Cafe Culture In Gourock #Gourock #inverclyde #scotland (at Fresh Gourock)

After this morning's open water swim the blood was rushing back towards the skin. I was on my own and swam 417m in 13:28. Highest tide coming in. Northerly wind onto the beach gentle breeze Force 3. Water temperature 8 degC #openwaterswimming #rwsabc #greenock (at The Royal West of Scotland 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)

Open Water Swimming at RWSABC

I am the Open Water Swimming Convener at the Royal West of Scotland Amateur Swimming Club.  The upcoming season will start soon.  We have set out the programme for the upcoming year.  The programme is shown below:

Social Swims for members of RWSABC

Thursday and Friday evenings every week with water entry around 6:30pm starts Thursday, 17th April ends Friday, 12th September

Swimming generally takes place along the Esplanade but sometimes in certain conditions swimming takes place in the direction of the Battery Park.

“Open” Social Swims for members of the public

Fridays - 23rd May, 6th June, 4th July and 1st August.

Moonlight Swim for members of RWSABC

Saturday, 12 July at 10:00pm - Dependent on weather and cloud conditions

The Cross Clyde Swim

From Kilcreggan to The Esplanade, Greenock the distance is about 3km

Saturday, 16 August - This swim is dependent on conditions and the event may be rerouted or cancelled in case of poor conditions.  There are strict criteria for entering this event.

You can find more by contacting me at openwaterswimming@rwsabc.com

Happy swimming!

We did a really fun hill walk today. This is Tinto Hill from the Wiston side. The walk was around 5km with 450m of elevation gain.

Asgard

WELL begun; half done. That proverbor, rather, its obverseencapsulates the problems which have dogged civil nuclear power since its inception. Atomic energy is...

This article from The economist magazine talks about using Thorium as a Nuclear Fuel instead of Uranium.  Thorium has several advantages over Uranium and in the view of the author of this article the most important is the relative resistance to proliferation compared to Uranium.  I learned a few things from this article.  The things I learned was that the US did build a few bombs out of U233 which is the fissile element formed from the fertile Thorium.  I was always a bit unsure as to whether or not any bombs had been built.  The article also confirms my prior understanding that U233 makes a poor nuclear bomb material because of the presence of small amounts of other radioactive isotopes that emit hard gamma radiation that messes up the other mechanisms required for a bomb.

Thoughts on Prague

We just came back from a break in Prague. We had a good time by walking around a lot, eating & drinking and being with each other. Given my interest in dome cities what would I take away from the visit to guide me about my dome city design. This is a list of things go liked about Prague and I would hope that these things would be available (if required) in a dome city. 1 - Great walk ability 2 - green space easily accessible from the city centre 3 - affordability 4 - friendly and honest people 5 - good public transport 6 - a lively centre in the evenings with plenty of entertainment, bars and places to eat I will discuss these things more in future blogs.

"The Martian" by Andy Weir

I'm just back from holiday. While away I read this really fun book titled "The Martian" written by Andy Weir. It is a great read, fast paced, full of action with suspense and light relief. For other Engineers like me it really brings home what we do which is to solve problems. I highly recommend this book!

The Economist | Land-shackled economies: The paradox of soil via @theeconomist

Swam with Stacey from Rosneath Slip (1st slip) bang on high tide. There was a south east breeze creating a reasonable swell. Swam to the yellow pole and then back towards the beach. Stacey exited the water at Rosneath Slip (1200m 42m) and I continued to the Boat Club (1675m 53:33) Water Temperature 13.5 degC #esplanade #inverclyde #greenock #rwsabc #openwaterswimming (at Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club)