superb work some folks do.

Greg · 11-27-2007, 11:35 PM

Yeah, a mast on an aircraft carrier would really catch the wind! It might not be too effective in the way of propulsion but it would be great at trying to!

I figured my little daydream was outlandish, but hey, if you're going to dream, dream big! It came to mind when I saw all of that fellow's models boxed up in glass cages. It just didn't seem to be the right way to display all those beautiful ships!

Miros1 · 11-28-2007, 01:21 AM

The glass is probably to prevent dust and damage from the removal of that dust...

Greg · 11-28-2007, 01:25 AM

That seems to be a much more reasonable assumption than that they'd put glass around the models to make them harder to view.

Miros1 · 11-28-2007, 09:36 AM

You'd think they'd take them out of the glass for photography tho. How dusty can something get in 5 minutes?

Greg · 11-30-2007, 12:19 PM

If you look at those display cases, you'll see the answer to that question. Those cases look like they were built to withstand shelling by the Luftwaffe.

Miros1 · 11-30-2007, 01:27 PM

Maybe they're afraid of micrometeoroids? Those don't usually survive atmosphere tho...

shorty943 · 12-01-2007, 11:57 PM

They are actually incredibly fragile.
Masts like matchsticks, standing and running rigging made of silk thread.
Every fitting handmade, no rubbish mass produced plastic garbage.

My own father used to spend hours at night putting 4 masted ships in bottles.
We have a handmade (by Dad) model of the Cutty Sark, under full canvas, inside a 4 inch tall medicine bottle, Dad cut and hand sewed, every sail, from one of Mum's old petticoats.

Those laminated, climate controlled, glass cases, are to protect, a fragile work of extreme craftsmanship.

If you can't sail on a real one, gaze at the models and dream.

Greg · 12-02-2007, 01:04 PM

Yeah, if I had made a model like that, I would want ot put it into a hermetically sealed glass case filled with pure nitrogen. Even if nobody ever touched it and you had a dust-free room, imagine what a spider's paradise one of those things would be!

11-24-2007, 02:27 PM	#62
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Oh! Now I get it! I means "fluffy rose" in Old Low Dwarvish! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-24-2007, 06:20 PM	#64
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Meawhile, back at the books, Post Captain Jack Aubrey and Doctor Stephen Maturin are sailing about India in HMS Surprise. Jack would prefer to be on a cruise looking for prize ships so that he can retire his debts and marry his beloved Sophie, but the Indian Ocean seems to be barren of such adventures. Stephen has offered marriage his own beloved, who at the moment is inconveniently the mistress of a rich Jew who happens to be in Bombay at the same time. 'Tis a mightily tangled web. I like the stories lots more when they get back onto the ship. Jack and Stephen were last seen crawling about the foretopmast, enjoying the view and reveling the wonder of it all. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-25-2007, 05:49 PM	#66
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	It gets worse. They just found out that the three French men o' war that Jack Aubrey was hoping to take as prizes are three thousand miles away. The good news is that this has given him time to get the Surprise sailing quite lively and his crew very quick on their guns. At last report, she was making 11 knots and 8 fathoms with the wind. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-26-2007, 02:56 AM	#68
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Here's a really great resource: Late 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Naval and Naval Social History This is a nifty book on that site: Boys Manual of Seamanship and Gunnery It's dated April 1871, a lifetime after Jack Aubrey's adventures, but it seems the navy changes slowly. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-26-2007, 03:13 AM	#69
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Awesome ship models: Building the frigate BLAAE HEYREN 1734 __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-24-2007, 08:35 AM	#61
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	(Carry the 1, furtively looks around, counts the remainder on left toes) That makes you, your own mother. Eh Goddesses can do that. Or so it is writ.

11-24-2007, 05:34 PM	#63
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Shorty, yep, that's it, exactly! Greg, that's quite likely!

