Sanoodi Blog2010-09-03T17:16:02ZLyceumhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/feed/atom.php/paulhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/news<![CDATA[IMPORTANT - Sanoodi Site will be down for maintenance]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/news/2010/02/15/important-sanoodi-site-will-be-down-for-maintenance/2010-02-15T06:59:34Z2010-02-15T06:59:34Zpaulhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/news<![CDATA[The Perfect Storm! Kilva, a BlackBerry and Team Last Inn]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/news/2009/06/08/the-perfect-storm-kilva-a-blackberry-and-team-last-inn/2009-06-08T13:13:27Z2009-06-08T16:03:04ZThree Peaks Yacht Race is one of the world's most famous and long established adventure races that combines yachting and mountain running (and a little bit of cycling). The race is now in its 33rd year and its sail/run format has been copied in similar races as far away Hong Kong and Tasmania. It's starting point and spiritual home is only an hour from Sanoodi towers in Barmouth or Abermaw in Wales. This year the local team - Team Last Inn will be using SMap on a BlackBerry to record and share their progress with friends and family.
I was asked last week by the team's captain David Bird if I wanted to go out on Saturday morning into Cardigan Bay with the crew, the runners and Huw Jenkins from BBC Wales, on a training trip aboard the 42 ft Beneteau yacht - Kilva.
I arrived at an empty and grey Barmouth Quayside at 7:45AM wondering whether it had been cancelled but by 8AM the team had arrived. Steve, the owner of Kilva, David the Skipper of Team Last Inn, Huw from the BBC, Keith one of the two runners, Martin, a local web designer, Denis, the secretary of the Three Peaks Yacht race and Jaffa, a local lad who is studying for a yachting degree in Southampton but who had decided to spend most of the previous evening at a party.
The plan was to sail up Cardigan Bay to the Lleyn Peninsula, drop anchor off Porth Ceiriad, have some lunch and then return to Barmouth. The day's objective was to familiarise the race crew and runners with the boat, for Huw to get material for a Radio Wales programme that will follow the local team's progress on the BBC and for me to record the route on SMap for Team Last Inn. My job was definitely the easiest, and by the time that we had left Barmouth harbour SMap was recording the route live on the Sanoodi site.
This meant that i was then free to relax, sit back and enjoy the trip, a tasty bacon sandwich, and a nice strong mug of tea, courtesy of Martin who apparently was the ship's "galley slave"!
The trip up along the Meirionydd coast was relatively smooth, it was only when we arrived off the coast of the Lleyn Peninsula that it became clear that weather conditions were deteriorating and that the wind was picking up.
We sat in the cockpit and ate a hearty lunch of Chicken Soup, and slightly damp Cheddar and Ham Sandwiches, feeling sorry for the poor campers on the campsite above the bay as the rain came down and the wind continued to rise. After an hour or so at anchor the anchor was raised and we set sail back to Barmouth, accompanied by another nice mug of tea.
I was by this point becoming unseasonably cold and very wet, so i decided to go down below and try and dry out and warm up a bit. This seemed like a good idea until about an hour after i had lain down when i was woken albeit slightly drier and warmer by the noise of large things falling off shelves in the cabin and the sound of the wind. I tried to get out of the bunk and stand up, I fell over and almost immediately felt ill! It took another fuzzy, uncomfortable and disorienting fifteen minutes for me to escape the toilet (or head as it is referred to on board ship) get back into all the gear; Salopettes, Coat, Life jacket and harness and emerge into the cockpit.
By this time Kilva was about 16 miles from the coast of Meirionydd and sailing through storm force 7 to 8 conditions, the cockpit was significantly wetter and windier than when i had gone down below, the sea was flowing over the toe rails and when offshore gusts really blew, water was coming into the cockpit. It was clearly going to be a long, cold and exhilirating return across Cardigan Bay to Barmouth.
The crew of Kilva and the boat performed superbly in the conditions, the overriding memory for me is the numbing cold and wetness, the noise of the sea against the hull and basically feeling useless when things needed to be done. I did attempt to take photos of the return journey but the camera lens was covered in spray, i would try to clear it and then look through the viewfinder again to see nothing but spray. I was not alone though, Huw's plans to ask David the captain of Team Last Inn a few more questions for Radio Wales had clearly been abandoned and poor Keith and Jaffa had to go below, they were not looking very well.
