#PlymouthHoe Sir Francis Drake & The Ocean City Half Marathon

Last weekend we went down to Plymouth to watch my daughter Victoria and her friend Naomi run in the Ocean City (Plymouth) Half Marathon. (fantastic Vic - so proud of you). It was a very well supported event but what made it especially successful was it started and finished on Plymouth Hoe.

Plymouth Hoe - or the Hoe - is a large south facing open space adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the sea front. From the Hoe you have an outstanding view of the massive and strategic Plymouth Sound and Drakes Island. To the east is Devon and the entry to the River Plym - and to the west entry to the River Tamar which divides Devon from Cornwall - so you have a view of Cornwall too.

Choose the wrong weather day and the Hoe is a very exposed windy place - but on  the day of the run the weather was glorious - sunny and warm  - (despite the early start.) - with the lightest of breeze. There was plenty of picturesque boating activity out in the Sound and of course the tremendous spectacle of 4000 runners setting out and coming back (over a quite hilly course).

You cannot visit Plymouth and particularly Plymouth Hoe without the name of Drake cropping up. Sir Francis Drake! Drake was a formidable character who led a quite amazing life - including being the second man to circumnavigate the globe, claim what is now California for the English and of course being the man pivotal in defeating the Spanish Armada. (Drake was vice admiral in command of the English fleet when it overcame the Spanish Armada that was attempting to invade England in 1588.)

The story of the defeat of the Spanish Armada is a famous one in our history. If you are not familiar with it search out Dan Snow's BBC - "Armada (12 days to save England)". It sets out what happened very well - but warning  - it is a dramatization and Snow's breathless arm waving, choice of background music and over egging atmospheric film shots - border on the ludicrous at times - but nethertheless it is worth a watch).

In the schoolboy history of the Spanish Armada arises a most famous anecdote. Drake is playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe when he is told the vast and terrifyingly superior Spanish Armada fleet has at last been spotted coming up the English Channel - intent to overthrow Queen Elizabeth 1 and conquer England. Drake is said to have remarked " that there was plenty of time to finish the game and still defeat the Spaniards!" This of course is interpreted as the supreme confidence of the consummate seaman that was Drake - a proven fighter - a pirate in many respects. It was a statement of bravado - a motivator for his crews - he was so confident and relaxed!

However while this is a good story if it did happen - and if he did come out with the line - it was more likely to have been the result of a sailors understanding of an unfavourable wind/tide at the time. Of course Drake's ships had no engines - and poor manoeuvrability (relative to modern day yachts). All captains however great their sailing ability knew they could not buck an unfavourable wind or tide - he had to wait for it to back or turn - so he had plenty of time - no need to rush the end of the bowls game!

It was a very enjoyable morning out on the Hoe - especially with my darling little grand daughters - so proud of their mummy (and Annabelle found a 4 leaf clover too !!)

daughter Victoria (482) and friend Naomi - proud with their medals!

Smeaton Tower on top of Plymouth Hoe

a view of Plymouth Sound from Plymouth Hoe - Devon left - Cornwall right. The mob phone photo does not do justice to this brilliant vista.

Plymouth Sound from the Hoe - Drake Island - entrance to the River Tamar and Cornwall beyond

#AnthonyJoshua

Not everyone is interested in sport - certainly many people detest boxing. Of course it is an individual prerogative to decide what or what not to like or follow. In this short blog I am not attempting to persuade you to follow boxing or even sport - but I am going to make a case to follow the career of Anthony Joshua - because I think he has something special. He might not be a Muhammad Ali - but I am sure he is destined to transcend boxing and sport generally - as a role model - as an exceptional person - in the way Ali did.

Joshua did not take up boxing until he was 18. He is now 28. His rise has been meteoric. He won the gold medal in the Super Heavyweight division at the 2012 London Olympics as an amateur, he has been awarded an MBE and he has since gone on to become the professional unified World Super Heavyweight champion. He is a multi millionaire already and destined to become very wealthy indeed as he is huge box office - not just because he holds the most prestigious boxing titles on the planet but because of his persona both in and out of the ring.

