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inkermanhero

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Posts posted by inkermanhero

  1. Viking, you are right, of course but fifty knots on the beam of a ferry is a mighty force and it is all about risk management for the harbour authority.  Berthing is an exact science and you can’t take chances with 40-50,000 tons of steel when a few feet either way makes all the difference between success and disaster.  It is the closure of ports that stops the ferries and, if they are at sea when it happens, they stay safely at sea until the port is opened again or go elsewhere.  Happens regularly in severe weather.

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  2. Regarding ferries, they can cope perfectly well at sea in a storm.  The problem is manoeuvring a shallow-draft vessel with high, flat sides at slow speed in a restricted area.  Harbour entrances can also pose special difficulties, so it all depends upon the wind speed and direction in the harbour manoeuvring area and the sea conditions in the final approach and entrance.  These can change very quickly ( with a major wind shift etc) so you just have to monitor their bulletins closely and hope for the best!

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  3. I lived in a maritime province in Canada where it was often no colder than it has been here - but they get a lot more snow. They don't use salt or grit because it is filthy, damaging stuff and the people neither want nor need it. They just drive carefully, use the right tyres and, when it really dumps, stay at home until the ploughe have cleared or levelled it.

  4. I lived in a part of Canada where they don't use salt or grit (environmental damage) but you are required to fit snow tyres from 1st Nov to 31st Mar. They just let it snow and then drive on it - when they have a lot of snow, they let the trucks and 4x4s pack it down (a matter of a few hours) and then just drive on it. They also know how to drive on snow!

    I had a Volvo 940 estate and never got stuck in 3 winters - but with Finnish (Hakkapoliita) non-studded tyres fitted. Everyone has a set of cheap steel wheels with the winter tyres in the garage and, come the autumn, off come the shiny alloys with the high-speed tyres and on go the winter ones, which are still S-rated, so good for 100mph!

  5. Let's not forget that the Fastnet Ocean Yacht Race starts tomorrow (Sunday) morning. They have to cover over 600nm non-stop from Cowes to SW Ireland and back to Plymouth, and many boats from this year's fleet of over 300 yachts will be right in the path of this lot Tuesday/Wednesday. The winds will matter a lot to them and we must hope that there are no "low-pressure bombs" of the sort that caused the '79 Fastnet disaster in which 15 yachtsmen died out there between Land's End and the southern Irish coast.

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