We finally came into Barmouth harbour after 8PM, Huw's wife told him on the phone that a 1000 metre peaks race had been abandoned in Snowdonia that afternoon, and that many of the runners had been rescued due to the same atrocious and unexpected weather conditions. We also discovered that although we were in the harbour, it was too rough to get off the boat. The plan was to wait until the tide turned and hopefully the wind died down before disembarking. An hour later the tide had turned, but the wind blowing down the Mawddach estuary from Cadair Idris had not. It was beginning to look like we might be forced to spend the night onboard. Then in the fading light John the ferryman appeared in his 2 man dinghy. He took all 8 of us back one by one, and deserves special mention and gratitude.
It really puts the events of the day into perspective when I can honestly say that I would not normally contemplate under any circumstances prior to this adventure, getting off the side of a large yacht in the dark, in strong winds into a tiny two man inflatable dinghy that then shot/flew across the stormy harbour to the quayside. The conditions of the return journey back from Porth Ceiriad and my desperation to get back on shore and warmth meant that i did not think twice!
After a beautiful pint of Pedigree in the Last Inn pub by the harbour, the crew minus Jaffa and Huw, but with the addition of Simon the team's second runner finally ended up in the Spice Cuisine Indian restaurant at around midnight, where warmth and spicy food finished the evening and an exciting day perfectly. I finally left Team Last Inn to drive through the mountains back home, where i arrived at 1:45AM 19hrs after leaving, still cold, still wet and very glad to be back.
Team Last Inn will be recording their progress in the three peaks yacht race which starts on the 20th of June here.
David's team are raising money for the Royal Yacht Association's Sailability Charity whose aim is to bring boating to people with disabilities. You can support Team Last Inn and donate online to their chosen cause here. They have a big target to go for, so please, please donate to Sailability on their Justgiving page.
I will, after this extremely adventurous day on board Kilva, be giving Team Last Inn special attention during the course of the race. Although I hope that they do not encounter weather conditions as bad as this on their journey up to Fort William in Scotland, they have demonstrated their competence in extremely poor conditions.
Thank you David, Steve, Denis, Martin, Jaffa, Huw, Keith, Simon and John the ferryman for a day (and night) to remember. Good luck in the race.
]]>paulhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/news<![CDATA[SARDINIA AND SANOODI]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/news/2009/04/07/sardinia-and-sanoodi/2009-04-07T16:33:04Z2009-04-07T16:33:37Zhere
Justine's blog can be found here. Justine is using SMap on a BlackBerry Bold smartphone to record her route and upload it live to our website. So far all routes have been uploaded as she has recorded them. Justine has also joined the growing population of twitter. SMap automatically tweets for her when she starts and ends her route. If you follow justine on twitter then you will see the latest link to the route that she has started. If you see slightly more poetic tweets then we can confirm that this is Justine herself!
They are now already on day five here's a snippet from their route as it progressed live on the site today:
They are both hoping that kayaking in the Mediterranean will be a bit more relaxing than circumnavigating the South island of New Zealand last year, however they have been warned not to underestimate the strong winds that bombard the coast of Sardinia.
Keep it up Justine and Barry!]]>paulhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/news<![CDATA[NEW SMAP FOR BLACKBERRY, BETTER TWITTER TWEETS AND LAT LON TOO]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/news/2009/04/01/new-smap-for-blackberry-better-twitter-tweets-and-lat-lon-too/2009-04-01T13:57:41Z2009-04-01T16:38:25ZRELEASE DATE - Thursday, April 2nd 9AM GMT
Thanks to some awesome feedback on version 1.5 from Snoods around the globe. We are proud to announce the release of version 1.6 of SMap for BlackBerry.
No more compatability mode issues for Storm users - phew!
Current Speed as well as average speed.
Twitter authentication and improved tweets for live routes.
Lat Lon position data visible and ability to copy this data to the clipboard for easy texting or e-mailing of your position.
Now it is back to taming SMap for the iPhone and taking full advantage of what the latest version of OS 3 brings. We will have a new interim release for iPhone users out around Easter that'll let you tweet and share your routes live. An announcement shall be made from the rooftops of Sanoodi towers as soon as it is available.
