In Memory of Stift

As some of you may be already aware there is a major terrorist trial ongoing at the moment in Dusseldorf, Germany. This trial is the biggest case to be heard in Germany, in almost 30 years and sadly relates to a number of Germanys own citizens who converted to Islam and became influenced by the teachings of a radical preacher during 2005.

Several attended Arabic language schools in Syria and terrorist training camps in Pakistan in March 2006. They have become known within the intelligence communities as the “Sauerland Cell”, and have only recently pleaded guilty on the hope of receiving a lighter sentence, and after telling the presiding judge that they were bored with the proceedings.

They were detained on Tuesday the 4th of September 2007 in the tiny hamlet of Oberschledorn, which is situated 75 miles north of Frankfurt when an elite Kommando unit attached to the BKA, raided the house and discovered the suspects in the process of mixing explosives. One managed to flee for a short distance before he was detained, but not before an officer was shot in the arm as the suspect struggled to wrestle a pistol from his leg holster.

As a direct result of the arrests almost a ton of explosives and 26 detonators were discovered, together with a number of small vans which had been purchased in France by one of the cell, these vehicles were to be used as car bombs.

“Operation Aberich” was a joint operation between US, German and Europol Investigation teams and had been running for over a year after intelligence was picked up in several intercepted emails from Pakistan, to an internet cafe in Stuttgart, which indicated that attacks were to be launched on the Frankfurt and Ramstein airbases, with the intention to kill as many US military personnel as possible, a statement that one of the accused has again stated publicly in open court during his trial.

As the case is still ongoing I cannot publicly list any more information in a public domain such as this, but what I can say is one of those brave BKA Kommandos, who through his actions may have saved numerous lives, is no longer with us. That man was my friend Andreas Jung, known to us as “Stift” who was found dead early last Thursday morning in Bonn. Farewell my friend!

Collision In the Aegean Sea

As many of you already know, I have an interest in all things to do with the sea, so you will not surprised to find the odd maritime related report on this site also. Accident investigation also takes place at sea and the following photographs relate to one which happened near the Dardenelles Strait of Bocaada Island on the 27th of June 09 at  22:00 hrs.

The collision involved the Maltese registered MV Marti Princess (Imo 9519377) 6019 ton, which was built in 2008 and had just departed the port of Gemlik bound for France, with a cargo of 8000 tonnes of cement and the German owned MV Renate Schulte (Imo 9057147) 14619 ton, which was built in 1994 and was inbound for the Tuzla Shipyard near Istanbul, after leaving Morocco.

Both vessels were stabilised to avoid pollution and carefully separated on Wednesday the 1st of July at 10:20 hrs local. Although none of the crew onboard both vessels were seriously injured a major investigation has been commenced by both respective maritime authorities  to establish the cause of such a collision in open water.  

Hanse Sail 2010

IPA  Junction Nordfriesland

Invite you to Hanse Sail 2010, between Friday, 06 August 2010 to Sunday, 08 August 2010 in Rostock, Germany

Friday, 6th August 2010

15:00 hrs : Arrive at the hotel “Griefs Nest” situated at 18055 Rostock, August-Bebel-Str.49

Tel: 0381 8775618

16.00  to 18:00 hrs : Shopping and Sightseeing trip in the city of Rostock, including coffee

19.00 hrs: Barbecue with friends from the IPA Rostock

Saturday, 7th August 2010

08.00 hrs: Breakfast

09.00 hrs: Motorcycle ride-out  in North Mecklenburg, along the Baltic coast.

16.30 hrs: Return to Rostock

18.00 hrs: Windjammer trip from Rostock to the Warnow estuary onboard the "TS Atlantic followed by a fireworks display in  Rostock harbour. the evening will end with a cosy get together in a local bar. 

Sunday, 8th August 2010

08.00 hrs: Breakfast

10.00 hrs: Leave Rostock and make your way home.

