MS Disney Magic Cruise Ship, Port of Dover, Kent, England UK

This video of the MS Disney Magic in Dover was taken on the 2nd of June 2020 and added to this blog post on the 4th:

Original post:

A zoomed snapshot of 900 yards showing Disney Cruise Line's MV Disney Magic passenger cruise ship soon after her arrival in the Port of Dover, Kent, England on Tuesday, 19th of May, 2020:

View from A20 Limekiln Street across Crosswall Quay to the MV Disney Magic.

The ship wasn't carrying any passengers because of the Coronavirus pandemic on cruise ships and the travel restrictions that were subsequently imposed.

However, the MS Disney Magic entered Dover harbour with crew members from the MS Disney Fantasy and the MS Disney Dream on board who are presumably awaiting repatriation.

Before proceeding to the live-update map of the MS Disney Magic's current position, and photographs of her during a pre-Covid-19 visit to Dover, note the green copper cupola projecting above the ship's stern:

Customs Watch House, South Pier.

This is the top of the Old Customs Watch House that was designed by architect Arthur Beresford Pite and built between 1909 and 1911.

Customs and Excise officers from here went to the nearby Lord Warden Hotel (blog post) to interview Louis Bleriot (blog post) after the first flight across the English Channel in 1909.

The MS Disney Magic's current location is shown on this A.I.S ("Automatic Identification System") map:





The day after the first photo was taken, the MS Disney Magic moved to the cargo area of the Dover Western Docks Revival, thereby enabling this photo of Goofy on the ship's stern to be taken on the 21st of May:

And this is how Walt Disney's Goofy looked on the 6th of July, 2010, viewed from the Admiralty Pier with the White Cliffs of Dover (blog video) in the background:

:
'S funny how Goofy never seems to age... (😀)


Photos from the cruise ship's earlier visits to the Port of Dover:


The MS Disney Magic manoeuvering in the Western Entrance of Dover harbour on the 12th of June, 2010:

The MS Disney Magic, berthed against the Admiralty Pier of the Western Docks, and the Waasland Sea Barge, in port to remove the SS Spanish Prince WW1 block ship, on the 24th of June, 2010:

From the MS Disney Magic's homepage:

Created with your entire family in mind, the Disney Magic combines classic nostalgia and modern amenities with Disney’s signature service.

Step aboard for spacious staterooms that ensure everyone’s comfort.

Get lost in original Broadway-quality entertainment. Indulge in first-rate dining.

From bow to stern, set sail for unforgettable storytelling that only Disney could bring to life.

Ship's data (as of 2010):

Name: Disney Magic

Owner: Disney Cruise Line

Operator: Disney Cruise Line

Port of registry: Nassau, Bahamas

Builder: Fincantieri Marghera shipyard, Italy

Maiden voyage: July 30, 1998

In service: 1998

Status: In active service, as of 2010

Type: Cruise ship

Tonnage: 83,000 gross register tons (GRT)

Length: 964 ft (294 m)

Beam: 106 ft (32 m)

Draft: 25.3 ft (7.7 m)

Decks: 11

Speed: Cruising 21.5-knot (39.8 km/h), maximum 24 kn (44 km/h)

Capacity: 2,400 passengers

Crew: 945

Call Sign: C6PT7

IMO: 9126807

MMSI: 308516000

Covid-19 exercising: cycling route map and biometrics are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Saga of the Lost Covid-19 DIY PPE Face Mask, Dover, Kent, UK

Not overly confident with needle and thread, I had been inordinately pleased with a DIY PPE Coronavirus face mask that I made using a handkerchief, stapler, and an odd length of elastic.

Then, some four days later, on Friday the 15th of May, 2020, I arrived home from a shopping trip and shortly afterwards realized that my face mask was 'gone'.

This "rough and ready" video details the steps I took until the face mask and myself were (happily) reunited:

A (very) minor example of how perseverance can triumph over adversity!

As a 69 year-old pensioner, the video also illustrates the general principle of exploring all possible internal and external avenues whenever something unexpected, or unwelcome occurs in life, and then, irrespective of whatever the experience or outcome may have been, "moving on".

