The MoD has informed Ofcom of the following GPS jamming exercise:
Dates: 7-11 September and 14-18 September 2009.
Times: limited periods between 09:00 and 17:00 hrs
Location: Within 5km of N52° 00.881’ and W003° 38.518’ (Sennybridge Training Area, Mid-Wales).
Contact: Trial Manager (during the trial) on 07766 134520 or the 24hr Sennybridge Operations point on 01874 635461.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Cost of coming to sail in UK falling
With the value of the UK currency falling against the Euro and US Dollar, this could be the year to come sailing in the UK. Essentially courses or cruises are about 30% cheaper than this time last year for people booking from abroad. Most of these courses are UK based but many organisations run cruises either from the UK or their bases abroad.
One school that offers a comprehensive package of courses and cruises is the British Offshore Sailing School based on the Hamble River near Southampton. In addition to their RYA courses, BOSS run cruises to the Channel Islands, the West Country, France, Spain and Southern Ireland. All of these can be paid for in sterling, which may be a big discount on the price from previous years with the current exchange rates.
BOSS can be contacted via their website: www.boss-sail.co.uk.
British yacht brokers are also finding business far more active than might be expected in the current economic climate as purchasers from abroad are coming to the UK buy up second hand yachts at prices greatly reduced compared to those in their home country.
With all the doom and gloom in the media regarding the general economic situation, it is easy to miss the positive points. If you have wanted to take an RYA sailing course or cruise in the UK, this may be the best year to do it!
One school that offers a comprehensive package of courses and cruises is the British Offshore Sailing School based on the Hamble River near Southampton. In addition to their RYA courses, BOSS run cruises to the Channel Islands, the West Country, France, Spain and Southern Ireland. All of these can be paid for in sterling, which may be a big discount on the price from previous years with the current exchange rates.
BOSS can be contacted via their website: www.boss-sail.co.uk.
British yacht brokers are also finding business far more active than might be expected in the current economic climate as purchasers from abroad are coming to the UK buy up second hand yachts at prices greatly reduced compared to those in their home country.
With all the doom and gloom in the media regarding the general economic situation, it is easy to miss the positive points. If you have wanted to take an RYA sailing course or cruise in the UK, this may be the best year to do it!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
GPS Jamming exercises.
If you have signed-up on the Ofcom site for notification of GPS Jamming exercises you would have received the following:
We have been informed of the following GPS jamming exercises:
Dates: 22 to 26 September 2008.
Times: Short periods of three minutes up to three hours per day between 08:00 and 17:00 hrs.
Location: Sennybridge Training Area - N52° 01.181’ W003° 36.684’
Contact (during jamming exercise only) – 07766 134520
Dates: 13 to 24 October 2008.
Times: between 09:00 and 17:00 hrs.
Location: Sennybridge Training Area - within 5 km of N52° 01.181’ W003° 36.684’
Contact (during jamming exercise only) - 07766 134520
Follow this link to receive these emails:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/subscribe/select_list.htm
We have been informed of the following GPS jamming exercises:
Dates: 22 to 26 September 2008.
Times: Short periods of three minutes up to three hours per day between 08:00 and 17:00 hrs.
Location: Sennybridge Training Area - N52° 01.181’ W003° 36.684’
Contact (during jamming exercise only) – 07766 134520
Dates: 13 to 24 October 2008.
Times: between 09:00 and 17:00 hrs.
Location: Sennybridge Training Area - within 5 km of N52° 01.181’ W003° 36.684’
Contact (during jamming exercise only) - 07766 134520
Follow this link to receive these emails:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/subscribe/select_list.htm
Friday, February 29, 2008
Weather Radar service from Netweather
Weather Radar
Weather Radar, have you got yours yet?
The latest version of the weather radar on Netweather.tv is more like
a personal weather station than just a rainfall radar. With it's
customisable zoom, scale and overlays such as lightning detection,
live weather reports and forecast data, it really is the ultimate
weather watching tool. Whether you have weather as a vested
interest because it is your hobby or affects your line of work,
or just have a passing interest because you would prefer to stay dry
when travelling to work or want to make sure the washing is going to dry,
it can be of huge benefit.
Here are a few of the features on the radar:
most fully featured weather radar, please visit Netweather.tv
The latest version of the weather radar on Netweather.tv is more like
a personal weather station than just a rainfall radar. With it's
customisable zoom, scale and overlays such as lightning detection,
live weather reports and forecast data, it really is the ultimate
weather watching tool. Whether you have weather as a vested
interest because it is your hobby or affects your line of work,
or just have a passing interest because you would prefer to stay dry
when travelling to work or want to make sure the washing is going to dry,
it can be of huge benefit.
