Marlon's a marvel

In the second cricket test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham the West Indies were on the rack at 136/6 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul,  in my opinion the best batsman in the world, already out. Then for the next 42 overs Marlon Samuels from Jamaica and Darren Sammy from St Lucia made the highest score ever for the seventh wicket at the ground and they're still there. For ages cricket-lovers around the world have prayed that West Indian cricket would rise again. I'm a big fan of the idea that the wheel goes around and the pendulum swings back but the long slide of Windies cricket has put the theory to a very stern test! There have been signs recently that mean reversion may be starting and yesterday's fightback was a marvel to behold. Chanderpaul, born in Guyana, consistently makes runs batting for a team where no one else has. It's one thing playing in a side where a number of players can step up to the plate when needed but Shivnarine has had to do it on more or less on his own. South Africans are watching this series with interest as we are next, with a tour to England starting in July. This will be a battle for No. 1 in the test cricket arena. I'm in two minds about the West Indies tour: on the one hand I'd love to see the Windies return to their best, on the other I'd like England to win easily so they get a bit overconfident. The QSL is for a utility test loop transmission from Jamintel, Kingston, Jamaica using a 1kW transmitter and heard on shortwave, upper side band. 

A Chile wave hits Quebec

Quebec has reacted to student protests against fee increases by passing an emergency law. It restricts demonstrations and imposes fines on protesters who block students from going to classes - up to $35000 for student leaders. Some of the demonstrations have turned violent, with Molotov cocktails being thrown. The name Molotov cocktail was coined by the Finns as an insulting reference to the Russian foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov at the time of the Russian invasion of Finland in 1939 which ultimately cost Finland  11% of its territory. (And the same Molotov of the eponymous Molotov-Ribbentop non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany in 1939). The quebecois student wave follows in the wake of extended demonstrations by students and high school pupils in Chile. The unrest has contributed to a precipitous decline in the popularity of President Sebastian Pinera. Following the dramatic San Jose mine rescue in 2010 his rating has plunged from 63% to just 26% recently. In the UK university fees for citizens have risen sharply. They were first introduced at 1000 quid p.a. in 1998 and recently have rocketed from 3000 to 9000 pounds. Foreign students in the UK pay much more - closer to 14000 quid. There are two forces at work here. One is the dissatisfaction that many feel about economic inequality - a narrow elite with unfair advantages. The other is the raw fact that the welfare state has become unaffordable. The QSL is from Radio Presidente Balmaceda in Santiago using 10kW on 31mb and heard in Cape Town in 1969. Tucked away behind the Andes, Chile is not easy to hear on AM and harder to QSL.

Darling, there's a trawler blocking the view

Japanese-registered trawler Eihatsu Maru ran aground on 1st beach Clifton over the weekend. 1st beach is prime territory in Cape Town, with apartments along the shore selling for the most of any properties in the city. The water at Clifton is cold but all four main beaches have good body surfing. You go in, catch a wave and then bake in the sun for a minute - fantastically invigorating. Luck was on the sailors' side as the boat ran aground on a sand-bank, avoiding the many scatterings of rocks located along that part of the coastline. Most of the crew were evacuated although the captain remained on board with his dog. I guess the dog went along with the plan, as dogs usually do! Local rescue teams sprung into action with NSRI boats from Table Bay and Bakoven quickly on the scene. Later a tug from my village of Simonstown, on the other side of the Cape Peninsula, arrived to attempt to move the trawler off. Many boats have come a cropper along that side of the coast, often pushed onshore by the strong north-westers that create such good surfing conditions for land-lubbers like me. The Eihatsu Maru is fairly old, first registered in 1985. Its engines are apparently in running order so it seems it lost its way in fog. It's amazing with modern nautical navigation systems that this can happen. Here's a link to the tug Smit Amandla pulling Eihatsu Maru off the beach http://sawdis1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/eihatsu-maru-pulled-off-clifton.html The QSL is from two Japanese AM stations, JOGO 1485 and JOGR 1233, heard on a business trip to Seoul, Korea in 2000, with a sweet letter from Reiko Sasaki, who worked at the station.

