LETTERS

Ann Langmuir Kellam pointed out an error in the last Flying Fish, for which I apologise:

It is a great honour and pleasure for me to have been accepted into membership of your organisation. I will wear my pin proudly. Unfortunately however, somewhere along the way my address has come up with a misprint and the postal code is incorrect as listed on page 64 of your latest journal. The address should be: c/o 133 Lonsdale Main Street, Lincoln, Rhode Island 02865, USA. A second misprint appears in the name of my dear and well-loved boat! It is Peace and not Peale. I would appreciate a correction in the annual membership roster.*

Until April I will be living in Bristol, UK. After that my American address will be valid as Peace heads for the warmth of the Mediterranean. I will raise my burgee with the famous Flying Fish and look for new friends in my future voyages.

Pat and Mike Pocock wrote from Tasmania just after Christmas, sending a photograph of our Commodore at the helm of Blackjack:

We have just had a super and very active three weeks' cruise from Launceston round to Hobart with the Commodore aboard. Coupled with her Helsinki trip, Mary covered more than 100of latitude in 1992! (See photograph page 00).

We recently heard that the Neisau Marina in Lautoka, Fiji has failed, so our recommendation on page 44 of Flying Fish 1992/2 (Further Afield in Fiji) is sadly rather misleading. Apparently a number of yachts have been stranded on the hardstanding -- we hope they have managed to themselves back in somehow.

Nick Lowes composed the following letter in early January, originally for his local paper in Sydney, Australia:

Whilst Europe seems distant to all of us living here -- on the other side of the world -- the most recent shipping disasters are not. In our case, since the oil tanker was well away from the coast of Western Australia a major problem was avoided by towing the stricken vessel into deep water (where she was then sent to the bottom). One wonders what might have happened if this vessel had broken up close to the unspoilt beaches between Perth and Port Heland? Would our visitors, journeying north from Perth, still have that unique opportunity to see a dolphin at such close quarters?

Half a world away we have seen the most recent accidents on television. The wreck of the Aegean Sea in north-west Spain resulted in horrendous damage to both wildlife and the local people's way of life. The Brear in the Shetlands is likely to prove just as bad. The Exxon Valdez and the Torrey Canyon are further back in time, both affected the ecology of the environment where they met disaster probably more than they did the local inhabitants.

The question of the accident concerning the Aegean Sea has still to be resolved but, knowing how the weather can be near near Coruna no-one seems to have asked the obvious question of why the captain was trying to enter harbour in bad weather. The safest place to be in such conditions is as far out to sea as possible. A matter of common sense to sailors and landsmen alike.

Having a considerable interest in the sea, its ways and its laws (written and unwritten), there is a unpleasant common factor in all these accidents. As an amateur sailor rather than a professional seaman I have found a surprising number of large ships flying `flags of convenience' and, all of these horrific accidents apart, feel that maritime law needs closer scrutiny. In 1976, ready to go through the Panama Canal en route from the UK to New Zealand, I was offered a Panamanian Master's Ticket for the sum of US $25. Sailing a 23 ton yacht around the world is a relatively easy task but this piece of paper, completely regardless of my qualifications, would have enabled me to become skipper of a ship not exceeding 75,000 tons -- a similar size to that which caused all the problems in the Shetlands!

And finally, Harry Ingham felt he should share a discovery:

`When you see Ned Cuttle bite his nails, then you will know that Ned Cuttle is aground.' So said Dickens in Dombey & Son, and also let us know that the indomitable Ned was for ever on the lookout for a `nicely situated little grog shop'.

With this in mind I am sure he would have spared a glance at The Flying Fish on the outskirts of Newhaven on the Channel coast, where they have been serving ale for the past four hundred years. The local beer is particularly good -- strong enough to cure a sailor's thirst, if a bit powerful for four-wheelers. The food is simple, freshly cooked and inexpensive.

At some period, by some mischance, it fell into the hands of The Pub Architect, probably the most derogatory job description in the English language. An annex has been tastefully designed to accommodate a pool table. Another area, with genuine Tudor beams circa 1989, houses a number of gambling machines, each one a myriad of flashing and occulting lights which would make the average navigator deeply distressed and wishful of taking a long walk over the stern.

All in all OCC members should not break a crosstree trying to get there, but if you do as I did and sit outside on a fine summer evening, you do begin to get the feel of what a traditional English pub could be like.

* Although three-yearly rather than annual, new Members Handbook is indeed scheduled for late this year or early 1994.

* A review of the three videos Lin and Larry made while in Australia appears on page 00.