The UK should have stopped Eric Hiscock and Wanderer III

I learnt to sail in the late 50's and early 60s, initially on the River Ouse at Acaster Malbis, then on the River Humber. We had much the same equipment as the Hiscocks - cheap electronics weren't a thing then, and Sputnik wasn't launched until 1957! No echo sounder, and that WOULD have been useful on the Humber! We managed; you relied more on navigational marks than anything else, and I learnt all the usual methods of coastal navigation - though without an accurate log, things like running fixes weren't much better than DR. This came into good use when I started doing post-processing of navigational data for survey flights in the Arctic in the 1980s! I'm pleased to say that on one occasion I was able to track down an error made by professional surveyors.... But I've said it before and I'll say it again - there are AIDS to navigation, but navigation itself happens behind your eyes!
 
trevbouy said:
Reviving a 2012 post ! Way back machine in action
Click to expand...
Still a good read! :)

Attitudes don't change much.
I now have a simple GPS and a Yeoman. H/H VHF, but grew up in the 'pre' era. Yes, we did run aground in the Thames estuary at night, but managed to get off, despite on a quarter reach. Missing bouy, or just missed it.. Lead line for depth.
Navigated a bit of the Med with DR and several trips Vilamoura> Gib with a simple RDF. (Seafix..)
I occasionally sail with a newbe who likes his tech. Last trip the pad based plotter quit as we passed the brakewater. Back to eyeballs.
 
Whilst I hate these resurrected threads it does remind me when there were more interesting ones about.

I like the new stuff, I was right up there when Decca came out for yotties and had a 'Locator' RDF replace my seafix before that, Also remember VHF lighthouses on CH88 if you had a somewhat better set than the seafarer 8 crystal channel one. I initially decried electronic plotters but had an exellent Yeoman paper one linked to my first GPS. I went electronic plotter when a sale offer of Autohelm black sets after Ratheon took over was too much to overlook, never could pass a bargain by.

All that notwithstanding, having learned with nothing more than the original spinning neon echosounder and a 'Wasp' speed/distance to keep the walker trailing log line out of the prop I was later able to fully appreciate the 'new' stuff because I knew the first principles properly. Nowadays although quite extensively instrumented I'm still a dinosaur that despairs at some of what today's newbies think/do without knowing a fig about the basics behind it all ? .
 
Eric & Susan Hiscock were quite happy to use the latest technology of their day, always provided they felt it was worth carrying. They had Brookes & Gatehouse electronics, CQR anchors, roller-reefing, an auxiliary engine.

What they had they enjoyed and lived a full and happy life.
 
macd said:
. . . The misconception that educated Europeans at the time of Columbus believed in a flat Earth, and that his voyages refuted that belief, has been referred to as "The Myth of the Flat Earth". In 1945, it was listed by the Historical Association (of Britain) as the second of 20 in a pamphlet on common errors in history."
Click to expand...

I would (somewhat belatedly!) love to know what the other 19 were (and the order they were placed in).

Tippex said:
[QUOTE
Was the waves and weather different in the 1950ies??
[/QUOTE
Well, that is a point you could argue. RKJ and Moitessier reported surprisingly benign conditions around Cape Horn in 1968 - not that they didn't experience storms in the Southern Ocean - but it does seem that the GGR fleet found themselves in heavy weather a lot more regularly. Also, apparently, the Typhoon season in the northwest Pacific now lasts all year round. There seems no doubt that the weather is changing.
Click to expand...

That reminds me of an article, with photos, in, IIRC, YM some decades ago, about the unveiling of a memorial on Cape Horn to all those who had passed away rounding it. Luckily the weather for the ceremony was perfect: bright sunshine and calm weather, with verdant land behind and blue sea in front. One North American guest for the ceremony, who had rounded the Horn himself long before, was quoted as saying something like 'Thank God my wife is not here. I've spent decades droning on about how terrifying the weather and how awful the place!'
 
