Just .... somewhat amusing stuff, news etc

[JR8]

http://dailygarlic.com/picture/remote-c ... a380-22793
Remote Control A-380!


p.s. now we can all do pretend 9/11s in our back garden, what fun

[x9200]

[sundaymorningstaple]

http://dailygarlic.com/picture/remote-c ... a380-22793
Remote Control A-380!


p.s. now we can all do pretend 9/11s in our back garden, what fun

You mean this one?

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/sutra6 ... ery#666919

It's the second time you posted that link in a week or so! And I though my memory was gettin' bad!

[nakatago]

Snow in the Middle East--Cairo, Alexandra and Jerusalem

http://news.sky.com/story/1182209/egypt ... m-in-years

It doesn't get more amusing than that right now.

[JR8]

It's the second time you posted that link in a week or so! And I though my memory was gettin' bad!

Oh really, I don't remember?

[Max Headroom]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -crew.html
'Nazi U-boat sunk during Second World War is discovered by divers off of Indonesia - complete with skeletons of its doomed crew'

And the Germans ran U-boats out of Penang. I'd never had imagined that.

Fascinating stuff, that.

A mate of mine, a pakci from an ulu part of Indonesia has a friend, a sea cucumber fisherman, who chanced upon this coral-encrusted pile out at sea. Whenever this fisherman is out of cash, he goes back to that site, which is at less than 10m, and skin-dives for a couple of china pieces, which he then barters locally for a few gallons of diesel for his sampan.

He also brought up a little toy bronze canon and other artifacts. I've seen the pix before and after removing the growths. Amazing. I think it could well be a VOC wreck or even an Arab trader. And both my mate and that fisherman are totally boh-chap about the whole thing.

Itching to have a look at the site myself, but the minute the locals see a Mat Salleh poking around, I reckon it's all over...

Tips welcome.

[JR8]

Hmm ... It's hard to evaluate a site without surveying it.

I.e. you can't justify setting up say a National park without a census, and a compelling case as to what you are intending to protect.

At 10M depth, yes it's vulnerable (as you've described!).

If there is a line to be had it might be setting up a 50/50 JV with the local governor (as honest as the day he was born, I'm sure). He provides protection for the site. You and team do the surveying and salvage. Half goes to you, and half to a local museum (via his lounge).

A friend and team had a similar arrangement for a wreck off Tioman Island (late 80s?). That ended up as quite a big deal. They brought in some pretty big salvage kit, TV progs got made on the side, IIRC a large section of the salvaged cargo got auctioned off afterwards. Basically they were treasure hunters, if you like.

p.s. Let me know if you need any divers

[Max Headroom]

Oh, I've been dying to do just that.

Problem is that I think Indo is still pretty ticked off at what happened at Belitung and they won't take kindly to a similar scenario unfolding.

I know roughly where the wreck is and I have a decent plan to reccy with these 2 chaps. But the moment the locals see me, there will be suspicion. Everyone knows everyone in their kampung. No way a salvage team will be able to stay under the radar.

But then, yeah, if we go the official route, I'm sure it'll be thank your mother for the rabbits to us outsiders.

I need a local lobang that can be trusted. Good luck to me.

[JR8]

@MH
Yes, I'm not sure why the risk at the Belitung wasn't identified. If you have locals harvesting sea cucumbers from 16M, well during monsoon when the salvage apparently paused they're going to have no problem harvesting ancient ceramics at the same depth etc. At least the Tioman wreck (c1380) aka the 'Nanyang Wreck' was in deeper water, c50m. There's surprisingly little info on the latter, no wiki entry, nothing on Youtube, just a couple of brief paragraphs come up via Google: Surprising given they salvaged thousands upon thousands of pieces of Ming dynasty porcelain

Tricky isn't it. You could go in under the veil of a 'reef mapping project and conservation by volunteers' and anchor up at various points along the coast, but at some point the Indon government would have to know what's going on. Plus as you say, the rumour-mill in a kampong runs like a wildfire.

The Nanyang cargo was salvaged by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hatcher and there is a book written about him/his life and work. Might give you some tips ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treasures-Deep- ... ke+hatcher

[Max Headroom]

I've decided that the happiest outcome, once the genie is out of the bottle, is that I go home in one piece empty-handed. The worst-case outcome is that I end up just as empty handed but in an Indo jail.

There is of course one worse outcome, but let's not go there.

In short, the whole endeavor is basically languishing. Until the day someone starts to wonder where this fisherman is getting all these artifacts of course.

[Max Headroom]

By the way, I, too, am stunned by the general indifference to this area. I mean, I'm convinced there are countless wrecks still out there.

Thousands of years' worth of seat-of-pants sailing through some of the most treacherous seas, Sumatra Squalls, pirates and what have you, surely resulted in innumerable wrecks, of both registered and unregistered vessels.

Sure, a lot of them will be in deep water. But there must be plenty in shallow water too.

[JR8]

Squeaky new Nicoll Highway MRT yesterday pm.

Is this an example of 'ponding' ?

[JR8]

This has me puzzled, and I wonder if anyone can shed any light on it.

Guys riding motorbikes, but their feet aren't on the feet-pegs/rests. Instead they're spread wide and low, and their feet and sandals appear to trail along maybe 1/4" above the road surface as they go past at maybe 20-30mph.

Isn't that dangerous? Why would some people do that?

[nakatago]

This has me puzzled, and I wonder if anyone can shed any light on it.

Guys riding motorbikes, but their feet aren't on the feet-pegs/rests. Instead they're spread wide and low, and their feet and sandals appear to trail along maybe 1/4" above the road surface as they go past at maybe 20-30mph.

Isn't that dangerous? Why would some people do that?

They're insecure about their balance so they're bracing their feet in case they lose balance.

[JR8]

Has anyone tried this place out?

http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/ ... 01128.html