USV

 Which might stand for unmanned surface vehicle or unmanned surface vessel or un-crewed surface vessel appears to the the collective noun for self driving boats . And distinct from self drive hire boats, USVs are boats which operate autonomously without a crew.

I'm pretty sure this is one such USV and that I posted about it back in 2024 and thanks to eagle eyed friend Greg we have some much better photos.

The hull form is quite narrow, almost like a rib without the tubes and the tumble-home above the hull deck joint seems to speak of a mostly low profile above the water which is probably good for military purposes.

 Difficult to tell from the pictures but using the car in the background seems to be 25 to 30 feet.

Folk boat everyday

 When you have a house like this Folk boats are not just for Fridays.

 Not sure if this is exactly a folk boat, but certainly looks like a derivative, not a Marieholm as it doesn't have the distinctive M.

Frostbite Sailing

Crews gathering for a frostbite race.

Keelboat racing is probably more appealing than dinghies at this time of year especially with a cool northerly wind running.

Nice to be out on the water in winter but tactician and navigator installed below at the chart table sounds like a good position.

 

Training train

Easy way to get out of the river to the race area and go sailing, especially in the low wind conditions.

 

 

River Path

Our local council have been busy along the river path joining Swanwick to Warsash. Where the culverts connect the lagoons connecting Bunny Meadows and the river, they have constructed fences along the path to prevent anyone or dogs falling in.

There are 5 or 6 sets of these along the 3 mile stretch of the river path, and lets say that each set cost £5,000 or £6,000 to erect, that's a lot of money to spend to protect people from being stupid, the culverts were clearly marked and already protected by grates so no one could get swept through. At the time when taxation in UK is at an absolute height you have to question this sort or expenditure 

And more so when  maintenance of the actual fabric of the pathway is so  neglected, here a recent shoring up of the path was done so badly that it's almost breached again and being washed away by the high tides. There are many  sections of the path like this in dire need to properer repair and reinforcement.

Interesting then that the council choose to spend what limited funds they claim to have on gates such as this. There is another set up river by the old stone pier. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but maybe installing a couple of gates and preventing people using the path might be cheaper than making the repairs and of course the path will be closed for our own safety.

 It's said that something should never be attributed to malice what can be explained by incompetence, but I think the jury is out on this one. Comments from the authorities are most welcome.

Trucking

Universal marina is situated at the end of winding and narrow Crableck Lane, so boats arriving by road transport can be a challenge.

This fine looking yacht looks to have a hard time with some serious damage to the port side.

All credit to the driver who had to execute a 5 point turn to get around the tight bend at the top of the lane, perhaps once the repairs are completed the boat will be able to leave by sea.

 

Winter gales in prospect

 Emsworth dinghy park boats hunkered down for the winter gales.

 No bad thing taking the mast down every year, good opportunity to check things over and make sure everything is in good shape come spring.