When Flying Officer A.C. Clarke first proposed geostationary communications satellites in May 1945, a few days after VE day, no one was actually sure if radio waves could pass up through the atmosphere at all; so far, they had tended to bounce back.
Our annual joint event with the Royal Institute of Navigation will be by webinar as our speaker is in Australia, but we will be broadcasting from CA House. Come and join us for a social evening: there will be no charge.
Penny’s talk will cover the fundamental causes of tides, understanding harmonic constituents, how tidal models work, and the future of tidal prediction and forecasting.
James Littlewood won the prestigious Hanson Trophy in the CA’s log competition. In this talk he reflects on his sailing career from racing his Achilles 24 Bluefinn from Harwich to Ostend in July 1980, with just an outboard engine and no GPS, to his 2020 winning entry, which introduces us to Henry Montagu Doughty.
Jimmy will describe how, in late 2020, he completed a 4000-mile maiden voyage on his new Aventura Zero, a fully electric Outremer catamaran. The aim of the voyage was to test the sustainability of a sailing boat with electric propulsion on an offshore voyage, and whether the onboard consumption could be covered by the generation of electricity from renewable sources.
In the summer of 2020, Timothy sailed around Britain, single-handed, at 15 years of age. This presentation covers his trip, which started on the 16th July 2020 from Hamble Point Marina from which he followed an anti-clockwise route around the country. Exactly 11 weeks later he arrived back in the Hamble after what he describes as 'an incredible adventure!'.
Samuel Pepys is best known as a somewhat roguish diarist and as perhaps the most important chronicler of such great events as the Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London of 1666. However, his 'day job' was as a naval administrator. The navy that he served is much less well known than that of Drake or Nelson, but Pepys's era was a hugely important period in the development of the Royal Navy into a truly professional fighting force.
Keeping your engine in good shape isn't just about the WOBLE. Those daily checks give you the confidence to make the next passage. Keeping the engine going for every season is about a good winterisation regime as well as regular servicing.
The Bay of Biscay has a reputation for storms and dangerous seas, so why do so many people choose to make the Atlantic coast of France their cruising ground? Mark and Judith Grimwade have spent nearly two decades exploring this area. What are the benefits and attractions that have kept them there? Judith will answer these questions and share the knowledge acquired as editor of the Western France Chapter of the Cruising Almanac.
The Baltic is a stunningly beautiful cruising ground. The Baltic countries offer variety, but one thing that most have in common is rocks – lots of them. In this talk Andy will look at how to miss them, how to moor to them and what there is to see on them. He will take us on a cook’s tour round many of the Baltic countries to see what they have to offer gastronomically, culturally and their different cruising opportunities.
