The Ramming of the Royal Yacht Britannia

The Royal Yacht Britannia at anchor in Portsmouth Naval Dockyard in the summer of 1963. This photo was taken from a tourist boat which did trips around the harbour.

A true story about a boating accident during a Sea Cadet Training Course in Portsmouth. It was August in 1962, all the cadets got their Whaling License but mine was only Second Class, and here is the reason why!

There’s football, golf and hawking
But when it comes to sporting
He’d rather spend time messin’ in a boat.
At sea, on lake or river
In a yacht or something bigger,
Or just a dinghy that would get his vote.

No matter what you sail,
Rules of the Road prevail,
If your vessel is a dinghy or quite large.
For you never should collide
Or scrape you’re vessel’s side
Especially if your near the Royal Barge.

Now Neil learned these lessons well
As a cadet, so when he’d tell
This tale, he’d feel it was with some remorse.
He was stationed there in Pompey
On the “Sheffield” by the long quay,
To take the Southern Area Boat-Work Course.

They had risen every day,
Exercised the Navy way,
Then they trained to take a Whaler on the foam.
And the course was going well
At this rate he could tell
He was going to make the C.O. proud back home.

Now the harbor pool was wide
With great grey ships on every side,
And in the center all alone their Navy’s joy,
Hard-shined and deep dark blue,
Looking grand from every view,
Rode the Royal Yacht Britannia at a buoy.

The new C.O. was no dud,
Lieutenant Commander Blood,
Who by all accounts was gifted at his prose.
He could swear each other word,
And expletivise each verb
Not repeating till the smoke came out his nose.

Now, one morning on a spree
They had pushed off from the quay,
Stowed the boat-hook and were trimming up the sails.
They were polishing the knack
As they turned about to tack,
Of drawing up the mainsail with the brails.

With their whaler under weigh,
We were beating ‘cross the bay,
Where Britannia’s shackled anchor chain was moored.
The cable made an ark,
And they thought that for a lark
They’d sail beneath it as their spirits soared.

They could see the fit was tight
But if they got it right,
At full tilt the mast would list well to the port.
And they sailed right underneath it
Went about, and to repeat it,
Were gathering speed to make it, so they thought.

But the wind was at their stern,
It was a lesson hard to learn,
And letting draw the brails they made a jibe,
As the sails filled out they lunged,
And to starboard their boat plunged,
And clipped their stern against the great ship’s side.

Neil had a dreadful hunch
As he heard the awful crunch,
As they wacked up on the hard-shine of her bow.
He knew that they were for it,
In a mo’ the C.O. saw it,
A ghastly great white gash beneath her prow.

The boatswain’s pipe peeled out
Then he heard the C.O.’s shout,
Through the megaphone come trembling on the breeze,
Able Seaman Mac
You bring that whaler back,
And in his veins the blood began to freeze.

At the quay-side with boat trim,
The C.O. looked at him,
Amazingly he seemed lost for a word.
“Get that boat out the water
Report back to your quarters.”
Was all the admonition that he heard.

Oh yes he was in trouble,
He responded at the double,
And ran round to the cruiser ‘cross the bay
And below the decks he stayed
And in his mess he prayed
For mercy the remainder of the day.

With his mess mates back to port.
They thought they’d make it sport
To ride him on the trouble he was in,
And it only made it worse
That the C.O. didn’t curse
As he stood there on the quay addressing him.

In the galley hall that night
It was a source great delight
To watch Neil when Defaulters were announced,
But what caught their attention
Was the fact there was no mention
And their expected source of fun was truly trounced.

Next morning at first light,
When the boatswain Colors piped
They peered out the port to where Britannia lay,
But a work crew in the night
Must have painted out the white
And not a mark was on her bow to their dismay.

After breakfast with his mates
All dressed in Number Eights
They fell in for orders on the quarter deck
There instruction were quite clear
No cadet was to go near
Britannia, and they stared at Neil’s neck.

Now when the course was done,
On the train home just for fun,
They all discussed the outcome of this farce.
But although he got his ticket,
He found he’d missed his wicket,
It said “Able Seaman - Whaler 2nd Class”


















Definitions:

Rules of the Road - navigational rules
Pompey - Portsmouth Harbour, England.
H.M.S. Sheffield - Battle cruiser
Whaler - 16 foot boomless sail boat with oars.
C.O. - Commanding Officer
Defaulters - announcement of those to be punished
Number Eights - No. 8's - Standard boating uniform, light blue shirt and dark blue pants.
Ticket - licence to take command of a vessel on the water

Phil MacAvity

The idea of a Scottish dentist named Phil MacAvity (Fill My Cavity) must be as old as modern dentistry, certainly I heard it in rude jokes when I was a boy. But early on in my career as a private practitioner in Los Angeles, now West Hollywood, a patient followed me, from a practice I ran briefly in Beverly Hills, to my newly acquired offices on Sunset Boulevard. His name was Colin Bailey. Colin was a commercial artist, a visualizer, who worked for the Mattel Toy corporation.

