With the new year now well in our rear-view mirror, I have indeed noticed that the days are getting longer again. At first it was just the evening where dusk was pushed out a tiny bit, but more recently, it has started to get brighter earlier in the morning as Read more
By Captain John, www.skippertips.com The standard procedure for making a Mayday call is great when you have time, but in a real-world emergency, you may have only seconds before you lose power. Flooding or fire can short out power to the radio and GPS. So, what matters most in a Read more
The Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) is pleased to announce that Version 2 of the Electronic Navigation Systems – Guidance for safe use on leisure vessels booklet is now available as a free digital download (see below) and as a hard copy to purchase from Bookharbour:https://www.bookharbour.com/electronic-navigation-systems This new version incorporates Read more
by Bob Brown Bird Island, Strangford Lough. Seen close at hand, cormorants’ ‘scaly’ patterned plumage is quite attractive. We’ve all seen them: dark, brooding birds, perched on rocks, shipwrecks, harbour pilings, navigational beacons, and small islands. They are the archetypal residents of our coast, on exposed headlands, sheltered harbours, and Read more
By Alex Blackwell You know you are stupid, at least I think I am, when something ‘hits you in the eye, like a big pizza pie’. It is like when you are sailing along at the rate of knots on a broad reach, in the certainty that you know this Read more
By WM Nixon (From Afloat Ireland) In Ireland, we’re living through the Decade of Centenaries in terms of marking conflict-laden historical events and major national happenings ashore. So it says everything about the blissful sense of having a world of our own in sailing that in 2021 and 2022, Ireland-on-the-water Read more
By Conor O Brien Available Now The Pioneering Circumnavigation of the World in a Small Yacht, South of the Great Capes, 1923-1925 6th EditionPaperback: 343 pagesISBN-13: 979-8366211659Dimensions: 12.7 x 2.18 x 20.32 cm It will be of interest to those of us who are fascinated by the history of cruising Read more
Extracted from ’Memorials of the Royal Yacht Squadron’ by Montague Guest (Librarian of the RYS) and William B Boulton, printed in London in 1902. In 1859 was agitated the famous grievance of the supposed privileged possessed by the [Royal Yacht] Squadron of flying the White Ensign. A debate in Parliament Read more
by Bob Brown In our last issue I reported on the virulence and devastating impacts of H5N1 virus or avian flu on our seabird populations, notably on gannets, great skuas (bonxies), and wintering geese, but also many other species. I’ve had trouble finding very recent reports or predictions on the Read more