Recent content by Colinh

Re: Racing is Safer than cruising.. I am aware that when the egg hits the fan weather-wise, it is the boat that keeps on going that is the boat that increases it's survival probably. Heaven fore-fend that I will ever have to put my reading of 'Heavy Weather Sailing' into practice. Like the...

Re: Organic water Don't firget that the water that comes out of the taps in Manchester was once known as Windemere. Colin

I have an Etap 22i, which is used as a trail-sail boat around British and North European waters. An Etap dealer told me that they gave up making them, because they could not keep the cost down - which does not surprise me, as the boat is as solid as a BBSH in places you can't usualy see, as...

Re: Racing or cruising is safer? Cruising is safer than racing, because the winch grinding gorillas are all psyching each other up to make the boat go faster. They become progressively blind to the risks of what they are doing, even to the point of risking the destruction of a boat if they...

Some time ago, somebody asked how far out to sea they could use their moblile phone. I took mine on holiday when we sailed to France, and used Call Divert to collect all business calls. Coming back from Gravelines, we had just entering the TSS about half a mile South of the Rutguen SW buoy...

Re: You don\'t like Europe but... Steve, I notice that nobody has disagreed with your opinion about how nice and friendly our European neighbours are. I also notice that there is more fun in arguing about differences of opinion. Me : I am for the Common Market, against Federal Europe...

Having been warned about the French attitude to polarity of their wires, I always check with the aid of a multimeter which wire carries a voltage relative to the earth. Much to my surprise, Boulogne marina this summer came up with 220 volts on one core and about 140 volts on the other. Yet the...

There might be some useful comments on the Trail Sail Association's web site, which has a page on 'STARTING' It can be found at www.trail-sail.org.uk. It is mainly about choosing a trail-sail boat, but some of the comments might well apply to somebody looking for their first bigger boat. Colin H

Re: EU buzzwords Your view is fair enough, but is based on the fact that significant numbers of UK yachties go to night school to learn the basics without being told to. As far as I can understand the claims and counter-claims, the volentary use of night schools etc results in less accidents...

Prior to the August Bank Holiday, I was of the opinion that all people who sat on PWC's did so to demonstrate their mental defectiveness. Big surprise come the Bank Holiday. When sailing up the entrance channel to Porth Madog in North Wales, one is guided though the bar by a series of buoys...

There is nothing much of interest on Scuttlebutt, so this sailor has wandered into your forum, and may have something to add. My wife and I were sailing off La Rochelle in a 19ft boat, somewhat small for the area, as we never saw another sailing boat smaller than perhaps 28ft. The high speed...

fishing pontoon for small boys. Open University did a programme on Thursday night called 'Challenge', which turned out to be about Mr Goss and his boat. They followed the boat's career, including what happened after it was abandoned mid-Atlantic. The wreck fetched up in Iceland, and the last...

The Solent seems to be crowded with verbose idiots, which is perhaps as well, because they leave other parts of the UK's waters free from the inane babble. I had a problem with my boat's VHF radio. Twice I thought it was fixed. Twice it was not. Third time, I was sailing on the East Coast...

Sleepy, I urge you to drop any thoughts of being skipper. That is if you want to be the sort of skipper I believe should be in charge of any boat. Everything, and by that I exclude nothing, is the skipper's responsibility. Either to be done by him/herself, or delegated to others. If the...

Re: Why English? Sir/Madam There is agood and simple reason why we want to cross the channel in our own trail-sail boat, rather than do as you suggest. The reason being that we have already been to all the places you suggest. In the case of the Mobihan, we have been there three times, and the...