Seajet
...
I don't need pics of Portland Bill - or the Race - as I have seen both up close, last count 24 crossings but that's because I used to cross every year at least once but health has been a snag lately - this is my 40th season with my A22 though I've had other boats like a Carter 30 and up until recently always a fast dinghy too.
I was mentioning the apparent laissez faire about just simply setting off from Weymouth and / or Portland saying The Race is not an issue and can be ignored...
This would not be good should a novice read it - and believe me I've seen this happen; in St Helier marina we were approached by a guy, on the lines of ' scuse me, can you teall me how to navigate ? ' - No BS.
He'd been out from Plymouth on mate's fishing boats so knew Guernsey was ' over there ' - and bought an old twin engine mobo, how hard could it be ?
He soon found out, the wind built up and swell increased, knobbling his only nav aid, an ancient radar.
They were detected and and saved by a French warship just before they interfaced with Northern Brittany, taken into port, dusted off and given a course for St Peter Port, Guernsey the next day.
As they trundled along the skipper - he had wife and young children aboard - spotted an island to his starboard and thought " Aha, that's where I've been going wrong, the compass is out ! " so went straight for it.
It wasn't until he'd been tied up a while before someone informed him he was attached to Jersey and must have gone straight over Les Manquieres rock plateau - which is where we came in at the marina - sadly the story didn't end there, it was rather difficult getting back the charts, compass and waterproofs we'd loaned them.
All the above is true, which is why I was especially annoyed by the apparent disdain for Portland Race; there really are people out there who'd try it on a jetski or paddleboard...
I was mentioning the apparent laissez faire about just simply setting off from Weymouth and / or Portland saying The Race is not an issue and can be ignored...
This would not be good should a novice read it - and believe me I've seen this happen; in St Helier marina we were approached by a guy, on the lines of ' scuse me, can you teall me how to navigate ? ' - No BS.
He'd been out from Plymouth on mate's fishing boats so knew Guernsey was ' over there ' - and bought an old twin engine mobo, how hard could it be ?
He soon found out, the wind built up and swell increased, knobbling his only nav aid, an ancient radar.
They were detected and and saved by a French warship just before they interfaced with Northern Brittany, taken into port, dusted off and given a course for St Peter Port, Guernsey the next day.
As they trundled along the skipper - he had wife and young children aboard - spotted an island to his starboard and thought " Aha, that's where I've been going wrong, the compass is out ! " so went straight for it.
It wasn't until he'd been tied up a while before someone informed him he was attached to Jersey and must have gone straight over Les Manquieres rock plateau - which is where we came in at the marina - sadly the story didn't end there, it was rather difficult getting back the charts, compass and waterproofs we'd loaned them.
All the above is true, which is why I was especially annoyed by the apparent disdain for Portland Race; there really are people out there who'd try it on a jetski or paddleboard...
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