stability photos on Flickr

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Lens Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm 0.95

Flash cactus rf60 in softbox 80 80 in the leftt of the shoes. Triggered with cactus v5

Crossing Guard (subtractive filter HSE) by Thiophene_Guy

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One person can exemplify stability in a changing world.

This Subtractive Filter Harris Shutter Effect image was constructed from three successive frames after warping/registering static details on the crossing guard. A moving camera gave colored background ghosts due to parallax shift, while moving pedestrians generated additional colored ghosts.

Quick links to related images

Read how to construct this type of image from three sequential photos.

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Hadrians Wall, Cumbria, England - May 2007 by Saffy H

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Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of Great Britain. It was the second of three such fortifications built across Great Britain, the first being Gask Ridge and the last the Antonine Wall. All three were built to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes (ancient inhabitants of Scotland) to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the Roman province of Britannia to the south, and to physically mark the frontier of the Empire. Hadrian's Wall is the best known of the three because it remains the most physically preserved and evident today.

The wall was the northern border of the Empire in Britain for much of the Roman Empire's rule, and also the most heavily fortified border in the Empire. In addition to its use as a military fortification, it is thought that the gates through the wall would also have served as customs posts to allow trade taxation.

A significant portion of the wall still exists, particularly the mid-section, and for much of its length the wall can be followed on foot. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England, where it is often known simply as the Roman Wall. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. English Heritage, a government organization in charge of managing the historic environment of England, describes it as "the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain".[1]

Sections of Hadrian's Wall remain near Greenhead and along the route, though other large sections have been dismantled over the years to use the stones for various nearby construction projects.

The Roman name of the Wall

No stone inscription survives to confirm what the Wall was called in antiquity, and no historical source gives it a name. However, the discovery of a small enamelled bronze Roman cup in Staffordshire in 2003 has provided a clue. The cup is inscribed with a series of names of Roman forts (see also the botrom of this page) along the western sector of the Wall, together with a personal name and a phrase:

MAIS COGGABATA VXELODVNVM CAMBOGLANNA RIGORE VALI AELI DRACONIS

Here we have Bowness (MAIS, followed by what must be the correct name for Drumburgh-by-Sands (COGGABATA) until now known only as CONGAVATA from the late Roman document, the Notitia Dignitatum. Next comes Stanwix (VXELODVNVM), then Castlesteads (CAMBOGLANNA), before we get to the most tantalizing part.

RIGORE seems to be the ablative form of the Latin word rigor. This can mean several things, but one of its less well-known meanings is ‘straight line’, ‘course’ or ‘direction’. This was used by Roman surveyors and appears on a number of inscriptions to indicate a line between places. So the meaning could be ‘from the course’, or better in English 'according to the course'.

The Staffordshire Moorlands cup, which provides the ancient name of Hadrian's Wall.

There is no such word as vali, but in antiquity Hadrian’s Wall was known as the Vallum, the Latin word for a frontier which is today incorrectly applied to the ditch and mounds dug by the Roman army just south of the Wall. The genitive form of Vallum is Valli, so one of the most likely meanings is VAL[L]I, ‘of the frontier’. Omitting one of a pair of double consonants is common on Roman inscriptions, and transcribing an inscription from a written note is the easiest way to miss out letters. Another similar bronze vessel, known as the Rudge Cup (found in Wiltshire in the 18th century) has VN missing from the name VXELODVNVM, for example, although the letters appear on the Staffordshire cup. The Rudge Cup only bears fort names.

The name AELI is also in the genitive. This was Hadrian's nomen, his main family name and we know that the Roman bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne was called Pons Aelius.

Finally we have the name DRACONIS, which can be translated as ‘[by the hand – or property] of Aelius Draco’. It was normal for Roman manufacturers to give their names in the genitive (‘of’), and ‘by the hand’ would be understood. The form is common, for example, on samian pottery.

The translation, therefore, could be:

‘Mais, Coggabata, Uxelodunum, Camboglanna, according to the line of the Aelian frontier. [By the hand or The property] of Draco’.

This would mean the Romans knew Hadrian's Wall as Vallum Aeli, 'the Aelian frontier'.