Here are a few of the features on the radar:
- UK radar in high resolution (1km)
- Updated every 5 minutes
- European View (updates every 15 minutes)
- Customisable and postcode zoom
- Scale and overlay options - includes weather type detection
- Lightning detection updates every 5 minutes
- Store your favourite postcodes and view settings
- Future Radar - 1 hour rainfall prediction
- Plus more...
most fully featured weather radar, please visit Netweather.tv
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
GPS Jamming Exercises
The Ministry of Defence had announced the following GPS jamming exercises:
Dates: 31 March to 4 April 2008
Times: between 08:00 and 18:00 hrs
Location: To sea from Bridlington - N54° 06.842’ W000° 05.045’
Contact: Trial Manager - 07766 134758
Dates: 20-21 April 2008 (26 April 2008 reserve day)
Times: between 09:00 and 17:00 hrs
Location: To sea from The Hebrides - N57° 14.4’ W007° 26.7’
Contact (during jamming exercise only) 07766 134520
Take care!
Dates: 31 March to 4 April 2008
Times: between 08:00 and 18:00 hrs
Location: To sea from Bridlington - N54° 06.842’ W000° 05.045’
Contact: Trial Manager - 07766 134758
Dates: 20-21 April 2008 (26 April 2008 reserve day)
Times: between 09:00 and 17:00 hrs
Location: To sea from The Hebrides - N57° 14.4’ W007° 26.7’
Contact (during jamming exercise only) 07766 134520
Take care!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Downloading Weather data-Grib files
I have just discovered a very useful tool for looking at the weather.
It is a free program for downloading Grib weather files. It allows you to download the data very quickly then display the wind directions and speeds with the associated isobars for any area that you chose.
This program is available from Grib.us at: http://www.grib.us/
This is a tool that any serious sailor will find useful.
It is a free program for downloading Grib weather files. It allows you to download the data very quickly then display the wind directions and speeds with the associated isobars for any area that you chose.
This program is available from Grib.us at: http://www.grib.us/
This is a tool that any serious sailor will find useful.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Hidden dangers.
Over the years that I have been involved in teaching outdoor pursuits I have seen many incidents that could have led to serious consequences because people could not see the real danger that was very close to them.
One of these occurred some years ago when I was teaching canoeing on the River Cuckmere in Sussex. This is a great venue to introduce people to the sport as the old route of the river bed oxbows is now a flat water lake, but there is also the running part of the river close by and if the class and conditions are appropriate the beach is also close.
One this particular day, the tide was running out of the river at quite a rate, so as we approached the point where the river crossed the shingle beach and ran out to sea I made sure that my students were all able to pull in to the side before they were swept down the last 30m of channel to the sea. In this last part of the channel the combined effect of the river's flow and the outgoing tide put the current at about 5-6 knots.
As this was the middle of the summer holidays the beach was quite busy. There were hundreds of children along the beach in different groups, it appeared that several youth organisations has brought groups to the beach that day.
As we were sitting eating lunch, one of the leaders of one of these groups came up shouting that there was someone in the water and being washed out to sea. At first I could see no one, but I realised that I could see a head in the water about 300m offshore. I realised straight away what had happened, there were children paddling in the outgoing stream which was less than knee deep and one must have been swept off his feet. The current was so strong that he had been carried out to sea very rapidly.
To make things worse the current offshore was running to the west at about 1-2knots and he was being swept past the end of the beach to the area of cliffs where it would not be possible to land for several miles.
I jumped in my canoe and paddled out as fast as I could, when I arrived I discovered that there were three people in the water, the original boy of about 9 and two men who had seen what happened and had jumped in after him. None of them had been able to make any progress against the current.
We got the young boy on to the front of my canoe as he had been in the cold water for some time by then and was not in too good a condition. In fact, I was sure that if the two men had not been supporting him in the water he would already have drowned. The two in the water were trying to get me to paddle in with the boy, but I felt that if I left them with nothing buoyant to hold on to they would soon be in trouble.
With them holding on the the canoe I was able to make slow progress towards the land but could see that we may end up having to pass the cliff area and aim for the next beach some distance off.
Fortunately at that point another canoe class arrived, as soon as the instructor arrived and realised what was happening, he paddled out to us. With him towing me and me also paddling, we were able to make progress. After some time we reached the beach and were administering first aid and getting the casualties in to the dry clothes out of our emergency kit. Very soon after a Coastguard helicopter arrived, as someone on the cliff top has seen what was happening, and had run off to get to a phone (mobile phones were still in the future!). Once the casualties had been taken by the helicopter to hospital, I went back to make sure my students were all ok. I had briefed them to stay out of the water until I returned, but did not feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised.