I am not going to waste time setting out his background. You can research that easily online - there is plenty of material available. Certainly it has not been a straight forward path to where he is now. He was in trouble with the police and the law for fighting and drugs when he was a young man. He made mistakes - but he recognised where it was heading and to his great credit he found a salvation in boxing.

There are a few points I would like to make - one or two general ones and one or two specific to Anthony Joshua. Here goes :

General points

• As in most things in life and certainly in sport, it is the back story that really makes watching or following something particularly interesting or rewarding. For instance watch a tennis match and know nothing about the players is one thing but if you know about their background - their trials and tribulations - past failures or successes - it all adds to the spectacle - adds weight to the watch - makes it more significant. There are countless like me - sports nuts who read the sports pages before the news. I have a lifetimes accumulated sports knowledge as a participant and viewer and can draw on it to watch almost any sports event - ha! Putting the time in offers reward - ask any fan - the whole gamut of emotions is a possibility in a playing season!
• Some people claim horse racing is cruel and it is true - now and a again a horse gets seriously injured in the course of racing. However horses love to run - to gallop. You can see that when a jockey is unseated and the riderless horse keeps going of its freewill. Certainly race horses are cossetted by their trainers, handlers and owners. They are given the best of everything in terms of food, health care and facilities. They are usually loved and respected and kept fit and well. The point I am trying to move to is boxing and boxers might be similar. Many people think boxing is barbaric and that it should be banned. However many would argue the desire to fight is part of the masculine DNA and organised boxing is a controlled outlet for something that is needed. I agree there is nothing sadder - nothing more sickening than a punch drunk fighter being used as cannon fodder to generate money for an unscrupulous manager, promoter or hangers on - and that certainly used to happen in the bad old days. However professional boxing has cleaned up its act - and is now a controlled environment with licencing and medical testing. For many young men boxing can be a salvation. It is a way of channeling aggression, keeping fit, learning sportsmanship and of course for some generate a living they would otherwise not have and on occasions become very wealthy indeed. There is a place for boxing in a modern society and if it was banned it would move under ground - I am sure of that.

Specific point regarding Anthony Joshua

• As I have said I think Joshua is something special - both as a boxer and a person. As such I think he is worth following - worth taking an interest in. 
• To see what I mean if you are not already familiar with his career, can I direst you to You Tube and BBC I Player. Joshua has been the subject of several excellent fly on the wall documentaries where his personality, attitudes and values come over strongly. He is articulate and candid. He has real family values. The documentaries are set against the reality of a pending or actual fight. They are compelling in my view. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you+tube+documentary+Anthony+Joshua&view=detail&mid=6C717EF868E1F2BB1C836C717EF868E1F2BB1C83&FORM=VIRE
• Best of all is an absolutely brilliant documentary now available on BBC I player called "Joshua v Klitchko Return to Wembley". Even if you have no interest in boxing it is a fantastic documentary. However if you know about Wladamir Klitschko and his brother - legendary boxing champions - you will witness two highly intelligent human beings show incredible courage and mutual respect that is both a lesson and an uplifting experience for anyone with a heart. I can say no more - ha! Have a watch. Invest some time in following Anthony Joshua would be my recommendation - it will be some journey.

#GeologyoftheIsleofWight how the Isle of Wight was formed/shaped

On Bank holiday Monday - a fine spring day - I headed down to the annual village May Fair to buy some plants for the garden. Typically I got side tracked by a secondhand book stall rather than plants!

I ended up buying (among others) a copy of "A Geographer's Look at the Isle of Wight" as told by Roy Hollis - first published in 1995. It is an easy read - suitable for someone like me - a generalist - albeit with an A level GCE in Geography (acquired 45 years ago - ha!) and a healthy interest in the Isle of Wight where I have lived and loved for coming up to 30 years. (On the author -  I first came to the Isle of Wight in 1982 as a Building Society Manager. Commander Roy Hollis (RN retired) was a regular customer. I remember him well and fondly and his book reflects how I remember him - energetic - precise and no nonsense.)