You can download the latest version of SMap - 1.6 here:
From your BlackBerry go here - http://wap.sanoodi.com
From your web browser this is the place - http://www.sanoodi.com/gomobile/blackberry]]>paulhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/help<![CDATA[GROUPS - How to setup a group, How to join a group and how to Add routes to your group.]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/help/2009/02/04/groups-how-to-setup-a-group-how-to-join-a-group-and-how-to-add-routes-to-your-group/2009-02-04T18:29:43Z2009-02-04T18:29:43Z
This will take you to the Create a group form. This is where you you can summarise what your group is all about.
The first item of information that you need is a Group name. This can be the actual name of your group; The Hoboken MTB'ers, The Hounslow Harriers, The Royal Welsh Yacht Club etc. or if the group you want to set up is a virtual one, the name is down to you!
Join Policy is all about how you want to allow people to join or how you want to grow your group, if you are an existing group you might want it to be by "Invitation only". This option allows all members of the group to invite people to join your group. If you want total control over who can be a member then select "Admin Invites only". This means that only you, the person who set up the Group, are able to invite people to join. Remember you can invite people from outside Sanoodi! We have limited it to Six e-mail addresses per click, although you can do this a fair few times before the Sanoodi Spam monkey jumps in! We will be adding the ability to select from your Googlemail, Yahoo and Facebook friends soon!
If however, you just want to meet and share your outdoor activities with other members of the Sanoodi community then select "Open to Everyone". This means that if somebody finds your group on the site, they will be able to join and share their routes with you all.
Next you will need to enter a brief introduction to the club. This "Introduction" will sit at the top of the page. Don't worry you can go into more detail in the next field which is called "Summary". This can cover in more detail, what you do, when you meet, where your members are based/from, the levels of expertise that your group caters for and of course any achievements, trophies or even rivals that you might have out there.
Now you can select the "Primary Activity for your Group", do not worry if your group enjoys more than one activity, you can add more in the list below this. If your Group enjoys Snowboarding and Skiiing, make Snowboarding your primary activity and add Skiing from the list below. This makes it easier for people to find you, your members and your routes and also makes sure that your group only displays routes (and in the future - events) that include your activities.
Website - If your group already has a site then add its URL here in the form http://www.sitename.xxx
If your group has a logo or you just want to put up a graphic then you can upload this too. JPG's, PNG's, GIF's only though. Although, we will resize your graphic for you, if you want it to look its best optimising the image beforehand to fit in the 300 * 200 pixels space will mean that your logo will look better.
You can now enter your group's contact details i.e. e-mail address and address. Don't worry if you haven't got these you don't need to put anything in here.
Right then, when you have finished click on the Save button and your group will be live on Sanoodi.
INVITING YOUR FRIENDS TO YOUR NEW GROUP
The next step is invitations - spreading the word and telling your friends about your group. The invite button is positioned on the right hand side of your group page. If your group is admin invites only, only you will see the button, otherwise any member of your group will be able to see this button. Selecting it takes you to the Invite screen.
The left hand panel displays your current friends in Sanoodi. check the box and they will receive their invitation via e-mail and from their notifications panel in their profile. If you would like to invite people who are not members of Sanoodi, just type their e-mail address into the right hand panel and they will receive an invitation too. If you want to invite more than six (The Sanoodi Spam Monkey decided on six, as a limit) you can go back to the invite screen and invite six more, and another six, and another six, if you so want it to be.
HOW TO JOIN A GROUP
If you find a group that you would like to join and contribute to, look for the Join button on the right hand side of the menu. If the Group is a Public group it will be there! If there is no Join button on the Group page, this is because it is an invitation only group. If the Group has an e-mail address on its profile page you could always contact them and see if they will invite you.
ADDING YOUR ROUTES TO A GROUP .
If you are a member of a group and you have routes up on the site that you would like to add to the group. Go to the route page and select Send to Group from the right hand menu, below your route.
A pop up will appear displaying the groups that you are a member of. Select the Group that you want to add the route to and click on Send. If Send to Group is not visible it could be because you are not logged in! Or that you are not a member of any groups to send it to.]]>paulhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/news<![CDATA[SMap for BlackBerry Storm is now out in the wild and Twitterified]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/news/2009/01/26/smap-for-blackberry-storm-is-now-out-in-the-wild-and-twitterified/2009-01-26T16:33:06Z2009-01-26T16:33:06Z
In addition to some rather nice new screens for both the Storm and older BB's, we have twitterfied SMap too! If you use SMap to record routes live on the web and you enter your Twitter account details in the settings screen. Your route details, activity and a link to your live route will automatically be added to your Twitterfeed.
