The official publication of the Channel Sailing Club Autumn 2008

WAVELENGTH

Do you know yourA,B,C?page 4

Get prepared forthe icicle cruise inDecemberPage 14

Does size matter?Bill Swindell looks atradar reflectorspage 8 & 9

Think abouttrainingPage 15

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Firstly can I apologize forthe delay in this issue ofWavelength. Family

and personal commitmentscollided with the Wavelengthtimetable. Anyway, I hope to beback on plan soon and perhaps

the wait has made you ever more eager to readabout club events and member’s stories.

Following on from our ‘story’ in the last issueabout the phonetic alphabet, John Futcher hasput together a feature tracing the history of thephonetic alphabet - so a change from the currentarrangements is not perhaps such a bizarre idea!

It has been suggested that we run a regularslot on meals aboard. If you have a ‘boat special’that you would like to share with club members,please send it in. Keith Gibb’s ‘Scorpio’ has itsfamous ‘Scorpio Soup’, are there any other similarrecipes out there?

John Futcher has been busy writing, becausehe has submitted another contribution to thisissue - and his Iron Duke story (page 13)reminded me of a funny story told to a TVaudience by Michael Grade on the show ‘Room101’. He wanted to put all motorboats and theirowners into Room 101 and used this exchangeas justification, which he said he heard whilesailing on the Solent. A motorboat owner calledCH16 to report that he had lost all power. SolentCoastguard replied asking him his position, towhich the skipper of the motorboat said “I am themanaging director of a plastics company”!

If anyone else has heard an exchange overthe radio which made them smile, or roar out loudsend it to Wavelength.

The Porthole is attracting more letters, so ifyou don’t want to write a long article considersending us a letter.

I always check photographs sent in withstories for possible use on the front cover. But ifyou have a picture taken on a club event or clubboat that you think would make a striking frontcover, please send it in (jpeg format please).

Can I thank everyone who has sent in acontribution. You may not have seen it yet, but Iam holding on to it all and will use items in futureissues.

Diana Coman

The Nav Table

Your committee has been looking at theway it communicates with members to make surethe most effective and efficient use is made ofclub resources and also to ensure that the bestinformation is provided to club members aboutclub events.

The e-brief, produced by Tony Sparling andissued by Steve McCarthy, is developing into animportant monthly bulletin that remindsmembers of up coming events and provides aprompt for members to book their place. Whilstevents are published annually, it is often the casethat members leave bookings to nearer the time,so sending out regular reminders makes sure thatmembers don’t miss out. It it also an effective wayof alerting members to changes to theprogramme.

John Kirby is developing the club websiteand with links from the e-mail directly to our site,members can be provided with details of eventsand kept up to date with changes to theprogramme.

With so few members not on email, sendingout a regular e-bulletin is the quickest and mostefficient way of getting information our tomembers.

So what does that mean for Wavelength?Well, with the website carrying a full list of thecommittee including contact details and a fulllisting of all social, sailing and racing events, toreproduce the programme in each issue ofWavelength is wasting space that could bededicated to more member stories, general clubnews and reports on events.

You will remember that the first issue thisyear included a pull-out centre fold which carriedthe entire club programme. It is our intention toproduce that again for next year’s programme, soyou can pull it out, have the entire programme onone sheet to pin up in the office, study or attach tothe fridge. This is a departure from the old formatand we know that some members have found thechange uncomfortable. To help people whomislay the pull-out, we will produce additionalcopies this year that can be available on clubnights.

Wavelength is now available on the websiteas a pdf file providing an archive for members. Ifmembers want to receive Wavelengthelectronically, we can now provide that too. Butfor those who still want a magazine to read in thebath or on the train, it will continue to bepublished on paper and circulated to eachmember or household.

Club News

The Commodore’s Cabin

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At the AGM I said that I hoped for a year in whichwe would consolidate. With that in mind at ourfirst committee meeting we mapped out arealistic programme and have been working toit ever since. The major activity this year has

been to formulate a programme to improve ourcommunications processes and to expand on some of our training activities.In the case of the former, you should have noticed some of these changesalready evident on the website, Wavelength and an upgrade of our e-briefings. Developments in information technology provide us with otherexciting options to make information more easily available to members andto provide a gateway for new members to find us , but we not lose sight ofthe need to retain some of our traditional methods of communication - noteveryone wants to be wired up to the internet!

In the case of training, we are building our accredited and informaltraining opportunities. With CEVNI, Day Skipper shore-based, Diesel Engine,Radar and VHS/SRC courses on offer through the club this year, the trainingoffer from the club is being firmly established in our annual programme.

We are currently working on next year’s programme and we hope thatthis will not only provide existing members to broaden their skills but will bean attraction to new members. We will continue to invest in equipmentand more importantly, our volunteers, without whom this programme wouldnot run.

With the summer sailing behind us, work on the committee picks up aswe prepare for our AGM. We are also working on our social, sailing andtraining programme for next year so that all can be published in the lastedition of Wavelength this year.

The membership year starts on 1st October and with it carries a heavyworkload for the membership team, so please help us by sending us yourmembership renewal without prompting, as that would save time and ofcourse postage costs.

This club is blessed with dedicated volunteers, on the committee,organizing events, providing assistance at our social events and helpingbehind the bar. We all hare a common passion for sailing and the club andwithout the support of our volunteers the events that bring us togethercould not happen.

Aside from the time and effort that organizers put in to setting up andrunning events, there are often costs associated with booking places atmarinas or other sailing/yacht clubs. It is rare that people drop out of anevent after booking their place on it, but emergencies or changes in personalplans can cause that to happen. I know that organizers make every effort, inthose circumstances, to alter arrangements, even at the last minute, butthere will be times when changes cannot be made and the costs associatedwith the event (for example meal reservations) cannot be cancelled. Soplease, if you are in the unfortunate position of having to pull out at the lastminute, make sure that the your event organizer is not put in the position ofhaving to ask you to cover your booking costs.

John Mimpriss, Commodore

Editor:Diana Coman

News and Pictures to:Wavelength@channelsailingclub.org

Editor, Wavelength,Channel Sailing Club, c/o1 Christchurch Place,Christ Church Mount,Epsom, KT19 8RS

Circulation:John Mimpriss

Club NightChannel Sailing Clubmeets every Tuesday atEpsom Sports Club,Woodcote Road,(opposite The Ladas),Epsom, Surrey.Bar opens at 2030 hrs

You can receive ane-sailing brief, if you arenot on the list - get intouch with Tony Sparling.

Check out the Club’sWebsite for moreinformation and picturesof events.www.channelsailingclub.org

Photographs are taken atclub events and may beused in Wavelength or onthe Club’s website. If youdo not want to appear inpublished photographsplease inform the ClubCommittee and theperson taking thephotograph if that ispossible.

