The North Sea at night: I love it. It can turn wild, like any mountain or desert, but that’s not all the time. When it’s calm, fishing lights appear, dodge about, and disappear. Wind farm constructions march through the waves, towering above small boats, flashing red and white in the moonlight. The black waves and unseen sand banks demand respect, as does the shipping.
Collision avoidance work is easier these days. One navigation aid, the Automatic Identification System (AIS), transmits small packets of (live) navigational and (pre-programmed) vessel information alongside regular VHF radio audio broadcasts, and receives similar information from others in return. Overlay this on a chart plotter and you have a map of the surrounding traffic, or at least, of those ships with AIS functioning correctly and switched on.
NORTH SEA CROSSING
On a recent night crossing I found the AIS had the unexpected benefit of clearing the shipping out of the way. How did that happen? You may well ask.
Last year, I set out to cross the North Sea with my 16-year-old son. It was a late-season outing from Harwich to Ostend. And it seemed like a fine idea for a long weekend in the October half term. We loaded food and fuel in Shotley marina. And as the light started to fade at 1700, I did reflect that the nights are much longer on the winter side of the equinox. Not to worry.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2024 من Yachting Monthly UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2024 من Yachting Monthly UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
How to rig preventers and boom brakes
Rigging a preventer or using a boom brake is just good seamanship when sailing downwind, but doing so badly is asking for trouble, says Rachael Sprot
Don't let Thames sewage kill off this lovely boat
Samuel Pepys mentions oysters in his diaries 68 times, but that was when they were as common as winkles along the banks of the Thames and when they were a source of cheap protein for the masses.
I finally found the magic of the sea
I won’t be in theatres with a notebook as much as usual this month – time for some wider, wetter horizons – but may be musing, as I often do, on how rare it is for theatre to express a convincing reality about the oceans and the trade or pursuit of seafaring.
TECHNICAL GOLDEN OLDIES
Ken Endean looks back on the boats he has owned over 50 years and explains why the hull lines of older yachts continue to offer first-class handling
HOW IT WORKS MARKING
Many cruising yacht skippers mark very little on board their boats.
TECHNICAL INSTALLING A NEW ENGINE
When a mysterious loss of coolant jeopardised his sailing, Andy Du Port knew the time had tome to replace his yacht’s:veteran Volvo Penta
NEW GEAR
Dennis O’Neill rounds up the latest marine innovations, including developments in women’s sailing jackets
MARIE TABARLY HONOURING HER FATHER
Marie Tabarly took line honours in the Ocean Globe Race, surpassing her father’s record while racing aboard his famous 73ft ketch Pen Duick VI
HEATHER THOMAS SMASHING RECORDS
In leading her all-female crew to victory in the OGR, Heather Thomas has broken records and taken women's sailing into the stratosphere
MAIDEN MAKES HISTORY AGAIN
Being the first all-female crew to win a round-the-world race is seismic in itself, but the diverse nationalities of the crew are just as significant for the future of sailing