An approach that doesn't accumulate any psychological baggage! (Note 1)

Before I digress too far, here are some photos of the face mask and  notes on its construction.

A  Covid-19 D.I.Y. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) face mask, Mark 1 (altered to Mark 1A in the final photograph):


Basic Materials:

The box of three James Pringle mens handkerchiefs, stapler (staple gun), and bag of mixed lengths of elastic had been purchased at different times from various charity shops (thrift shops) in Dover, England.

Front view:

In the Mark II version, I'm going to attach the bottom ends of the elastic ear flaps further down the sides of the mask.

Note the "designer" folds at the bottom corners 😀 (actually intended to add a little weight so that the mask hangs closer to the face - a consideration for someone who has a nose as big as mine!)

Rear view:

Construction details of the homemade mask:

1) Fold the handkerchief twice length-ways so that you now have four layers of material.

2) Fold the short ends of the rectangle inwards until they meet in the middle as shown.

3) Staple across the folded ends so that the staples go through all eight layers of cotton.

4) "Double staple" the  ends of the elastic loops to the mask for durability.


A still from the Friday, 15th of May video:

Wearing the homemade face mask at the end of the New Marina Pier in the Dover Western Docks Revival (DWDR) area of the Port of Dover. The famous white cliffs and castle are in the background.


The Mark 1A revision (made on Sunday, 17th of May):

I decided to alter the bottom of the mask (using staples, of course) to better follow the contours of my amazingly manly lower jaw.

Once I had done so, I donned the mask and looked in a mirror and was very impressed with the results (more so than the above selfie might appear to warrant!)

However, I have since been plagued by vague but persistent impulses to either operate on people (à la Mathew Gee, a brilliant surgeon) or eat them (à la Hannibal Lector, a less than brilliant psychiatrist).

Watch this space... (or the news 😀)

Cycling route map and biometrics are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter

Note 1:

In terms of "grumpiness", negativity, viciousness, and malicious gossip, all of which are of unnatural (i.e. of psychological) origin, and symptomatic of a deeper malaise, I've met "pensioners" who are barely out of their teens - and some who have not yet reached them.

And when something unexpected or unwelcome happens in the lives of such people, someone has to pay...

John Latter

Dover Blog - The Psychology of a Small Town

2/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, Dover Seafront, UK

A permitted Coronavirus cycle ride along the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier, Port of Dover, Kent, England, UK.

After the video there are close-ups of numbers 11 to 20 of the mainly historical local landmarks that are mentioned in the commentary.

The previous post, 1/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, contains close-ups of landmarks 1 to 10 (nb "First" in both titles indicates that I'll be making another video of the same route):

The video was filmed on Sunday, 10th of May 2020, using a head-mounted GoPro Hero 8 Black action camera and its built-in microphones.

Time Lapse Video Start

Two days later I made a three-minute GoPro "Time Warp" (time lapse) video with commentary.

It contains a sequence that also shows the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier.

Local landmarks, numbers 11 to 20:

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or any text link to go to the related blog post.

White Cliffs Hotel at Sunrise

Former White Cliffs Hotel, Waterloo Crescent

Where Prime Minister Churchill and President Eisenhower had dinner during the Second World War.

Now the Best Western Dover Marina Hotel and Spa.

Fairbairn Crane pre-restoration (2011)

Fairbairn Crane

Swan-neck tubular crane of 1868 on Esplanade Quay, ex-Ordnance Quay of Wellington Dock.

There's a working steam-powered version in Briatol

A Grade II Listed Building.

Grand Shaft, Pentax K100D  (2011)

The Grand Shaft

Triple spiral staircase built during the Napoleonic Wars.

Linked the Grand Shaft Barracks on top of the Western Heights cliffs to Snargate Street below.

View of the Keep from King's Gate

The Keep, or Great Tower of Dover Castle

Built in AD 1180's by Maurice the Engineer for King Henry II

Contains reconstructed medieval royal palace.

English Heritage Listed Building and Ancient Monument.

St Mary-sub-Castro and Pharos

Saxon St Mary-in-Castro Church and Roman Pharos

Church is 10th century AD, restored by the Victorians.

