Red wired

Personal OC Aesthetic blog Of Illien Blackthorne (Or just Blackthorne if ya wanna keep all your fingers) - written by Hige.

[pmamtraveller]

Fish-shaped interlocking paving stones.

[blumineck]

This video isn’t quite as unhinged as the opening frame makes it look. I think.

Anyway, I have a Patreon and stuff!

[ltwilliammowett]

The bright night cruise, by Marek Rużyk (1965-)

[barghest-land]

a little story about seeing the past through the present - featuring razorbill, who is the closest living relative of the great auk, a bird that became extinct not so long ago.

- Native to the Arctic and sub-Arctic region and once numbering millions of individuals, Great auks became extinct mid-19th century. The last breeding pair, found incubating an egg, was killed on 3 June 1844, on request from a merchant who wanted specimens, with Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson strangling the adults and Ketill Ketilsson smashing the egg with his boot. The last individual was seen in 1852, leaving no hope that the species might be extant.

[eviekean]

@sixth-extinction

[sixth-extinction]

Thank you @eviekean, definitely relevant to my interests.

[ltwilliammowett]

Ship of the Line, by Wieslaw Wilk (1954-)

[ltwilliammowett]

Restless sea, by Wieslaw Wilk (1954-)

[lescarnetsdehaku]

The photographer, the naturalist & those who tame the seas.

Characters from a project with @koma-etoile

[pocket-deer-belly]

Right. I forgot. You can’t talk about rap music on here without people exposing their ass and telling on themselves with the type of rap music they listen to

[pocket-deer-belly]

Never in my life did i expect a serious recommendation for epic rap battles of history, let alone a person who makes the same shit but with undertale and disney characters

[pocket-deer-belly]

PLEASE be joking this is not what you listen to right

[pocket-deer-belly]

Really really fucking telling on yourself on a post about how white people tend to view rap as this “deeply political” genre and then the non-political rap (which, wasn’t really the point but go off) you recommend is rap made by white people about fictional blorbos

[redavexat]

Hell Yeah

[creepymutelilbugger]

[angmallen]

[ltwilliammowett]

Fishing net glass floats

These beautiful glass balls that many collect today have been around since about 1841, an invention that originated in Norway where old glass and or old bottles were blown into these balls or oval floats to hold fishermen's nets on the surface. However, from the early 20th century, Norway was replaced by Japan as the main producer, where old sake bottles were reused, which is why we are more likely to find these than european models today.

Japanese glass floats

The production process initially required much more skill than one would expect. After blowing, the floats were removed from the blowpipe and sealed with a button of molten glass before being placed in a cooling oven. While the floats were still hot and soft, markings were often stamped on or near the sealing button to brand the floats.

Garnblåser or glass floats

In a later manufacturing method, wooden moulds were used to speed up the float-making process. The glass bottles were blown into a mould to make it easier to achieve a uniform size and shape. The seams on the outside of the floats are a result of this process. This makes it easy to distinguish whether it is a hand-blown float or a float that has been blown into a mould.

Old fishing nets with glass floats hanging at a boathouse wall in Norway.

Most floats are in shades of green because this is the colour of glass from recycled bottles. However, clear, amber, aquamarine, amethyst, blue and other colours have also been produced. The most prized and rare colour is red or cranberry. The production of these colours was expensive as gold was used to produce the colour. Other brilliant colours such as emerald green, cobalt blue, violet, yellow and orange were mainly produced in the 1920s and 30s. Most of the coloured cars available for purchase today are replicas. Originals are difficult to find today. In the past, they were often found on the beaches because they had become detached from the nets and then washed ashore.

Sources below

Glass Ball, A comprehensive Guide for Oriental Glass Fishing Floats found on Pacific Beaches by Walt Pich

Beachcombing for Japanese Glass Floats by Amos L. Wood

[viralfrog]

[ltwilliammowett]

Feeling Sea Sick - South Street Seaport Museum

A blog post about maladies and medicine on 19th century whaling ships while looking at a medicine cabinet in the Seaport Museum collection.

Really very good to read and damn informative

[ltwilliammowett]

At Midnight, by Marek Rużyk (1965-)

[ltwilliammowett]

The Wave, by Marek Rużyk, 2007

[ltwilliammowett]

Special sails

We are more familiar with ships that go up to the topgallant sail (t'gallant or t'garns'l), but there are still some special sails that are above it, these are the Royal, the Skysail and above that the Moonraker. Because of the height they reached, these ships were also called skyscrapers, but please do not confuse them with the skyscraper sail, which was hoisted above them in a triangular shape on much larger ships like clipper or steal barques during the 19th and early 20th century.