Dimensions

Hadrian's Wall was 80 Roman miles (73.5 English miles or 117 kilometres) long, its width and height dependent on the construction materials which were available nearby: east of River Irthing the wall was made from squared stone and measured 3 m (9.7 ft) wide and 5 to 6 metres (16–20 ft) tall; west of the river the wall was made from turf and measured 6 metres (20 ft) wide and 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) high. This does not include the wall's ditches, berms, and forts. The central section measured 8 Roman feet wide (7.8 ft or 2.4 m) on a 10 foot base.

Route

Map showing the location of Hadrian's Wall.

Hadrian's Wall extended west Segedunum at Wallsend on the River Tyne to the shore of the Solway Firth. The A69 and B6318 roads follow the course of the wall as it starts in Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, then on round the northern coast of Cumbria. The Wall is entirely in England and south of the border with Scotland by 15 kilometres (9 mi) in the west and 110 kilometres (68 mi) in the east.

Hadrian

Hadrian's Wall was built following a visit by Roman emperor Hadrian (AD 76–138) in AD 122. Hadrian was experiencing military difficulties in Britain, and from the peoples of various conquered lands across the Empire, including Egypt, Judea, Libya, Mauretania, and many of the peoples conquered by his predecessor Trajan, so he was keen to impose order. However the construction of such an impressive wall was probably also a symbol of Roman power, both in occupied Britain and in Rome. Frontiers in the early empire were based more on natural features or fortified zones with a heavy military presence. Military roads or limes often marked the border, with forts and signal towers spread along them and it was not until the reign of Domitian that the first solid frontier was constructed, in Germania Superior, using a simple fence. Hadrian expanded on this idea, redesigning the German border by ordering a continuous timber palisade supported by forts behind it. Although such defences would not have held back any concerted invasion effort, they did physically mark the edge of Roman territory and went some way to providing a degree of control over who crossed the border and where.

Hadrian reduced Roman military presence in the territory of the Brigantes and concentrated on building a more solid linear fortification to the north of them. This was intended to replace the Stanegate road which is generally thought to have served as the limes (the boundary of the Roman Empire) until then.

Construction

Construction probably started in 122 AD and was largely completed within eight years, with soldiers from all three of the occupying Roman legions participating in the work. The route chosen largely paralleled the nearby Stanegate road from Luguvalium (Carlisle) to Coria (Corbridge), which was already defended by a system of forts, including Vindolanda. The Wall in part follows the outcrop of a harder, more resistant igneous dolerite rock escarpment, known as the Great Whin Sill.

The initial plan called for a ditch and wall with 80 small, gated milecastle fortlets every Roman mile holding a few dozen troops each, and pairs of evenly spaced intermediate turrets used for observation and signalling. The wall was initially designed to a width of 3 metres (10 ft) (the so-called "Broad Wall"). The height is estimated to have been around 5 or 6 metres (16–20 ft). Local limestone was used in the construction, except for the section to the west of Irthing where turf was used instead as there were no useful outcrops nearby. The turf wall was 6 metres wide (20 ft) and around 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) high. Milecastles in this area were also built from timber and earth rather than stone but turrets were always stone. The Broad Wall was initially built with a clay-bonded rubble core and mortared dressed rubble facing stones, but this seems to have made it vulnerable to collapse and repair with a mortared core was sometimes necessary.

Roman fort at Corstopitum.

The milecastles were of three different designs, depending on which Roman legion built them — the Second, Sixth, and Twentieth Legions, whose inscriptions tell us were all involved in the construction. Similarly there are three different turret designs along the route. All were about 493 metres (539 yd) apart and measured 4.27 metres square (46.0 sq ft) internally.

Construction was divided into lengths of about 5 miles (8 km). One group of each legion would create the foundations and build the milecastles and turrets and then other cohorts would follow, building the wall itself.

Early in its construction, just after reaching the North Tyne (construction worked from east to west), the width of the wall was narrowed to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) or even less (sometimes 1.8m) (the "Narrow Wall"). However, Broad Wall foundations had already been laid as far as the river Irthing, where the Turf Wall began, and many turrets and milecastles were optimistically provided with stub 'wing walls' in preparation for joining to the Broad Wall; a handy reference for archaeologists trying to piece together the construction chronology.

