RYA NW Cruising Conference 2012
Are your brass fittings turning to copper - is your boat suffering dezincification? - was one of the challenging thoughts shared at the 2012 North West Cruising Conference.
The question came from marine engineer Vyv Cox, a regular contributor to Yachting Monthly and considered a cruising and yacht equipment guru. He pointed out the dangers to through-hull fittings for essentials like sea toilets and holding tanks. It is the action of sea water that gradually pulls away zinc from the brass alloy, thus reducing the strength it imparts.
It was the second North West Cruising Conference (the last one was three years ago) and sponsored by Liverpool Powerboats
Nautical thriller writer Sam Llewellyn , PBS's Minimum Boat Man, reflected on the joys of simply "let's go sailing". He questioned whether bigger was better after an experience on a 90 footer on which he was a guest. The boat could not leave the marina because the engine would not start. "So why not just sail her out?" he asked. Of course, it was because all the winches were electric and with no engine there was no generator etc. Maybe there was as much fun to be had from an outboard-assisted 21 footer when at worst you could send the engine off for repair, not try to crawl round an engine the size of a small car.
In a light-hearted but provocative talk, Sam reflected on the beauty of spherical trigonometry - try taking a few sextant sightings for practice against the day when every GPS on board is damaged or just fails. He also spoke of the South Sea islanders who could navigate by recognising the shapes of waves, knowing where islands were by their effects on the sea surface.
Delegates also heard from Bob Bradfield - an 'unqualified enthusiast' who has undertaken, for the joy of it, to chart those coves, bays and anchorages on the west coast of Scotland that are poorly charted. He has done it to enable fellow yachtsmen to better enjoy the area with electronic charts(which interact seamlessly with other raster systems, including Admiralty) available at cost.
RYA Chief Executive Sarah Treseder spoke about recruiting, returning and retaining members, with NW Chairman Dave Williamson sharing the presentation to accent regional trends. The subject of returning - sailors coming back to the sport after a gap, perhaps for family reasons - was of particular interest to many delegates.
Stuart Carruthers and Gus Lewis from RYA HQ talked the conference through what the NW RYA locally and they nationally are doing about issues such as windfarms, red diesel, marine conservation zones and e-borders.