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[Ben Dockrell 22]

Hello

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As you good people know whom i have joined in on the threads with im a complete sailing novice.

When i started the thread on uninhabited islands i went surfing around online looking for them, I found apart from islands you get:

"Stacks" "Rock" "Reefs" "Isles" "Islets" and thier equivalents in other languages ?

What im saying is when you plot your course is it not a routine matter to check your intended route for these objects which i have read can change relatively quickly, ie they dissappear underwater,collapse into the sea.

Another thing which occurs is if you know the geology of the area and of the route your taking then you have a better idea of how that stone / material erodes. ie some materials will erode faster than others,while as i say above some materials will behave quite differently "collapsing" into the water. So its probably an idea to have older charts showing where islands, stacks,lslets,rocks skerries,were known to be not so long ago.

"Is the water salt water or not" will also play a part in how the stone materials will erode / behave and how long it takes.

Local Currents will move eroded or collapsed materials ?

Also a more obvious part of the routine would be to check the route for any shiplosses ie commercial ships,wrecks,more recent boat sinkings. I use different search terms because it may uncover other previously unknown instances.

We could ask local folk of other countries would they like to share thier knowledge of thier local waters to gain anecdotal information or check out the websites of their island/s or coastal towns and villages to clue up on recent and not so recent boat losses and the causes if known.Look through the local news archives if available.


Just as an idea if anyone chooses to announce thier intended route by starting a thread about it they could invite people to share what information they have about that route which we can try to verify by combining all the above and i dont doubt there is more i just dont know of.

maybe not so pertinent but even so.......

Lets keep in mind whalestrikes, pirates and local authorities who require you to learn how to sail all over again so you can get your qualifications to leave thier port on your vessal or lose your very expensive vessel because you dont have the funds to cover this situation all because you stay too long in that particular country or region.


I add the last one after seeing a large ferro cement yacht going for £300.000 with the surviving crew of two in this very situation, the surviving crew had set up a website after the death of one of thier peers so due to the death the local authorities probably would not let the vessel sail until an investigation was complete.


If a death occurs at sea it may be pertinent to know the laws of the country your route passes through or perhaps it would not apply if its a case of coming to an agreement with your crew mates in case one of you suddenly passes away falling overboard as they died and thier loss is not discovered in an timely manner?.

We could start thinking in terms of writing wills before we leave port then again what do you think ?

 

[sailorman]

you only need the will to go sailing & explore

 

[Ben Dockrell 22]

you only need the will to go sailing & explore

 

[Twister_Ken]

The sort of changes you are referring to happen on a geological timescale. Even Garmin manages to updates its charts more frequently than that.

 

[prv]

You don't need to look at an old chart, see that there used to be a stack, then conclude that there must be the unmarked remains. Funnily enough, the people who make the charts will put a dangerous pile of rocks on them.

Stuff does change (not rocks, in any sensible timescale, as Ken says) so they publish corrections to the charts. You draw on the changes with a purple fine-tipped pen. Some of us are more diligent than others at actually doing it

Here's a set of corrections for the Imray charts of the Solent: http://imray.com/corrections/IC2200-2N.pdf

Pete

 

[Ben Dockrell 22]

The sort of changes you are referring to happen on a geological timescale. Even Garmin manages to updates its charts more frequently than that.

Twister_Ken you are indeed right

However tens of thousands or even millions of years ago the processes of erosion were in action as the are today, those in action of long gone times will today bear fruit in the form of islets measuring kilometres in length and width which are now inchs above or below some parts of our worlds waters. They can be only a few meters or even less across so they present a real danger to all shipping.

Why dont we think in terms of keeping this knowledge open to our own communities,dont rely on slipping safety standards and apparantly deteriorating standards of information desemination. What you could tell a young man today may one day save his life or his family from drowning.

*puts waterwings on*

 

[Ben Dockrell 22]

You don't need to look at an old chart, see that there used to be a stack, then conclude that there must be the unmarked remains. Funnily enough, the people who make the charts will put a dangerous pile of rocks on them.

Stuff does change (not rocks, in any sensible timescale, as Ken says) so they publish corrections to the charts. You draw on the changes with a purple fine-tipped pen. Some of us are more diligent than others at actually doing it

Here's a set of corrections for the Imray charts of the Solent: http://imray.com/corrections/IC2200-2N.pdf

Pete

Ahhhh now im happy thank-you