Dear Friends,
Thanks for the suggestions so far received - mostly off the list. They
are all sensible. However, I must stress that I have to rely on local
materials or what I can take in a small suitcase on an airline - 20kg is
soon used up. This rules out most of the exotic materials that I would like
to have available.
Another solution that I had thought of was to make the hour lines with
sea shells. Even the numbers could be formed this way - either Roman or
Arabic. However, as they must be applied to a concrete base so I must find
some suitable adhesive. A twin-pack epoxy would have to stick to perhaps
semi-wet concrete, unless I can find some paving slabs. It will also
require a large quantity of 'glue' if shells are to be fixed.
As far as maintenance is concerned, I will be visiting the site at least
once each year and can fix bits that are broken off - between swims in the
warm Atlantic.
We are also involved with a school there, but vertical dials are of no
use between the tropics. Has anyone tried an annalemmatic dial at this sort
of latitude?
Regards,
Mike Cowham.
Cambridge, UK.