While Commander Hollis's book does cover human geography as well, the opening paragraphs are focused on the physical geography of the Isle of Wight - how it was formed - how it has taken shape. That is what I want to focus on. It won't take long to share it with you - so I will do so now. For some reason it makes me smile - perhaps because of the simplicity of the explanation - perhaps because millions of years of geological activity - often extreme sometimes violent can be summarised in just a few paragraphs! This is my précis based on Roy Hollis's book, some Wikipedia extract (in italic) and other bits and pieces I have in my head garnered over the years - ha! :

• The Isle of Wight is made up ENTIRELY of  SEDIMENTARY rocks laid down gradually over 140 million years - almost entirely underwater - probably in a shallow lagoon in the main.  (Definition Sedimentary rocks are formed from particles of sand, shells, pebbles, and other fragments of material. Together, all these particles are called sediment. Gradually, the sediment accumulates in layers and over a long period of time hardens into rock. Generally, sedimentary rock is fairly soft and may break apart or crumble easily. You can often see sand, pebbles, or stones in the rock, and it is usually the only type that contains fossils.)
• Geologists have been able to determine by observation of rock layers that the land which now forms the Isle of Wight has been covered by sea water, huge rivers or lakes and risen up again on no fewer than 7 occasions.
• On the point of rising up and sinking Commander Hollis makes short reference to the Isle of Wight currently thought to be sinking again. I wish to add this because I think it is interesting and graphic. Imagine a see-saw. Scotland at the top and at one end of the plank - Isle of Wight at the bottom and the other end of the plank. Put the weight of up to 3 kilometres depth of ice (during the Ice Age) on the Scotland end and the Isle of Wight rises! The ice melts - the weight on the Scotland end of the see saw consequently reduces and gradually the Isle of Wight sinks (lowers) again by a process referred to and defined as POST GLACIAL REBOUND. During the last glacial period, much of northern Europe, Asia, North America, Greenland and Antarctica was covered by ice sheets. The ice was as thick as three kilometres during the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago. The enormous weight of this ice caused the surface of the Earth's crust to deform and warp downward, forcing the viscoelastic mantle material to flow away from the loaded region. At the end of each glacial period when the glaciers retreated, the removal of the weight from the depressed land led to slow (and still ongoing) uplift or rebound of the land and the return flow of mantle material back under the deglaciated area. Due to the extreme viscosity of the mantle, it will take many thousands of years for the land to reach an equilibrium level.
• Back to the Isle of Wight sedimentary rock. They were laid in bands - the oldest of which were in the Cretaceous Period - 65 to 140 million years ago. These rocks form the southern half of the Island where chalk is the most prominent. Chalk is a soft white limestone (calcium carbonate) formed from the skeletal remains of sea creatures. This chalk layer was laid over an immense time period - at a rate of 1" (inch) every 2500 years!
• The northern half of the Isle of Wight is formed by sedimentary rocks from a later period - the Palaeogene - 35 to 54 million years ago.
• The rocks that make up the Island are, in oldest to youngest - Wealden Clays, Lower Greensand, Gault Clay (Blue Slipper), chalk, and then clays, limestone, sands and gravels.

two maps showing the geology of the Isle of Wight.

• Because sedimentary rocks are almost entirely laid by water they are laid in flat horizontal bands - the oldest at the bottom the youngest on the top. But of course the Isle of Wight is anything but flat and some of the older rocks - like the chalk are exposed at the highest points - so how can that be?
• I will take the hilly nature of the Island first - particularly the chalk "downs" that run from Culver in the east - right through to Tennyson Down and The Needles in the west. (the route of the annual "Walk the Wight" organised by the local Hospice to raise money - a great walk - 26 miles - with up to 4000 participants.).  
• In order to be able to explain why the Islands high ground is high I have to ensure you know the basics of "continental drift". The earths continents are not in a fixed position on the earths surface but "float" over millions of years on 7 major and some smaller tectonic plates. (Please do some background reading if you want to understand more.) These tectonic plates can drift apart but they can bang into each other. When this happens massive and destructive forces occur.
• Now a graphic explanation using a table cloth laying over your dining room table to simulate crashing continents. Go to one end - put both hands flat on the table cloth and push firmly towards the other end. You are simulating what happened millions of years ago when the African tectonic plate crashed into the European tectonic plate through continental drift. Your hands on the table cloth have pushed up one major fold and a number of smaller ones by ripple effect. In the case of the Europe/Africa crash the large fold was the formation of the Alps - and amazingly the chalk downs - the hills on the Isle of Wight are one of the small ripple folds from the same event! So this is why flat sedimentary rocks are no longer always flat - in fact in some instances they are now vertical.