Cover photograph:Sunset over PortlandHarbour - picture takenby Roger Roberts onKnight’s Challenge, 2008

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The Phonetic Alphabetain’t broke so don’t tryand fix it! By John Futcher

I was born during WWII in agarrison town and my father wasa sergeant in the signals. Now Idon’t actually remember himteaching me the phoneticalphabet as he cradled me in hisarms but I was aware that therewas one and it started with Ack.So, Anti Aircraft was AA and thiswas pronounced Ack Ack. Youwill see in my brief history that,at the outbreak of war, Ack wasthe first word of the phoneticalphabet in use at the time.

When I was five my fatherreturned from defeating theJapanese in Burma and taughtme the latest version. Able,Baker, Charlie etc. At the age offifteen I started a residentialapprenticeship at a newresearch establishment and thestreet names used this phoneticalphabet so I spent one veryhappy year working on Easy St.

During my apprenticeshipthe phonetic alphabet that weuse now was introduced, so Ihave known and used it for along time, I am probably the‘ageing middle-class customer’to whom they are referring.

History of the phoneticalphabet

The use of voicecommunication inventions, suchas telephone and radio, washampered by limited bandwidthand interference causing theblotting out of whole words oreven sentences. It wasnecessary to spell out words bytheir letters but it was soonrealised that it was easy forletters to be mistaken, for

example P and B sound similar.Therefore a phonetic alphabetwas required. With the adventof international radiocommunication, in the mid1920s, the need for internationalorganization cooperation wasrecognised. As a result of thisthe InternationalTelecommunications Union (ITU)took on many responsibilitiesfrom allocating call sign blocksfor the different countries togaining agreements on codesand other standards. As a resultof this work the ITU assembledand adopted the firstinternationally recognisedalphabet in 1927.

1927 ITU Phonetic AlphabetA AckB BeerC CharlieD DonE EdwardF FreddieG GeorgeH HarryI InkJ JohnnieK KingL LondonM MonkeyN NutsO OrangeP PipQ QueenR RobertS SugarT TocU UncleV VicW WilliamX X-RayY YorkerZ Zebra

This was widely used inearly radio or ‘wireless’communications of the day. Asa result of its use, a number ofweaknesses were discoveredand in 1932 it was revised.

1932 ITU Phonetic AlphabetA AmsterdamB BaltimoreC CasablancaD DenmarkE EdisonF FloridaG GallipoliH HanovaI ItaliaJ JerusalemK KilogrammeL LiverpoolM MadagascarN New YorkO OsloP ParisQ QuebecR RomaS SantiagoT TripoliU UppsalaV ValenciaW WashingtonX XanthippeY YokohamaZ Zurich

The British had their ownversions. The British army usedthe 1927 version but changed tothe following at the beginningof the Second World War.

1939 British Army PhoneticAlphabet

A AbleB BakerC Charlie

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D DogE EchoF FoxG GeorgeH HowI ItemJ JigK KingL LoveM MikeN NanO OboeP PeterQ QueenR RogerS SugarT TareU UncleV VictorW WilliamX X-rayY YokeZ Zebra

The main one used by theRoyal Air Force during theSecond World War, and which isused in war films especiallythose based in the era, was:

A AppleB BeerC CharlieD DogE EdwardF FreddyG GeorgeH HarryI IndigoJ JohnnyK KingL LoveM MotherN NutsO OrangeP PeterQ QueenR RogerS SugarT TommyU UncleV VictorW WilliamX X-RayY YorkerZ Zebra

Following the entry of theUnited States into the SecondWorld War, a full phoneticalphabet was standardizedacross the Allied Services in June1943. It was called the JointArmy/Navy Phonetic Alphabet.

A AbleB BakerC CharlieD DogE EasyF FoxG GeorgeH HowI ItemJ JigK KingL LoveM MikeN NanO OboeP PeterQ QueenR RogerS SugarT TareU UncleV VictorW WilliamX X-RayY YokeZ Zebra

After the war many of theservice personnel returned tocommercial operations, so thephonetic alphabet becamecommonly used in civiliancommunications. But as manysounds were unique to English,different countries startedmaking their own.

The International Scene

The International AirTransport Association (IATA)recognising the need for a singleuniversal alphabet andpresented a draft to theInternational Civil AviationOrganization (ICAO) in 1947. Ithad sounds common to English,French and Spanish and afterfurther study and modification

by each approving body, therevised alphabet wasimplemented on 1 November1951, and is as follows:

A AlphaB BravoC CocaD DeltaE EchoF FoxtrotG GolfH HotelI IndiaJ JuliettK KiloL LimaM MetroN NectarO OscarP PapaQ QuebecR RomeoS SierraT TangoU UnionV VictorW WhiskyX eXtraY YankeeZ Zulu

Immediately problemswere found with this version andto identify the deficienciestesting was conducted amongspeakers from 31 nations, mainlyby the governments of theUnited Kingdom and the UnitedStates. Confusion betweenwords like Delta and Nectar orVictor and Extra, or omission ofother words under poorreceiving conditions weresubsequently found to be themain problems. After muchstudy the five wordsrepresenting the letters, C, M, N,U and X were replaced. The finalversion was implemented on 1March 1956 and was adoptedshortly after by the ITU. Becausethe ITU governs all internationalradio communications, all radiooperators also adopted it,

Continued on page 6

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whether military, civilian oramateur.

A AlphaB BravoC CharlieD DeltaE EchoF FoxtrotG GolfH HotelI IndiaJ JuliettK KiloL LimaM MikeN NovemberO OscarP PapaQ QuebecR RomeoS SierraT TangoU UniformV VictorW WhiskyX X-RayY YankiiZ Zulu

And numbers:

1 wun2 two3 tree4 fower5 fife6 six7 seven8 ait9 niner

All of the words arerecognisable by native Englishspeakers because English mustbe used upon request forcommunication between anaircraft and a control towerwhenever two nations areinvolved, regardless of theirnative languages. But it is onlyrequired internationally, notdomestically, thus if both partiesto a radio conversation are fromthe same country, then anotherphonetic alphabet of thatnation’s choice may be used.

The Non-English spellingsAlfa and Juliett are used. Alfa isspelled with an ‘f’ for the benefitof native Spanish speakersbecause they will pronounce‘ph’ as if it were a ‘p’ with a silent‘h’. The English word alpha isalfa in Spanish. Juliett is spelledwith a ‘tt’ for the benefit ofnative French speakers becausethey will treat a single ‘t’ assilent. The English word Juliet isJuliette in French, but the ICAOdid not adopt the final ‘e’because it might bemisunderstood by nativeSpanish speakers as indicative ofa final syllable ‘tuh’.

