Category: Life the universe and everything

UK Met Office Website Redesign Thoughts

Published on by Klaus HarrisLeave a comment

As a dinghy sailor and instructor, I completely rely on weather forecasts to help me plan activities on the water, and I usually look at forecasts at least a couple of times during the day, pulling data from at least two sources. I also look at synoptic charts depending on the conditions and planned activity.

I’ve found the UK Met Office forecasts to be good, but they’re pushing out a new site design which I fear will make it harder to read the data. The usability issues with the new site are kind of bugging me, and since they seem to be interested in user feedback, I thought I’d write some thoughts down. Who knows, maybe someone will read this and find it interesting or useful.

BTW, all credit to the Met Office for launching the new design with a site switcher to allow users to switch between old and new designs, as well as seeking user feedback via the pop-up mini survey.

Anyway, let’s have a look at the old and new designs.

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RS Aero Tiller and Rudder Stock Corrosion. Stored in Boat vs at Home

Published on by Klaus Harris1 Comment

My Aero will be six this year and I can share some interesting pictures of two rudder stocks + tillers that I’ve had.

My first was damaged in the boat park and was replaced around two and a half years ago, so they have both now had about the same use.

I have a sea boat, and while both were rinsed the same after sailing, the top one was left in the boat whereas the bottom one lives at home in my office.

A striking difference.

In the picture below, the top one is the home stored rudder, the bottom was boat stored. They don’t look that different at first glance, but there is more corrosion on the bottom one which also has some swelling.

Here’s a close up of old boat stored one.

In conclusion, if you can, don’t store the rudder in the boat if you sail in the sea.

Fortunately the RS Aero is pretty good for corrosion compared to an ILCA/Laser that has metal spars.

RS Aero spars are corrosion proof, and the only things that appear to corrode are the deck clam cleats, mast top clam cleat and the tiller / rudder stock.

Get Your RS Aero Ready for the New Season

Published on by Klaus HarrisLeave a comment

With the new season just around the corner, I thought I’d share some pre-season preparation tips.

1. Replace the halyard or halyard top

If you’re an active RS Aero sailor, it’s probably a good idea to get a new halyard every season, or at a minimum replace the halyard top.

When the halyard top wears, it won’t hold so well in the mast top cleat. My halyard tail has broken a couple of times over the years, each time just below the knot or splice depending which halyard type I was using.

The halyward tail broke again recently – and since it was starting to slip anyway – I tried Sammy Isaacs-Johnson’s suggestion to use the Rooster RS Aero Halyard upgrade. This works a treat, holds tight, is easy to pull through the mast top bullseye and I was able to reuse the halyard tail.

Continue reading “Get Your RS Aero Ready for the New Season” →