the table cloth effect on sedimentary rock 

while this picture is NOT of the Isle of Wight it does graphically demonstrate how rock strata can be "folded"

• Next - to understand the effect of subsequent erosion of the land (rocks) by the elements - by the weather ie by water in the form of ice, rain, streams, rivers and sea (waves) and by wind of course. Obviously the elements have been acting on the landscape for millions of years and much rock has been worn away, moved elsewhere, broken down or otherwise exposed. Erosion has shaped our landscape.
• All sedimentary rocks are relatively soft and quite easily eroded. However some are harder - more durable than others. In the case of the Isle of Wight the hardest rock is chalk. Although as the chalk was formed on the sea bed millions of years ago it is now the rock evident through the "backbone" of the Isle of Wight. It was lifted up there as an anticline. The softer layers of rocks that covered it have been worn away so we now have the exposed chalk down. It is for this reason we see the massive chalk promontory at Culver Down and at the famous Needles at the west end. They have resisted the weather - and the pounding of the sea because they are harder. Bays have been formed because the soft rock has been scoured out by wave action and washed out by rivers and streams. Chines (sharp short deep valleys - mini canyons - for which the Isle of Wight is well known - ie Black Gang Chine) evident on the south coast of the Island (back of the Wight) have been formed by water running off the Downs and cutting through the soft sedimentary rock - very easily - in the short run to the sea.
• The entire back of the Wight - the coast facing south - is subject to serious erosion and landslip. Soft sedimentary rock is no match for the pounding from the sea. The Isle of Wight is getting smaller. The upside is ancient sedimentary rocks contain fossils - which is why the island is famous for Jurassic finds - Dinosaur Isle!

I have included this diagram to show how low layers of folded sedimentary rock can be exposed on the surface by millions of years of erosion.

• There are 2 other geological phenomenon that shape the Isle of Wight I want to quickly mention. The first is the effect of Gault clay - known on the Isle of Wight as "Blue Slipper" clay. Unlike most sedimentary rocks - certainly chalk - which is very porous Blue Slipper clay is not. Water cannot pass through it. So water soaks through the chalk downs and other porous rocks before it hits the clay barrier. The Blue Slipper acts as a lubricant - and the rocks on the top "slip" to create landslides and what is referred to on the Island as "undercliffs". This can be very destructive and continues to blight the Island (the Ventnor Niton road is still closed through landslip.) This phenomenon and the effect of Blue Slipper clay has in the same way damaged many Isle of Wight properties - by undermining foundations and causing movement. (be careful where you buy!)
• The final thing to mention is of course the Isle of Wight is an island - cut off from the mainland by a body of sea called the Solent. The Solent is generally not very deep - on average between 16 and 33 metres. Roy Hollis illustrates you could place St Paul's Cathedral in the middle of the Solent at high tide and still see more than half of it! There are long periods in history when the Island was not an island. Geologist can demonstrate the Solent is in fact the valley of the River Solent - and possibly a freshwater lagoon fed by its tributaries the Rivers Frome, Avon, Itchen and Test. As sea levels rose at the end of the Ice Age and the land started to sink (see post glacial rebound described above) the sea broke through the chalk barrier (by undermining softer rocks) at either end of the Island - and the River Solent valley was swamped to become a sea and create the island of the Isle of Wight! 

So there is my potted explanation of the geology of the Isle of Wight - perhaps a bit longer than I intended but I have covered 140 million years of activity - ha!. I hope you find it interesting. It might give you something to think about when you are plodding those hard (but beautiful) 26 miles of charity walk which is "The Walk the Wight!"