Within a few years it was decided to add a total of 14 to 17 (sources disagree) full-sized forts along the length of the wall, including Vercovicium (Housesteads) and Banna (Birdoswald), each holding between 500 and 1,000 auxiliary troops (no legions were posted to the wall). The eastern end of the wall was extended further east from Pons Aelius (Newcastle) to Segedunum (Wallsend) on the Tyne estuary. Some of the larger forts along the wall, such as Cilurnum (Chesters) and Vercovicium (Housesteads), were built on top of the footings of milecastles or turrets, showing the change of plan. An inscription mentioning early governor Aulus Platorius Nepos indicates that the change of plans took place early on. Also some time still during Hadrian's reign (i.e., before AD 138) the wall west of the Irthing was rebuilt in sandstone to basically the same dimensions as the limestone section to the east.

Vallum at Hadrian's Wall near milecastle 42

After the forts had been added (or possibly at the same time), the so-called Vallum was built on the southern side. It consisted of a large, flat-bottomed ditch 6 metres (20 ft) wide at the top and 3 metres (10 ft) deep bounded by a berm on each side 10 metres (33 ft) wide. Beyond the berms were earth banks 6 metres (20 ft) wide and 2 metres (6.5 ft) high. Causeways crossed the ditch at regular intervals. Initially the berm appears to have been the main route for transportation along the wall. The Vallum probably delineated a military zone rather than intending to be a major fortification, though the British tribes to the south were also sometimes a military problem.

The Wall was thus part of a defensive system which, from north to south included:

* a glacis and a deep ditch

* a berm with rows of pits holding entanglements

* the curtain wall itself

* a later military road (the "Military Way")

* a north mound, a ditch and a south mound to prevent or slow down any raids from a rebelling southern tribe.

Roman-period names

The remains of milecastle 39, near Steel Rigg

The Roman-period names of some of the Hadrian's Wall forts are known, from the Notitia Dignitatum and other evidence:

* Segedunum (Wallsend)

* Pons Aelius (Newcastle on Tyne)

* Condercum (Benwell Hill)

* Vindobala (Halton Chesters)[2]

* Hunnum (Rudchester)[2]

* Cilurnum (Chesters aka Walwick Chesters)[2]

* Procolita (Carrowburgh)

* Vercovicium (Housesteads)

* Aesica (Great Chesters)[2]

* Magnis (Carvoran)

* Banna (Birdoswald)

* Camboglanna (Castlesteads)

* Uxelodunum (Stanwix. Also known as Petriana)

* Aballava (Burgh-by-Sands)

* Coggabata (Drumburgh)

* Mais (Bowness)

Outpost forts beyond the Wall include:

* Habitancum (Risingham)

* Bremenium (Rochester)[2]

* Ad Fines (Chew Green) [1]

Supply forts behind the wall include:

* Alauna (Maryport)

* Arbeia (South Shields)

* Coria (Corbridge)

* Vindolanda (Little Chesters)[2]

* Vindomora (Ebchester)[2]

Garrison

The wall was garrisoned by auxiliary (i.e., non-legionary) units of the army (non-citizens). Their numbers fluctuated throughout the occupation, but may have been around 9,000 strong in general, including infantry and cavalry. The new forts could hold garrisons of 500 men while cavalry units of 1,000 troops were stationed at either end. The total number of soldiers manning the early wall was probably greater than 10,000.

They suffered serious attacks in 180, and especially between 196 and 197 when the garrison had been seriously weakened, following which major reconstruction had to be carried out under Septimius Severus. The region near the wall remained peaceful for most of the rest of the 3rd century. It is thought that many in the garrison may have married and integrated into the local community.

Part of Hadrian's wall near Housesteads.

After Hadrian

In the years after Hadrian's death in 138, the new emperor, Antoninus Pius essentially abandoned the wall, though leaving it occupied in a support role, and began building a new wall in Scotland proper, about 160 kilometres (100 mi) north, the Antonine Wall. This turf wall ran 40 Roman miles (about 37.8 mi or 61 km) and had significantly more forts than Hadrian's Wall. Antonine was unable to conquer the northern tribes and so when Marcus Aurelius became emperor, he abandoned the Antonine Wall and occupied Hadrian's Wall once again in 164. It remained occupied by Roman troops until their withdrawal from Britain.

