To help the CSD construct a Summer Cruise in 2020, members will be contacted shortly to ask them to complete a survey based on Google Forms. If you have already submitted a response please ignore this but if not you can participate by clicking on the following hyperlink:
Please complete the survey as soon as possible so that we can analyse the results and start constructing a viable cruise which in turn will allow us to complete next year’s sailing programme. We intend that the 2020 Sailing Programme will be published leading up to the AGM in November and bookings for all our sailing opportunities will be accepted from the 23rd November.
Following some changes to maintenance plans Sea Essay is now available to charter on 24, 26 and 27 September. This is reflected on the latest update to Sailing Programme. https://channelsailing.org/sailing-opportunities/
This happened a year of two back so although you may have seen this before is too good to leave languishing in cyberspace. Many thanks to Andy Rankine for editing this down.
This is a short video clip of a Coastguard helicopter exercise conducted in conjunction with Sea Essay.
This exercise was pre-arranged I believe. The helicopter crew would have initially briefed the skipper about what is going to happen and what direction to sail etc. The pilot often requires the yacht to sail on a close reach while the crewman is lowered down on the winch. The helm’s role is critical and they need to avoid looking up at the aircraft or otherwise being distracted. Note the level of noise. It is extremely hard to communicate on board with a helicopter hovering over your heads.
Note. This calendar is under development. Its main focus is for tracking availability of Sea Essay and Training Events.
If you try this, whether you like it or have difficulties, please feedback to the CSD webmaster@channelsailing.org.
The advantage of this calendar is that it can be shared with members. If you already use Google Calendar you can subscribe to a read only copy of this calendar by clicking on the + sign at the Bottom Right of the calendar below. You will then be able to view this calendar it alongside your own.
That said, in the event of any conflict between this and the Official Sailing Programme which is Excel based you are advised to refer to the Official Programme. This calendar is maintained and updated by the webmaster.
We will be holding Skipper Familiarisation sessions for Sea Essay on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 February 2019.
All newly Approved Skippers and those anticipating becoming Approved Skippers in 2019 must attend a familiarisation session before they are allowed to charter the boat.
Approved Skippers who have not sailed on Sea Essay in 2018 are strongly advised to attend a session as a refresher.
The sessions are held aboard Sea Essay at Mercury Yacht Harbour and take about 3 hours.
If the weather permits we may go for a short sail in the afternoon.
This is just a quick note to ask for photos that might be useful for this website of CSD publicity. Particularly, action shots of members enjoying the use of Sea Essay.
Sea Essay is fitted with a AIS transponder that transmits her location other suitably equipped vessels. This is a safety feature but as a side effect, it enables anyone who who knows how to see where she goes. If you are interested in following along then the following page (Click ‘Continue Reading‘) will explain how you can find out where she is and what you have been missing out on.
Note that AIS reception is better in some areas than others because VHF signals rarely extend beyond ‘line of sight’.
