13 septembre 2012
Most seafarers have studied or been examined on the rules regarding emergencies at sea. Fortunately emergencies happen rarely, but it’s eas...
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21 août 2012
A bit of history
Thousands of years ago boats were named to honour a god, in order to safeguard them from peril. Their fear and superstition...
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15 août 2012
Red diesel is simply diesel fuel with red dye added to it. In some countries it is a requirement by law that dye is added to low-tax fuel in orde...
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23 juillet 2012
What is it?
"Heaving to" or being "hove to" is a way of slowing a boat’s forward progress and bringing it almost t...
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10 juillet 2012
The world’s first wind farm was sited in New Hampshire in 1980, but it was not until 1991 that the first offshore wind farm was installed i...
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11 juin 2012
Day 3 – “seasickness and going aloft”
0600 hours – up early to catch the tide and head off down the western Solent t...
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11 juin 2012
Day 5 – “tight turns and mud”
We were not leaving Weymouth until late morning; waiting for the eastgoing tide, but were st...
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29 mai 2012
Nick White has been sailing for nearly 20 years on friends’ boats, doing courses and chartering both in this country and abroad, but the ch...
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09 mai 2012
It’s a familiar sight – a stationary rib displaying a dive flag (either a red rectangle with a white diagonal stripe or a blue-and-wh...
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01 mai 2012
Fog is damp, cold, uncomfortable and potentially dangerous! If you are at sea it increases your chances of running into some hazard, or of anothe...
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17 avril 2012
As an island nation, we in the UK are used to seeing lighthouses around our coasts, but have you ever stopped to consider when they were first bu...
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26 mars 2012
Fire must be one of the most dangerous and feared accidents that could happen on a boat. It is perilous enough when it occurs on dry land, but wh...
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26 mars 2012
Are you confused about the value of flares? I am.
All the articles I read put forward such compelling arguments, some for, some against. As ...
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14 mars 2012
The Solent Forts
Approaching Portsmouth from the sea, early in my sailing career, I was most surprised to come across four large, round stru...
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24 février 2012
Whether you are an experienced sailor or a novice, it’s likely that the time will come when you have to make the decision – do you ta...
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