Recent content by geoffatstanpit

12 volts won't light a neon light.

I've used stick-on cork tiles on 2 boats and they have beaten everything I've tried. They're non-slip, warm to the touch and look nice varnished.

On several occasions in otherwise flat water I have met some impressive waves which have turned out to be due to a warship passing by at speed a mile or two to seaward. They can often be met 20 minutes after the ship has gone by.

Ships (including QE2) flew flag W (for west) if they were going to turn right at Calshot. Curiously that also meant "I require medical assistance" which seemed unlikely when QE2 is addressing a Seal 22.

I have fond memories of taking Air Training Corps cadets for sailing training in the JSASTC Fox Terriers out of Hornet between 2000 and 2010. Lovely little boats, 2 had bilge keels and one had a fin keel. It really helped to know which type you had if you went aground in that tricky bit west...

Bryozoan - lots on Google.

Interesting to see that the bunch of cruise ships that were snuggled up in Weymouth Bay have all legged it to Normandy and left the Poole Bay cohort in place. Strange for a mainly SW stormy forecast.

I remember a dive boat out of Shoreham had that system. One of the cups fell off when approaching the Quay and it carried away the entire News of the World angling competition. Must have been in the sixties I think.

Same thing happened to a cruise ship in Venice today. Quite an impressive arrival and well caught on video for this evening's news!!

I sailed a Solo in a mainly Laser handicap fleet for many years and only had to give up in my 80s. Laser sailors get all cross and lose concentration if the wind drops to less than 10 knots. I used to get great delight in waiting for the lasers to fall into a hole in the wind and then sail...

Not easily done in the heat of battle! I reckon that since 10 degrees is about 1 in 6, if bearing off 10 degrees gets you 1/6 more speed then its worth doing. Simples!

I saw it on TV. Channel 562 on Virgin. And his two sons were in a 49er!

Let's hope they remember what happened to the village of Hall Sands when they took stuff from the Skerries Bank to make Plymouth Dockyard in 1917.

I once had a wasp arrive within 30 seconds of opening the marmalade in the middle of Lyme Bay. That means extraordinary eyesight and over 100 knots against the wind.

There's a brisk south-easterly going at the moment so when the tide goes down there should be a good crop of shredded eelgrass in Studland Bay at the tide mark, I'll bet there will be loads of seahorses tangled up in it. I remember when local entrepreneurs used to collect bucketfuls, dry...