Trintella
Member
I was sorry to hear of another accident in Langstone Harbour:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3512553.stm
A father and son lost whilst paying a visit to their small fishing boat on one of the harbour board moorings in F5/6 - no life jackets.
Having made the trip down harbour in similar conditions in an 8ft fiberglass tender (going to Southsea Marina to collect my boat) I became really alarmed - years of messing around in similar sized boats and canoes on the Severn estuary as a youngster (not wise at all with hindsight) were probablly what saved me - the standing waves are very powerful and will easily capsize a dinghy.
I have now got a deep water mooring near where these men drowned - I have replaced my tender with an Avon 310 which is supposed to be rated for 5 adults - it does seem far far more stable and won't sink if swamped or capsized.
It makes you realise that if you are in a dinghy you should be prepared to end up in the water - surely at 6C that means a wet or a dry suit?
(Not that I have a dry suit, but at £50 or so on ebay I think I'm going to get one)
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3512553.stm
A father and son lost whilst paying a visit to their small fishing boat on one of the harbour board moorings in F5/6 - no life jackets.
Having made the trip down harbour in similar conditions in an 8ft fiberglass tender (going to Southsea Marina to collect my boat) I became really alarmed - years of messing around in similar sized boats and canoes on the Severn estuary as a youngster (not wise at all with hindsight) were probablly what saved me - the standing waves are very powerful and will easily capsize a dinghy.
I have now got a deep water mooring near where these men drowned - I have replaced my tender with an Avon 310 which is supposed to be rated for 5 adults - it does seem far far more stable and won't sink if swamped or capsized.
It makes you realise that if you are in a dinghy you should be prepared to end up in the water - surely at 6C that means a wet or a dry suit?
(Not that I have a dry suit, but at £50 or so on ebay I think I'm going to get one)
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