After This Morning's Open Water Swim The Blood Was Rushing Back Towards The Skin. I Was On My Own And

at Cardwell Bay

I did this swim with Stacey. Strong westerly wind (Force 6). We went in 16:10. High tide at 16:35. Sunny weather with showers. Water temperature 8.9 degC. Swim out was 7m30s while the swim back into wind and waves took 10m30s. We swam 505m. Nice swim! (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Lovely day - very calm 2 hours before high tide. I did a non wetsuit swim on my own. 675m in 18:24 water temperature 8.6 degC #inverclyde #rwsabc #openwaterswimming #greenock #scotland #theesplanade #clouds (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Tonight's sunset at the Boat Club.

I had a nice swim with Colin and David tonight. It was high tide and very calm. I saw a few jellyfish. There was a rainbow at the start of the swim. I swam to the "yellow" pole. #inverclyde #openwaterswimming #Greenock #RWSABC #Scotland #esplanade (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

We went to the Blue Lagoon today. I do love hot springs.

Dome City Blog 4 - Welwyn Garden City and my proposals for a Dome City

I have looked at an old map of Welwyn Garden City and I estimate that this town is around 7.5 square kilometers.  The population according to Wikipedia is 43,000.  Welwyn Garden City is considered that classic example of a “Garden City”.  Recent proposals are to build 5 new Garden Cities in Southern Britain to help reduce the current chronic housing shortage.  The proposals that I have read suggest that each of these cities would house around 15,000 people.

Garden Cities are attractive to people and politicians because they are considered to be great communities and a very pleasant place to live.  If we accept that new Garden Cities are a good place to live what would that suggest about my proposals for a Dome City?

In a previous blog I worked out that the Geodesic dome I am proposing would have a area are within it of 25.3 square kilometres.  assuming 43,000 people per 7.5 square kilometers this would allow a population of 143,000 people.  As I have stated previously my goal wold be to have 100,000 people living in the city so the effective density of this dome city would actually be less than Welwyn Garden City.

I have visited Welwyn Garden City once to have lunch at my Prefessor's house when I was doing my MSc.  While this visit was a long time ago and I wasn't paying really close attention I do remember my Professor's house as being in a quiet cul-da-sac with lots of green space around.

Assuming when get get the lighting within the centre of the dome right this suggests to me that the dome city could provide a very comfortable environment for it's residents.

Reasons that I would like to live in a dome city are:

The ability to walk everywhere within the city.  There would certainly need to be elevators when one is going up or down more than a few levels but once on any level you would never be further than 500m from your destination.

I live in Scotland where it rains alot.  The dome city will provide a roof over my head at almost all times allow me to be outside of my house much more.  I would hope that this would encourage more "outdoor" activities like sport, walking, cafes, open air concerts etc.

I feel that since people would walk around more that they would come into contact with their neighbours on a more regular basis.  I would hope and expect that this would engender better feelings of community.

I wouldn't need to own a car for day to day living.

Given the high population density I would see that public services would be easier and less expensive to provide.  Examples are:

With a electrical power plant located very close to the city combined heat and power is a real possibility.  The energy provider would be able to supply district heating at relatively low cost.  

I imagine that garbage collection could be made more efficient since people could carry their waste and recyclables to larger bins.  

Schools could also share facilities much more easily.  In addition, parents would have a greater choice of schools for their children since every school is accessible on foot by any child.  

Waste could be disposed of in an incinerator located within the city providing additional district heating options and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.

Sewers could be smaller since they would not have to deal with rainfall.

I am sure there are more examples that I haven't thought of yet but I hope these do show you how costs could be reduced and services improved.

I hope you have found this interesting.

In London with Helen for a long weekend! (at London)

Today I had the privilege of organising the RWSABC Clyde Swim 2018. 31 swimmers who are pictured here completed the 3km swim from Kilcreggan to RWSABC. Thank you to the participants, the safety boat crews, the kayakers, those who did the barbeque and served hot drinks and scones and the committee of RWSABC. #rwsabc #inverclyde #openwaterswimming #kilcreggan #greenock #theclyde (at Royal West Of Scotland Amateur Boat Club)

Europe: Carnivore Paradise?

Bears, wolves, lynx and wolverines are flourishing in Europe, largely in humanized landscapes and not in parks. Can North America learn from the “coexistence model” that characterizes the continent’s approach to conserving big carnivores?