#Discoveringtheworld by Europe

In the 30 days I was sailing across the North Pacific I had plenty of thinking time. There were many periods when the sails were set - the wind consistent - and the role of the watch was not much more than lookout. Sometimes these periods were for conversation with crew mates but others - especially when the wind and sea noise made hearing difficult I immersed myself in my own thoughts. This is not something I found difficult - it is something I have always loved doing. So be prepared for a lot more blogs as my thoughts unravel - ha!

On a personal note one thought I had was how much of my time is taken up with physical activity and the outdoors and how much I assume that will continue. However I recognise a bit of an imbalance maybe - particularly with advancing age - (do I really mean that ?) I think I need more desk top passions too - more academic vigour perhaps to keep the brain ticking over. I remember chatting with my crew mates on deck and asking "if you were on Mastermind what would your specialist subject be ? " - only to realise - perhaps other than sport I had no answer myself !

There were times in the Pacific when we were literally a thousand miles from nearest landfall. We were isolated in the middle of the ocean. (it did feel immense). However with GPS and modern navigation we always knew where we were on the surface of the earth and of course we understand the world is round and how the continents and oceans are mapped out. Stating the obvious for our forbears that was not always the case and I started thinking about how the world was discovered - who did it and when and how. I had a vague idea from my knowledge of history but began to imagine what it would be like. I started thinking about setting off in a wooden boat - with inefficient sails - no modern materials (no nylon or Gortex!) - no modern navigation systems - no gas to cook by - no modern food packaging - little health care -  and most of all no knowledge of where you were heading and might find (was the earth flat?) I particularly had this train of thought as we entered the Strait of Juan de Luca from the Pacific - now Canada on the left USA on the right - almost a stones throw away! Imagine being the first and not knowing what you were heading into. Epic! Who were the people who did it. What were their circumstances and motivations. How did it come about? I would like to know - ha! Anyway I have set the scene - I have a new interest. As usual I am putting it in a blog - mainly for my own benefit - as a record - and as a way of thinking out loud so to speak.

One of the books I have at home is a Penguin addition of The History of the World by J M Roberts. I have dipped into it from time to time over the years and have done so again in the last day or two with my new interest in mind! I came across this and I précis it below as a starting point! So here goes :-

