Mark Arbour

Thanks so much for that link! The pictures were terrific. I guess I'm in a bitchy, contentious mood today, though, as I have some issues with the narrative that went with it. I'll vent below. Just don't take it personally; I'm directing my annoyance at the writer, not you. This is truly nonsense. This writer assumes that ships actively sought out battles with ONLY their own kind of ship, and that simply isn't true. The history of these wars is replete with examples of ships of the line capturing frigates, sloops, brigs, etc. The Royal Navy would hardly have kept the 64s in service just in case they should encounter one of their French counterparts. This is even more ridiculous. Navies of the Western World settled on the 74 gun two-decked design because it was deemed to be optimal. That did not mean that a 64 gun ship could not and did not engage 74 gun ships of the line. They were not that much less powerful, and you will find, in many of the major battles of this era, that a 64 gun ship of the line tackled a 74 (Think Agamemnon and Ca Ira). A Royal Navy captain who was in command of a 64, and evaded action with a French or Spanish 74, would have found himself court martialed, IMHO. Contained in this largely incomprehensible paragraph is the reason that the Admiralty razeed the ships. It was more economical to operate a powerful frigate (with 300 men) than a ship of the line (with 600), if the extra firepower of the ship of the line wasn't needed. This is the most absurd paragraph at all. This was war, it was not a game, and while codes of honor were important, that did not preclude a larger ship from capturing a smaller ship. Sure, the dream of every captain was to fight a battle with his opponent of equal strength, ship to ship, but that didn't mean it happened all that often. There were almost always some size discrepancies. And if this idiot's theory is true, then how terribly unchivalrous for a squadron to capture a single ship. I think that perhaps the writer is confusing general operations and conventions with those in force during a fleet action, in which case certain rules did theoretically apply. As we saw at St. Vincent and the Nile, frigates were supposed to be left alone unless they initiated combat.

He will? Really? Are you writing that chapter, because I sure as hell didn't.

Thanks Gene. Of course the trajectory is solid, and there will be no twists and no deviation from that path. :-)

Thank you, and you're welcome!

I think that the conversation with Matt and Will was bound to be volatile, but I give them kudos for not losing it, and for listening to each other. I agree with you about Robbie: I thought Will's explanation about how he would forgive Matt if only for Robbie was actually pretty touching.

Maarten, I am shocked, SHOCKED, that you would think someone else is being more mature than Will. ;-) In this situation, I think Will conducted himself well, and so did Matt. There was not, IMHO, a maturity disparity. And this reconciliation was very slow in coming (six months). That's a long time to have an issue with a family member in that situation. It just probably seemed that way since I jumped right into it in the second chapter.

You make some great observations here. To be honest, I can't tell you what happens to Wade and Matt because I haven't written it yet. But I can see how they both need their space, especially Wade, and I can see the reasons for that especially in light of their probably geographic separation. It's kind of a shame that Matt didn't have the same kind of epiphany he had with Will back when he was trying to salvage things with Wade in November.

Wade's not always the bottom. :-) I'd classify him as versatile.

Thanks! I'm not sure that Matt and Wade will end up together, as partners, or not. I'm not sure that it matters, as long as their friendship is intact, and I think Matt is right to fight to make sure that at least holds up.

I'm glad you liked the Will/Matt conversation. I enjoyed writing it, because I could see Matt going along, thinking he had Will totally figured out, then getting completely blown away by the nude scene. Such a "Will" thing to do.

That's too funny. I really don't think that Will is going to have a problem with Matt being with Wade...unless Wade has a problem with it.

Sorry Sammy. I'll post slower, just for you. J/K. As you said, Will is a direct guy, and so is Matt. Once they're able to engage, it's almost a given that they'll hammer things out.

June 6, 2002 Escorial, CA Will’s contempt changed to anger and outrage when he saw Wade hanging off of me, unable to support himself. “What happened to him?” he demanded. “He got trashed at a party, so I brought him home,” I said, hoping to calm him down with a simple, factual response. I wasn’t surprised when it didn’t work. “You brought him home,” he mused, as if I’d never done anything nice for Wade before. H

Your insight into the Indefatigable's construction was interesting, and awesome as usual. I find I am in one of those rare situations where I disagree with you, regarding the sentence highlighted above. While there are certainly anecdotal tales of ships being well-constructed in private yards, the general consensus I have noted is that the quality of construction at Royal yards was considerably higher. You mention that Agamemnon was built at the same yard. Nelson, who was (as you noted) a huge fan of his little battleship, was also compelled to note that she was often in need of a refit. This is also noted in the Wiki page on Agamemnon: Perhaps a more insidious example of private dockyard corruption would be the Vengeur-class ships of the line, nicknamed the Forty Thieves. Agamemnon and Indefatigable both began life as Ardent-class ships of the line. I tend to attribute their successes as a product of their design, rather than their construction, but that's just my own opinion.

It is interesting that the Magnanime and Anson ( the other razees) were not as well received, nor as successful.

This one works. You feel better now?

The University where I work tries to keep our students from engaging in prurient activities like looking at porn. They have installed all kinds of filters to try and stop them. Here was one guy's post on facebook: "Fucking XXXX IT Department. I can look at any porn I want, but I can't download music."

If you like Sharpe's series, take a trip on the sea, in the same era, and read CS Forester's Hornblower books. I recommend starting with one of the following: Hornblower and the Hotspur, Beat to Quarters, or Commodore Hornblower.

As we've moved onto Flux and this once-busy forum now lies dormant, I thought I'd revive it one last time to thank all of you who voted for 9.11, and made it the GA Readers Choice Winner for Best Hosted Story. To have such an emotional story capped off with that honor is really overwhelming. Thank you all so much. Thank you.

Mine too.

That's true, but no offense to Mann, but we would have won anyway.

Enron is so 2001. World Com is the 2002 nightmare.

My sentiments exactly. I had a hard time getting into "Ramage", but I read most of the "Bolitho" books by Alexander Kent. It also has a number of errors, but I find the character of Bolitho to be a bit too erratic and passionate for my tastes. He's a bit like "Will" (from the CAP Series) transferred to the Royal Navy in the 1790s.

The banners are awesome this year! What a great job. And what an honor to be in such great company. Congrats to all the winners and nominees!

My question would be DO they get desensitized to it? I understand that we might anecdotally think so, but I'm wondering if that's really what happens, and to what proportion of the population. I'm not convinced that prohibition is an adequate preventative measure if someone really wants something, whether it's cigarettes, pot, alcohol, or sex. I'm also not convinced that everything is a gateway activity either.