Red Ensign on Backstay

SteveIOW said:
I Please don't suggest fitting a flag staff as I have no intention of doing that.
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Why not?

Simply interested. It seems contradictory that you display a Red Ensign, for presumably the reason you want it to be seen, you have a pride etc etc - but you have an aversion to the simply means to ensure it is as visible as possible.

Jonathan
 
Have used Robin Starch since the war on my ensign and has never let me down. Works equally well in any part of the British Empire.

By the way, I would insert "Ford Anglia" and delete "Audi".

Damn things tailgating on the Great North Road.
 
Twisterowner said:
Your second sentence gives the game away. Anyone who has something out of the ordinary is to be condemned. Once it becomes ordinary, he's accepted.

Reminds me of the story about a foreign tourist walking along the quay at a British fishing port. She looks at the boxes of crabs and asks a fisherman if he isn't worried they might escape.

"No, they're British crabs." he replies "If one tries to climb out the others will drag it back"
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You misunderstand me. It's because BMWs are so common now that the idiot drivers have moved onto Audi's. They want something which makes them feel special, and that ain't happening in the German equivalent of a Mondeo. It's not that the cars make aggressive, selfish drivers, it's that aggressive, selfish drivers choose particular cars.

Similarly, urban 4x4 drivers are generally terrible because their terrible driving in normal cars led to so many accidents or near accidents that they felt a need for extra protection.
 
VicS said:
The preferred place to wear the ensign( you wear an ensign, you don't "fly" it) is from a staff on the taff rail/QUOTE]

You can fly an ensign if you want. The Merchant Shipping Act refers to wearing them, hoisting them and showing them, so adding a bit of flying will only upset the most blustering pedants.
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Neeves said:
Why not?

Simply interested. It seems contradictory that you display a Red Ensign, for presumably the reason you want it to be seen, you have a pride etc etc - but you have an aversion to the simply means to ensure it is as visible as possible.

Jonathan
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There are too many boats around where the silly varnished flagstaff puts the flag in exactly the right place to obscure the sternlight.
 
Neeves said:
Why not?

Simply interested. It seems contradictory that you display a Red Ensign, for presumably the reason you want it to be seen, you have a pride etc etc - but you have an aversion to the simply means to ensure it is as visible as possible.

Jonathan
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I don't know about him, but since my body is pointy at the back, and has a wind vane, there simply isn't any possibility of a flag staff, so my Scottish Merchant Flag (suck it up, Bufton-Tuftons) flies (ditto) from the backstay.
 
JumbleDuck said:
I don't know about him, but since my body is pointy at the back, and has a wind vane, there simply isn't any possibility of a flag staff, so my Scottish Merchant Flag (suck it up, Bufton-Tuftons) flies (ditto) from the backstay.
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Please note: it's my boat, not my body, which is pointy at the back end. Editing is not working on my phone ...

The back end of my body is, well, let's just say "comfortably rounded".
 
I see as many Audi's as BMWs.
If anyone cuts me up or overtakes dangerously it's usually a BM.
JumbleDuck said:
I didn't think anyone doubted that. BMW drivers is to be the worst, but BMWs are so common now that the mantel has shifted to Audi drivers. Off course some Audi drivers are not aggressive prats on the road, but the good ones are let down by the other 97%.
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lw395 said:
There are too many boats around where the silly varnished flagstaff puts the flag in exactly the right place to obscure the sternlight.
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ghostlymoron said:
Aren't you supposed to take your ensign down at dusk?
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My stern light is fitted to a "staff" which replaces the ensign staff at night. The reason is to raise the light above the top of the (raised) outboard
 
My flag staff is a length of 19mm Osma overflow pipe & the ensign is held on with insulation tape. Along with fenders on the stern rail & a tatty ensign it annoyed the wife (when she did actually sail with me), so I kept it
I now sail single handed & she plays golf :encouragement:
 
VicS said:
My stern light is fitted to a "staff" which replaces the ensign staff at night. The reason is to raise the light above the top of the (raised) outboard
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My stern light is fitted to a 10m high "staff" in the middle of the boat, which easily clears the wind vane.
 
JumbleDuck said:
My stern light is fitted to a 10m high "staff" in the middle of the boat, which easily clears the wind vane.
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Technically I have one there too although it's combined with a port and starboard light.

Having a complete set of deck level lights ( they were actually fitted before the tricolour) enables me to use them when they are more appropriate. When a mast top light would be lost among back ground shore lights for example.
 
I have driven my Audis around for over ten years. I get tailgated, cut up, and generally given grief by almost every make of vehicle you could think of, including Audis, thus proving somebody's point above. I would also rather give myself a reversed sailing curfew and only sail at night in preference to dangling my ensign from the backstay, looking as if I were ashamed of it and only displayed it with regret.
 
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