Your letters
Your letters Your letters b Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters Your letters
letters@sailingtoday.co.uk
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts, comments and ideas
to Letters to the Editor at Sailing Today, Swanwick Marina, Lower
Swanwick, Southampton SO31 1ZL or Email
letters@sailingtoday.co.uk.
Each month, the star letter wins a bottle of Old Pulteney Whisky.
Coping with engines, often controlled these problems taught me an pile, make sure the bowline
pile moorings by throttles and gear levers important lesson. You should has a really long bight, say
I’ve just read the article about mounted somewhere just out always attach the boat to the about 10ft long, so that if
coping with pile moorings in of reach, manoeuvring at close first pile with a running line required you can pull the knot
the June issue, which I thought quarters could be an exciting if – never ever with too small a itself on board to untie it.
was excellent, with one not stressful experience. bowline looped over the pile I was also taught to call the
important exception. Quite often the engine would as shown in picture 10. metal rods attached to the pile,
Having been brought up die at the critical moment, That’s because, if things go pile irons and also to pull up
during the days of swinging whilst changing from ahead badly wrong you simply can’t the ring and put your warp
and then pile moorings, to astern, and then refuse to release it. The result could be through it first time, never to
well before pontoons were start as blood dripped on the at best embarrassing and at leave your warps just round
invented, when we had hand cabin sole from the wretched worst disastrous. the pile irons. In short, always
cranked, underpowered, cranker’s blistered hand. If there really is no use the rings. Sadly, I know of
ill-maintained, rusty petrol Years afloat combating alternative to lassoing the first a number of boats which sank
Letter of the Month
Say bye bye to Beaufort ...
At the risk of upsetting just merely a scale, it encourages
about everyone, could I people to exaggerate and
humbly suggest that it might make their thoroughly
be time to give up on the old subjective ‘guesstimates’
F5 gusting 7?
Why not take
Beaufort Wind Scale and try sound scientific. What,
a reading
to be more more precise? for example, does Force 5
instead?
I’m not being mischievous gusting 6 actually mean?
or awkward for the sake of As often as not, such that are 50 per cent greater come up with completely
it; I really think it causes ‘observations’ often imply than those produced by different ideas about the
more trouble than it’s worth. that no measurements winds at the lower end. In true strength of the wind. Or
For a start, because it’s were made at all. Not only the same way, because it’s to put it another way, one
that, the Scale itself is not a smooth, linear scale man’s F3 can be another
misleading. For a start, some it’s easy to forget that the man’s F5.There are other
of the speed bands are wider wind pressure on your sails implications too. How often
than others. Not only that, can be five times greater in a have we heard people say
within the bands themselves F5 than in a F3. that, for example, their boats
you find wind speeds that To that extent the whole can carry full sail up till,
create dramatically different system is somewhat rough say, F6. If their idea of a F6
pressures. A Force 7, for and ready – if not downright is really a F5 the difference
instance, incorporates wind misleading. Given that sort is quite significant. All
speeds at the upper end that of background, it’s hardly I’m suggesting is that we
generate physical pressures surprising that skippers often stick to actual wind speeds
wherever possible. After
This month’s Letter of the Month wins a bottle of Old Pulteney, the genuine maritime malt. Pulteney all, these days we have the
Distillery, located in the fishing town of Wick, is the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland
technology. Does anyone
and has strong links to the sea – once it was the busiest fishing port in Europe – making this the
perfect drink to enjoy after sailing. Why not put pen to paper and send us your views – about agree with me?
anything nautical – to win a bottle of this highly-prized, 12-year-old Scottish single malt? For further
Simon Anderson, Bath
information, contact Inver House Distillers 01236 769377 or visit
www.inverhouse.com.
28 Sailing Today July 09
ST147 Letter
RTG.indd 34 13/5/09 12:57:22
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148