• While as early as 600AD Pythagoras maths and Ptolemaic astronomy had determined the world was round it was still a matter of speculation in 1400. Was the world flat? Could you fall off the edge?
• In 1400 it still seemed sensible to see Jerusalem as the centre of the world - with a world made up of three continents Europe, Asia and Africa around the shores of one land locked sea - the Mediterranean. Until this time Europe's contact with the East had been made over land - not by sea travel. Goods were shipped through Asia by caravan trains and ships rarely ventured south of Morocco.
• Also around this time a defined Europe was under threat from the East and was hemmed in by the consolidation of Christian Russia and in the Balkans by the Ottoman Empire of Islam. The Crusades against Islam had run their course by 1250. Europe was landlocked and thus they had to look to the oceans as a potential source to find new land and wealth - this was the motivation.
• Around 1400 it is understood there were real advances in both ship design and navigation skills that made ocean crossing more realistic. The ships adopted a stern rudder and improvements were made to the rigging - more masts and sails allowed boats to be able to sail closer to the wind and therefore become more manoeuvrable. On navigation a coherent approach had developed over several centuries to come together at this time. Vikings (who had crossed the Atlantic centuries before) had shown how to use the Pole Star and sun to follow a line of latitude - the use of the compass - originally from China - and then from the Mediterranean and in 1270 the first reference to the use of a chart. Spurred on by the prospect of commercial prizes, missionary zeal and diplomatic possibilities European princes invested much money in research - employing cartographers and hydrographers. Foremost was the King of Portugal's brother - to become known as Henry the Navigator (by chance I visited his monument near Lisbon late last year).
• The 14th century could be known as the age of "Reconnaissance".
• The Portugese had a long Atlantic coast - they were land locked by Spain and virtually barred from Mediterranean trade by Italian dominant control. Consequently they were foremost in looking to push out into the Atlantic and Henry the Navigator was foremost in fostering expeditions at this time.
• The Portugese gradually started pushing south hugging the Africa coast and settled in Madeira in the 1420's. 10 years later it was the Azores and in 1445 Senegal. In 1473 they crossed the equator and 1487 were at Cape of Good Hope (around which lay the Indian Ocean).
• In 1498 Vasco de Gama at last dropped anchor in Indian waters.
• By this time Christopher Columbus - an Italian working for Spain had crossed the Atlantic (confident in the light of Greek - Ptolemaic - astronomic calculation ) looking for the other end of Asia only to discover the New World - the Americas - for the Catholic monarchs of Spain. Columbus did not realise what he had found - he thought it was part of Asia. He had found a known continent by a brave new route! (he referred to it as the "West Indies". Columbus refused to acknowledge he had found a new continent but by 1494 the term "New World" was first used. (Not until 1726 was it realised Asia and The New World were not joined but separated by the Bering Straits.)
• These two enterprising discovering nations - Portugal and Spain worked together to come to understandings about "their" respective interests in the widening horizons they had discovered for themselves. The Pope acknowledge treaties dividing up the new discoveries between them.
• In 1500  a Portugese squadron aiming for the Indian Ocean - was blown deep into the Atlantic - to reach an unknown landfall - which turned out to be Brazil!! While in the main Portugal continued to concentrate on the East they also developed an interest in the Atlantic side and an Italian in Portugese service - Amerigo Vespucci - ran far enough south in "America" to confirm it was not island but a new continent. Before long the continent became named after him and when the North was subsequently discovered this was named after him too.
• By 1522 the Portugese  Ferdinand Magellan sailing under the Spanish flag completed the first voyage around the world - ( proving it was not flat). Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines and therefore did not personally complete the voyage but his ship did. The Straits of Magellan were names after him. They form the route around Chile from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Thereafter the world expanded and trade flourished. While the way had been lead by the Portugese and Spanish they were joined and exceeded by France and Holland. Subsequently everyone was surpassed by the English over the next 200 years when discovery often became conquest. 

Maps became atlases of the world and although crude - recognisable as we know the world to be laid out today. The Dutchman Gerhard Kremer drafted his Mercator maps - and was the first map maker to use the term America on a map. (However while navigation techniques had improved it was not until the 18th century that a time piece was invented for ship carriage that was accurate enough for exact sailing.)

So this was the expansion and influence of Europe. Jerusalem was no longer seen as the centre of the world. Empires would be built and the world changed forever.

What I have in mind now is to read about the voyages and lives of the great discoverers - Columbus, de Gama, Vespucci and Magellan for instance - and where does Captain Cook fit into it? Lets see where it takes me - ha!

#Seattle

Our Clipper race ended in Seattle on 21st April and we flew out on the 27th. While much of my time was taking up either celebrating our completed voyage or carrying out essential boat maintenance for the next leg here are a few observations and photos of Seattle based on my time there.

Seattle is a major port - but the odd thing is it is not actually on the Pacific coast as such but at the head of a long inlet. As you enter the long inlet it is called the Strait of Juan de Fuca . What is amazing (or at least I thought so was the close proximity of two huge countries) - we were sailing between to our left and north -  Canada (Vancouver Island) - to our right and south the USA. Eventually you branch off into Puget Sound and then Elliot Bay for Seattle. We arrived at night so the city was lit up - it looked like a fairy land - very compact.

Note: italics from Wikipaedia

However Seattle had an estimated 713,700 residents as of 2017 and is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the fastest-growing major city in the United States and remained in the Top 5 in May 2015 with an annual growth rate of 2.1%. In July 2016, Seattle was again the fastest-growing major U.S. city, with a 3.1% annual growth rate. A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century, the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed into a technology center beginning in the 1980s, with companies like Microsoft becoming established in the region, with Microsoft founder Bill Gates having been born in Seattle. Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle in 1994, and major airline Alaska Airlines was founded in SeaTac, Washington, serving Seattle's international airport, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased the city's population by almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000.