At some US airports, theuse of ‘Delta’ is avoided becauseit is also the call sign for Delta irLines. ‘Dixie’ seems to be themost common substitute.‘Foxtrot’ may be abbreviated to‘Fox’ at United States airports. InBritish police work the use of‘India’ has been replaced by‘Indigo’. Sometimes, in thePhilippines the word ‘Hawk’ isused for the letter ‘H’ rather than‘Hotel’. In Indonesia the word‘Lima’ is seldom used since theword ‘Lima’ means number five(5) in their language. Instead,‘London’ is used.

NATO uses the ITUphonetic alphabet but withEnglish spelling of ‘Alpha’ and‘Juliet’.

The ITU Phonetic Alphabetis not the only phoneticalphabet in use, but it definitelyis the one used by the mostpeople and countries. Being theinternationally recognized wayof communicating at sea and byair, using the ITU phoneticalphabet means you can getwhat you are saying throughwherever you are in the world. Itis therefore a very helpful way ofcommunicating information.

Conclusion

These 756 marina users(presumably in the bar) would

require a bit of a stronger casethan ‘feeling excluded’ toconvince the ITU to carry out areview, but if ‘young lower-classEnglish marina users’ want theirown phonetic alphabet they canhave one and they don’t have tobother the DFT or MCA, they justhave to get on and do it,, thusnot involving me in anyincreasing tax burden. Perhapsthey would like to use the onethat follows, also taught to meby my father:

A is for ‘orses (hay for horses)B is for mutton (beef or mutton)C for Thailanders (the SeaforthHighlanders)D for rent (different)E for sigh (heave a sigh)F for vescent (effervescent)G for ses (G forces)H for retirement (age ofretirement)I for an eye (eye for an eye)J for Oranges (Jaffa oranges)K for restaurant (cafe-pronounced kafe)L for leather (hell for leather)M for sis (emphasis)N for lope (envelope)O for there (over there)P for pleasure (pee for pleasure)Q for tickets (queue for tickets)R for moment (half a moment)S for instance (‘s (as), forinstance)T for two (tea for two)U for nerve (You’ve a nerve)V for l’amour (Vive l’amour!)W for quid (double you for aquid)X for the spot (ie where thecrime was committed)Y for mistress (wife or mistress)Z for fun (said for fun - UKpronunciation, zed).

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Safe Sailing

Information on safety featuresprovided by the RNLI. Abooklet ‘Sea Safety: thecomplete guide’ is availablefrom the RNLITel: 0845 122 6999 orwww.RNLI.org.uk/seasafety

Skippers are responsible for the safety of thecrew and boat - but what should the crew do?

‘Test your knowledge’ questionsprovided courtesy of the RYA,taken from the Day Skipper andWatch Leader (NorthernHemisphere) exercises and courseinformation 2007/2008.Membership phone 01238 0604159www.rya.org.uk

Being a skipper of a boatcarries significant responsibility.You are responsible for youractions and the safety of thecrew.

Skippers should matchtheir personal knowledge to theconditions and never put eitherthe crew or the boat at risk.

They need to take intoaccount the experience andphysical ability of the crew forthe type of journey planned andthe weather conditions either atthe time or forecast. Crewssuffering from cold, tirednessand seasickness won’t beeffective.

The RNLI booklet ‘SeaSafety’ recommends thatskippers ensure the crew issufficiently prepared for any tripby briefing them fully. Andwhilst it remains theresponsibility of the skipper, it isperhaps worth reminding crewthat they too need to considertheir role on the boat and howthey can ensure their own safetyand that of their fellow crew andboat. If as a crew member youdon’t know the answers to anyof the following questions, don’tbe afraid to ask. It is moreimportant that you ask thequestion, than stay silent andthen, in a crisis, find you don’tknow what to do.

So, the RNLI list of thingsthat skippers should brief theircrew on is as follows:

When the skipper should becalled

The location of first aid kit Onboard dangers - includingthe boom, winches andwindlasses, cleats, propeller,engine/shaft

Lifejackets and harnesses -how they should be worn

Safety procedure for going ondeck

Starting and operating theengine including how to usethe kill-cord

How to switch on/off theboat’s batteries and ancillaryequipment

Switching on and operatingthe VHF radio or activating theDigital Selective Calling (DCS)button

Man overboard drill How to read the latitude andlongitude off the globalpositioning system (GPS)

Operating gas appliances,including isolating the gassupply

Where the flares are stored andwhen and how to fire them

Sending a distress message What’s in the grab bag andwhere to find it

Use of fire extinguishers, fireblanket and other fire safetyequipment

When and how to launch theliferaft or inflatable dinghy

Leaving/returning to amooring or berth, use offenders and warps

How to anchor Where to findspare/waterproof clothing

Don’t be alarmed by thelong list, especially if you aresomeone new to sailing.

The thing to remember isdon’t be afraid to ask, listencarefully to all instructions andit is best to check if you don’tunderstand.

Always better to ask theskipper before letting go of therope!

Test your knowledgeList eight actions to take if,while on passage, a strong windwarning is issued?

Answer:1 Get the crew in warm

waterproof clothing andboots

2 Put on lifejackets3 Reef sails4 Consider diverting5 Prepare food and drinks6 Organise a watch system if

possible7 Clip on harness lines8 Check all hatches are closed9 Check stowage10 Consider anti-seasickness

tablets

8

How good isyour RadarReflector?

Bill Swindell asks

SOLAS Requirements - the law

Regulation V/19 requires all small craft to fita radar reflector ‘if practicable’ and states if yourboat is more than 15 metres in length, you shouldbe able to fit a radar reflector that meets the IMOrequirements. SOLAS V also advises fitting themost efficient reflector that the vessel canaccommodate and it should be mounted as highas possible. The efficacy of the reflector isdetermined by its radar cross section (explainedbelow) and there are technical standards laiddown in British Standards BS EN ISO 8729, likelyto be revised in 2008, that indicate how well areflector performs and whether or not it has beentype-approved for general use as a radarreflector. Refs 1 and 2 provide more informationon these technical standards.

Why have a radar reflector?

Most of the radar energy incident on a smallboat is reflected away from the returning echodirection because of the sloping nature of thehull sides and superstructure. Metal parts such asthe mast and boom will return a strong signal ifthey are aligned exactly perpendicular to theincident beam, but this is seldom the case. Itmakes sense therefore to install a reflector, thefunction of which is to absorb the radar energythat falls upon it and re-emit as much of it aspossible in the direction from whence it came.There is great variability in how well differentreflectors achieve this goal, and for nearly alldevices there are usually many orientations forwhich only very weak echoes are generated,irrespective of how well they may perform inother directions. (See Ref 2)

What is the Radar Cross Section?