Lighthouse built AD 46, reign of Emperor Claudius.

Both lie in grounds of Norman 12th century Dover Castle.

HM Coastguard Station, Dover

HM Coast Guard Station Dover

Located at Langdon Battery, Swingate, on the White Cliffs of Dover overlooking the English Channel.

A2 Jubilee Way, Eastern Docks

A2 Jubilee Way Flyover

From Broadlees Bottom, low point in the White Cliffs of Dover, to the Eastern Docks.

Also World War Two Swingate radar masts and former Coast Guard Cottages.

In front of Eastern Arm pier (2012)

Cross-Channel Ferries

P&O Ferries' MV Spirit of France is on the left and MV Pride of Canterbury is on the right.

DFDS Ferries also operates from the Eastern Docks.

MV Maasdam, Holland America Line

Western Entrance of Dover Harbour

Southern Breakwater on the left, Admiralty Pier on the right.

Lighthouses undergoing restoration in 2010.

POW Pier Lighthouse in 2010.

Prince of Wales Pier Lighthouse 

Built 1902. 46 feet high stone tower.

Very quick flashing green light VQ, 100+ flashes per minute.

Cycling route map and biometrics are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

GoPro Hero 8 Timewarp Cycle Video, Urban Coast, Dover, UK

A first attempt (with commentary) at a time lapse video made on Tuesday, 12th of May 2020 - the last day of full Coronavirus Lockdown restrictions as they applied to exercise in England:

All I did was select "Time Warp", the resolution, a linear lens aperture (as opposed to "fish-eye"), and then pressed  the "Start" and "Stop" buttons on my GoPro Hero 8 Black action camera as and when necessary.

Every other setting was selected by the camera's software (I may start messing about with the controls before making another time lapse video, but quite frankly, there just aren't enough hours in the day!)

The video's resolution is 1080p at 30 frames per second. It is 3 minutes long and took over 8 hours to upload to YouTube.

I would shoot 1080p at 60fps, 2.7K or even 4K, if it wasn't for the upload time overhead (plus my clockwork computer isn't exactly sympathetic towards video editing).

Nevertheless, I'm still very pleased with the results 😀

First Seafront Cycling Video

A conventional video of a bike ride along the seafront promenade between the Eastern Docks and New Marina Pier identifies 20, mostly historical, local landmarks.

The time warp video route map (of what has become my "standard" daily bike ride) was plotted by a Polar Beat smartphone app in conjunction with a Polar H10 heart rate monitor (review):

Outward Route:

1-6 Robsons Yard Flats, Tower Hamlets, Dover in 2009.

6 Robsons Yard, West Street, East Street, Tower Hamlets Road, De Burgh Street, Templar Street, London Road, Buckland Bridege.

Buckland Avenue, Barton Road, Frith Road, Salisbury Road, Albert Road, Maison Dieu Road, Woolcomber Street.

A20 Townwall Street, East Cliff, Athol Terrace, East Cliff (Marine Parade).

Dover seafront promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier (Dover Western Docks Revival, DWDR).

Return Route:

Light Trails on Limekiln Roundabout at Night (2010)

New Marina Pier to the Esplanade, Union Street, A20 Limekiln Street to Likekiln Roundabout (that I called Limehouse Roundabout in the video!).

Limekiln Roundabout, Limekiln Stret, Prince of Wales Roundabout, Snargate Street, York Street Roundabout.

York Street, Folkestone Road Roundabout, Folkestone Road, Priory Station Approach Road, Dover Priory Rail Station, Dover Priory Roundabout.

Priory Station Approach Road, Folkestone Road, Folkestone Road Roundabout, Priory Street, High Street.

Tower Hamlets Road, East Street, West Street, 6 Robsons Yard.

Original route map and biometrics (after I remembered to connect my heart rate monitor!) are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.
 

1/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, Dover Seafront, UK

A permitted Coronavirus cycle ride along the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier, Port of Dover, Kent, England, UK.

After the video there are close-ups of numbers 1 to 10 of the mainly historical local landmarks that are mentioned in the commentary.

