I am surprised that there has been only limited commentary on the use of carbon fibre for the main body of the submersible. Carbon fibre is significantly weaker in compression than in tension. The carbon fibre structure would have been subject to high hoop and axial compressive loading. In general, metals are much better at resisting such loadings; this is probably why they chose to use titanium dome ends. And then there is the issues associated with non-destructive testing of carbon fibre both in manufacture and after use.

Of course, the design may have been mass driven, which in itself would be a concern in such circumstances. As no classification society is involved, I suspect investigations will be limited.

Tip speed of a wind turbine is 80 m/s and upwards. Therefore, it does not really matter how sharp the leading edge is. It will sting if it hits you on the back of your neck. However, i suspect that the frequency of bird strikes is overstated as most birds see or hear a massive grey/white thing in front of them. The exception is when raptors are pouncing on prey and their sight is focused on that to the exclusion of all else.

I once found a hawk on top of a nacelle (the machine house) but that was in the US. I am aware of some (a few in many years) being found on UK sites close to the culprit turbine.

I used to be a fan of Apple until their Big Sur OS bricked my mid-2014 MacBook Pro. Apparently, Apple want £500 to change the i/o board.

What happened to the benefits of integrated product/software. I am not yet aware of any Windows update leading to hardware failure.

I could not recommend anything based around Neist Point. Horrendously busy.

Given that you have suggested strenuous, I would recommend having a go at getting up to one of the corries off the ridge; Coire Lagan or Bhastier would be recommendations. They give a real feel for what the Cuillins are about.

Closer to where you are staying, I would recommend a circular walk; down to Lorgill (easy road/track) and then back over the Hoe, Ramasaig Head and Waterstein Head.This is a stunning cliff walk. Bonus is you will see Neist without going anywhere near it.

Finally, a tour of MacLeod’s tables would be a strenuous half day and you won’t see anyone!

Forcan Ridge down-climb can be bypassed on right and left. Bypass on right would be straightforward for a dog, less so for a human, particularly in winter. Bypass on left looks sketchy for both.

Pumarosa?

Blonde, two colleagues with taches.

Tried a number of merino base layers including smartwool All result in freezing when stopping after working hard.

OK for walking around but for exercise, give me a helly hansen or similar everytime.

I have got an Alaw bach and a Gemini SP. As noted by Mr. Hoppy, the Alaw handling can be somewhat unusual, particularly in strong winds. But its rock solid and has looked after me in much bigger sees than I should have been out in. The Gemini is not a typical Valley boat. Its very manoeuvrable and gives a much softer ride in big chop. However, it is a day/play boat albeit with a silly huge rear hatch and, as such, it might be better to go for something more all round….which is not really a Delphin. Opinions on the Delphi are polarised. It does not really handle like a traditional UK sea boat, e.g. edging etc. But is used as per the design brief its is certainly useful.

If I were starting from scratch and looking for a day/weekend boat, I would probably get a Romany. If needing more capacity, the NDK Explorer is probably worth a look.

For an all rounder, the most common recommendation is a Northshore Atlantic, which is available in composite and plastic.While not exciting, you would not go far wrong with one of these.

Modern plastic is great but it still gets furred up in time and is harder to get on the roof of a car.

As with bikes, the recommendation is to do lots of demos. Unfortunately, like with bikes, a demo does not give you much more than an indication that the boats fits. Best option is to join a club or go to a course provider that offers a range of boats to try.

Any reasonable NDA should acknowledge the possibility of pre-existing IP and knowledge in the public domain. This would generally protect your ideas as long as you have expressed them in other work. If the NDA does not refer to such, I would not be for signing it.

If on the phone you need to raise a formal complaint. Initially you will be told that there is no such process but there is, and its managed from the UK.

If appointments have been missed then there is also compensation paid. But again this will be denied initially.

You will also probably have o do it twice – for the line and broadband. Different companies!

Basically, you need to be willing to spend hours on the phone to India but eventually, other options open out.

R

The obvious reason being that M775 calipers last about a week. It will be fine.

Buy or borrow a copy of Snow Leopard. £14 from the Apple Store.

Garmin straps are not vey good. They tend to give an unreliable high heart rate, particularly when running. The answer seems to be to use a polar strap with the Garmin sender unit. This works well for me.

However, given a Decathlon one is available, it may be worth a punt.

Unfortunately, this sounds very like a leaking piston, which despite many people saying great things about them, is, in my experience, common with Shimano calipers. New calipers required.

R

Distillery is less than 10 minutes away and you will probably pass it twice every day.

Barry,

If you can move the bars there is still hope! Don't cut the stem off yet as you will lose leverage. Try penetrating oil or, so I gather, coke (as in the drink) in the interface, leave and then keep twisting. However, the twisting could be self defeating if there is too much heat – expanding the stem.

As advised above, cup of tea and return to the fray.

R

I suspect that you have freed the wedge and that the stem is now being held by corrosion. I know this as I have one just like this in the garage. This is particularly the case if we are talking about an alloy stem and a steel fork tube.

It's like a seat post but worse. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm listening.

I have seen this above the M74, just north of Gretna. It was probably in October last year.

I suspect the season and the nature of the sunset has something to do with it.

Where did you get the belay jacket for £99?

R