Everything was fine when I got back to my class, but I could not believe that there were still many children paddling in the same stream that had just swept the boy out to sea. A major incident had just been avoided and a Sea King helicopter had landed only 100-200m away and people had not noticed all the fuss.
The problem was that because the Sun was out and the air was warm everything looked safe, no one could see that the real danger was the fast moving cold water. Particularly when people are on holiday they seem to switch off and loose all sense of danger.
People who are not involved in risk sports often think that sailors, climbers, canoeists and divers are taking chances. In my experience, most people taking part is sports can see the dangers and take steps to minimise them, the result is that they are far safer than they appear, many of the real dangers in life are the ones that are not so obvious and people do not see coming. When I was doing a lot of rock climbing, we use to say that the most dangerous part was all the extra driving we did at night to get to the climbing area!
My training as an instructor has made me very aware of the likely risks in what I do, and this spills over in to normal life. How many people after they have checked in to a hotel room, go to find the fire escapes and work out how to get out of the building if it is full of smoke? Maybe its a bit over the top, but that type of thinking and preparation for the simple dangers that surround us may save your life one day.
One of these occurred some years ago when I was teaching canoeing on the River Cuckmere in Sussex. This is a great venue to introduce people to the sport as the old route of the river bed oxbows is now a flat water lake, but there is also the running part of the river close by and if the class and conditions are appropriate the beach is also close.
One this particular day, the tide was running out of the river at quite a rate, so as we approached the point where the river crossed the shingle beach and ran out to sea I made sure that my students were all able to pull in to the side before they were swept down the last 30m of channel to the sea. In this last part of the channel the combined effect of the river's flow and the outgoing tide put the current at about 5-6 knots.
As this was the middle of the summer holidays the beach was quite busy. There were hundreds of children along the beach in different groups, it appeared that several youth organisations has brought groups to the beach that day.
As we were sitting eating lunch, one of the leaders of one of these groups came up shouting that there was someone in the water and being washed out to sea. At first I could see no one, but I realised that I could see a head in the water about 300m offshore. I realised straight away what had happened, there were children paddling in the outgoing stream which was less than knee deep and one must have been swept off his feet. The current was so strong that he had been carried out to sea very rapidly.
To make things worse the current offshore was running to the west at about 1-2knots and he was being swept past the end of the beach to the area of cliffs where it would not be possible to land for several miles.
I jumped in my canoe and paddled out as fast as I could, when I arrived I discovered that there were three people in the water, the original boy of about 9 and two men who had seen what happened and had jumped in after him. None of them had been able to make any progress against the current.
We got the young boy on to the front of my canoe as he had been in the cold water for some time by then and was not in too good a condition. In fact, I was sure that if the two men had not been supporting him in the water he would already have drowned. The two in the water were trying to get me to paddle in with the boy, but I felt that if I left them with nothing buoyant to hold on to they would soon be in trouble.
With them holding on the the canoe I was able to make slow progress towards the land but could see that we may end up having to pass the cliff area and aim for the next beach some distance off.
Fortunately at that point another canoe class arrived, as soon as the instructor arrived and realised what was happening, he paddled out to us. With him towing me and me also paddling, we were able to make progress. After some time we reached the beach and were administering first aid and getting the casualties in to the dry clothes out of our emergency kit. Very soon after a Coastguard helicopter arrived, as someone on the cliff top has seen what was happening, and had run off to get to a phone (mobile phones were still in the future!). Once the casualties had been taken by the helicopter to hospital, I went back to make sure my students were all ok. I had briefed them to stay out of the water until I returned, but did not feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised.
Everything was fine when I got back to my class, but I could not believe that there were still many children paddling in the same stream that had just swept the boy out to sea. A major incident had just been avoided and a Sea King helicopter had landed only 100-200m away and people had not noticed all the fuss.
The problem was that because the Sun was out and the air was warm everything looked safe, no one could see that the real danger was the fast moving cold water. Particularly when people are on holiday they seem to switch off and loose all sense of danger.
People who are not involved in risk sports often think that sailors, climbers, canoeists and divers are taking chances. In my experience, most people taking part is sports can see the dangers and take steps to minimise them, the result is that they are far safer than they appear, many of the real dangers in life are the ones that are not so obvious and people do not see coming. When I was doing a lot of rock climbing, we use to say that the most dangerous part was all the extra driving we did at night to get to the climbing area!
My training as an instructor has made me very aware of the likely risks in what I do, and this spills over in to normal life. How many people after they have checked in to a hotel room, go to find the fire escapes and work out how to get out of the building if it is full of smoke? Maybe its a bit over the top, but that type of thinking and preparation for the simple dangers that surround us may save your life one day.
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