The tour price is expected to be about 105,00 Euro per person

The price includes:

 2 nights in double room, shower / WC with breakfast and parking fees

 Windjammer ride snack without drinks

 BBQ, no drinks

Application deadline: 31st December 2009, due to limited availability at the hotel

Further details can be obtained from:   Rolf Hansen, Bahndamm 2, 25821 Bredstedt, Germany 

 or by email at: motorradfreunde@versanet.de  or directly with the local IPA at: ipa-nf@foni.net

IPA Ride-Out Italy 2009

INTERNATIONAL POLICE ASSOCIATION
REGION IV ALTO ADIGE- SOUTH TYROL
BOLZANO SECTION
30th ANNIVERSARY - July 08 to July 11, 2010

Program for BIKERS
Thursday, July 8th:
3:00 p.m. Afternoon arrivals in Laives (Bolzano)
Hotel check-in at IDEAL PARK Hotel ( www.hotelidealpark.it)
7:00 p.m. Dinner

Friday, July 9th:
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Departure for Caldaro, Mendola Pass, Fondo, Spormaggiore, Andalo, Molveno Lake, Ponte Arche, Bondone Pass and Trento. Pit-stop in Ballino Pass.
Lunch in Arco
5:00 p.m. Return to Hotel
Dinner at the hotel with music (See the Main program)
Daily mileage: 280 km.

Saturday, July 10th:
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Departure for Bolzano, Merano, Silandro, Stelvio Pass, Bormio, Gavia Pass, Bivio Ponte di Legno, Tonale Pass, Malè, Fondo, Palade Pass, Caldaro, Laives
Pit stop in Stelvio Pass and Gavia Pass
Lunch in Sun Valley
Daily mileage: 290 km.
5:00 p.m. Return to Hotel
7:30 p.m. Gala Dinner, music and 30th Anniversary celebration

Sunday, July 11th:
7:00 a.m. Breakfast,  guests' departure soon after.

Members of the Bolzano IPA and the Federal Traffic Police will be on tour with the bikers.

COST FOR THE ENTIRE PROGRAM:
€URO 227,00 Addition for Single room €48 ,00
COST INCLUDES: 3 nights lodging with one breakfast, all dinners, lunch on Friday and Saturday. Entrance tickets, possibility of sauna, swimming pool and parking. All beverages with meals and tips are not included in this program.

Participation only at evening events without hotel accommodations is € 25,00 per evening per person.
Participation only at the Gala Dinner: € 30,00.

This event will be run if we reach at least 140 people. Group reservations must provide the names of those attending and their room requests. Deadline for reservations is March 30th, 2010. A deposit of € 150,00 per person is required with a bankdraft. Balance is payable upon arrival at the event.

Banca Popolare dell'Alto Adige
Causale (description of payment): 30th Anniversary
IBAN: IT 32 M 05856 58480 054576036150
BIC: BPAAIT2B054

The Finish

Tam McInally returned to his native Scotland yesterday morning for the final leg of his round the world trip, the short run home to Edinburgh. He was met at the ferry by one of Strathclyde's finest sons, the Rt. Hon Douglas Wright of Stepps, himself one of the founding members of “The Garage Motorcycle Club”, and a life long friend of Tam.

Tam has raised a considerable amount of money for charity on this trip and if you have some spare change you can find out how to donate on his own web pages. On behalf of all your friends in the club, Well done Tam!

McInally Returns

It was just after 14:00 hrs today when I heard the sound of a BMW twin pulling into my rear yard. Opening the door an looking out I was surprised and delighted to see it was the one and only Tom McInally.

Tom has been a friend of mine now for several years and we have spent manys a long hour touring around Scotland, Ireland and the rest of Europe on our bikes, in the company of other members of the Garage Bike Club. Over the last six months or so Tom, or Tam as he is known to us has been riding around the world on his 1200 Adventure for charity. Full details of this and his travels around the world, can be found on the Transglobemoto link on the right hand side of this blog.