A second post, 2/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, contains close-ups of landmarks 11 to 20 (nb "First" in both titles indicates that I'll be making another video of the same route):

The video was filmed on Sunday, 10th of May 2020, using a head-mounted GoPro Hero 8 Black action camera and its built-in microphones.

Time Lapse Video Start

Two days later I made a three-minute GoPro "Time Warp" (time lapse) video with commentary.

It contains a sequence that also shows the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier.

Local landmarks, numbers 1 to 10:

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or any text link to go to the related blog post.

Charles Lightoller in Dover

8 East Cliff, Marine Parade

Former home of Charles Lightoller, survivor of the 1912 RMS Titanic iceberg disaster.

Moved here in 1916 during World War One after joining the Dover Patrol.

1 East Cliff (Marine Parade), Dover

1 East Cliff, Marine Parade

Former home of General Sir Henry Le Geyt Bruce, Knight Commander of the Bath, 1824-1899.

Transferred from Bengal Artillery to Royal Artillery after 1857 Indian Mutiny.

Seaplane Station

First World War RAF or RFC squadron location.

Moat's Bulwark, A20 Townwall Street

Mote's Bulwark, White Cliffs below Dover Castle 

One of King Henry VIII's 'little forts' of which there were three in Dover.

The other two being the Black Bulwark and Archcliffe Fort.

Dover Castle and Gateway Flats

The Gateway Flats

Built as a result of damage sustained during the Second World War.

The Gateway, with 221 flats that all have views of the English Channel, was completed in October 1959 at a cost of one million pounds.

Lord Warden House, DWDR

Lord Warden Hotel (now Lord Warden House)

Where Louis Blériot (link to blog post) had breakfast after the first flight across the English Channel in 1909.

Ex-HMS Wasp in World War II. Now used by freight agents.

Matthew Webb, Dover Seafront

Captain Matthew Webb

Bust (or statue) symbolically rests on fishes and seashell above  plinth,

First recorded person to swim the English Channel in 1875. Died Niagara Falls 1883 (USA and Canada border).

Charles Rolls facing Strait of Dover

Statue of Charles Rolls, Dover Seafront

In 1910, he became the first man to fly non-stop across the English Channel and back again.

Co-founder of the Royal Aero Club and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Every One Remembered Statue

WW1 Every One Remembered Statue

First World War Centenary Commemorative Sculpture by Mark Humphrey.

Located in Granville Gardens, symbolically facing the English Channel, France, and the Western Front beyond.

Dover Seafront Promenade

Sustrans Portrait Bench, Marine Parade

Silhouette sculpture of Jamie Clark, 2012 Olympic Games Torch holder; Dame Vera Lynn (WW2 song, There'll be Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover; Ian Fleming, author of 007 James Bond novels.

Cycling route map and biometrics are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

CPV Hunter, UK Border Force, Port of Dover, Kent, England

The 20m HMC Hunter, also termed CPV Hunter ('Coastal Patrol Vessel') of the UK Border Force berthed in the Inner Tidal Harbour, part of the Marina:in the Port of Dover::

HMC Hunter on Monday the 4th of May, 2020. Camera: Google Pixel 2

CPV Speedwell  MV Oceana cruise ship

A post about CPV Speedwell, who was also in port this day, is linked to on the left.

Dover Clock Tower.

Above CPV Hunter in the main photo is the clock tower, and to its left, the roof of the former lifeboat station.

Click thumbnail to see a larger size.

A Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) is a series of nine digits which are sent in digital form over a radio frequency channel in order to uniquely identify a ship or vessel.

The MMSI for CPV Hunter is 235118133 which enables her to be tracked in real-time on an AIS ('Automatic Identification System') map:



A 2017 Freedom of Information request (FOI 45061) stated:

I am able to disclose Border Force bought eight (8) x BP ARRC's ('Autonomous Rescue and Recovery Craft'), later renamed as coastal patrol vessels (CPV's) from Delta at a total cost of C£1m, these being all of the eight ex-BP vessels. As at today’s date, we have no immediate plans to purchase more. 