Formal definition: The RCS of a target isdefined as the cross-sectional area o a notionalsphere that absorbs all of the radar energy fallingupon it and which then re-radiates all of it,uniformly, in all directions with strength equal tothat actually observed in the return echo of thatparticular target.

In simple terms, it is just a number thatquantifies how well any target including reflectors,produces radar echoes. Bigger is better.

Practical significance - The RCS is not relatedto the actual cross-sectional area of the reflector inany simple way. If a reflector is good at its job, itsRCS will be many times greater than its physicalcross-sectional area. It is the single most usefulparameter for describing the ‘echo generatingability’ and is therefore universally used as theprincipal measure of reflector performance.

Your boat may be invisible anyway

The RCS of a small boat, with or without aradar reflector, can vary enormously with quitesmall changes in orientation. The echo producingparts of the ships structure and especially the radarreflector only have to move relatively with respectto the incident radar beam by about a quarter of aradar wavelength - about an inch for s-band radar -in order for individual component waves in theecho to cancel or reinforce each other in a totallydifferent manner. Small changes in orientation dueto sea state, healing changes or angle of heel, etcwill cause this to happen. A single pass of aninterrogating radar beam, will sweep over a boat inabout 1/40th sec, or 50 more-or-less similarstrength radar echoes will be returned. These 50echoes will be combined into a single blip on the

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big ship’s radar screen. On the next sweephowever, two and a half seconds later, the RCS willprobably be quite different due to the boat’smovement and the returned echo could be muchlarger or much smaller than the previous one. It isa characteristic of small boats that echoes fromconsecutive sweeps are different in strength fromone sweep to another. Some echoes may well bebelow the threshold of detection on the radar ofcommercial vessels, whose radars require a certainconsistency of echoes from consecutive scans forthe automatic detection of targets. This effect isquite separate from all of the other reasons that aboat may not be seen such as wave height,transmitter height, clutter, multipath, range, rainetc. Reference 3 discusses some of these otherreasons not related to RCS.

Available systems - how good is yours?

Reference 2 gives comprehensive accountsof the performance of each of nine commerciallyavailable radar reflectors, many of which can beseen adorning CSC members’ boats. In particularthe RCS at azimuth angles (ie around the horizon)of - 180 degrees to + 180 degrees and heelingangles of up to 20 degrees are given. Theseresults are compared to the RCS performanceaspects of British Standards ISO 8729 and itsintended replacement. Typically, passivereflectors for small boats have average RCS valuesin the range of 10sq metres (good) to 0.1 sqmetres (poor). Noteworthy however are theworst, the tube reflectors and the best, the Sea--Me, which is an active powered system. Accordingto Ref 2, at 10 degrees of heel, the Sea-Me has ameasured maximum RCS of 112.89 sq metres andan average RCS of 40.92 sq metres while thetubular type’s figures are 0.49 sq metres and 0.10sq metres respectively. If you want to know howwell your reflector performs have a look atReference 2.

The Sea-Me - a Radar Target Enhancer

Strictly speaking, the Sea-Me is not areflector at all, but a radar target enhancer, RTE. Itreceives a radar pulse, amplifies it and re-transmitsit. All this takes place inside a cylindrical plastichousing, 2 inches in diameter and just over 16inches long, mounted aloft. The re-transmittedpulse is emitted more-or-less uniformly in all(horizontal) directions and its strength isconsiderably greater than that returned by passivereflectors of the type normally used on small ships.Its performance exceeds the current and future

ISO 8729 requirements at heel/elevation angles ofup to 15 degrees. At zero degrees it has a bestmeasured RCS of over 300 sq metres. However, itrequires a 12-volt supply and draws a current of350mA when in transmitting mode and 150mA instandby, costs £500 and responds only to x-bandradar.

Conclusions (from QinetiQ)

The following bullet points are a direct quoteof the Recommendations section from Ref 2.

Based on the results of this report it isrecommended that yachtsmen always fit aradar reflector that offers the largest RCSpracticable for their vessel.

The RCS of the radar reflector should have aminimum consistent RCS of 2 sq metres.

The Sea-Me is the recommended product ifpower is available.

If power is not available then the Passive Tri-lens reflector is recommended.

The 4” tube is not considered suitable due to itspoor performance. It is also recommended thatthe 2” tube reflector is not suitable since theperformance of this target will be even lower.

It is recommended that poorly performingradar reflectors are not fitted as it is possiblethat the user could be lulled into a false senseof security believing that their chances ofdetection have been enhanced..

Acknowledgement and References

I am grateful to Steve Luke of QinetiQ forpermission to quote from the QinetiQ Reports.

1. “Carriage and Use of Radar Reflectors on SmallVessels” MCA Marine Guidance Note 349http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-mnotice.htm?Textobjid=9F819975E6668F9F

2. “Performance Investigation of Marine RadarReflectors on the Market” Report by QinetiQ forthe MAIBhttp://maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/Radarreflectorsreport.pdf

3. “Investigation into the likelihood of the Pride ofBilboa’s radar detecting a small yacht” Annexe 4by QinetiQ of the MAIB report 7/2007 into theloss of the Ouzo, pages 28 to 46http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resourrces/Ouzo_Annexes.pdf

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French lessons in SailingPart trois - The Lift-Out

After nearly a year with Niobe II at Camaretwe could see that the bottom of the hull wasgrowing weed as healthily as our French gardendoes. Time for a lift out and anti foul

The price quoted was very cheap, as it wouldbe after being used to the Hamble. Camaret has afair fishing fleet and a slipway that can lift vesselsup to about 30m by a sideways haul, up a slipway,

then onto a short length of railway which movesthe vessel sideways to a parking spot. However,until two years ago it did not have a crane of anysize to lift a sailing boat.

The marina asked the Mayor (this is amunicipally owned port) to get a crane - which hedid - but without asking anyone what sort the portwanted!

After, it is alleged, a very good lunch with acrane company he came back and said he haddone as asked and a crane would arrive shortly.The resulting crane is a very smart pillar job with alimited capacity of 12 tons, fixed a few metresfrom the harbour wall. Unfortunately the fewmetres are just a bit too few, so the arm does not

extend very far beyond the wall, limiting the beamof boat possible and lifting anything with anonshore wind blowing means getting a strongteam to hold the hull off the wall. Also, with theamount of gear that many boats carry boats suchas ours could be over 12 tons fully laden.