In the late 4th century, barbarian invasions, economic decline, and military coups loosened the Empire's hold on Britain. By 410, the Roman administration and its legions were gone, and Britain was left to look to its own defences and government. The garrisons, by now probably made up mostly of local Britons who had nowhere else to go, probably lingered on in some form for generations. Archaeology is beginning to reveal that some parts of the Wall remained occupied well into the 5th century. Enough also survived in the 8th century for spolia from it to find its way into the construction of Jarrow Priory, and for Bede to see and describe the Wall thus in Historia Ecclesiastica 1.5, although he misidentified it as being built by Septimius Severus:

“ after many great and dangerous battles, he thought fit to divide that part of the island, which he had recovered from the other unconquered nations, not with a wall, as some imagine, but with a rampart. For a wall is made of stones, but a rampart, with which camps are fortified to repel the assaults of enemies, is made of sods, cut out of the earth, and raised above the ground all round like a wall, having in front of it the ditch whence the sods were taken, and strong stakes of wood fixed upon its top. ”

But in time the wall was abandoned and fell into ruin. Over the centuries and even into the 20th century a large proportion of the stone was reused in other local buildings.

In fiction

Sycamore Gap (the "Robin Hood Tree")

* Hadrian's Wall was featured extensively in the movie King Arthur (which depicted the story of the people the Arthurian legends were supposedly based on). The one kilometre (0.6 mi) long replica, located in County Kildare, Ireland, was the largest movie set ever built in that country, and took a crew of 300 construction workers four and a half months to build. The fort in the movie where Arthur and his Sarmatian "knights" were garrisoned was based on the Roman fort named Vindolanda, which was built around AD 80 just south of Hadrian's Wall in what is now called Chesterholm, in Northern England. In the movie, the fort is attached to the wall.

* Sycamore Gap, a section of the wall between two crests just west of milecastle 38, is locally known as the "Robin Hood Tree". This location was used in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, as the setting for an interlude during Robin's journey from the White Cliffs (actually shot at the Seven Sisters Hills) to Nottingham via Aysgarth Falls.

Stability by Zeno Watson

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Taken using FED2 Analog Camera

Stability [Explored] by Riccardo Cuppini

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bighugelabs.com/flickr/scout.php?mode=history&id=1352...

[...] True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed [...]

-- Quote by Tom Robbins, American Novelist (1936)

(Italian volcano Stromboli vs Sun)

Sunset view from Tropea, Italy (August, 2007)

Last photo of 2024. by bill palmer

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Walking around the zoo's lake, watching Geese on lake, this one had to show off, with wing flaps.

Really had little time to think, and get set up. Rested camera on top of a fence post, for stability.

Mesker Park zoo Evansville, In.

Steampunk Beholder Miniature robot sculpture - Daniel Proulx - Canada . : Steampunk Exhibition at The Museum of the History of Science, The University of Oxford, U.K. by Daniel Proulx

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The sculpture is only 4 cm large .

right upper arm : You can imagine that arm shooting a disintegrating

Newtonian beam .

Left upper Arm : Triple saw made from vintage brass clock gear .

Top Arm : Made from Mysterious yellow amber .

bottom arm : a single magnetic wheel for an alternative transport and stability .

Beholder's floats/hover above the ground . They are known to be obsessively Tyrannic .

Made by Daniel Proulx A.K.A : CatherinetteRings , Steampunk jewelry designer and sculptor

This sculpture is currently on display for the Oxford Steampunk Exhibition .

BEHOLDER WRITTING COMPETITION STORIES :

1ST PLACE WINNER:

A Light in the Darkness

by Will Steed

Hastings looked down the tunnel into the darkness. He looked down at his feet. The pools of filth lay stagnant on the ground at the edges, while a stream of foulness trickled down the middle. His shoes would have make do on their own. Some yards further into the tunnel, he found a twisted piece of iron left off to the side. He knew he was in the right place. The maker's mark on the iron matched the ones taken from the smith's yard near the docks.

Still further down the tunnel, there was a branch. One would lead to the lower reaches, the other further south, towards the houses on Merchant's Row. The criminal element of the lower reaches were prime candidates for the theft of scrap iron, but something tickled at the back of Hastings' brain. His intuition told him there was a connection between the theft of the scrap iron and rumors of an alliance between technologists and the guild of merchants, but there was nothing to prove it, or even to suggest that it was more than the hunch of a detective on probation.

