Recent content by MarlynSpyke

Old Harry's quote "It has to be appreciated by all parties, that since the designation of Studland Bay as a Marine Conservation Zone in 2019, the ability of vessels to use the area in the same way that they may have done so in the past prior to designation, will have to change and that...

The saildrive diaphragm on my Volvo Penta MD2020 unit (on a 2002 Dufour 30 Classic) is now 20 years old. I have been inspecting it carefully every year from inside the boat, which I have owned from new, and at last there are some signs of very fine hairline cracks in the surface of the rubber...

MMO point out that while it is a voluntary anchor ban, there can be no fines, no law will have been broken. They also point out that "safety is paramount", which means more even important than the occasional seahorse which has occasionally been reported. It is probably in the boating community's...

The MMO revealed their proposals for the Studland Bay MCZ this afternoon, and they are published at Managing marine non-licensable activity in Studland Bay Marine Conservation Zone and click on the Habitat Protection Button. My summary is in the attachment, incuding maps, it will have a...

Thanks Iaika and Tranona - we now do know where the buoys are. The depth info is useful too. I'll be interested to hear your questions, Tranona, although I do not know whether the MMO will take questions, or just tell stakeholders what they propose to do.

Yes, using the Navionics distance measuring pins, it's 0.4 nm from the position they mark to South Beach. And that is a fair row in an inflatable dinghy, especially if wind and wave are against you, even more so if there are two people in the dinghy. I guess my comment was more directed to the...

OK, thanks, just spotted that, with a little blue and white symbol. Quick work by Navionics, they were laid quite recently. If that really is their actual position, then that doesn't look too bad.

Those are the Bankes Arms buoys, been there for decades. They are fairly close in, and in water much shallower than the 4 m reported for the new NGM buoys. My experience of the Bay is that the water further out, near the Swash Channel, is more distured than closer in as motor vessels speed along...

There's an MMO online consultation meeting next Friday 10th Sept on the next steps in the Studland Bay MCZ management process. It's for stakeholder groups who have signed up with MMO, and one person only from each group. I'll represent BORG as Old Harry is away on holiday. In case we get a...

Thanks for the suggestion. The aerial images, now covering 1972 – 2020, are intended to show that the eelgrass coverage was not decreasing – in fact from 1972 – 2011 it was increasing, and from then to 2020 it seems to be holding steady. Obviously we cannot ground-truth the earlier years...

I have considered publishing in a recognised journal, but much of what I’ve published online is in the form of literature reviews, drawing attention to already published work which supports our case. I believe it to be more effective to submit our arguments directly, which I have been doing for...

Highly Protected Marine Areas according to a government document would impose a blanket ban on anchoring: "To benefit from high levels of protection, many activities within HPMAs should cease after site designation. For example, fishing, construction, dredging, sewage and other discharges...

This shows lush eelgrass in the anchoring area of Studland Bay. It's a frame grab from underwater video I took, which is why it is not sharp. The videos (on YouTube) give a better impression. Details at https://boatownersresponse.org.uk/Studland_Underwater_Videos.pdf

We need to draw attention to this paper: The perilous state of seagrass in the British Isles Benjamin L. Jones and Richard K. F. Unsworth Published:01 January 2016https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150596 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.150596 It is a thorough survey, clearly...

Well done Robbie. I've never joined the RYA myself, but if enough other members could send in a similar request, it might help get some support from the RYA.