Big Bang (s)

[mjf]

Blimey - was leaving Portsmouth harbour at noon on Saturday when there was a mighty explosion.


Thought an engine had blown up - the boat literally shook it was so loud.

Revs Ok and all instruments Ok; then BANG another explosion.


This time I was looking around for a flare or wahtever only to see the cannon firing from the Block House. Very impressive indeed.


Ended up watching (and hearing) a 21 Gun Salute - very kind of the RN to arrange this as I departed Portsmouth for my new Hamble berth.

 

[neale]

I remember coming across the Channel a few years back. It was a flat crossing with no other boats in sight. Suddenly 2 very loud bangs in quick succession. Thought the engines had gone but we were still running normally with no obvious problems. With nothing else in sight I stopped for a thorough check but could find nothing. Carried on rather confused but arrived home safely.

It was some time later that I discovered that I had heard sonic booms as Concorde passed, otherwise unheard, overhead.

 

[benjenbav]

Sure they weren't using you for target practice?

 

[mjf]

Sure they weren't using you for target practice?

Funny you say that as we were saying how bloody scary it must have been having close quarter action as the noise is actually quite intense when you see the flash / fire and in line with it. Waiting for the cannon ball to land must have been awful.

 

[mjf]

I remember coming across the Channel a few years back. It was a flat crossing with no other boats in sight. Suddenly 2 very loud bangs in quick succession. Thought the engines had gone but we were still running normally with no obvious problems. With nothing else in sight I stopped for a thorough check but could find nothing. Carried on rather confused but arrived home safely.

It was some time later that I discovered that I had heard sonic booms as Concorde passed, otherwise unheard, overhead.

Yes Neale - I have experience that too, but actually saw the delta wing before I heard the bang

 

[DPH]

very kind of the RN to arrange this as I departed Portsmouth for my new Hamble berth.

Eek, I was wondering why you didn't come back to Port Solent last night and then I saw this thread by you titled Big Bang and obviously thought you must have blown up.

Anyway, was leaving the harbour just at the same time as you, just pushing forward on the throttles when the first gun went off. Very nearly had to change my shorts!

Any reason why you've opted for the Hamble after being in PS for years?

 

[Elessar]

I remember coming across the Channel a few years back. It was a flat crossing with no other boats in sight. Suddenly 2 very loud bangs in quick succession. Thought the engines had gone but we were still running normally with no obvious problems. With nothing else in sight I stopped for a thorough check but could find nothing. Carried on rather confused but arrived home safely.

It was some time later that I discovered that I had heard sonic booms as Concorde passed, otherwise unheard, overhead.

First time I heard that was sailing across the channel. In a mirage 28 bilge keeler so 5 knots average was fast - so you're there with a book, virtual silence bar the occasional whirr of the tillerpilot, look up every now and again to check for ships, haven't seen anything for hours, then BANG. The strange thing about the sonic boom is that it comes from all around, it seems to have no direction. Took quite a while to work out what it was and it flippin frightened me!

 

[jhr]

First time I heard that was sailing across the channel. In a mirage 28 bilge keeler so 5 knots average was fast - so you're there with a book, virtual silence bar the occasional whirr of the tillerpilot, look up every now and again to check for ships, haven't seen anything for hours, then BANG. The strange thing about the sonic boom is that it comes from all around, it seems to have no direction. Took quite a while to work out what it was and it flippin frightened me!

When I was a spotty teenager, I used to notice that all the ornaments in our sitting room rattled at about 8.30 pm every evening. I thought that we probably had a poltergeist - albeit a clock-watching one - and that our house was terminally cool. On reflection, and bearing in mind that we lived about 5 miles north of Southampton at the time, it was almost certainly caused by Concorde heading down the English Channel

 

[wl745]

Boom Boom

When HMS Cambridge was open they would often call on the VHF for certain fishing boats to move away from the range area!Fishermen being fishermen some ripe language would be interspersed with ......pulling up my nets or whatever.Sometimes Cambridge wouldnt bother and I have been out fishing nearbye and listened to the shells whistling overhead!Better yet,I worked for a while on a US navy base and about a mile away was a range for aircraft and you could watch the 5oolb bombs drop and explode!!Also their marines would fire artillery and thier shells would come whistling over our office block on thier way to the range!!All good stuff!