Message from the Dutch bottle

Political drama every day in Europe. We are about to see a new president in France, while in Greece the traditional parties have shrivelled in the polls as austerity bites. The Dutch government of Mark Rutte was taken down by Geert Wilders. Here in the UK the Conservative-LibDem alliance was pummelled in local elections. Blond politicians to the fore, with Boris Johnson of the scruffy blond locks edging home to another win as London mayor. I vote for Bozza just because he's entertaining, although I think he's actually been quite effective, after a chaotic start to his first term. Wilders' blondness comes out of a bottle and although he's an attention-grabber he's a bit too off the wall for me. Both Wilders and Rutte are youngsters, still in their 40s. With 'fringe parties' on the rise in many parts of Europe, ongoing negative market buzz is never far away. The latest wheeze is to implement growth strategies to offset the austerity fatigue. Europe is chipping away at the edges. What we need to see is still greater shrinkage of the state. Governments the size of Europe's are simply unaffordable. The public sector is not suited to the creative destruction necessary for a dynamic economy. I've been saying that we'll look back in five years and be surprised how Eurozone has progressed. But a little flutter inside worries me: that too little is being done to reduce the bureaucracy and free up economies. The QSL is from Radio 10 Gold, the AM hits station in Holland, heard in London in 1995 but also audible in South Africa at the time.

Elasticity of a drought

On April 5 they announced the hosepipe ban in England. On April 6 it started to rain .... and rain, and rain. April showers as they say and so it has been with records likely to be broken in the month. The big Bewl water reservoir in Kent dropped to only 35% full but the way things are going it will be filling up soon. Every now and again there is a tremendous clap of thunder with attendant lightning. Not like the gigantic rolling thunderstorms you get in Joburg; rather these isolated and rather shocking one-offs that seem to come from nowhere. As if to say: I'm just cheeky, not bad. Walking down to the village this morning to exchange library books I had the brolly up and eyes on the pavement ahead. This is the best way to spot elastic bands. London is a city of elastic bands, they are everywhere. If you are looking you will seldom walk more than a couple of hundred metres and you'll see one. It took me a while to work this out and then I realised: it's the postmen. They jettison them as they make their rounds. The QSL is from Enigma 846, Trans Kent Radio, a pirate that used to operate on AM on Sundays and heard in Otford, Kent in 2002.

Surf by night, sail by day, in Itajai

After yesterday's in-port race in Itajai, the Volvo Ocean yachts head off for Miami today. The race was a disaster for Telefonica. After serenely dropping the fleet soon after the start and building an unassailable lead, Telefonica rounded the wrong mark and before anyone realised they were way at the back of the field. This allowed both Grouparama and Camper to narrow Telefonica's overall lead. While the yachting world has its eyes on Itajai, most don't realise that there are two great sufing beaches there: Atalaia and Brava. Atalaia interests me because it uses reflectors for night surfing. How many times have I wondered about the great waves going to waste after dark at Muizenberg Corner? You hang in there till last light but eventually you have to give in. Bondi beach in Australia have neon night surfing where the the boards and wetsuits are illuminated by lights from the shore. As the Volvo Ocean race presses on I still have a big question mark over the marginality of the boats. It's all very well to have leading-edge design technology but too many boats in this small fleet have broken. The QSL is from Radio Clube Paranaense, Curitiba, Brazil. I don't have any from Santa Catarina State where Itajai is located but Curitiba is not far, about 100 miles to the north. I heard them on AM 1430 in 1987 on a DXpedition to remote Copperton in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

The warmth and coolth of London to Cape Town

In recent months I've had multiple return trips between London and Cape Town, giving me the chance to compare the three mainline carriers servicing the route.  And a lucrative route it is too, with flights usually full. It may seem like hometown bias but South African Airways comes out tops, the other two being British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. At the end it all boils down to service and the SAA staff have worked it out. For one thing, they are genuinely hospitable, South African-style. I usually find the BA staff are rather cool, as if they're doing the job but would rather not be. It's efficient but not friendly or warm. They don't engage and hate criticism. As a customer you feel a bit lucky to be there. The Virgin staff are better - they are selected to meet the Virgin image of being sassy and in tune. They're energetic and the on-flight entertainment is outstanding. However, they take absolutely ages to bring the food. By the time you get to the main course, hours have passed and you'd like to be snoozing off, especially if you have work the next day. Don't dream of complaining, it doesn't go down well. SAA serve the food early and fast and they let you know that your needs are important. The QSL is from the old Virgin Radio in the UK, heard on 1215 AM in Johannesburg in 1993.