Evanston: a new Avon; a different sky; Planet Earth television series
Evanston: a new Avon; a different sky; Planet Earth television series
I once sat in an Avon dinghy in a parking lot in Key West (Immigrant Ship), so I guess I can do so in our spare bedroom.
Avon Redstarts are my dinghy of choice, and I’ve owned about a half dozen over the years. This, my most recent, arrived a few days ago. They are under warranty for ten years. The one presently on THE HAWKE OF TUONELA is only now needing to be retired to back-up status after thirteen years.
My first cost $250. This one cost $1700, including almost $100 for shipping.
Avon was a British company, but was taken over by Zodiac. Fortunately they haven’t made any major changes. They do now include some rigid floor slats and the outboard mount in the standard price, which isn’t a benefit to me. As I said in a article I just wrote and which will appear probably in a year in CRUISING WORLD, I like to row and though someday old age may compel me to buy an outboard, it will be a defeat.
I like Avon Redstarts because they are more stable than rigid dinghies, have the best oarlocks of any inflatable, are big enough for my needs and easier to inflate, deflate and stow than bigger dinghies, can be emptied of rain by flipping them over, and are less desirable to steal than dinghies with outboards. And they last. Considering how long, this one might be my last.
I may go out and row on Lake Michigan some day when it’s warmer, though I’d have to buy some lifejackets to please the Coast Guard, before I take it to New Zealand.
Although I grew up 300 miles southwest of here, I left in 1963 and have lived beside or on oceans ever since. I think I have become pretty good at reading the weather. But this is a different sky--and not only because at the moment big fat snowflakes are falling outside the window. I can’t explain the difference. It is just that I look at this sky and sense that it is not one that I know or understand.
The snow flurries are brief and the latest has already stopped. But the temperature is just below freezing and there are gale force winds. The poor White Sox are due to play a home game this afternoon. It is most definitely not baseball weather.
Artists change the way we see. When I look at certain scenes, it seems to me that the Impressionists and even some Expressionists were actually realists, as in the photos I took of reflections in Tahiti and Fiji. Just now the bare tree limbs are waving about outside like threatening fingers in some sinister children’s cartoon.
The Discovery Channel is running an eleven part series called Planet Earth which claims to show the planet as never before. The claims are true. They spent a lot of money and took a lot of time to good purpose. The narration is less than profound, but the photography is incredible. It airs on Sunday evenings and is repeated at other times. Well worth viewing.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007