Communication

Isaac Asimov wrote of a society which had become so isolated from itself that the only people who had direct physical contact with each other were married couples. All interactions were performed by ‘viewing’, a holographic projection of the participators in a conversation being present giving the illusion of a real presence.

This sort of thing has appeared in all sorts of science fiction for years, but as with so many of these ‘inventions’ it was Asimov and others among his peers who first came up with the idea. It wasn’t so much the technology, though, as the social implications and the language surrounding the technology that he wrote about, understood even, with the most precision and detail.

The reason I mention this is because of the use of Skype, which enables me to regularly ‘see’ and talk with my parents in Somerset, or Sarah’s father in Portishead, in an almost natural way, much as if we were sat in the same room. It feels very much like meeting up and conversations run in a much more natural way than they would on a long distance phone call, involving everyone present with sometimes chaotic results. The boys, in particular, have taken well to the concept but have also injected a generous amount of anarchy into the proceedings.

Hanging up is particularly difficult, and no-one really likes pressing the button to close the conversation, and this brings me neatly back to the point. Asimov wrote about a society in which the inhabitants of a single planet were limited to very low numbers living on huge estates spread over vast distances necessitating the form of communication mentioned. The vocabulary which was used was a familiar one which was adapted, so that they spoke, for example, of seeing each other although actual physical presence was not involved.

I just wrote of ‘hanging up’, a phrase which is beginning to lose it’s meaning with telephones in general and has absolutely no meaning at all if you consider either Skype or even a mobile phone. I also used the term ‘pressing the button’ and we use this constantly with computers when we are using a mouse to click on an icon, which is often even shaded to look like a 3D button, to perform an action. These changes in the use of language are interesting in themselves, or they are to me anyway, but the one to which I alluded earlier is more than just a question of language. The fact is that I can see my parents, have them in the same room as me, and have a conversation which involves everyone in the room(s) with all that entails even down to the chaos. This is a change brought by the evolution of technology which affects so much more than just language.

When we say ‘see you soon’ in normal conversation we have always meant more than just seeing someone, we imply the physical presence of the person. This is because the language involved has developed over time and until very recently the possibility of seeing someone without their being with you did not exist. Now when I say ‘speak soon’ to my parents, because that was what are used to saying on the phone I mean ‘see you soon’ because that is how it feels. It’s still not quite the same as being in the same room, but it’s so much closer.

So thank you Skype, for making the conversations possible, and thank you Isaac Asimov for giving me the vocabulary to think about this and helping me to not take it for granted.

It's interesting - to me it is anyway - but the selection of a sailing boat to see the world from was based on logic. No fuel, most places are connected by the sea, there is unlimited freedom of movement, it may have been twisted logic but that was it. Sarah suggested a motor-home but the discussion was not too long, if you restrict yourself to a continent and have the cash for the fuel then fine, any strong dislike or fear of the sea would probably seal the deal too.

The thing is though, that from the first time I raised the sails then cut the outboard engine on Kate I have been hooked. I don't think I'll start racing any time soon, but the moment when the engines stop and the sucksqueezebangblow rumbling behind or below you gives way to the rush of the water, the occasional creak of the rigging and flap of the ensign is describable but inexplicable. It is a magical moment filled with romance and possibilities, especially if you are master of your own vessel. People will spend their every last spare penny chasing this dragon, the true yachties supermarket isn't Waitrose, it's LIDL.

I never meant to let the sea into my blood , but I think I have.


It may well have been quoted so often it hurts, but it would appear that ratty was right when he said:




"There is nothing- absolutely nothing-
half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."

Crossing the Channel

As ever leaving the harbour was one of the harder parts of the day and as you haven't really left the Solent until the Isle of Wight's firmly behind you this took even longer than usual.

I tried to sail for a while but must admit to failure because we had light winds mostly dead astern and I wanted to get to Cherbourg with enough light to 1) find the way in and 2) moor without too many dramas. This certainly won't be the last time this happens.

So, for the day, we were reduced to the status of a big slow motorboat, which is expensive on the diesel but otherwise no big problem.

We tried the autopilot for a bit but it's compass keeps changing by about 2 degrees either side of an average bearing which means that when it's steering it keeps correcting itself and then magnifies it's errors because it's fluctuating around its correction which was made for it's original error which was... Needless to say I disconnected the thing before it took us to Norway via the Canaries and/or my head exploded chasing the logic of it's actions. I have since been told it will work better taking it’s directions from the GPS, so we’ll give that a go soon.

The areas which are dead in line between the Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS) either end of the channel were predictably busy but safe, we came close to one ship who replied to my admittedly nervous call, saying that we were fine where we were. I throttled back a little bit anyway because I'm a bit chicken when I have my entire family floating out of sight of land on a 40 foot piece of plywood. With less visibility, more traffic or a little more paranoia I can imagine it being a little more hairy.

Being out of sight of land was also less dramatic than I'd expected, yes it was strange at first. It was a good type of strange with a strong feeling of freedom.

One small surprise was what the strength of the tides outside Cherbourg did to the boat speed and direction. It was only a small surprise because you prepare for these things in your plan but when theory becomes practice it is a whole other ballgame. In this case the concept of travelling at 12 knots at an angle to where you're actually pointed. 

Arrival in Cherbourg couldn't have been simpler and it was days before customs visited us. When they did come round the French customs couldn't have been nicer they seemed most interested in the boat, it's equipment and crew. I was asked if I had more than 50,000 euros in cash and also if I had anything to declare but it was almost nice to be acknowledged by this point, we were beginning to feel like illegal immigrants or fugitives from the law.

As I write this we have sailed across Lyme Bay/around Portland Bill, crossed the English Channel and "gone foreign", braved the tidal streams around Cap de l'Hague, entered a port after crossing what is (at low tide) half a mile of occasionally rocky beach, locked into a port, braved the rocks outside St Malo in force 6 winds and never once gone into the same port twice. We said the other day when we sailed most of the way to Carteret that we felt like proper sailors, and I think we are genuinely getting there. We spent a couple of years driving to Weymouth and sailing in and out of Weymouth harbour (very infrequently) and learnt more than we admit about boats doing that but what we've done since has taken that a lot further.

In preparation for our adventure I soaked up all the theory I could on all aspects of voyaging on a small sailing boat including the RYA syllabus on the longbow dvd - much recommended to anyone who doesn't have the time for a formal course or as a supplement to those who do. I have added the link to the right.