Charles and his daughter pow- erboating after completing their qualification together.
Share your memories of the area with
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
the.editor@rya.org.uk
paddleboarding without wearing a wetsuit or using a buoyancy aid this summer. Even in warmer weather, the water temperature is still cold. Rick Smith
As Rick says above, the predominant problem is cold shock. Most people don’t know anything about it; they think they’ll be fine if they can swim, so they paddleboard in shorts, jump into lakes etc. For me, if the water’s less than about 23 °C I’ll get symptoms such as hyperventilating and the well-known uncontrolled gasp. I’ve even had it wearing a wetsuit - all my muscles just froze. Below 20°C I wouldn’t survive. The other thing that people don’t realise is that the shock response actually peaks in water around 10-12°C, which is pretty much the average UK sea and lake temperature. Rob Manser
Buoys off the charts I read, with interest, the Autumn
issue’s article on the observational buoys placed around the coast, because in May I had an encounter with the one off Hayling Island. It was at night when we spotted
the yellow buoy 40m away. We then saw an orange pot buoy and steered to miss it, but its mooring line became wrapped around my rudder. A lifeboat couldn’t free us and we had to leave my yacht for the night. The next day I organised divers to clear the buoy’s anchor from my rudder. Sea Start accompanied me back to Chichester Marina as the buoy had damaged my starboard quarter and rudder. The problem is that, other than the
buoy’s light details, there’s no other information on the charts regarding their mooring characteristics. This buoy is positioned outside the limits of Chichester Harbour and Portsmouth Harbour so there are no associated navigational warnings. Also, depending on your direction
A wave-monitoring buoy includes 30m of bungee cord attached to two orange floats.
of travel, the buoy’s light is easily missed against the background of the special buoys marking the entrance to the Nab Channel for outbound shipping.
Mike Machin
Editor’s reply : Dr Thomas Dhoop, programme manager at The Channel Coastal Observatory, has responded saying that the buoy, in operation since 2003, adheres to international standards with visibility-enhancing features such as yellow colouring, radar reflectors and flashing lights. However, they will liaise with the UKHO to improve chart information, including a recommended 200-metre exclusion zone.
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