maritime

"Two more layers of mesh were stapled over the mold. Again 1" x 2" (25.4 mm x 51 mm) wide staples were used. The folded mesh was not lapped but just butted."

"Wooden plugs of the same diameter as each through-hull fitting were cut out and placed on the mold in the exact position where the future through-hull fitting was to be installed later. These were cut from doweling and made one inch (25.4 mm) deep. A hole was drilled in the center of the doweling to ensure that the plug did not split when nailed to the mold. The mesh was cut away under the plug and trimmed neatly at the edges. Some attempt was made to place the doweling in a position clear of the intersecting rods."

"Starter rods for the stem, webs, bulkheads, bilge stringers, and engine beds were welded in place. These starter rods were placed at approximately six-inch (152 mm) centers. They were six inches (152 mm) long where they extended through the hull. Quarter-inch (6.4 mm) holes were drilled for these... The starter rods were lap-welded to either the vertical rods or the horizontals, depending on their position."

"The horizontal rods were welded on. Where a rod terminated on the hull it was lapped for six inches (152.4 mm) with another rod and spotwelded. All the rod joints were treated in this same way. The rods were stapled at approximately three-inch (76 mm) centers. Every second intersection of horizontal with vertical rods was spot welded. As there were two layers of mesh between the vertical and horizontal rods, the mesh was faired smooth in this small area. Care was taken not to burn too large a hole in the plastic sheeting where the rod welding took place."

"The construction method chosen was the inverted wooden mold. For hulls up to 50 feet in length, and for utilizing unskilled labor, this method has been shown to be most efficient. ...The shape and fairness of the hull is first established and checked with the quick and easy-to-build wooden mold. ..The use of air-powered staple guns to fasten mesh and rods to the hull mold is a quick and efficient method and can be performed with unskilled labor. ..Lamination of the concrete skin is eliminated as the mortar is applied from one side only and vibrated through the hull shell reinforcing. ...Sagging of large unsupported areas is avoided. The men work from the outside of the hull and downwards."

"An alternative construction method was also developed which did not require the use of any type of mold or form."

"The best solution found was to form a double curvature surface... The curvature does not necessarily follow a pre-determined law, so that it may be checked roughly "with the naked eye"."

"After a couple of hours, the desired finish is applied (polishing or brushing), with the object of sealing the cracks or faults that may appear on the surface of the dome."

"The curing of the shell is achieved by covering the surface with wet sand for a period of 72 hours."

"[These] low cost, easily built, high quality ferrocement roofings... offer an innovative solution to the serious dwelling problem affecting large numbers of people, especially in the marginal urban areas and rural zones of developing countries..."

"The hull was left untouched for 18 hours after the plaster finishing work had ceased. This allowed the hull to set-up hard enough for the men to drag the steam tent over it. It is not advisable to start steam curing too soon, as the jets of hot water from the steam pipe may wash some of the mortar off the hull while it is still green. Before steam curing began the wooden screeds were removed from around the hull sheer."

"[Ferrocement defined:] A thin walled construction, consisting of rich cement mortar with uniformly distributed and closely spaced layers of continuous and relatively small diameter mesh (metallic or other suitable material)."

"The central part remains [bare wire] and will be completed after 72 hours. ...[T]he worker can [then] climb on the previously cast portion, carrying out the same process ...[S]upport the dome until the mortar has cured in order to avoid deformations caused by the weight of the mortar and to guarantee curvature of the shell."

"The adaption of ferrocement precast roofings in self-help construction projects... permits the use of standard components which are easily erected without sophisticated equipment."

"The construction of the mold simply consists of making a dome of well compacted earth, covered by a layer of well-finished concrete having a thickness of 8 cm [3.15 inches], with the shape defined by the trusses... used to [shape] the mold."

"The reinforcement consists of two no. 2 bars along the edges, one of them straight and the other one with the necessary bends to provide the handles to lift and fix the dome to the structure. ...[T]wo layers of galvanized chicken wire, guage 22 with a separation of 13 mm are attached to the bars and directly mounted over the mold, one perpendicular to the other. ...[E]nsure a minimum overlap of 5 cm... and... ensure that these are stretched... to achieve the thinnest section possible."