User feedback from the previous BlackBerry releases means that we have improved how SMap records the accuracy of your route. If you are running around in a town with lots of right angles and tight turns, you can now in Settings set the accuracy of your route down to recording a waypoint every 20m. If you are cycling like a dervish 40 miles down a long, straight highway then you can set the accuracy to record a waypoint every 80m.
Non-Storm users, and BlackBerry traditionalists do not despair! we have updated all the screens for you non-touch phone users too! Give it a go and Share your adventures on Sanoodi.
SMap can be downloaded and used for free here.]]>paulhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/community<![CDATA[Hello world!]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/community/2009/01/21/hello-world/2009-01-21T15:32:05Z2009-01-21T15:32:05Zjoelhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/testing<![CDATA[A TEST POST]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/testing/2008/12/05/a-test-post/2008-12-05T16:13:02Z2009-01-05T16:53:30Zjoelhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/testing<![CDATA[This is a test post]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/testing/2008/12/05/this-is-a-test-post/2008-12-05T14:46:55Z2008-12-05T16:08:11Zjoelhttp://blog.sanoodi.com/testing<![CDATA[Hello world!]]>http://blog.sanoodi.com/testing/2008/12/01/hello-world/2008-12-01T16:54:50Z2009-01-05T16:53:46Z
This meant that i was then free to relax, sit back and enjoy the trip, a tasty bacon sandwich, and a nice strong mug of tea, courtesy of Martin who apparently was the ship's "galley slave"!
The trip up along the Meirionydd coast was relatively smooth, it was only when we arrived off the coast of the Lleyn Peninsula that it became clear that weather conditions were deteriorating and that the wind was picking up.
We sat in the cockpit and ate a hearty lunch of Chicken Soup, and slightly damp Cheddar and Ham Sandwiches, feeling sorry for the poor campers on the campsite above the bay as the rain came down and the wind continued to rise. After an hour or so at anchor the anchor was raised and we set sail back to Barmouth, accompanied by another nice mug of tea.
I was by this point becoming unseasonably cold and very wet, so i decided to go down below and try and dry out and warm up a bit. This seemed like a good idea until about an hour after i had lain down when i was woken albeit slightly drier and warmer by the noise of large things falling off shelves in the cabin and the sound of the wind. I tried to get out of the bunk and stand up, I fell over and almost immediately felt ill! It took another fuzzy, uncomfortable and disorienting fifteen minutes for me to escape the toilet (or head as it is referred to on board ship) get back into all the gear; Salopettes, Coat, Life jacket and harness and emerge into the cockpit.
By this time Kilva was about 16 miles from the coast of Meirionydd and sailing through storm force 7 to 8 conditions, the cockpit was significantly wetter and windier than when i had gone down below, the sea was flowing over the toe rails and when offshore gusts really blew, water was coming into the cockpit. It was clearly going to be a long, cold and exhilirating return across Cardigan Bay to Barmouth.
The crew of Kilva and the boat performed superbly in the conditions, the overriding memory for me is the numbing cold and wetness, the noise of the sea against the hull and basically feeling useless when things needed to be done. I did attempt to take photos of the return journey but the camera lens was covered in spray, i would try to clear it and then look through the viewfinder again to see nothing but spray. I was not alone though, Huw's plans to ask David the captain of Team Last Inn a few more questions for Radio Wales had clearly been abandoned and poor Keith and Jaffa had to go below, they were not looking very well.
We finally came into Barmouth harbour after 8PM, Huw's wife told him on the phone that a 1000 metre peaks race had been abandoned in Snowdonia that afternoon, and that many of the runners had been rescued due to the same atrocious and unexpected weather conditions. We also discovered that although we were in the harbour, it was too rough to get off the boat. The plan was to wait until the tide turned and hopefully the wind died down before disembarking. An hour later the tide had turned, but the wind blowing down the Mawddach estuary from Cadair Idris had not. It was beginning to look like we might be forced to spend the night onboard. Then in the fading light John the ferryman appeared in his 2 man dinghy. He took all 8 of us back one by one, and deserves special mention and gratitude.
It really puts the events of the day into perspective when I can honestly say that I would not normally contemplate under any circumstances prior to this adventure, getting off the side of a large yacht in the dark, in strong winds into a tiny two man inflatable dinghy that then shot/flew across the stormy harbour to the quayside. The conditions of the return journey back from Porth Ceiriad and my desperation to get back on shore and warmth meant that i did not think twice!