Seattle has a very prominent water front with numbered "piers". They combine both commercial and tourist activity - with many seafood outlets for which Seattle is justly famous. The views across Elliot Bay to Bainbridge Island, the snow capped Olympic mountains and the amazing active volcano Mount Ranier are truly stunning. It is built on an isthmus - and once you go over the top the city falls away again to the massive freshwater Lake Washington beyond (where Bill Gates has his home). It is a great place to be.

Mount Rainier is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a large active stratovolcano located 54 miles (87 km) south-southeast of Seattle, in the Mount Rainier National Park. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m).Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list.Because of its large amount of glacial ice, Mt. Rainier could produce massive lahars that could threaten the entire Puyallup River valley, and poses a grave threat to the southern sections of the 3.7-million-resident Seattle metropolitan area.

It is easy to understand why Seattle is so popular and monied. (once you have got your head around the threat of earthquake! - (more on that below). We were sat in the sun - with skiing but an hour away apparently, fabulous trekking and an absolutely breathtaking small boat sailing in Puget Sound and beyond. It is great for the outdoor life and has the advantage of 4 clearly defined seasons - with cold winters and hot summers.

Back from the waterfront Seattle is built on steeply rising ground with "avenues" running parallel and sometimes almost vertical "streets" forming a grid system which makes navigation so easy. I had a arranged to stay with brother Mike at the City Hostel on 3rd Avenue - a short distance walk from Bell Harbour Marina where we berthed - but a tip - take into account the steepness - ha!

Seattle is built on the Pacific rim - the world's most unstable geological area - and I have referred to the proximity of Mount Ranier - which on a good day can be seen outlined as a perfect shaped volcano - snow clad - and rising 14000 ft. Seattle lives with the threat of earthquake but the locals we talked to are convinced all building is either earthquake proofed or designated to become so by rebuilding in the close future. On that just back from the waterfront and running parallel to the whole length of Seattle is a very active rail link which runs from Alaska right down the US west coast and then a fly over carrying volume commercial traffic. The flyover particularly forms an unfortunate barrier (and noise) between the waterfront and city. However while it is was not evident the flyover is shortly to be replaced by a tunnel which is almost finished. The demolition of the flyover will remove a massive earthquake threat and greatly enhance the physical landscape.

We really enjoyed are time in Seattle. It is both smart and laid back - but be warned - your dollar does not go very far. It is expensive. There are masses of restaurants and bars serving fantastic seafood and craft beers for which Seattle has become famous. (care the craft beers are typically very strong and it is hard to know sometimes what you are actually consuming ha!).

Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District to the Central District. The jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix, as well as the bands Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters and the alternative rock movement.

I am a long way from knowing a lot about US cities but I would say Seattle is not typical of what you might consider a US city to be - particularly East Coast. There seems to be a more oriental ethnic mix than black. It is not noisy or bustling - the traffic is amazingly slow, quiet and courteous. (we used their Lime Bikes - so easy to do - but remember the hills!) There was no police evident - no guns on show - no feeling of insecurity - but I don't know if that is because we were mainly in downtown Seattle.

Seattle is a very civilised place. It feels clean. Its outlook is outstanding. It is thriving. But remember your wallet !!

Here are some photos :-

looking back to the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Luca

Vancouver Island - Canada on our left

Olympic mountains USA on our right

arriving Seattle by boat at night - a twinkly sight with the Space Needle prominent

the waterfront is a great place to visit

the Clipper yachts at Bell Harbor marina

what to choose in an American diner?

Mike and I and what became a favourite haunt - The Rabbit Hole - Third Avenue

the land mark Space Needle built in 1961. It is claimed to be the most earthquake proof building in Seattle.

Nachos at the Rabbit Hole. portion control?

Lime bike (Boris bike) Download the app - 30 mins for a dollar

the port area is massive. Iconic trucks!

Scenes from Pike Market - central Seattle - a major attraction and quite rightly

amazing wild salmon from Alaska

views of or from Seattle

the Olympic mountains

Elliott Bay and Puget Sound

Bainbridge Island

many small parks and trees in Seattle

views from the top of the Space Needle

a borrowed photo of Mount Ranier - an active volcano at 14000 feet and only 50 miles away from down town Seattle.