"As eight of the shells tested failed as a result of the failure of the supporting concrete ties on the walls, it was decided to build samples which were very well reinforced... The ultimate load increased by 1.7 times for these shells..."

"The mortar used for the mix is made (using a mixture) of normal or ic cement and sand in a proportion of 1:1.5 by volume and with a water-cement ratio of 0.55."

"LIGHTHOUSE, n. A tall building on the seashore in which the government maintains a lamp and the friend of a politician."

"Anythin' for a quiet life, as the man said wen he took the sitivation at the lighthouse."

"[I]n standing out like a lighthouse over a stormy ocean it marks the entrance to a port where those who are wearied at times with the woes of the world, and troubled often by the trials of existence, may search for and may find that "peace that passeth all understanding"."

"The human heart is a meadow full of fireflies, a summer western sky of shimmering distant lightnings, a shore set round with flashing lighthouses, far-away voices calling that we cannot understand."

"And o'er them the lighthouse looked lovely as hope,— That star of life's tremulous ocean."

"Actuality is when the lighthouse is dark between flashes: it is the instant between the ticks of the watch: it is a void interval slipping forever through time: the rupture between past and future: the gap at the poles of the revolving magnetic field, infinitesimally small but ultimately real. It is the interchronic pause when nothing is happening. It is the void between events."

"Lighthouses are more useful than churches."

"Each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks from shore or from a vessel's deck, was for all the world like any range of hills on dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys."

"Come o'er the moonlit sea, The waves are brightly glowing."

"Whilst breezy waves toss up their silvery spray."

"Hitherto thou shalt come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."

"The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast, And the woods against a stormy sky, Their giant branches toss'd."

"Ye waves That o'er th' interminable ocean wreathe Your crisped smiles."

"There's sky and death shimmering the waves."

"Vieil océan. ... Si tes vagues sont quelque part en furie, plus loin, dans quelque autre zone, elles sont dans le calme le plus complet."

"What are the wild waves saying, Sister, the whole day long, That ever amid our playing I hear but their low, lone song?"

"The early Hindu astrologers are said to have used the magnet, in fixing the North and East, in laying foundations, and other religious ceremonies. The Hindu compass was an iron fish that floated in a vessel of oil and pointed to the North. The fact of this older Hindu compass seems placed beyond doubt by the Sanskrit word Maccha Yantra, or fish machine, which Molesworth gives as a name for the mariner's compass"."

"O Asvins, you saved Bhujyu (from drowning) in a deep sea where there was nothing to hold on, by lifting him up in a boat that had a hundred oars and sending him to his place. This was indeed a brave act of yours."

"As a ship across the river (or sea), Agni, take us across to safety (I.97.8).29"

"Abraham Parsons, a British traveller, described India’s ship- building prowess in late eighteenth century:Ships built at Bombay are not only as strong, but as handsome, are as well finished as ships built in any part of Europe; the timber and plank, of which they are built, so far exceeds any in Europe for durability that it is usual for ships to last fifty or sixty years; as a proof of which I am informed, that the ship called the Bombay grab, of twenty-four guns, (the second in size belonging to the Company’s marine) has been built more than sixty years, and is now a good and strong ship."

"The supremacy of India in the waters that washed her coast was unchallenged till the rise of Arab shipping under the early khalifs. But the Arabs and Hindus competed openly, and the idea of ‘sovereignty over the sea’ except in narrow straits was unknown to Asian conception. It is true that the Sri Vijaya Empire dominating the Straits of Malacca exercised control of shipping through that sea lane for two centuries, but there was no question at any time of any Asian power exercising or claiming the right to control traffic in open seas. It follows from this conception of the freedom of the seas that Indian rulers who maintained powerful navies like the Chola Emperors, or the Zamorins, used it only for the protection of the coast, for putting down piracy and, in case of war, for carrying and escorting troops across the seas."