After a beautiful pint of Pedigree in the Last Inn pub by the harbour, the crew minus Jaffa and Huw, but with the addition of Simon the team's second runner finally ended up in the Spice Cuisine Indian restaurant at around midnight, where warmth and spicy food finished the evening and an exciting day perfectly. I finally left Team Last Inn to drive through the mountains back home, where i arrived at 1:45AM 19hrs after leaving, still cold, still wet and very glad to be back.
Team Last Inn will be recording their progress in the three peaks yacht race which starts on the 20th of June here.
David's team are raising money for the Royal Yacht Association's Sailability Charity whose aim is to bring boating to people with disabilities. You can support Team Last Inn and donate online to their chosen cause here. They have a big target to go for, so please, please donate to Sailability on their Justgiving page.
I will, after this extremely adventurous day on board Kilva, be giving Team Last Inn special attention during the course of the race. Although I hope that they do not encounter weather conditions as bad as this on their journey up to Fort William in Scotland, they have demonstrated their competence in extremely poor conditions.
Thank you David, Steve, Denis, Martin, Jaffa, Huw, Keith, Simon and John the ferryman for a day (and night) to remember. Good luck in the race.
]]>
They are both hoping that kayaking in the Mediterranean will be a bit more relaxing than circumnavigating the South island of New Zealand last year, however they have been warned not to underestimate the strong winds that bombard the coast of Sardinia.
Keep it up Justine and Barry!]]>
release of version 1.6 of SMap for BlackBerry.
Now you can select the "Primary Activity for your Group", do not worry if your group enjoys more than one activity, you can add more in the list below this. If your Group enjoys Snowboarding and Skiiing, make Snowboarding your primary activity and add Skiing from the list below. This makes it easier for people to find you, your members and your routes and also makes sure that your group only displays routes (and in the future - events) that include your activities.
Website - If your group already has a site then add its URL here in the form http://www.sitename.xxx
If your group has a logo or you just want to put up a graphic then you can upload this too. JPG's, PNG's, GIF's only though. Although, we will resize your graphic for you, if you want it to look its best optimising the image beforehand to fit in the 300 * 200 pixels space will mean that your logo will look better.
You can now enter your group's contact details i.e. e-mail address and address. Don't worry if you haven't got these you don't need to put anything in here.
Right then, when you have finished click on the Save button and your group will be live on Sanoodi.
INVITING YOUR FRIENDS TO YOUR NEW GROUP
The next step is invitations - spreading the word and telling your friends about your group. The invite button is positioned on the right hand side of your group page. If your group is admin invites only, only you will see the button, otherwise any member of your group will be able to see this button. Selecting it takes you to the Invite screen.
The left hand panel displays your current friends in Sanoodi. check the box and they will receive their invitation via e-mail and from their notifications panel in their profile. If you would like to invite people who are not members of Sanoodi, just type their e-mail address into the right hand panel and they will receive an invitation too. If you want to invite more than six (The Sanoodi Spam Monkey decided on six, as a limit) you can go back to the invite screen and invite six more, and another six, and another six, if you so want it to be.
HOW TO JOIN A GROUP
If you find a group that you would like to join and contribute to, look for the Join button on the right hand side of the menu. If the Group is a Public group it will be there! If there is no Join button on the Group page, this is because it is an invitation only group. If the Group has an e-mail address on its profile page you could always contact them and see if they will invite you.
ADDING YOUR ROUTES TO A GROUP .
If you are a member of a group and you have routes up on the site that you would like to add to the group. Go to the route page and select Send to Group from the right hand menu, below your route.
A pop up will appear displaying the groups that you are a member of. Select the Group that you want to add the route to and click on Send. If Send to Group is not visible it could be because you are not logged in! Or that you are not a member of any groups to send it to.]]>
User feedback from the previous BlackBerry releases means that we have improved how SMap records the accuracy of your route. If you are running around in a town with lots of right angles and tight turns, you can now in Settings set the accuracy of your route down to recording a waypoint every 20m. If you are cycling like a dervish 40 miles down a long, straight highway then you can set the accuracy to record a waypoint every 80m.
Non-Storm users, and BlackBerry traditionalists do not despair! we have updated all the screens for you non-touch phone users too! Give it a go and Share your adventures on Sanoodi.
SMap can be downloaded and used for free here.]]>