Synchromysticism

" Synchromysticism:
The art of realizing meaningful coincidence in the seemingly mundane with mystical or esoteric significance."

- Jake Kotze

January 16, 2017

'The World' Loses Hope?

'The World' cruise-ship pictured with anchor in Dublin 
I saw a news story on the weekend about a cruise-ship named 'The World' that lost its anchor while docked in Port Arthur in Tasmania.
"Collectively, these sites, including Port Arthur, now represent, "...the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts.
Port Arthur is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction
It is located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) south east of the state capital, Hobart
In 1996 it was the scene of the worst mass murder event in post-colonial Australian history."
'The World' cruise-ship pictured without anchor in Hobart
"One of the world's most exclusive cruise ships, The World, has lost an anchor in Port Arthur bay and is waiting in Hobart for it to be retrieved.
The World has 165 cabins and describes itself as the largest privately-owned residential ship on the planet.
It is understood a section of the ship's main anchor chain broke in heavy winds at Port Arthur on Thursday, forcing the ship to use its starboard anchor.
It traveled to Hobart and is now berthed at Macquarie Wharf No. 2.
Shipping agent Wilhelmsen has contracted local firm Tasmanian Shipping Supplies to retrieve the anchor which weighs about 8 tonnes, but work has been delayed due to bad weather.
The World's website says it carries up to 200 passengers and 250 crew and staff.
It travels the globe continuously, with some residents living on board and others joining the ship for part of the journey.
The World was built in 2002 at a cost of $US266 million and has 12 decks, a helicopter pad, two swimming pools, a tennis court, four restaurants and a mini-golf course.
It is scheduled to leave on Sunday evening.
"

I was down in Port Arthur myself last year and wrote a post about convict tattoos which was from a display in the Port Arthur convict settlement and the anchor tattoo was a favourite of many of the convicts, as it stood for hope.
Display in the Port Arthur convict settlement about anchor tattoos
Tattoos and Tokens of Hope and Hopelessness
Anchor Tattoos, Sailors and Early Christian History
A tour guide braving the cold rain
and wind on
'The Isle of the Dead'
"
The mass graves on The Isle of the Dead also attract visitors. 
The air about the small bush-covered island is described as possessing "melancholic" and "tranquil" qualities by visitors."
I can vouch for that having been on the The Isle of the Dead cruise myself last year, as the photo of mine above can probably give you some idea. 
Let's "hope" this happening in one of Australia's most haunted locations a week before Trump takes over on the good ship USA as captain isn't some kind of metaphor the spirits of the dead are trying to warn us about as we approach rough seas ahead in 2017.
I also thought it was rather amusing the anchor fell off 'The World' on a day when the controversial national lamb TV advertisement made headlines about the "boat-people" dropping anchor on Aussie shores, Chinese fireworks and all;-)
Australia Day lamb advertisement draws criticism from Indigenous groups
Let's hope 'The World' finds its anchor, baby;-)

UPDATE: January 17th, 2017
'Anchors aweigh'?!
Gene Cernan, last man to "walk on Moon", dies aged 82
Eugene Andrew "Gene" Cernan
(March 14, 1934 –
January 16, 2017)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
"Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. 
It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15
The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act."
2017 dateJanuary 16
Coincidence?
"The supposed shout of 'anchors away' fits well with the image of ropes being cast off and the anchor being hoisted as a ship prepares to sail away across the sea. There's some justification for assuming the 'away' spelling, as the first known usage of the term in print comes from John Smith's A Sea Grammar, 1627, in which Smith uses that form:
'What is the Anchor away?'
The meaning of the word was nevertheless not the current 'away - removed to a distance', but rather the 'aweigh - being weighed' meaning.
The word 'aweigh' or, as it was often spelled in early citations, 'a-weigh', is now only used in this little phrase. An anchor that is aweigh is one that has just begun to put weight onto the rope or chain by which it is being hauled up. Sailors were fond of adding 'a' to words to make new ones, for example, 'astern', 'aboard', ashore', 'afloat', 'adrift', 'aground', etc.
'A-weigh' is synonymous with the old and now defunct terms 'a-peak' and 'a-trip'. 'A-peak' was the Anglicized version of the French 'a pic', that is, vertical. It is easy to see why the French chose the word vertical to describe an anchor which was being hauled onboard ship. 'A-trip' just meant 'about to be underway', that is, 'on a trip'. This wasn't only reserved for anchors; 'a-trip' was a general sailing term that was used for anything that was about to begin.
Admiral William Henry Smyth, in his nautical dictionary The Sailor's Word-Book, 1867, listed this entry for 'A-trip':
"The anchor is a-trip, or a-weigh, where the purchase has just made it break ground, or raised it clear. Sails are a-trip when they are hoisted from the cap [a thick block of wood], sheeted home, and ready for trimming"...
and for 'Apeek':
"A ship drawn directly over the anchor is apeek"...
The earliest known citation that refers to an anchor being 'aweigh' is in an exchange between two characters in John Dryden's The Tempest, 1670:
Trincalo: Is the Anchor a Peek?
Stephano: Is a weigh! is a weigh.

The song Anchors Aweigh was composed by Charles A. Zimmerman in 1906 with lyrics written by Alfred Hart Miles. It was adopted as the official song of the United States Navy:
Stand Navy down the field, sails set to the sky.
We'll never change our course, so Army you steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll up the score, Navy, Anchors Aweigh.
Sail Navy down the field and sink the Army, sink the Army Grey.
Anchors Aweigh was also a popular musical comedy film of 1945, starring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly.
"

The last man to walk on the moon passed
away in the
Year of the Monkey:-)
And it just gets weirder down in Tasmania as far as ship metaphors go.
Shipstern Bluff cliffs partially collapse into ocean but hardcore surfers not deterred
"Part of the towering cliffs surrounding Tasmania's world-renowned surf break, Shipstern Bluff, appear to have collapsed.
It has surfers worried access to the area could soon be restricted.
Photographer Andrew Chisolm said he first noticed the rock fall while out on the water on Monday.
"My mate said something about the bluff isn't quite right," he said.
"He said 'I haven't been here for a while, and everything seems a little bit smaller' and an hour later I actually realised [it was]."
At first Mr Chisolm was not sure what he was seeing.
"I concluded yeah, a really large amount of the cliff had actually just collapsed," he said.
"I've gone 'hey guys check it out, I swear a bit of the cliff's fallen down' and sure enough, everyone just spun out.
"We kind of couldn't believe it."
"

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