We asked Jim, our local contact, to arrange alift out in April this year. A few days before, ferry

already booked for our trip, we had a franticphone call from Jim. It seemed that the Mayorhad upet the crane operator, Eric, by asking him todo non-marine tasks such as cleaning the parkbenches during the slack periods. So Eric had quit.The good news though was that the Mayor hadfound another operator, also Eric to do the job.The bad news, Eric Deux had also quit for the samereasons - so no operator available. More bad news- The Mayor ha come to he end of his term and thenew incumbent was a lady with even less interestin the marina.

After more calls we found out that the twolocal maintenance firms had trained operators touse the crane and, for a somewhat larger fee,

By Sue & Roger Longley

11

would lift out boats. First, Philippe looked atNiobe II and after much shrugging and armwaving declared that she was above the capacityof the crane on two counts. The official limit onwidth was 4m but Niobe II is 4.06m, so even withgood conditions he would not budge an inch todo the job. To Philippe we also looked too heavy.

Second operator, Olivier was more relaxedand agreed to lift us out as long as we were thereto share responsibility. Bad news again - Olivierwas going on ten days vacation the next day andwe were nearly at the end of our stay. Result - nolift out in April.

Another expat boat owner told us that hehad lifted out at Treboul, next to Douarnenez,which was even cheaper, so our last day was filledby visiting there and fixing the next available spot,six weeks ahead, for a ‘carrenage’ out and backtwo days after.

Another ferry booking for May. Owing toother appointments we could only arrive atmidday on the date of lift out so madearrangements for Jim and the crew to deliver theboat the five hour trip across theBaie de Douarnenez. We wouldmeet them with four tins ofantifouling (and a lot of beer plusa bottle of scotch) docksideTreboul at 1400 when the lift wasdue.

We duly made our overnightcrossing to St Malo and arrived atTreboul in time for a delicious‘crepes’ lunch with just a touch ofMuscadet and strolled out to theseafront to see Niobe II arrive.

The due time came andpassed.

Another frantic call to MrsJim. She had seen Him leave at0900 as scheduled. However it

seemed as though there was anengine problem, but as Jim doesnot have a mobile she could notsay what.

The harbour duty teamwere very unhelpful. The are notallowed to use Ch16 except indire emergency, so would notradio Niobe II.

I rebooked our slot to theirlatest time 1630 and admired thescenery aroudn the harbour. At1600 we looked out to sea -nothing seen.

Needing to get to ourhouse to stock up we decided to

call it a day, but with our last look around we saw afamiliar dot coming slowly over the horizon.Niobe II crept into the marina and we franticallycalled up the harbour staff to get her led to theslipway before closing time.

The ‘carrenage’ was done using a very smalltrolley, towed by a tractor, that did not seem largeenough to take a 42ft boat. The trolley was letback into the water and the boat driven slowly on.Then amazingly, hydraulic arms unfolded thatdoubled the apparent size and lifted the boat clearof the ground. This revealed why Jim had thoughtwe had engine problems - the prop wassmothered in heavy jelly-like growth, laced withhealthy barnacles, as was much of the hull. He saidhe could only manage two knots under motor andonly made the trip when the wind came up a bit.

After all that six weeks of problems the restof the lift out went fine.

We also learned the real need to inspect theundersides in the mild waters round Camaret andwill think about some underside cleaning betweenfull lift outs in future.

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Cruising News

Champagne & Pizza on Spring CruiseThis was my first outing this year - but more

significantly - my first trip with the club, so I foundmyself volunteering (or rather nominated) toproduce an article about the trip!

In all there were 23 of us on 6 boats (teampicture below) and we sailed from various south-coast ports across to Cherbourg, around the Cap-de-la-Hague to Dielette, and then overnight backhome. It was a trip covering 180 miles or so inwinds which extraordinarily seemed to beblowing directly towards us for both of thechannel crossings!

My four day cruise on ‘Eagle’, a Bravaria 36,started on Friday 2nd May at Haslar Marina. Wehad ignored the challenge from one or two otherboats who said that they would set sail at dawnopting for a more leisurely midday start. Anyconcerns about my rusty Day Skipper qualificationwere forgotten when our skipper asked me to takehis boat out from the marina! A visit to the fuelpontoon later we had a gusty sail out pastBembridge Ledge. The southerly wind was lesskind to us after that and having sailed 20 miles orso south of St Catherine’s Point we set the iron sailand headed to Cherbourg. We arrived in the smallhours of Saturday to try and locate the entrance to

the marina supported by various opinions as towhere it might be.

Saturday morning revealed that we hadmoored directly opposite two other club boatsand alongside another. Comforted by a quickcalculation which revealed that a noon departureought to see us safely into Dielette before themarina gate closed, we went into town to buyfood to accompany the Commodore’s Barbequeand evening drinks.

The trip was expertly timed to take the tideto Cap-de-la-Hague and down to Dielette before

by Nick Russell

Waiting for the port gates to open

13

the tide turned. We had an exhilarating spinnakerrun (in fact a dead run) to the corner and, for me atleast, an initiation into various aspects ofspinnaker work and boom preventers. I hope I amforgiven by my next Skipper as I am sure thatsome of the tuition will need to be quickly re-learnt! The sail down to Dielette was interesting aswe put Ken Wright’s lesson in sail trimming togood effect and closed up on the Commodore’s

boat ‘Lonk Avel’ and would have beaten him ifDielette had been another mile away! ‘Aragon’met us at Dielette having sailed there directly fromPortsmouth deliberately arriving before the portgates opened and had no alternative but to hove-too and partake in champagne and pizza.

Saturday evening saw the Commodore’sdrinks party, wine tasting and an expertly cookedbarbeque on the pontoon. Unfortunately thepontoon required scrubbing and hosing downand the fact that I was wearing sailing boots wasmistakenly interpreted as a wish to take part. Theoperation was expertly supervised by ourCommodore (above). Thanks are also due to ourVice Commodore (off camera) for her expert useof the hosepipe

As if the barbeque was not enough middaySunday saw all of us walk up to a splendidrestaurant called Bouche A Oreille and more foodbut not before our Commodore had beeninstructed (pontoon side) in the art of deployingcruising chutes. This and spinnaker handling I amsure would make a good club lecture for thosewinter months which are thankfully still some wayoff.

Our trip back across the channel startedaround 5pm so that the tides would sweep usalong the coast through the Alderney Race andinto the Channel. We all encountered confused

... and when he wasonly half way up he wasneither up nor down

John & Deanne White had very kindly givenme a berth for The Spring Cruise on Buibui, allbeitin the aft cabin which is isolated from the saloonby the cockpit. The plan was to set out for theChannel Islands before dawn for a daylightcrossing and arrival. Now anyone who has sailedwith me knows that I don’t do mornings!