"Some ships of the larger class have, besides (the cabins), to the number of thirteen bulkheads or divisions in the hold, formed of thick planks let into each other (incastrati, mortised or rabbeted). The object of these is to guard against accidents which may occasion the vessel to spring a leak, such as striking on a rock or receiving a stroke from a whale, a circumstance that not unfrequently occurs; for, when sailing at night, the motion through the waves causes a white foam that attracts the notice of the hungry animal. In expectation of meeting with food, it rushes violently to the spot, strikes the ship, and often forces in some part of the bottom. The water, running in at the place where the injury has been sustained, makes its way to the well which is always kept clear. The crew, upon discovering the situation of the leak, immediately remove the goods from the division affected by the water, which, in consequence of the boards being so well fitted, cannot pass from one division to another. They then repair the damage, and return the goods to the place in the hold from whence they had been taken. The ships are all double-planked; that is, they have a course of sheathing-boards laid over the planking in every part. These are caulked with oakum both withinside and without, and are fastened with iron nails. They are not coated with pitch, as the country does not produce that article, but the bottoms are smeared over with the following preparations: – The people take quick-lime and hemp, which latter they cut small, and with these, when pounded together, they mix oil procured from a certain tree, making of the whole a kind of unguent, which retains its viscous property more firmly, and is a better material than pitch."

"Agni will deliver us across all difficulties, as a ship across the river (or sea; I.99.1).30"

"The maritime intercourse of India and China dates from a much earlier period, from about 680 B.C..... they arrived in vessels having prows shaped like the heads of birds or animals after the pattern specified in the Yukti Kalpataru (an ancient Sanskrit technological text) and exemplified in the ships and boats of old Indian arts."

"It should be remembered that the Indian Ocean, including the entire coast of Africa, had been explored centuries ago by Indian navigators. Indian ships frequented the East African ports and certainly knew Madagascar. Whether they had rounded the Cape and sailed up the west coast is not known with any certainty."

"Agni, destroyer of difficulties, deliver us across all danger as a ship across the river (or sea; V.5.9).31"

"The Indian Ocean had from time immemorial been the scene of intense commercial trade. Indian ships had from the beginning of history sailed across the Arabian Sea up to the Red Sea ports and maintained intimate cultural and commercial connections with Egypt, Israel and other countries of the Near East. Long before Hippalus disclosed the secret of the monsoon to the Romans, Indian navigators had made use of these winds and sailed to Bab‑el‑Mandeb. To the east, Indian mariners had gone as far as Borneo and flourishing Indian colonies had existed for over 1,200 years in Malaya, the islands of Indonesia, in Cambodia, Champa and other areas of the coast. Indian ships from Quilon made regular journeys to the South China coast. A long tradition of maritime life was part of the history of Peninsular India..."

"In Les Hindous, Solvyns, after introducing about 40 sketches of boats and river vessels used in the Indian north in the 1790s, observed that “the English, attentive to everything which related to naval architecture, have borrowed from the Hindoos many improvements which they have adapted with success to their own shipping”."

"Agni, give us a ship for our vehicle and house, with constant oars and quarters, which can take across our heroes and benefactors and our people to safety (I.140.12).53"

"The Indian ships are much bigger than ours. Their bases are made of three boards .. [they] face formidable storms."

"The Sun mounted the luminous ocean, having yoked his straight-backed horses. The wise have led him like a ship through the water. The Waters, listening, have come here. We hold in the waters your vessel (or thought) that wins the light, by which the seers of the nine rays crossed over the ten months. By this vessel may we gain the protection of the Gods, by this vessel may we cross over all narrowness (V.45.10-11)."

"Commerce on the sea is monopolized by the British even more than transport on land. The Hindus are not permitted to organize a merchant marine of their own; all Indian goods must be carried in British bottoms, as an additional strain on the starving nation's purse; and the building of ships, which once gave employment to thousands of Hindus, is prohibited."