CA London

 As usual, our traditional twice yearly welcome to new members will follow the Boat Show. This year, Jimmy Cornell will celebrate the release of his latest publication, Cornell’s Ocean Atlas, at a special launch event with a short talk and some cheese and wine. The Atlas shows the prevailing direction of winds and currents for every month in all oceans of the world, and also along the most commonly sailed trans-ocean routes, and all based on the latest meteorological information rather than the old observation data used by pilot books.

Greece is lucky to have large numbers of free anchorages and quaysides, some superb destinations to visit, and good yacht support, albeit relatively few marinas. This makes it a very economical cruising destination. – all the more so if you can tolerate its uncertainties and idiosyncrasies. Jim has lived, worked and sailed around Greece for over 30 years. His talk will illustrate many of the highlights, oddities and surprises of cruising in Greece, using lots of pictures. Anecdotes will illustrate the common bureaucratic traps

For those who have always wondered how and why celestial navigation works, and for those of you who once used to know but now feel the need for a quick refresher, John has the answers. Here’s an explanation of the underlying theory, how it has developed over the years, a demystification of all the specialised words that are used, and a review of the practical aspects of celestial navigation from a small boat, including the calculations necessary to turn your hard won sight into a position line.  Illustrated with diagrams, photos, sextants and almanacs,

Anne and Gen won a special award in the CA log competition this year for their account of their trip around Britain. They left Burnham-on-Crouch on Easter Sunday in Amanapuri their Jeanneau 42 foot Sun Oddessey, heading up the East Coast to take the anticlockwise route. On the way they enjoyed fabulous scenery and wildlife and all the pleasures and frustrations of the British weather. As well as distances, tides and harbours, their planning had to take account of timetables for planes, trains, buses and ferries, because

Yacht surveyor, lecturer and author, Paul Stevens, will explain how to conduct a thorough inspection of your boat. Small craft surveying is entirely unregulated and can be a potential minefield for the boating public, so this is an excellent opportunity to pose those awkward questions! Paul has written a definitive handbook, based on the course he teaches at the International Boat Building Training College in Lowestoft, that will prove a godsend to small craft owners as well as being used by practising surveyors and students.

Roger and Jenny Flint took their Gemini 105 catamaran, Demani, through the European inland waterways to the Danube delta and Istanbul in 2005. For Roger, it was a retirement project which took 18 months of meticulous planning. A channel for conquest, commerce and culture since its banks were first settled, the Danube links the heartlands of Central Europe with the Orient. Over the past 2000 years, it has seen the passage of Roman legions, crusading knights, the armies of the Ottomans and the Hapsburgs, and more recently the

Britain was a shambles at the time of the Vikings, but quickly and uniquely built a financial, technical, and political infrastructure that kept our sailors healthy and our ships at sea for long periods. With Napoleon defeated and the Industrial Revolution in full swing, the role of the Royal Navy was changing rapidly when ‘Beagle’ was launched at Woolwich in 1820. The focus had moved from making war to suppressing piracy, discouraging the slave trade, and charting the oceans.

Many a cruising yachtsman begins the sailing life in their tender years, racing dinghies or on the family boat. It’s not always the easiest of pastimes to start from scratch in adult life, but that is just what Anne Noon did. In just a few years, she has gone from novice to navigator and from classroom to the South China Sea. In this talk she will share the highs and lows of the voyage and her experience of cruising around the world from the glittering waters of the Swedish Archipelago to the beautiful Falmouth Estuary and further afield in the Philippines and the South China Sea.

In 2005, Juliet and her husband embarked on an Atlantic circuit with their children (then aged 6 and 8). They gave up their careers, sold their house and many of their possessions, and said goodbye to family and friends. Juliet’s talk is an overview of their year away; the joys and challenges of sailing, life as a family in a confined space, the ARC, home education, unexpectedly good fishing, and photographs of some ‘on’ and ‘off’ the beaten track places, including Antigua, Grenada, the still erupting Montserrat, and the incredible Tobago Cays.