New Year - Learn something new on the boat

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GHA

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So that time of year, or just after for most new year resolutions ;)

So what's on anyone's list to learn a little more even slightly boaty related?

So far on a vague list...
  • Learn a bit more about the stars, I can recognize a good few but bit haphazard so learning more about the 'big picture' of where the constellations are etc would be a good thing. So much time out there at night to gaze upwards.
  • Weather. Always on the list, digging deeper into the 3d picture & 500mB charts etc.
  • Geology. So much time spent sailing past headlands & cliffs - what are all those rocks & structures - how did they form? When?
  • Cooking. Over the year, try to actually cook at least one recipe from the various cookbooks onboard and on kindle.
OK last one might be pushing it, but the others might get a look in. :cool:

What's yours?
 
Very commendable. My ignorance of geology is a continual source of irritation to me. The stars might be useful if GPS goes down.

I don't like to think of myself as in the autumn of life - more like late summer - but my appetite for new skills is a bit diminished, along with my ability to acquire them.

My wife being a bit less mobile, wonky knee etc., I suppose that I should consider learning how better to berth and unberth short-handed, though this may be forced on me by moral pressure anyway.
 
Minn said:
GHA's list is a nice one.

Mine is to actually pass my RYA Yachtmaster at the age of 66 after 50 years of owning boats.

Oh and to get better at bird spotting.
Click to expand...

I know my basic birds but would like to be better at it. I'm still hopeless at distinguishing black vs bar-tailed godwit. There is really no substitute for going out with someone who knows their stuff. Our club does a bird walk every February and there are quite a few similar walks available. Some years ago I was introduced to the Sandwich tern on a bird outing from the Isles of Scilly and was surprised to find them later in my home waters, having overlooked them for very many years.
 
Mine's quite similar but with a slightly different slant...

* Teach the kids constellations and where to find them so that I might learn and remember more than the basics ( Orion, Ursa major & minor, pleiades etc ).
* Teach the kids cloud formations so that I might etc....

Basically use them as a learning vessel whilst acting knowledgeable reading from the books I am using to explain it to them :)
 
New (to us) boat this year so just about everything will be something new, hopefully not all of it bad and not all at once!!

Chris
 
GHA said:
So that time of year, or just after for most new year resolutions ;)

So what's on anyone's list to learn a little more even slightly boaty related?

So far on a vague list...
  • Learn a bit more about the stars, I can recognize a good few but bit haphazard so learning more about the 'big picture' of where the constellations are etc would be a good thing. So much time out there at night to gaze upwards.
  • Weather. Always on the list, digging deeper into the 3d picture & 500mB charts etc.
  • Geology. So much time spent sailing past headlands & cliffs - what are all those rocks & structures - how did they form? When?
  • Cooking. Over the year, try to actually cook at least one recipe from the various cookbooks onboard and on kindle.
OK last one might be pushing it, but the others might get a look in. :cool:

What's yours?
Click to expand...

Has anyone come across a good book that would enable us to identify what the cliff face is all about? Not a detailed text book, but enough to clear up the basics.
 
Minn said:
GHA's list is a nice one.

Mine is to actually pass my RYA Yachtmaster at the age of 66 after 50 years of owning boats.

Oh and to get better at bird spotting.
Click to expand...

I know a very interesting old bird watcher.
He tells me there is no such thing as a “ Sea Gull” . “Gull” is apparently the correct generic term for a large family of bird species. There is actually 17 diffrent species of Gull of the west coast. I am working on it. Mostly call them Shit Hawks.
I do enjoy his company though, particularly his enthusiasm for what he see’s

I am now wondering how many diffrent “Gulls” there are in the UK.
 
Uricanejack said:
I know a very interesting old bird watcher.
He tells me there is no such thing as a “ Sea Gull” . “Gull” is apparently the correct generic term for a large family of bird species. There is actually 17 diffrent species of Gull of the west coast. I am working on it. Mostly call them Shit Hawks.
I do enjoy his company though, particularly his enthusiasm for what he see’s

I am now wondering how many diffrent “Gulls” there are in the UK.
Click to expand...

Going for walks with bird enthusiast friends I have mastered the important technical term “another LBJ” (“little brown job”).
 
Resolution said:
Has anyone come across a good book that would enable us to identify what the cliff face is all about? Not a detailed text book, but enough to clear up the basics.
Click to expand...

The English Channel by Nigel Calder (1986)
A very interesting mix of geology, history and maritime details, well worth reading. All presented as you encounter things when sailing up and down Channel.
 
Resolution said:
Has anyone come across a good book that would enable us to identify what the cliff face is all about? Not a detailed text book, but enough to clear up the basics.
Click to expand...
Be careful what you wish for. Once you've been on a geology field course you can never again just look at a landscape!
 
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