The afternoon past quickly and before long Tam was on his way towards Belfast and the final leg of his trip, before returning home to Edinburgh on Saturday.

Well done Tam!

Germany 2009

It was a bright sunny morning on Thursday the 25th of June 2009, as Eddie, Mags and I headed up the coast road towards Belfast to travel across to Scotland on the 07:40 HSS sailing. Our final destination was Muenster, Germany where we had been invited across to visit our friends Klaus & Mecki Lanwher.
I had been invited across to Germany the previous weekend to attend a work related event in Hamburg, but sadly circumstances in life did not allow me to attend both events and our visit to the Lanwhers had been booked well in advance, one trip away was all I was allowed!
The sailing across the Irish Sea flew in and it was not long before we were powering our way down the A75 in the direction of Dumfries. We availed of “brunch” at the Little Chef, just south of Dumfries and after filling up with fuel, headed off again towards the border and the A69 to Newcastle where we boarded the 16:00 hrs DFDS sailing to Holland.
After freshening up onboard, we headed up to the restaurant deck for the all you can eat buffet which costs 32 euro a head, if you take your time and sample all the dishes on offer it still could be classed as good value, however it was only 24 euro last year. The evening pasted quickly and before we could enjoy the evening entertainment, it was time to retire to our cabins to catch up on some much needed shut eye.
We decided to avail of breakfast locally in Holland so upon disembarking in Ijmuiden just after 9:00am , we headed straight to McDonalds’ for a bargain breakfast at only 4 euro a head and not the 20 euro each it would have been if we had decided to eat on the ferry.
Cross country traffic is very heavy in Holland, so it is advisable to blast straight for the German border to get it behind you as quickly as possible, so off we headed in the general direction of Muenster. Upon clearing the ring road in Utrecht, Eddie decided he wanted to cruise along the back roads and soak up some to the scenery so we agreed to meet up with him later on that evening in Muenster.
It was 16:30 hrs when we arrived at our destination in Muenster where we were met by Klaus & Mecki and some other friends whom Mags and I have got to know over the years. After a quick shower it was time to relax and enjoy the company. Eddie arrived just in time for tea! The party continued into the wee small hours before we all retired as we had an early start next morning.
Saturday morning arrived in all its glory with the temperature climbing quickly into the high twenties, not a cloud could be seen. Mags decided she was going shopping with the women and Eddie & I headed off for a blast on our bikes with Klaus, some of his friends and my old chum Frank Hendricks.
Around lunchtime we pulled into a clearing in the forest and were met by Frank’s parents, who had laid on a buffet lunch for us all. I was good to see them both again as I always call in to say hello when across that way. After saying our goodbyes we headed off again and arrived back in Muenster just before tea. The party was only beginning.
Sunday and Monday was spent with the Lanwhers and their friends Tom & Asheld Kristainsen from Norway who escorted us back to the Dutch border before we had to say our goodbyes and go our own way. The night was spent just outside Nijmegen in a hotel at Eddie and I have used several times. The food is excellent and is one of the reasons we keep coming back!
On Tuesday morning after breakfast we cruised back towards Ijmuiden and the afternoon sailing to Newcastle leaving ourselves plenty of time for the odd coffee break along the way. Upon getting onboard it was time to get ready for our evening buffet, after which we relaxed watching one of the shows.
Upon docking in Newcastle on the Wednesday morning, we availed of breakfast in a cafe within the Royal Quays complex prior to our high speed dash for the afternoon HSS sailing out of Stranraer and our journey home.

Bike Trips Cancelled

Well folks sadly due to a decline in my health once again, my up and coming bike trips to Scotland and County Mayo have had to be cancelled. A recent operation (last monday) has resulted in me being unable to ride my bike until at least Easter of 2010 and has left me confined to the house for several weeks. Sadly several more operations are likely in the coming months.