The Radar Plot

I’m a sailor … I love it … I love to feel the wind in my face close-hauled … the feel of the helm on a screaming reach … the sound of the wake on a spinnaker run … I’ll sail anything, given the chance … and wow! … I’ve had some incredible chances in my life!

I’m a wind thief … and proud of it!

Whenever I step aboard a sailing boat I feel immediately at home … like walking in the door after a hard day at the office … like curling up in front of the fire on a winter’s night with a good book. It’s a welcoming feeling … a living thing … a remembrance of things past … and futures over the horizon.

I’ve just taken a job skippering a Dive charter … Cougar cat, twin 200 Suzukis … 12 pax 2 crew … and quite frankly … I’m a little apprehensive. Dive charters, by definition, tend to be rather perilous … usually going to nasty places surrounded by not-ship-friendly spikes of rock and coral … and to get there you have to navigate some nasty things like an entrance sand bar e.g. South Passage bar ( not a place you want to be on a nasty spring day with a falling tide).

And then, to top it all, you have to anchor there! … close to danger, rolling your guts out in heaving seas, while a bunch of seal-like pieces of shark-bait defy the laws of nature and descend into the depths in some sort of macabre game with Davey Jones. God help you if they don’t all make it back aboard to clutter your deck with all sorts of rubber, lead and stainless steel, dripping salt water all over your deck, fittings, charts, and anything they can find to wet!

So, if I feel a little apprehensive about it, maybe you will understand.

These divers live in the rareified upper levels of the ocean, whilst we remaining mortals live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of air … we are worlds apart!

Oh how I would rather have the opportunity to take a strange and unfamiliar yacht on a long passage than drive a stink boat into areas of danger, an unnatural act for any seaman!

But, bank accounts don’t care about dangers … neither do rent payments, phone bills,utilities bills etc.

So, here I am caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

This has to be one of my favourite paintings … it’s called “Breezing Up” by Winslow Homer.

What I really love about it is that it appears to be a picture of an older man (sitting inside the boat controlling the mainsheet) instructing the three youngsters how to sail.

Hell …. the painting tells it all … what more can I say!

Well, this is my first post on my new blog, and I have to say it is a geat privilege to be allowed amongst such stalwarts as OG and Johnsee.

Why the Radar Plot?

I believe wholeheartedly that pretty much everything we do or have done in our lives can be related to the sea and sailing. We begin our lives on an empty ocean not understanding where we are, where we’re going, nor having an understanding of the dangers in our path. What is our path … from where to where? Is it a voyage specific? A voyage revisited ( for those reincarnates among us) … or perhaps a mere dalliance, a gentle summers cruise whilst killing time until a greater purpose is revealed?

We have no chart, save the oral history of our parents, grandparents and ancestors.

As we travel we accumulate more knowledge as a seaman collects information of dangers and delights from other seamen. We begin to craft our own charts and as we grow older we begin to share those charts with others. Some of those shared charts may be accurate and of immense value … others … well, lets just say “here be monsters!!!”

We develop our skills as we age and begin to use more advanced navigational tools.

And so we get to use radar … but how many of us fail to realise exactly what it is we are observing when we look at the radar screen … are we seeing the true picture? Is attenuation causing us to be a little short-sighted? And what of all those targets? … are they really targets, or simply multiple echoes of the first? What is their true course and speed?

We have to try to plot those targets and avoid a collision … not always with the utmost success.

We wish we could see into the future at times, having, in effect, and over-the-horizon radar … but it aint gonna help us if we can’t read our existing screen and gain an accurate plot.

Anyway, these are just ramblings of a salty dog with a rust encrusted mind … hopefully I will be able to expand further as this blog develops.

All contributions are welcome!!!!