Hastings listened carefully. Over the rumble of the train passing above, he could hear a deep rhythmic sound coming from the tunnel that lead towards Merchant's Row. He walked cautiously down the tunnel, avoiding the splashing of walking in puddles of Ada-knew-what.

As he progressed, the rhythm grew louder and resolved itself to human voices, chanting, and the flicker of torches bounced off the wall. A cult? he thought to himself. That would be the third one this year. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a metal flask, holding it firmly in his hand. As he approached the source of the chanting and flickering, he unlatched a metal cylinder from the beltloop that held his coat.

Before he made his presence known, he stopped to listen. The chanting was in Latin - Laudamus te, deo omnifacente, adjuta nobis, dea technologistorum. Of course it was in Latin, he thought. Latin is the language of the Roman church, why not of other gods? This cult originator had apparently done his research on cultistry. The chanters had dark robes, chalk designs on the floor, and a brass altar. Upon the altar, the mystic theme was broken by a pile of scrap metal. Among the lead and iron piping lay a large vicegrip, a dangerously oversized blunderbuss and a rotary sawblade.

Hastings drew attention to himself by flicking the lever on the side of the metal cylinder. The snapping of a spring and the sliding of metal against metal drew the attention of two cultists, who broke from the circle of robed enchanters and advanced on him. With his truncheon extended, he let the robed chanters reach him. The chanting from the other cultists changed, growing louder as he faced the fighters: venite, surmitte nobis monstrum mechanicum. The swinging truncheon caught one cultist on the knee, his scream loud enough to be heard over the chant, which grew louder with each repetition. A blow from the second cultist knocked him to the floor, his truncheon rolling out of reach, lying halfway into the chalk circle on the floor.

The lead cultist, with a thick gold chain hanging around his neck, drew forth a glass orb and placed it on the altar as the chanting stopped, leaving a ringing in Hastings' ears, and only the screaming of the injured cultist rang through the tunnel. The cultist who had punched Hastings pulled him up by his coat-front. Hastings shook the flask in his left hand and flicked the lid off it. A smell even fouler than the stench of the effluent in the tunnels rose into the cultist's nose. The grip on his coat slackened as the cultist collapsed to the floor in a stupor.

Covering the flask once more, Hastings returned his focus to the other cultists. The torches had blown out while his attention was distracted, and the tunnel was lit by the golden glow of the orb on the altar. The light was growing fast, and Hastings and the cultists were forced to cover their eyes.

When the light cleared the pile of scrap on the altar had gone. Instead, a metal creature was suspended in mid air above the altar. A large eye in the middle surveyed the room suspiciously while metallic tentacles moved around it. The sight of metal moving like flesh made Hastings' own flesh crawl. Most of the cultists looked as shocked and sickened as Hastings, backing away towards the walls, but the lead cultist held his ground.

'Behold! I bring you forth from the divine workshop' he declaimed. 'I bind you to this place, leaving only to do my bidding! I hold you here under my power until I see fit to remove you to the place from which you came.'

The metal creature regarded the room carefully, floating in silence. Its eye turned to the chalk markings on the floor. It floated to the edge of the circle, where Hastings' truncheon lay across the line on the floor. The eye shifted its gaze back to face the lead cultist, whose eyes had grown wide. The cultist looked at Hastings.

'What have you done?' he demanded of Hastings. 'You've given it its freedom. We have no control over it.'

Hastings knelt on the floor, looking dumbly at the metallic creature, which beheld the scene before it. The creature floated out of the chalk circle, leaving directly over the gap made by the truncheon. The eye beheld Hastings once more, dipping softly, before floating back up the tunnel towards the surface of the city.

The lead cultist fled after it, declaming in Latin. After they had both gone out of sight, there was the scream of spinning metal, the scream of suffering man and the sickening sound of death. A golden light flashed, and the screaming stopped.

Now in the dark, Hastings drew out a small box with a crank on it. After a short winding, a light glowed in the darkness. The whimpering sound of the remaining cultists turned to gratitude, and Hastings led the cultist merchants slowly back to the surface.

In a foggy alleyway, a light yellow glow grew. A scream pierced the night, and then there was silence.

