Terremoto

Italy is a seismic active region as frequent Earthquakes demonstrate albeit lesser in magnitude compared to other seismic active regions of this world. The reason is the so-called Apulian heel of the African plate pushing the Appenine, the mountain range along the Italian peninsula at its western edge towards the Alps. This scratching of the Eurasian and African plate generates strain which accumulates up to a certain point until it is released at once in a quake. Depending on the released energy the quake is larger or lower in magnitude which together with the local setting (e.g. the material of the underground and the buildings) is related to damage and casualties it may cause.

You probable have heard from the news that two days ago the Abruzzo region was hit again by a strong Earthquake while still not recovered from the devastating quake in August last year (24 Aug 2016). A hotel was destroyed by a avalanche triggered by the quake and people are still missing. The quake was also felt in the Rome area where schools and undergrounds where evacuated. Many of my colleagues felt it in their offices but not me.

It seems that my equilibrium sense has lost sensitivity since I am living on the boat and being swayed into sleep by the sea every night.

This definitely was not always the case as I still remember well the L'Acquila quake which we experienced in our flat in Frascati some 100 km away from the epicentrum early morning at 3:30, 6 April 2009. It felt like somebody starting a jack-hammer next to you. Very noisy and with a high frequency tremulousness.

It also happened that I was in Washington D.C., 23 August 2011 when the Washington quake occurred which somehow was a geological mystery (see e.g. here).  It felt totally different, much quieter, longer waves and you could see walls moving forth and back, followed by trembling noise caused by the glas fronts of the office blocks in Washington. Very scary!

 Let's pray for the missing people and wish the rescue teams all luck needed.
  

Norwegian Rakfisk

One of the advantages working for an international organisations is that you get to know different habits and traditional dishes of different countries from your colleagues.

Yesterday, one of my Norwegian colleague welcomed us back in office with a Norwegian Rakfisk which traditionally is being served at Christmas. Rakfisk is raw fish (in general trout - Rak-oerret), fermented for 2-3 months (from end of the fishing season to Christmas). It is being served with potetlefse a traditional Norwegian flatbread (which looks like crepe but is made of potato and flower), sour creme and fresh leek or onions. Yummy! Of course Linie Aquavite need to go with it, which - I guess most of you know - has to cross the equator twice! Skal!

One year on T-Fish

Rising sun over Porto Turistico di Roma

I am back on T-Fish after the Christmas Break and celebrating my first year as a 'live-aboard'. Well, at least as a 'kind of live-aboard' as I am still in occupation, and currently commuting between Brussels (where my family lives) and Rome (location of my current duty station). Thus, I am using T-Fish as a sort of a flat while I am in Rome.

There are certain advantages in doing this.

First, T-Fish offers all comfort of a small flat. There is  a sleeping room, a dressing room, a bathroom with toilet and a living room with a kitchenette. Hot water is provided through a boiler connected to the shore line power. As a boat originally from the 'North', T-Fish is also equipped with a built-in heating system which provides a warm and cozy cabin in cold winters days (yes, even in Rome there are some cold winter days with temperatures below the freezing point!). Further, when moving-in I installed a smart TV with a sat dish mounted on the pier allowing me to follow German news and sport events. Underway the TV runs as an entertaining media system, e.g. as a 'mirroring' display of the chart plotter or as a home cinema system supported by a large media library on a SSD which appears sufficient to circumnavigate the globe at least twice while continuously watching movies. Well, I have to confess that so far it was not used too often but it definitely is a nice thing to have in particular when weathering foul weather.

Second, T-Fish is well maintained and kept 'functional' while living aboard. Small repairs are done on the spot and it looks like that many appliances tend to malfunction lesser when continuously in use.   Thus, besides two major projects which I postponed for quite some time there are currently no open items on T-Fish's 'to-do list'.

One of the two major project concerns the cleaning of the underwater ship from remnants of the anti-fouling coating which built-up over the years, to apply a new osmosis shielding and to renew all sea cocks at the same time.
The second one, which has higher priority, is to sort out what to do with T-Fish's teak deck which is in poor condition now after almost 30 years. Should I get rid of it, seal the holes of the screws and just paint the deck? Or should I invest in a new teak deck which is very costly but certainly looks better. Alternatively, I could use a 'synthetic' teak deck but I am not sure, how these decks look after 15 or more years.
Anyway, I will try to consult some local companies in the vicinity of the port for some further advice. In case you know a good company in the Rome area, please let me know.

Happy New Year!

A Happy, Healthy and Successful 2017 to everybody!