At 4am the alarm woke me and my shipmateRon Hunt. We crawled form our sleeping bags,got dressed and pulled on our oilies beforeopening the hatch. I slid the hatch open and stuckmy head out and my bleary eyes were met by thegaze of John White who was peering from thesaloon hatch. He informed us that a Force 8 waspredicted in the Channel (the wonders of Navtex)so the Channel crossing was postponed and thatwe should go back to sleep. So we closed the

By John Futcher

Continued on page 14

seas, breaking waves and impressive speeds but‘Aragon’s’ 16.4 knots in 10 knots of tide wasprobably the fastest that any of us managed. So itwas into the night and a wind, that hadobstinately now decided to blow from the North,that we set for home. Some managed to sail mostof the way home and some of us motored. At 3amwe spotted the ‘QE2’ three miles astern and the‘Arcadia’ three miles west, which together with the

shipping lanes andthe normal fishingvessels, made for aninteresting sailback.

Overall it wasa really good tripand anyone readingthis that has not yetsailed with the clubcan be assured thatthey will getwhateverexperience theyneed to enjoy theirsailing even more.

Bring on thenext trip!

14

hatch, struggled out of our oilies, disrobed,donned our night attire, wriggled back into oursleeping bags and did as the skipper ordered. Weheard later that the rest of the cruise had had avery rough crossing.

So, it was Plan B and we hopped along thecost heading west to Weymouth. Now the seassouth of Lulworth Cove are used by the Navy topractice firing live ammunition and we heard onCH16 a radio warning to that affect. “All ships, thisis warship Iron Duke, we will be firing live shellsinto lat and long so and so”. We couldn’t see IronDuke, as there was a thick mist out to sea, but wecould hear the sounds of her ordnance. Later thatday she came on air again, this time the voice onthe radio had a very strong Scottish accent. Nowyou will have to read this with a strong Scottishaccent, “Aw shups, this is waughshup Arn Dew, etcetc”. This was followed by a call from a nervousyachtsman “HMS Andrew, HMS Andrew, HMSAndrew, this is Nervous yachtsman, over”. Thiswas repeated several times with no response, thenPortland Coastguard piped up. “Nervousyachtsman, this is Portland Coast Guard. I thinkyou will find you should be calling warship IronDuke.” After a bewildered thank you fromNervous yatchsman, he called again now using thename Iron Duke and received a response.“Nervous Yatchsman, this is waughshup Arn Dew,over.” The worries were resolved but we allthought that the Iron Duke did sound like Andrew.Later we heard on the news that Prince Williamwould be doing his stint in the Senior Service onHMS Iron Duke. They would be on active servicein the Caribbean chasing drug runners. We haveall been trying to imagine the radiocommunication between Caribbean drug runnersand the Scottish Navy!

Anyway, back to the cruise!Buibui’s super-duper Windex was sulking

and not communicating with us and from thedeck it looked broken. Now there is an agent for itin Poole, so as we were in Poole, John thought itwould be a good idea for someone to go up themast and take it off. Now I have not been up amast before so now was my opportunity.

When I reached the deck light, which wasalso sulking, I stopped to examine it. How youknow when you examine something very closeand then look at something further away thedistance appears further than it is. Well, at thispoint I looked down and thought, “bloody hell! I’ma long way up and I’m not half way yet”. Icontinued up to the radar transmitter and thoughtI can’t get past it, the spreaders and then the radarreflector in these sailing boots, so I chickened out

and they lowered me down, stopping at the decklight to remove the bulb and bring it down.

Ron said he would go up so we put him inthe harness and hauled. When he reached the topthe loop we had tied in the halyard stopped himgetting higher enough so he came down again.With the halyard tied tight to the harness wehauled him up again and he was able to removethe Windex. Well done Ron! John took it to theagent, who informed him that it was broken andsaid he would send it back to the makers.

So he did.

In response to the feedback we have hadfrom previous years, we are letting you know earlythat this year's theme for the Icicle Cruise on 6/7December is Heroes/Heroines and Villains.

The idea is to decorate your boat and act outa scene that reinforces your chosen characters. Allperformances will take place on the deck of theboat prior to dinner and should be of no morethan 5 mins duration to ensure we have plenty oftime for pre-dinner drinks.

For example your Heroes could be the 1966England World Club team - you could have acouple of German football shirts, a couple ofEngland and mime the scoring of the goals andBobby Moore collecting the Cup, or scoring thewinning runs when England won the Ashes.  Youcould choose your hero/heroine to be Batman,Wonder Woman, The "A" team, Ghost Bustersor The Spice Girls and act out them saving theworld, or singing your favourite song. Howeveryour villain could be The Sheriff of Nottingham ,Denis the Menace, as a comic book villain,  theWicked Witch in Snow White or The Penguin inBatman.

The theme is versatile to allow for greatestinvolvement and ideas.  A prize will be given forbest boat with points awarded for the idea, theboat decoration,  the costumes, audienceparticipation and overall enjoyment. Anindividual   prize will also be given  for  bestHero/Heroine or Villain as decided by the judgesduring the performances. So get planning andremember to have fun. Tickets £34 each fromTrish on 07930 527434.

StartPlanningIcicle Cruise

15

TrainingThe winter months are coming up and it is a good timeto do some training. Channel Sailing Club is offeringboth accredited courses from the RYA and informaltraining lectures on club nights.

Channel Sailing Club offers both the RYAApproved Diesel Engine and VHF SRC Courses inhouse to Club members. Rates payable for eithercourse represent a significant discount on thosecurrently set by most commercial sea schools.

The courses will be run at the Epsom ClubHouse or other venue in the local area.

For more information or to book yourself onone of the courses, get in touch with:

John Lindsay - RYA Diesel/VHF SRC Instructoron 0137272 389 or 07962 200234 or emailjohn@lindsays.info

Bill Swindell - Channel Sailing Club PrincipalInstructor on 020 8668 2726 or emailw.swindell@dsl.pipex.com

Course Outline: RYA Diesel Engine CourseThis course is designed to educate the

yachtsman on basic engine theory andpreventative maintenance, which will hopefullykeep the engine running throughout the season.Should a breakdown occur, the course should givean understanding of simple troubleshootingprocedures and ‘get you home fixes’. For thosewho may be considering this course, it is informal,requires no previous knowledge of engine theoryor operation and you will work on the club’s owndemonstration engine. The syllabus follows theRYA training manual, which is included with thecourse, and provides the basic information abouthow a diesel engine works, how to maintain it andwhat can go wrong with it. RYA Certificates areawarded to candidates upon completion.