There is no doubt that there were some brave adventurous people who sailed around the world with very few aids. Our own Jon Sanders has just returned from his circumnavigation no 11. he is now in his 80s He started with single solo non stop circum, then double and finally triple non stop solo. Obviously thios early circums were without GPS etc etc but now using all available aids. What we did not hear about in those days is about those who perished trying and were never heard of again. They certainly did not get to write about the experiences. Yes people should have the right to adventure but in this day and age with communication they might al;so expect authorities to come to their rescue. That can become a very unfair arrangement.
Here in west Oz we have quite strict rules for boat safety equipment and skipper licencing. ie even fro local off shore you must carry EPIRB and VHF radio plus fares etc. I for one support the rules. So re the original post Times have changed and for the better. ol'will
 
Stemar said:
I often don't turn the GPS on in the Solent. OTOH, I'd say that anyone who sets off to go out of sight of land, or in an area such as the Thames Estuary where precise navigation is critical, without a GPS is being a little foolish.
Click to expand...
Thanks !!! In the 70's I sailed all over the Thames estuary & X channel with only a compass & echo sounder ( seafarer so that was useless) a bamboo cane ( most accurate echo sounder I had) It was a revelation to get a log in the 80s.. But I did hit every sandbank in the Thames estuary except 3 ( the last couple were in the last 5 years with my chart plotter turned on)
 
Last edited:
Seven Spades said:
But today as soon as you land in NZ or Australia they will force you to meet their safety requirement before they allow you to go back out to sea.
Click to expand...
Not true -If you are a New Zealander with a New Zealand boat then they do have quite stringent safety requirements that you must conform to but only if you are planning to leave NZ waters. If you are a foreigner on a foreign boat there are no restrictions. I know because I have done that recently.
 
Robin said:
Nope, you really don't!.:)

I have friends who once aborted joining a planned weekend club trip from Poole to the Solent (17mls to Yarmouth IOW) because their GPS wasn't working. Irony smiley here please.
Click to expand...

On my Day Skipper course years ago another participant was tasked to do his navigation, up the Swale, past Queenborough up towards Kingsferry bridge, giving me (on the helm) compass courses to steer. Approaching the bridge he disappeared below to consult the chart then gave me a course that would have involved a near 90 degree turn to starboard, straight aground. A classic case of using a chart and probably also the GPS without thinking or even looking around the boat to see what was nearby . As it was a new boat I quickly said "I would not do that if I were you" and he vanished below again while I kept the yacht motoring up the starboard side of the channel. The instructor stopped laughing long enough to say that if he had been on the helm he would have put the boat onto the mud!
 
Last edited:
you can have all the tech you want onboard! but it only takes a lightening strike to put you back to chart sextent and compass! even now in the uk you dont need anything to get a boat and sail away. no courses, insurance, equipment are legally required. i often sail with just a chart and sight of the shore.
 
nathrebel said:
you can have all the tech you want onboard! but it only takes a lightening strike to put you back to chart sextent and compass! even now in the uk you dont need anything to get a boat and sail away. no courses, insurance, equipment are legally required. i often sail with just a chart and sight of the shore.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is much of my sailing too, single handed you dont need to have loads of gear to faff around with. Slocum sailed RTW with nothing more than his sextant and an old alarm clock, which he would boil whenever it stopped!

The reailty of the so called 'lack of equipment' for people like the Hiscocks was that they used what was available (and affordable!) at the time. Nelson would have given his other eye and arm for a hefty diesel to push him into the battle lines of Trafalgar had such a thing existed for example.

When i started sailing in the early 60's the height of sophistication in my plywood 20 footer was a rusting lump of 2 stroke engine which would run if it felt like it (which was not often) a small compass,and a Chart (yes A chart, not a folio)

Davis in Riddle of the Sands did not even have the extra ballast of an engine, navigating by compass, eye and a highly developed seamans instinct. I cant help suspecting that even had he had basic electronics, it would soon have followed anything else he regarded as redundant over the side!
 
When I was doing stress analysis in, The 1970's we either used to draw vector force diagrams or a slide ruler

The only calculator the company had would only do add, subtract, multiply and divide.

The only computer was an ICL mainframe for doing wages.
 
nathrebel said:
you can have all the tech you want onboard! but it only takes a lightening strike to put you back to chart sextent and compass! even now in the uk you dont need anything to get a boat and sail away. no courses, insurance, equipment are legally required. i often sail with just a chart and sight of the shore.
Click to expand...
Not even an Android phone with an AA. Road map? :)
 
oldharry said:
Davis in Riddle of the Sands did not even have the extra ballast of an engine, navigating by compass, eye and a highly developed seamans instinct. I cant help suspecting that even had he had basic electronics, it would soon have followed anything else he regarded as redundant over the side!
Click to expand...
Didn’t he run aground 🤷🏼‍♂️🤔😳
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top