I have no further technical information specifically for CPV Hunter but surmise from the above that it is similar to that of HMC Active:

Built in 2006, CPV Hunter served as an Autonomous Rescue and Recovery Craft in the North Sea for supporting oil platform operations.

CPV Hunter was operated as a daughter craft from a larger offshore support vessel and launched when needed via a davit.

The design includes a deep-vee hull design constructed from fibre-reinforced plastic.

The design is also self-righting and can return to the upright position if capsized.

Propulsion: CPV Hunter is fitted with twin Caterpillar C18 engines driving twin water jets through a pair of reduction gearboxes

The total installed power of 1,288 kW (1,727 hp) gives CPV Hunter a top speed of 34 knots (63 km/h) in calm seas, or up to 24 knots (44 km/h) in seas up to 7 metres (23 ft) significant wave height.

A second view of Her Majesty's Cutter Hunter:

HMC Hunter on the 4th of May, 2020. Camera:Canon 600D DSLR

The United Kingdom Border Force is a law enforcement agency within the Home Office who secure the national borders by carrying out immigration and customs controls for people and goods entering the country.

As an example of HMC Hunter's involvement in this role, in 2019 she was involved in an incident in which twenty six people including eight children were picked up after crossing the English Channel.

Today, the Coronavirus pandemic has made the working life of her crew even more hazardous than before (not least because desperate illegal migrants are hardly in a position to practice social distancing).

My hat goes off to them as it does to those employed in another Dover "front line", Buckland Hospital.

The HMC Hunter photographs were taken from Crosswall Quay in the Port of Dover during a permitted Coronavirus bike ride.

Covid-19 lockdown: a cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

White Cliffs of Dover Rockfall 2012 - 2020, Kent England UK

On the 4th of March 2012, BBC News reported that a large section of Dover's famous white cliffs had broken away and crashed into the English Channel (1)

This zoomed shot of approximately 2.5 miles from St Martin's Battery on the Western Heights shows the western terminator of the landslide as a vertical line running down the center of the photograph:

The "smeared" cliff face to the right of the terminator is an oblique view of the area affected. Note the thin horizontal chalk crevasse on the cliff top above and beyond the top edge of the "smear" but just below the skyline.

The photo was taken about an hour before high tide and consequently it doesn't show the full height or spread of the spoil heap:

This section of cliffs is shown in the Rough and Ready White Cliffs of Dover Video (along with a close-up of HM Dover Coastguard station mentioned below) that was filmed at the same time as the main photo was taken.

This next photo has been extracted from the Daily Telegraph video that follows it.

The video was taken soon after the cliff collapsed in 2012 and the image shows the coastline a little  further to the east (ie out of sight of my vantage point at St Martin's Battery):

The "horizontal chalk crevasse" in the main photo is the top right boundary of the lozenge-shaped area of cliffs that might be where the next substantial cliff fall into the English Channel occurs.

The one-minute Daily Telegraph video, "White cliffs of Dover fall into the sea" (no commentaty):

A final photograph taken on the 22nd of July 2010 prior to the rockfall of 2012:

P&O Ferries cross-channel passenger ferry, MS Pride of Calais in front of the Eastern Arm pier and Eastern Docks of Dover harbour (Port of Dover).

On the cliff top behind the ship's funnel is a foreshortened view of the top-left chalk crevasse shown in the video still; the area of the 2012 cliff fall is to its left (nearer the stern of the ship).

MS Pride of Calais was a cross-channel ferry owned and operated by P&O Ferries. She operated the Dover to Calais route between 1987 and 2012.

In early 2013, under bareboat charter to Transeuropa Ferries, she served on their Ramsgate to Ostend route and was re-named MS Ostend Spirit.

After further lay-up in the Port of Tilbury she was sold for scrap and finally beached at a salvage yard in Turkey on 13 November 2013. (3)

The White Cliffs of Dover, part of the North Downs formation, is the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France.

The cliff face, which reaches a height of 350 feet (110 m), owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint.

The cliffs, on both sides of the town of Dover in Kent, stretch for eight miles (13 km). A section of coastline encompassing the cliffs was purchased by the National Trust in 2016. (4)

Also on this blog:

Shakespeare Cliff

Shakespeare Cliff (west of Dover) marks the point where Great Britain most closely approaches continental Europe. On a clear day, the cliffs are easily visible from the French coast.