161027-N-UF697-061 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

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PHILIPPINE SEA (Oct. 27, 2016) A member of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5, Platoon 503, embarked aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), stands on the flight deck of the forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) during a fast-rope exercise with an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the âGolden Falconsâ of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12. Barry is on patrol with Carrier Strike Group Five (CSG 5) in the Philippine Sea supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin V. Cunningham/Released)

Staple Clouds by Clashmaker

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Stability, prosperity!

Colorful Stability by David Martinez Marinero

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Boston Public Garden

Contax G2, Zeiss 45mm f/2 Planar, Fuji X-TRA 400

151009-N-EH855-060 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

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PACIFIC OCEAN (Oct. 9, 2015) Lt. Keith Ferrell launches an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the Kestrels of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 137 from the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). Washington is currently deployed as a part of Southern Seas 2015. The eighth deployment of its kind, Southern Seas 2015 seeks to enhance interoperability, increase regional stability, and build and maintain regional relationships with countries throughout the region through joint multinational and interagency exchanges and cooperation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Bryan Mai/Released)

200826-N-IO312-1155 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

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PHILIPPINE SEA (Aug. 26, 2020) The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) transit the Philippine Sea to maintain stability in the region. America, flagship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, assigned to Amphibious Squadron Eleven, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Cavenaile)

What Do You Think Of This Style Pump? by Sherilyn Sands

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I'm through with those pointy toe ones with a stiletto heel. I think I'm going to order these shoes. The heel is about 4X the size of a standard high heel. It's a Christmas gift to myself. I have no stability with those standard heels anymore. These I probably could handle, otherwise I'll return them. They'll have almost a 4 inch heel. What do you think, for an old lady like me? :-)

Stability of Ambiguity by bluelovecat

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200901-N-NJ919-2271 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

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PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 1, 2020) The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) transits the Philippine Sea with amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42). America and Germantown, part of the America Amphibious Ready Group assigned to Amphibious Squadron 11, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, are operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Walter Estrada)

Swahili Dhow Culture Pan by david schweitzer

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Swahili racing teams come together several times a year to compete in traditional hand-crafted arabic-styled Mashua dhows in the Lamu Archipelago just off Kenya's northern Swahili Coast.

Intense village rivalries build over the years, often reaching pitch fever on race day. This magnificent racing dhow and crew are in the lead as they move into the final leg of the race. They are the ultimate winners and will return to their village on the island of Pate with team bragging rights and a certain village swagger that will likely last several months until the next race.

Six crewmen in the lead dhow are perched on an adjustable plank that hangs out over the choppy waters for added balance, speed and stability. About sixteen young crewmen all together are crowed into each dhow to give the necessary weight, balance and stability against a stiff coastal trade wind.

The ubiquitous trade winds have been instrumental in the evolution of Swahili culture and commerce over the years since it was first established in the 14th Century as an Omani trading outpost and settlement on the classic coastal run between Zanzibar and the Arabic world further to the north.

The art of Swahili dhow racing requires considerable team skill as the dhows tack and manoeuvre back and forth through the Manda channel and ultimately out to the edge of the open sea. The finest dhows are selected from each village to race under sail through a complicated series of buoys, combining speed and balance with elaborate tacking and maneuvering competence.

The races are usually organized in conjunction with a cultural festival or an Islamic religious holiday. This particular Shela-based race on the island of Lamu is organized yearly by Peponi's on New Year's Day.

Dhow Culture | Social Documentary | Fluidr Faves

stability by Moran Guy

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200812-N-IO312-1292 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

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PHILIPPINE SEA (Aug. 12, 2020) An MH-60S Seahawk helicopter from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 delivers cargo to the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during a replenishment at sea. America, flagship of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Cavenaile)

STABILITY NEEDS BALANCE by EFFER LECEBE

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By EFFER LECEBE

200919-N-CL550-1592 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

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OKINAWA, Japan (Sept. 19, 2020) Landing Craft, Air Cushion 10, assigned to Naval Beach Unit 7, currently attached to the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42), conducts amphibious operations in waters off Blue Beach. Germantown, part of Expeditionary Strike Group Seven (ESG 7), along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor DiMartino)

Stability on a Paddleboard by flatfoot471

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Using a Paddleboard to take a picture of sunset

Hadrians Wall, Cumbria, England - May 2007 by Saffy H

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