11-25-2007, 08:32 AM	#65
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Yeah, Bombay is a tangled web alright. Me thinks the good Doctor pursues the wrong lass. She won't be happy on a sailors pay, after "keeping company" with a "Lombard". Heed the old Admirals words. "Harbours, rot ships, and men". Attributed to Admiral Benbow. Royal Navy.

11-26-2007, 01:10 AM	#67
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Wow. 11+ knots. In one of them bathtub shaped things? Big wind up her skirts there.

11-27-2007, 02:53 AM	#70
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Good sites Greg, thank you. Must check later to see if my first Admiral's battles are mentioned. My first sea posting at 16 was the carrier, I discovered that the Fleet Commander, Rear Admiral Dover, had been a boy cadet of 14 years old, serving aboard HMS Prince of Wales during the battle that sank the Bismark. When it comes to seamanship, the Royal Navy and The Admiralty, have lead the way for centuries. The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship has been evolving over almost 500 years now. Certain things have proven to be the only safe way, over hundreds of years of trials and disastrous failure. To this day the ships parts, naming conventions stand firm. The system of watchkeeping to share the load, is still the same today, as it was in Jack's day. The formal separation of the "lower deck", the "mid deck", and the "aft deck" ranking and quartering. Of course as I mentioned before, the ship's "inhouse" formality depends very much on her size. And as for those model makers. What can you say?

11-27-2007, 04:49 PM	#71
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	But, alas, not too many mizzentopmasts on aircraft carriers. Daydream: I'd like to see that model builder put together a whole harbor scene, with some of the ships under full sail and others being warped in, some being loaded, maybe one in dry dock. That would be really cool! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-27-2007, 11:00 PM	#72
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Do you have any idea how high up that would be? That would be a hazard to the shuttle! And that daydream would take some work. The instructional models the Navy Shipwrights build, with apprentice help, take long enough. We used to be "familiarised" with various different ship class layouts by cut-away models. Up to 30 feet long in meticulous detail. Lift off decks, down and in you go section by section. Made using the official ships makers plans. Superb work some folks do.

11-27-2007, 11:35 PM	#73
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah, a mast on an aircraft carrier would really catch the wind! It might not be too effective in the way of propulsion but it would be great at trying to! I figured my little daydream was outlandish, but hey, if you're going to dream, dream big! It came to mind when I saw all of that fellow's models boxed up in glass cages. It just didn't seem to be the right way to display all those beautiful ships! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-28-2007, 01:21 AM	#74
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	The glass is probably to prevent dust and damage from the removal of that dust...

11-28-2007, 01:25 AM	#75
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	That seems to be a much more reasonable assumption than that they'd put glass around the models to make them harder to view. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-28-2007, 09:36 AM	#76
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	You'd think they'd take them out of the glass for photography tho. How dusty can something get in 5 minutes?

11-30-2007, 12:19 PM	#77
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	If you look at those display cases, you'll see the answer to that question. Those cases look like they were built to withstand shelling by the Luftwaffe. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-30-2007, 01:27 PM	#78
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Maybe they're afraid of micrometeoroids? Those don't usually survive atmosphere tho...

12-01-2007, 11:57 PM	#79
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	They are actually incredibly fragile. Masts like matchsticks, standing and running rigging made of silk thread. Every fitting handmade, no rubbish mass produced plastic garbage. My own father used to spend hours at night putting 4 masted ships in bottles. We have a handmade (by Dad) model of the Cutty Sark, under full canvas, inside a 4 inch tall medicine bottle, Dad cut and hand sewed, every sail, from one of Mum's old petticoats. Those laminated, climate controlled, glass cases, are to protect, a fragile work of extreme craftsmanship. If you can't sail on a real one, gaze at the models and dream.

12-02-2007, 01:04 PM	#80
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah, if I had made a model like that, I would want ot put it into a hermetically sealed glass case filled with pure nitrogen. Even if nobody ever touched it and you had a dust-free room, imagine what a spider's paradise one of those things would be! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?