East Cliff and History

This panorama shows the area of White Cliffs of Dover between the River Dour valley (the town) to the left and Broadlees Bottom (A2 Jubilee Way) to the right.

The post contains close-up of three items of historical interest.

(1) Abridged from White cliffs of Dover section falls into sea:

A large section of Dover's famous white cliffs has broken away and crashed into the Channel, according to the coastguard.

Tonnes of rock collapsed into the sea between Langdon Cliffs and South Foreland Lighthouse.

Dover Coastguard said no-one was injured during the "substantial" rockfall, which happened in an area know locally as Crab Bay.

The National Trust has put up warning signs to alert walkers.

It is thought freezing conditions over the winter may have weakened the chalk cliffs.

(2) The main photograph was taken from St Martin's Battery on the Western Heights on the 24th of April during a permitted Coronavirus bike ride.

(3) Extract from MS Pride of Calais.

(4) Extract from White Cliffs of Dover 

See the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Covid-19 lockdown: a cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on  Facebook and Twitter.

Superyacht Sherpa 815 in the Port Of Dover, Kent, England UK

Flying the maritime red ensign,  or civil ensign of the Cayman Islands where she is registered, the MY Sherpa is shown departing Dover harbour at 11.48 am on Saturday, 25th of April 2020 en route to Gibraltar:

Beyond the Southern Breakwater on the left, P&O Ferries' MV Spirit of France RORO passenger ship is on a regular crossing of the English Channel to Calais in France (see below).

The Motor Yacht Sherpa began life as Project 815 in the Royal Dutch Shipyards of Feadship and is often described as a support vessel for the MY Hamilton II although she is a Superyacht in her own right.

Indeed, rather than being a "support" ship, Charter World's Coolest Superyachts around the world suggest that the MY Sherpa was built as a Superyacht for the owner's two sons. 

On this point, both the MY Hamilton II and the MY Sherpa are owned by James Ratcliffe, billionaire CEO of Ineos and reportedly the United Kingdom's richest man.

My step-mother's maiden name was Ratcliffe and I could say that's it's a pity that she wasn't related to him.

However, some residual spark of humanity prevents me from wishing such a fate upon anyone! 😀

This real-time AIS map shows the current position of the Sherpa:

 Click on the "X" in the Sherpa's information banner to see the satellite map behind

The Superyacht Times states:

Created together Cecil Wright & Partners, Project 815 (build name) is the design work of RWD who followed the owner’s brief for an industrial and highly functional exterior that is paired with a detailed interior worthy of the Feadship name.

Inside, features such as a lounge, a dining area and bar are all tucked away beneath the helicopter landing pad aft while accommodation is located in the forward part of the ship.

There is space for seven overnight guests on the main deck in an owner’s suite, two VIP suites as well as four guest cabins.

Marine Traffic MY Sherpa ship information:

IMO: 9795529
Name: SHERPA
Vessel Type - Generic: Pleasure Craft
Vessel Type - Detailed: Pleasure Craft
Status: Active
MMSI: 319139200
Call Sign: ZGHE9
Flag: Cayman Is [KY]
Gross Tonnage: -
Summer DWT: -
Length Overall x Breadth Extreme: 76 x 13 m
Year built: 2018

Also see Yacht and Harbour's Project 815.

This nighttime photo of P&O Ferries' MV Spirit of France (herself often dubbed a "superferry") was taken on the 25th of January, 2013:

The MS Spirit of France has Call Sign: 2DXD5, IMO: 9533816, and MMSI: 235082717; and is sister-ferry to the MS Spirit of Britain.

The lighthouse is the Dover Southern Breakwater West End Light. Hand-held low-light ISO 3200 photo.

To find the Spirit of France's current location (present position) use the search function in the AIS Real-time Map of Ships and Other Vessels, Port of Dover, UK on this blog.

The main photo was taken during a permitted Coronavirus (alt. Covid-19) Lockdown bike ride.

A cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.