Course Outline: RYA VHF SRC CourseThis course provides sailors with the skill and

knowledge to operate a marine VHF radio innormal and emergency situations. It is practicallybased, with hands on experience and will lead,upon successful completion, to the issue of aMaritime Radio Certificate of Competence. Thereis a LEGAL requirement for any yacht having amarine VHF set in the UK or Europe that itsoperation will be either by or under the

Keith Gibbs (Change of Course) recentlycompleted an update of his First AidCertificate and although much of it wasthe same as before, there were a fewdifferences on past course, particularlyconcerning CPR. He suggests that even ifyou have your First Aid Certificate, youshould consider an update.

University surveys in the USA and UK show avery low success rate in CPR 5-7% andinvestigation showed that oxygenated blood wasnot reaching the brain, which of course controlseverything else. This was due to pressure beingreleased too soon during the process.

So, Keith was advised that the currentrecommendation is that if the patient has beenobserved to collapse/enter the water, the casualtyhas about 5 minutes of air in the body. Thirtychest compressions at about two per secondshould be started followed by twp one secondbreaths and repeated until help arrives. All theother recommendations are about the same.Evidently this change to CPR has resulted in asuccess rate of over 15%.

The other important matter raised washyperthermia. Even a one degree temperatureloss is significant. Re-warming a casualty shouldtake place slowly at about one degree per hour.Rapid heating could result in death.

Keith took his course at St John Ambulancewhich runs a two day course for outdooradventure activities.

supervision of the holder of a Short RangeCertificate. The course will also upgrade theholders of the old VHF certificate to SRC. Asignificant part of this training deals with theoperation of DSC and its use in an emergency.The knowledge gained on this course could saveyour life, the life of your crew or a fellow sailor.

Diesel & VHF Courses

Its worth updating your FirstAid Certificate

THE PORTHOLE

16

Have a rant about something or highlight an issue that you thinkthe Club or fellow sailors should be thinking about and get it offyour chest through The Porthole. Send your letters to The Editorat diana.coman@comancommunications.biz or to 1 ChristchurchPlace, Christ Church Mount, Epsom, KT19 8RS.

Of course …..Well I suppose you may think that I mean it

goes without saying? Its taken for granted! Andyou could be right and most probably are.

As a new member, of a modest season’sstanding, I have grown to have warm regard forthe relaxed and pleasant atmosphere thatpervades the clubhouse every Tue night. Thingstick over.

Indeed, when compared with another sailingclub of which I am a member CSC seems to runextremely well and, almost, effortlessly. Indeed,none more so than when I had the pleasure ofattending the Day Skipper course.

This article presents an opportunity to saythanks to Bill Swindell and Bob Gardner whoorganized and gave the course. It struck meafterwards how effortlessly the course appearedto have been given. We all walked away withsmiles and certificates yet how many of us, letalone the membership at large, appreciated howmuch work went in to preparing for and giving thecourse?

Those not attending will, no doubt, say ‘Ohyes, jolly good we are training our less skilledmembers ourselves. Good idea.’ However, howmany will think of Bill dealing with the likes of measking questions before the start as well as buyingin equipment for the event in addition to thegeneral materials for presentations and handoutsetc. Then there is his time for 6 Saturdays acting ascourse Principal and so it goes on. And we haven’teven started to think about Bob who had toprepare material for 7 hours presentation for eachof 6 days; let alone the handouts and so on.

Who cares? Well I believe we all do becausethe training is something from which we can allbenefit. If skippers have better trained andenthusiastic crew they should, in theory, have aneasier passage.

So to the training team I would certainly liketo thank Bill and Bob for their hard work andcontribution to CSC. If you have read this andagree that training makes a worthy contribution tothe club then please let Bill and all who givecourses know that you have read this letter and

agree with its sentiment. It’s always nice to knowthat one’s efforts are appreciated.

Thank you.Nick Hoskins

It just blew up in front of me!Sailing with Keith in May on ‘Change-of-

Course’ we took on lots of water. I went below,took of life-jacket and put it on seat. The boattacked and the life-jacket fell into the water. Thewater was so deep that my life-jacket inflated!Something to bear in mind if you have anautomatic gas life-jacket!John Futcher

Is it ‘on’ or ‘off’ in fog?I was interested in Peter Horat’s letter, in the

last edition of Wavelength, saying he would clip-on in fog. Some years ago, as I was hurtlingthrough the Raz-de-Seine on JLS in thick fog, I waswondering the same - but we didn’t. I supposethe issue is that a collision in fog is likely to occurwith little or no warning and would you be able toun-clip in time to cope with an emergencyevacuation? I’d be interested in what other clubmembers think about clipping on in fog - is there ahard and fast safety rule or is it a matter ofpersonal preference?Roger Roberts

Tell them to foxtrot oscar!Your story (“VHF Talk non-PC according to survey”)is so apparently ludicrous that it has the ring oftruth (unless the alleged reporting date, 1st April, issignificant). The existing phonetic alphabet is (orshould be) so universally-understood that it wouldbe unsafe to change it. Anyway, it’s internationaland not under the control of the UK government.The Department of Transport should be told toFall Overboard.Martin Hewitt

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Who says the days of nautical review areover ?

As Parity returned to Southampton at theend of the Midweek Cruise we reviewed Ventura,Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2 as they sailedpast us up the Nab channel. No doubt theydipped their ensigns to us as they passed, but itwas too dark to be certain!Martin Hewitt

Are you up for a challenge?I am considering entering two-handed

racing next season leading to Round Britain in2010 and Azures and back in 2011. As I am gettinga little past my sell-by-date, experience and a littlemore youth (40s to early 50s) is what I have inmind.

Over a season there is opportunity for morethan one person to sail, but a reliable commitmentis essential.

Racing starts Easter 2009 and the boat needspreparing.

The Fastnet next year I will do two-handed orwith some of this year’s crew.

If any club member is interested pleasecontact me on 020 8394 0546.Keith GibbsChange of Course

No gurgles or dashingsI saw this on the tube ages ago - it is not aboutsailing but it is about the sea and I was remindedof this poem by Jenny Joseph (1932) whenmesmerized by the patterns on the sea around theNeedles, Hurst Castle and the Isle of Wight thissummer.

There are some coastswhere the sea comes in spectacularlythrowing up gullies, challenging cliffs,filling the harbour with great swirles andflourishes.A theatrical event that people go for curtain uptwice daily.You need to know the hour of its starting,You have to be on your guard.

There are other places, places where you do notreally noticeThe gradual stretch of the smooth silk of water.No gurgles or dashings here, no froth pounding.Only, at some point the echo may sound differentand looking by chance one sees ‘oh’, the tide is in’.Sheila Griffiths

Weather forecasting SoftwareSoftware is now available such as Ugrib (free

download from www.grib.us and Movingweather(free 30-day trial download fromwww.movingweather.com. I have used Ugrib inadvance of 3 or 4 club events and Movingweatherfor about 3 weeks. Both proved considerablymore accurate than the Met Office - for the mid-June passage race (to Poole) they accuratelypredicted light airs days in advance whereas theofficial Friday evening 24-hour forecast was forforce 4-5 in Wight.

