Circus in Newtown Creek

Hi tome,

Oops, you could be right but I think I'd have to claim to be an "intended recipient" under the circumstances. Tried to edit the post but the time limit had expired.

Anyway, I was simply curious about what had happened. It seemed such an unusual incident. No naming and shaming intended.
 
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I don't have a clue mate

I'd rather take up golf than sail in the Solent.

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Crikey - it's not that bad! Do you stay away from motorways too /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif ?

It reminds of all those people I met in our New Jersey offices who had never been to New York (less than an hour's drive away) because they were afraid they would get mugged or shot! They were absolutely horrified that I had (gasp!) WALKED in Central Park, 5th Avenue, Times Square etc etc and was still in one piece to tell the tale. Mind you, most of the police cars I saw did look like they should be in the Dukes of Hazard, with dents, scrapes, smashed headlights etc
 
"Crikey - it's not that bad! Do you stay away from motorways too ?"

No

But I wouldn't rid a push bike down one, and thats about as fast as my boat goes.
 
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I'd rather take up golf than sail in the Solent.

[/ QUOTE ] Surely it can't be that bad?

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It isn't, that's why thousands of people come back every week. Probably not a lot different than the popular lakes.
 
Nah, it's shocking and I'm not sure that our chum from yorkshire wouldn't like it all. Stay away I say, leave us poor locals to weep quietly about the paucity of sailing, pubs, restaurants and anchorages.
 
I came

I saw

I buggered off back home.

Just by the by

What did happen to this poor sod in Newtown last weekend?
 
As an East Coast 'roughtie toughtie' who's been sailing since the '50's and was in the Solent on Saturday seatrialing a new acquisition, I was staggered by the number of calls to Solent Coastguard expecting the Coastguard service to dig them out of whatever hole they got themselves into, which ranged from going aground and not being to give a postion to the incident you mentioned with quite a few calls for helicopter assistance between. It seemed on the face of it that the Solent is awash with inept people who are unable to take responsibilty for their own decsions and who have little or no knowledge of what constitutes the safe conduct of a vessel at sea The old lags at Solent Coastguard must despair or was it ever thus in this over populated piece of water?
 
I think it is a sign of the times. People don't spend 20 years "graduating" getting in and out of scrapes in boats gradually increasing in size. It is the price we pay when 40 foot with every electronic aid known to man is seen as an "entry level" boat.
 
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. It seemed on the face of it that the Solent is awash with inept people who are unable to take responsibilty for their own decisions and who have little or no knowledge of what constitutes the safe conduct of a vessel at sea

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Yep, it is.
 
As it ever was. No novice driver ever buys a car these days that requires you to get out, lay under the back and hit the electric fuel pump with a shoe every 20 miles.
Or change a by-pass hose in lay-by. Or a clutch in the drive on a Saturday afternoon.

Wimps, all of them!
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it would be easy to suggest it simply has more than it's fair share of people starting out on their boating journey - but in reality given it's situation (providing a range of sheltered environments - and here I am using 'solent' in it's widest context) this is to be expected.

that it has fast ferries, big ferries, commercials, racing yacht fleets, fishermen, etc all plieing their trade in the sometimes restricted waters makes an interesting mix at times.

it's not alone in getting calls at the weekend - I diverted at the request of Portland to a assist a boat described as having difficulties with it's anchor in Studland Bay the previous Sat but they resolved them in the 10mins it took me to get there.............

With regard to IJ I think you will find the vast majority of calls are from dive boats, as discussed on here at length many times, where H&S requirements on both skippers and the CG combine to create shouts - not sure why ( /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif) but not a lot of leisure diving on the East coast..............

I continue to be amazed at the patience and professionalism of Solent CG - but am also frequntly suprised at the nature and delivery of calls from those who should patently know better.................
 
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