A Bit More About That Survey.


Sometimes you just can't make it up.......

The day arrived to begin, the man from Holland was aboard with his box of sophisticated tide measuring gizmo's along with four members of the council, numerous flasks of coffee and of course us.

Off we went!

The man opened his box and - I kid you not - produced two pieces of plywood about three feet square which fitted together to form an X shape. This had a line attached to a small marker buoy and that was it.

The idea was that this would be put in the sea whereby the "Vane" would sink down into the tide run and three shore based people with theodolites would take bearings at set intervals to see how far and fast it had moved.

Well....... we threw it in and of course wood being wood it floated nicely on the surface.

Waiting for Mr Dutch guy to produce all sorts of fancy weights from his box to get it to sink, we - the crew - started looking at each other with slightly raised eyebrows.

To cut a long story short the "Vane" left the boat with an assortment of rusty spanners and shackles - that were found in the recesses of the boat - tied to the bottom of it.

Off it went only for the radio to crackle into life as the shore based people informed us that they couldn't see it because the marker buoy was too small.

Much deliberation later and it was agreed that I would place the boat next to the buoy at a set place on the hull and they should be able to see it. At this point it is worth noting that this was one of the calmest days......... ever! The sea was a sheet of mirror glass.

As I went alongside there was this strange guttural noise from out on the deck, it seemed that Mr Finger in the dam was hopping about on one leg as he was terribly concerned about the two inch bow wave knocking the "Vane" off line and giving false readings.

It was at this point that we knew this was nothing more than a box ticking exercise and not a serious survey. We were at sea! As soon as any wind blows there will be waves, not little ripples, waves, and so it was.

Chatting to Mr Edam, it turned out his firm do current suveys on..........wait for it...........rivers. Oh dear.

One day we had to abandon half way through as the theodolite on the pier head kept blowing over in the South Westerly gale, this was much to the agreement of the council folk aboard that day as the waves were washing over the stern and running up the deck causing them to huddle in the wheelhouse. Aaaa.

I would think anyone looking at those results might just want to question why there is a distinct North Easterly flow in the tides over that survey period.

But.......all the boxes must have been ticked and all the relevent hoops must have been jumped through, because Herne Bay now has its own Harbour/Sea defence.

Just don't tell anyone.

Until next time.........................

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