Both packages give you a 7-day animatedlookahead; Ugrib’s data downloads are faster, butMovingweather’s animation is smoother andmore precise (eg. Windspeeds in mph rather thanforce, cloud/rain areas better defined).

Has anyone looked at their accuracy - againsteach other and the Met Office - on a lengthierbasis? I for one would be interested in the results.Martin Hewitt

The Other Arf! (or always start yoursermon with a joke)

Last Spring Cruise Pel Mel, along with theother club boats, tied up on an isolated pontoonin the middle of Fowey Harbour.

Mike Pelling and I took the water taxi for arun ashore. After lunch we decided to go on aharbour tour in a rather pleasant little steamlaunch. One of the passengers was a chattycockney lady.

Towards the seaward end of the harbour wepassed a very large house set in a prominentposition on the hillside, overlooking the water.Our cockney lass asked the boatman “Wotmoneybags lives there?”. The boatman replied“Lenny Henry”. “Cor, our the other arf lives.” shereplied.

Near the end of the trip, I said to Mike, “Idon’t see the point in going ashore and taking thewater taxi back to the boat. Why don’t we get theboatman to drop us off at the boat.”

As Mike was climbing up from the launchonto Pel Mel, our cockney lass asked “Is this yourboat?”. Mike said “Yes!”. “Cor, you are the otherarf”, she replied.

When you have just purchased a new set ofsails or paid the marina charges, you may not feelmuch like ‘the other arf’, but if we stop to thinkabout the millions of poor souls in the world, whoare literally starving to death, then the only thingwrong with the good lady’s remark is hermathematics.Peter Horat

18

W I N C H Q W R A D A R E K

U S T A N C H I O N Y T E R

F I O P P A S D F G H E J K

O L G U A R D R A I L Z X C

R V R L B N M I Q J I B W E

E E A P R D T D R Y F U I I

H O B I O U P D O A E A S B

A S R T D O D E H F B G H A

T K A L C R V R C B U O T C

C S I D R H T T N C O M K K

H S L V W S E E A R Y T T S

M N O P R T E R R W I N C T

C O M P A N I O N W A Y H A

N R E T S R T Y U I O P W Y

Word SearchFind the names listed below in the grid

WinchSternKeelBackstayLifebuoyGuardrailPulpitRudder

ForehatchJibStanchionGrab railCompanionwayShroudAnchorRadar

No prizes, it isjust for fun!

Put your boating items upfor sale in .Send details of items to theWavelength Editor. Not toomany words please - emailpictures as jpeg files.Advertising is free to ClubMembers.

Knight’s Challenge,Sigma 33. cruiser racer, hastaken part in CSC cruises,club races, JOG and RORCraces, the Fastnet andRound Britain and Irelandraces. Sound, open to anyinspection, trial and survey.For sale to dissolve apartnership, either as awhole for £25,000 o.n.o. orto start a new syndicate ofup to 5 people at approx £5000 a share. LyingGosport. For further information, contact JanetSainsbury on 07971 681 777 or Mac Keight.

Genghis Khan’tWesterly GK24 cruiser/racer ide-al lst boat, successful in Clubracing,Sound but needs TLC ashas been semi-retired.£3000 for quick sale.JanetSainsbury 07971 681 777

Club Regalia Available

Penants and burgees, also shirts,fleeces, caps - indeed anything

can be ordered with the Club logoembroidered on it - including yourboat name, if you want to build a

crew strip or record

a sailing event.

Catalogues and prices availablefrom

Bosun, Janet Sainsbury

Call 07971 681 777 or speak toJanet on Club nights.

Lift-jacket for a DogNever used on the water, life jacket for mediumsized dog. £15. Contact Diana Coman on 07970525 143.

Buoyancy AidPink and grey, women’s size 12-14. As new. £10.Call Diana Coman on 07970 525 143.

1986 Moody 34 in very good condition. Newrigging and furling gear, chart plotter, Navtex,Navman log and depth, wind instrument, fridge,hot and cold water and heating, all less than 5years old. Liferaft and all safety equipment. Verywell maintained and lightly used. Can be viewedat Chichester Marina. For Full spec contact Pam on07743 930541 or 01372 721963.

19

Anchor Watch!

Does my foot lookbig in this?

by Diana Coman

I had a lovely pair of deck shoes. Chatham make - beige - withlaces. They frequently got wet. This made them mouldthemselves to the shape of my foot. The leather softened and as I

slid my foot into them, it was like wearing a second skin. And thelaces slimmed down and were easy to tie and seemed to sticktogether - I never had to retie the laces once done.

Of course the down side of having such a comfortable pair ofshoes is that you know one day they will wear out. Whilst remainingloyal to my favourite pair, I purchased another so I could start towear them in. This pair, however, failed to respond and remainedsteadfastly hard with thick stiff laces that unravelled with wear. Andwhere my Favourites made my feet look small, these new onesremained clompy and seemed to add pounds to my feet.

I also foolishly tried a coloured pair - a dark colour - blue. Everytime I took the shoes off, I had blue feet. No amount of scrubbingcould remove the stain leaving me looking either dirty or deceased.

I got another pair (back to the beige) - same result. I wasgetting desperate, I could see the grip on my Favourites starting todisappear. Time was running out. Finally, with a split sole and nogrip I had to let them pass on to that great shoe shop in the sky.

Janet Sainsbury was not so ready to let go of her favourite deckshoes and wore a pair with virtually the entire sole missing - howshe maintained any grip on deck I don’t know - but I saw her in themfrequently and she never seemed to lose her footing.

Being comfortable aboard is so important and everyone findswhat suits them.

Some people wear dinghy shoes. Anyone who has sailed withsomeone wearing those has to have a strong stomach as the smellthey can produce can be overpowering - that can also be true ofwellies. I had a pair which, even before I had worn them, smelledlike something had died in them, a whiff that was only enhanced bythe wearing.

Some people swear by their wellies. Frankly I can’t standthem. My, feet were always cold, whatever socks I seemed to put on.I moved to the new boots (thank you for the recommendation Tony)and now have the most toasty feet you can imagine.

But the perfect deck shoe still eludes me. My quest to find apair of deck shoes that can mature to match my Favourites - thatcan offer the same comfort, grip and fit of the best deck shoes Ihave ever owned continues.

I wonder if the shoe chap will be at the next boat jumble?