Colin was the sort of fellow you could tell, “Colin we are going to make a flying dragon coming in to land and we want some ideas on...” To which Colin would reply, “Yes! Now do you want there to be claws on the front of the wings and scales all the way down the legs?” He would see it in his mind instantaneously, and be able to vocalize his imagery instantly. Mattel put a Facsimile machine in his home so he could transmit his drawings to them daily, and give them his ideas over the phone lines. This was a phenomenon, few enjoyed then in the mid 70's, but one we now consider second nature. Of course scanning and e-mail has superseded all of that now. But I digress!

Colin and I got along like a house on fire, I loved his creativity, and his Canadian Britishness, and he used to send me birthday cards and drawings which encapsulated his humor and frindship for me. Perhaps I should share his cartoons with my blog fans. Anyway, one day when I was cementing a beautiful gold onlay, I asked Colin if he might do a rendering of a Flossing Scott Dancing a Pas De Basque. His immediate response was, “Now do want him to have a Balmoral or a Glengarry, and patches at the elbows and horn buttons, with a toothbrush coming out of his pocket?” “Yes! A Balmoral.” I answered, and a day later a series of drawings appeared in my mail, and Phil MacAvity is the result. It has been a wonderful logo for me, a perfect blend of professional imagery and humor.

Colin Bailey ( 4.11.1926 - 7.16.2001) had a passion for the sea. He built his own boat for his two sons who he dearly loved, and retired to Cambria in the Pines on the Central California Coast, to a home that could easily be mistaken for an up-turned hull. His illustrations of old mechanicals, planes and boats and trains, showed his meticulous attention to detail. He was a patient of mine for twenty five years, and drew the illustration of Phil McCavity which is my practice logo. He passed away after a nine year bout with prostate cancer and will be buried at sea. Colin was 75.

When Colin passed away, his ashes were scattered out at sea in the waters off Morro Bay. Colin loved messing about in boats, as did I, and we played salty dogs together. I miss him, and see him in my mind when I cast an eye on the marvelous logo for my practice.

It is a soft Saint Patrick's Day

The tree-house "The Crow's Nest" is still discernible in the mild morning. Finally we are having a little rain here in Southern California, talk about a mild winter, 2011/12 has been warm, just a few chilly nights (40's F)

Saint Paddy's Day has come and with it the blessed rain. I went down to pick a lemon for my papaya this morning and opening the door this is what greeted me.

Our daughter Maran is back for the Spring Break from Hillsdale and our sons are fawning over the iPad 3 just released yesterday.

Today the garden looks as green as the Emerald Isle

3D Dental X-ray Scans For The GP

I have just spent a day studying how to use and apply the new 3D X-ray dental scan technology. The technique has been available for years, but at such expense that only large hospital facilities of commercial X-Ray centers could afford the installation and maintenance.



Hands on Training with Dr. Carmel Pradel, DMD Harvard trained Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon

Progressively we have watched to pricing and the sophistication of the systems improve to the point where the scans are extremely diagnostically reliable easy to read and the equipment simple to use and with in the price range where a general practitioner can afford it.

I even anticipate a time in the near future when the commercial x-ray laboratories may not be able to compete with the doctors’ offices any longer.


3D images allow us to examine sections of the jaws and be able to visualize everything around a tooth or implant. We can see where infection is causing bone in areas previously not detectable.
It is possible to read where bone is lost around an implant, and whether the jaw is wide enough to hold and support an implant. In short we have jumped to a whole new level of clinical accuracy.

My colleague Doctor Fugier, DDS, another USC trained dentist who practices in the same building as I, has just put the new Clearstream (Kodak) 3D Scanner into his office an we can seamlessly integrate its use into our practice. Thank you Eric.

Teaching Web Presence to Dentists in Orange County

Barak fielding technical questions from the audience.

On Tuesday 7th I went down to Orange County with my friend Barak Granot. We were off to deliver a lecture on Web Presence for Dentists to the Orange County Dental Society.

After the success of this presentation to The Pacific Coast Society For Prosthodontics in June last year, invitations came in for an extended repeat performance from Dr David Guichet. Barak is my SEO specialist. Search Engine Optimization is critical to obtain high ranking by the search engines.

The two hour talk was well received and I will be going back for and enhanced emphasis on Social Media in the fall.
Dr Neil asking for audience participation.
Photos by Brad Newman

The article on "Enhancing the online presence of a dental practice" has been accepted for publication by the Journal For Prosthodontics

Robert Burns Celebration in 2012

Good friends celebrating Burns' Night at the Tam

Christmas came and went and the New Year saw me putting the finishing touches to “Twa Dogs” which I recited at the Cal Tech Athenaeum Club for their Burns Night. There was a full house at the Tam O’ Shanter Restaurant in Glendale when twelve haggis’ were slain in two days, and I did a repeat performance at the Beckham Grill in Pasadena. So all in all January was quite busy.

