When I was in London the other day I took a picture of a large motor yacht or Gin Palace as they are sometimes called. Emelina was moored the seaward side of Tower bridge, when I got home I decided to do some investigating to see if I could find out a bit more. It turned out to be very easy possibly because of the unusual name, and the fact that it was a big yacht.
Emelina is 51 m (167 foot) long and was created by Codecasa boat builders in 2008, it can sleep up to 12 passengers, thats about 3 times the number of people I can comfortably sleep in my house. As well as the 12 passengers there is apparently accommodation for a crew of 10. The twin Catterpillar engines produce and impressive 9788hp and can help the yacht reach speeds of 17.5 kts. I guess this is probably not possible when full oaded with fuel (8o,000 litres) and water (20,000 litres). The fuel can possible allow for a range of 4,000 nm.
A few other facts about the yacht are : it has a Jacuzzi Spa but no helicopter landing pad, the interior was designed by Studio Dellarole and the hull is made of aluminium.
Google also also popped up a link to a site that allows you to see the location of lots of boats including Emelina you can see her current location at the Marine Traffic website (click on the “Show live map button”). When I looked on Sunday she was in Dagenham but now she is moored in Amsterdam.
I did a panorama photo from the riverside which is now on Google maps.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames London
Ian Visits came up trumps again the Brunel Tunnel under the Thames is open for the weekend due to a line upgrade to convert from four to five carriages per train. I got in quick and managed to get myself a ticket before that sold out less than an hour later.
I was up early and managed to get the 08:46 to London Euston from Berkhamsted, which unusually had no free seats. On arrival I used Google maps to find out how to get to the Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe. You may not be aware but Google recently announced it had all the public transport times so when you ask for directions not only does it know which trains and buses to use it knows when the next one is. This is a great improvement on trying to read the bus maps that have no road names and then work out the coded bus stop you need to be at. It suggested Victoria line then Jubilee but I fancied the bus so set the options for buses only. 68 then change at Waterloo bridge to the 381. The 68 arrived as I got to the bus stop.
Wapping Tube Station
It was still raining when I got off the bus at Waterloo bridge but there was some sun to the south in the distance which was good because I was lugging three cameras with me. The 381 took me past the Kirkcaldy museum of material testing which I had visited a few weeks before. The bus passed through some interesting areas where you could see that there had in the past been companies that manufactured goods. For example I saw a building with a painted sign for a company that made tin boxes. Further on there is evidence of shipping with old warehouses, pubs with nautical names (The Shipwrights) and even the London nautical school. By the time I got off the bus the sun was out.
Once alighted I followed the signs to the Brunel Museum and the staff there directed me to Rotherhithe station which was the correct place to congregate. I was early but they let me join the queue, but not before I stocked up on batteries for my flash. I would have to wait for the allotted time but thanks to my trusty insulated foam sheet was able to sit down while I waited, all the time the sky got bluer and the clouds more fluffy and white.
Thames Vista HDR
The 1100 tickets were called and we were guided into the closed station, and given blue surgical gloves to put on, then told to gather at the top of the escalators then we were taken down the steps to the platform of the station. First we had to have the obligatory Health and Safety briefing which explained why we had to wear gloves, dirt and weil’s disease so don’t touch stuff and then suck your thumb. We then stepped down on to the track and were led into the tunnel, our guides explained some of the history and features of the tunnel when we stopped every 30 metres. Eventually we came to the next station Wapping where we crossed over and went back up the other side to where we started. Then we left the station via the escalators not forgetting to throw the gloves away and disinfect our now sweaty palms.
As the weather was bright I decided a walk along the Thames path would be nice and provide plenty of photo opps . I followed Jubilee walk which keeps you as close to the river as is possible and you get to see some interesting buildings, most of them dock related so lots of converted warehouses with cranes sticking out of them. Just as it looked like the next shower was due I came across the Design Museum and popped into the cafe for a sandwich and coffee it was pretty average and cost £8.50!
Tower Bridge over the Thames London
Tower bridge was nearby so I carried on and crossed the bridge and attempted a panorama set at the mid point. On the other side was St Catherine’s dock always a good place to take photos so had a wander around. There are old buildings, boats and bridges. From there I headed towards the tower of London, then consulted Google maps for an escape route. At the no. 15 bus stop I got chatting to a fellow photographer who had a spirit level bubble in his hot shoe. I have one but it is a sharp cube that stands proud he had one that was more or less flush. He said he got it from Amazon and with the power of the internet so did I got just £1.99 a bargain.
I alighted at Aldwych and walked over the road and jumped on the 68 to Euston. It was pouring down at Euston and I had 10 minutes to spare before the 14:54 to Northampton . I grabbed a coffee and a paper then headed home to process my photos.
I have mentioned the Ian Visits website before on this blog, well today we attended two events we we spotted there. Both events are a bit unusual and completely different. First we visited a rarely open WW2 bunker, then we went to a dentist surgery to have a look at Elvis Presley’s false tooth. The day started with a bit of a panic, when I realised that although we had got up at 07:00 to get to Neasden in good time I thought we had to be there at 09:30 but when I checked the ticket it said 09:00. Any how we left the house at 07:45 and the Sat Nav was suggesting that we would be there by 08:55 plenty of time we thought!