Royal

A royal is a small sail flown immediately above the topgallant on square rigged sailing ships. It was originally called the "topgallant royal" and was used in light and favourable winds. Royal sails were normally found only on larger ships with masts tall enough to accommodate the extra canvas. Royals were introduced around the turn of the 18th century but were not usually flown on the mizzenmast until the end of that century. It gave its name to a Dutch term for a light breeze-the Royal Sail Breeze or bovenbramzeilskoelte was a Force 2 wind on the Beaufort Scale.

Skysail

In the course of the 18th century (although the first written records do not exist until 1807), skysails began to be hoisted over the Royal, again in good weather and light winds.

Moonraker

The word itself dates back to the 18th century and was the name for a sail that was hoisted directly above the sky sail, and it was only hoisted when there was very little wind, because if the wind was too strong, it would simply tear off.

The Regina Maris, a danish barquentine from 1908 with a watersail ( red circle)

Watersail

A watersail is a sail hung below the boom. It is used mostly on gaff rig boats for extra downwind performance when racing. Often a watersail will be improvised from an unused foresail. Its psychological effects may be more effective than its aerodynamic ones. Surprisingly, its use can be traced back to as early as 1373. Possibly even earlier, since the 12th century.

[ltwilliammowett]

Superstition of the Irish Sailor

Just like the real Sailors, they were also very superstitious and apart from the typical things that we already know enough about all of them, the Irish still have their own things.

Black cats were generally favoured by the Sailors as they were considered to bring good luck, but the Irish Sailors were particularly fond of these animals and liked to rescue them from violent farmers.

Red-haired women were also a great danger to the Irish and were considered to be very unlucky on board a ship.

Don't blow out a candle or you'll blow out a sailor's life, just let it go out by itself.

Don't wear black socks, they are priest socks and no sailor wears them unless there is a funeral or you want your mates to meet their end as quickly as possible. Because black attracts death.

Wear an Aran sweater - these special woollen sweater were worn by fishermen to bring them luck and to identify their corpses when they were washed ashore.

Ships made from Ash trees were especially blessed, as these trees were the sacred trees of the Norse gods.

If the lord's name was insulted or a bad word such as hare was used, the Irishman would rub it on metal and say cold iron to clear the name and keep witches, ghosts and fairies away.

A small hand-carved wooden goose brings a sailor good luck.

[ltwilliammowett]

Sailor’s patron saints

Sailors and religion are a subject in themselves and many were not particularly religious, even if they had been brought up religiously. And yet there were masses and the Bible was also consulted at funerals, but the priest was to be avoided like the devil avoids holy water. After all, the priest was associated with morality and death, which no one wanted to be near. But if things got dicey and danger was very close, there were some patron saints who were called upon and asked for protection. But there were also some who simply wore the symbol of their patron saint as general protection. Here are a few of them.

Saint Brendan

One of the most popular patron saints is Saint Brendan (Irish Gaelic Brénaind), a Celtic saint and hero of legendary voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. He is best known for his legendary voyage to the Isle of the Blessed, later immortalised in the mythical Christian tale Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis Voyage of St Brendan the Abbot. This Irish epic depicts an incredible Atlantic voyage with other monks that culminated in their arrival in the “Promised Land of the Saints”. Because of his great navigational skills in finding this Promised Land, he is the patron saint of navigators.

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas of Myra is probably the most famous saint in the world. Saint Nicholas was born in what is now Turkey. When he was young, he lost both his parents. He gave away the inheritance they left him to the poor and sick. Which is reflected today in his commemoration day of 6 December, which many celebrate. For the seafarers, however, he is more interesting because he is said to have managed to calm a storm by asking for help, which is why he is usually the one who is asked for help in a storm.

Saint Christopher

Saint Christopher is also one of the more popular saints, though his existence remains disputed. He is said to be the patron of travellers and to help cross waterways.

Saint Clement

Clement of Rome is said to be the third successor of Saint Peter and the first Apostolic Father of the Church. Not too much is known about the life of St Clement I, as few details have survived. Because of his evangelising efforts, he was drowned with an anchor around his neck. This anchor became his symbol, a symbol of hope. Although hope itself, by the way, is feminine and that is why she is usually depicted, especially in connection with seafarers. St. Clement, however, is a protector against storms and tempests, so he is also often asked for help in storms.

Saint Elmo

Erasmus of Formia, also known as Elmo, and was Bishop of Formia, Italy, at a time when Emperor Diocletian was persecuting Christians. The story of St Erasmus shows how he miraculously endured all kinds of torture. He suffered many excruciating punishments before finally meeting a supposedly cruel death. However, he himself became the patron saint of sailors, for he is said to have continued preaching even when lightning struck the ground next to him, which is incidentally where the weather phenomenon St. Elmo’s fire gets its name. This prompted sailors who found themselves in danger from sudden storms and lightning to call on his prayers.