I have to compliment the audience at the Athenaeum, and the piper and the Chef. John McLean Allan plays a mean set of pipes, with great fingering and I must say he is up there with the great pipers of our area like Eric Rigler. The Chef Kevin Isacson turned out another amazing dinner everything was good, but his bashed neeps and tatties to go with the haggis was superlative. But now back to the audience. There must only be a few places where one can deliver Burns’ long poems and have the dinner guests listen and laugh in the right places. It is such a delight to be able to bring to them works like “Tam O’ Shanter”, “Death and Doctor HornBook” and “Holy Willie’s Prayer”. For the forth year I gave them “Twa Dogs”. Such a wonderful tail about two local dogs, one from a rich household and the other from a poor home, chatting about their respective masters’ fate and activities. Such a revealing definition of life in 18th century Scotland with such relevance to today is hard to replicate. My audience sat through it all.

A highlight of the Burns' Season was have a Burns Night Dinner on the 25th with good friends, the Beeches the Covells and the MacArthurs. John said grace before we broke bread. Later on receiving yet another award from the City of Los Angeles with my friend Ivan Harrison the Chef at the Tam just added the cream.
Councilman Tom Labonge Neil and Isaac Burks


I called Ivan later and he was so stoked he said his feet hadn’t touched the ground. Councilman Tom Lebonge made the presentation to us in front of the diners at the Tam. I have been carving up Ivan’s haggis for thirty three years now.









Councilman Tom LaBonge presents awards to Neil and Ivan at the Tam O' Shanter on January 25th 2012

The First Voice for Our Lady of Seven Sorrows

The First Voice

The first prayer for Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, in the oratory at Seven Hills Ranch, was offered up on November 26th 2011 and took the form of two hymns in plainchant, the Ave Maria, and the Salve Regina. The builders and ranch masters halted as time stopped to memorialize the initial sanctification of the new chapel.




There’s a spot in the Valley of Inwood
That is called The Seven Hills Ranch,
Where the hillsides are high cloaked with vineyards
To which I’d return at the chance.
From a crest looking down on the valley
A sanctuary tower may be seen
Dedicated to Sancta Maria,
Stabat Mater of Heaven the Queen.

I sent up a prayer for Our Lady
For Mary the Mother of God,
I sent up a prayer and the hills were still
Like the builders who stopped where they trod.
And the hymn that I sang was as old as the hills
And it rose to the new chapel’s dome,
Filling the air with a hope and a prayer
In a space that will ever be home.

Never before had a song been sung
Never a voice offered up,
Not since the chapel was first conceived
As the venue to raise host and cup.
And the song was the sanctification
It flew to the beams like a dart
And those who were there will remember the prayer
For Our Lady engraved on their heart.

And the valley of Inwood will blossom
Its hillsides will bloom and be fair,
The wines from its vines will fill up the cup
When communion is taken there.
And bells of Our Lady of Sorrows
Will peel out the Angelus Change,
Across the vineyards and out and away
To all seven hills within range.

A Visit To Anselmo Vineyards

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we went with Ray and Charlotte Carlson and Jenny Fator to have lunch at a vineyard restaurant. What a delightful surprise that turned out to be. Set to the east of Redding in the Inwood Valley this 2250 acre ranch lies at the feet of Mount Lassen. The term gorgeous comes to mind.



The facilities are absolutely beautiful with large and small intimate dining rooms, and a wedding pavilion down by a lake.


















Miss Maddie Merritt was with us between Jenny and Nancy, and Charlotte and Ray to the left and our boys Ollie and Roddy to the right.


We all had delicious lunches in their intimate dining room cum bar, and tried The 2009 Majorette, a Merlot/Syrah/ Petite Verdot blend, which was a winner, but was beaten out by the 2008 Merlot two fine wines.





















Then the real magic started to happen. We were introduced to the vineyard owners who have been industriously enhancing and updating the facilities, Reverge and Ramone (Chicken) Anselmo. What fascinating folk they are.

Reverge, low key understated and armed with a Winston between his fingers and a glass of wine and ice, army jump suite clad and warmly inveigling his visitors into his charm. He opens up quickly and easily to divulge how his Wedding Pavilion is drawing in the visitors. Every vista is captivating.

"Chicken" is just about as at home in the barn yard as she is at the salon table, and is captivatingly enthusiastic about the improvements that are underway all around her. The animals love her. She embraces the traditions of the ranch and pointed out the grave in the vineyard of its founder Sylvester Langdon who was killed in 1857 by grizzly bears on the property.

Up on the hill overlooking the cluster of tasting rooms and barns there is a new Catholic sanctuary in construction with artisans and materials from Italy. It is to be consecrated as Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows for the ranch of the Seven Hills.

Carillon is installed in the tower to ring out the Angelus, and resonate throughout the little valley. No doubt the church will be the venue for many a wedding in years to come.

The acoustics were sampled with long remembered renditions of the "Ave Maria" and "Salve Regina" in plainchant.

There is to be a New Year's celebration at the vineyard, and we are hoping to attend.



The new pavilion is stunning

















What more can I say but.... Cheers!

And Jolly Good Company

Well here we all are at the Carlson's in Palo Cedro, to the west of Redding, and what a jolly company we were. I am on the end of the camera obviously. I could not find a tripod this year.

It is delightful to see the young families growing, a foreshadowing of things to come for us McLeod we hope.

Thanksgiving is a great American holiday, a chance to reflect of the many blessings we do not deserve, but yet enjoy so completely.