RAF museum at Hendon
The Sat Nav it turns out take account of traffic it knows about but that is not all traffic so after following it to detour the traffic it did know we ended up in queues that it had not anticipated. At 08:55 we called Katy the organiser to let them know we were running a few minutes late. We finally go there at 09:20 and they kindly allowed us to tag along with the school kids on the 09:30 tour. The tour started by obviously going down some steps quite a few in fact, the tour guide was very good and explained how far down we were and the little amount history of the place. The Bunker was only ever used twice during the war then was locked up to hardly ever be opened again so no one really was aware of it presence and those that were had signed the official secrets act and could not divulge anything. For example they had contact with a person that whose duty it was check the phones worked every week but she could not tell them much about the place as she was only permitted to descend the steps walk along the corridor check the phones then exit they way she had come, blissfully unaware of the size of the complex.
Elvis and his false tooth
The tour took about an hour and was very interesting, the place was very damp (because when they built some houses on top they breached the water proofing) dirty mouldy and there were stalactites on the ceiling. The Paddocks as the bunker is know is made available to be viewed by the public twice a year by the housing association that built the house on the research site which was above the bunker. This was a stipulation of the planning consent and although the stipulation as run out they sill keep the pumps going to get the water out and pay for the lighting.
Once the tour was finished I suggested we went to the RAF museum at Hendon for a cup of coffee at the cafe there. It turned out to be a popular idea and a cheap one at that the parking cost £3 but the entrance to the museum was free so we had a bit of a look around while we were there. I took the opportunity to take a few panorama sets of photos before we left for the highlight of the day Elvis Presley’s false tooth.
Again Ian Visits tipped me off that there was a once in a life time opportunity to see Elvis Presley’s false tooth (or crown as they say in dental clinics). I set the sat nav and after 30 minutes in London traffic we pulled up outside a house in an Victorian housing estate in Bounds Green which had been pebble dashed and converted into a dentist practice. There appeared to be nothing happening but on the door was a poster suggesting an Elvis tribute would be there between 1200 and 1400. On entering we entered into a strange situation, there was an Elvis impersonator singing songs whilst the practice staff milled about with fancy dress on. On the reception counter was a clear perspex box containing a tooth moulding and a bright white crown, the object of our mission.
Elvis and his false tooth
There were a couple of press photographers taking photo’s, some Cancer Awareness representatives and Virgin Active sales people apart from that we seemed to be the only people there at that moment. A woman approached us and asked if we wanted a free mouth cancer check we said yes and filled out the forms. As we waited we made sure we got selfies with the tooth and were interviewed by the Mouth Cancer awareness people. We both declared clear so we left with our sugar coated cup cake!
We headed back via the super market and endured a very violent hail storm on the A41 and were back home to good time, after a bizarrely interesting day.
Helen was booked up for the day so I had a day to indulge myself. I have recently getting back into taking panorama photos and submitting them as photospheres to Google, so I was keen to go somewhere to indulge my current interest. There is no point in doing panoramas of streets as Google has already got that converted you need to find views where the Google car can’t get to. I checked out the Ian visits website, which covers all things unusual happening in London. A things jumped out as interesting the Kirkcaldy museum of material testing (would be closing to move soon) and Sikh festival in Trafalgar square, that would give me something to start and time to stop and take photos.
After dropping Helen off at church I headed to Wendover to catch the 09:13 to Marylebone which would not be my station or route of choice but there was engineering works at Watford junction which ruled out the Euston service. The station cafe was closed so I would have to wait for my coffee but the train left on time.
I took the tube to Waterloo as I wanted to make sure that I was on the 11 o’clock tour as it happens the tour at eleven was more of a recommended time as there was I timetable just some enthusiastic people who were more than willing to tell pi all about the equipment. I tagged on top a part that was being show the exhibits by a volunteer who was probably an engineering student as she sounded like she knew what she was talking about.
All talks stopped when it was announced that the big machine was going to be demonstrated. The big machine was about the size of the steam engine in the science museum. The way the machine worked was that it used water to hydraulically stretch or compress the material that was being tested. In the demonstration they were stretching bars from the pavement grates outside the building which when they were replaced the museum salvaged them. The curators got everyone involved in the process pressing the button to switch it on and then winding the wheel to move the clamps in and out. The bar under test started to flake then eventually broke with a bang and the building shook a bit. After a look at the other demos I headed off towards Trafalgar Square.
It seemed everyone was out walking on the south bank of the Thames, but I noticed that the gates to the foreshore were open so I headed down to the beach and walked on the beach instead. there were only a few of us down there. Around the national theatre I headed up to the masses and found the reason for the crowds. There were lots of street food vendors one section for Malaysia and and another for Spain. I was tempted by the food but the queues put me off. I shot off a few panorama sets while I was there as I want to improve my handheld technique.
I crossed the foot bridge that has a railway bridge close by then walked through the station at the other side. I popped out near where Alpine sports used to be and went around the block to Trafalgar square. I had picked up a cheese sandwich at the station then realised my mistake the festival had food stalls and they were all vegetarian. I could not resist buying a samosa though. I had a look around and took a few pictures then headed north destination Foyles.
I thought I might be able to buy the BluRay for Untouchable a French film Helen and I want to see but on Love Film there are no sub-titles (OK for me but a bit tough for Helen). Strangely they only sell DVDs in Foyles so I grabbed a few travel writing books and headed towards Oxford Street to have a look there. My extra effort was wasted I could not find any shops that sold DVDs or BluRays, I guess they have all gone on-line or people just stream movies these days.
I jumped on the Tube back to Baker street and the walked to Marylebone Station. By that time I was glad of a sit down on the train I had been on my feet since 09:00.
