In fact, I’ve been here ten years, and based on the ‘A’ test, this is the highest tide I’ve witnessed.

In fact, that cross is a very important safety feature for any of the marine users navigating this part of the English Channel for its the Sovereign Light Tower.

Around about that point on the sea bed there’s a sand bank and at low tide it can be as shallow as about 2.5-3 meters.  That’s been a hazard to shipping over the years and has seen many ships run aground.

In olden days, to prevent this happening, there was an actual ship called the Royal Sovereign that had a lighthouse on it and was anchored on the bank to prevent ships running aground.

In modern times, the boat has been replaced by a more formal structure, which consists of a tower sticking into the sea bed with a helicopter platform and a lighthouse on top of it.

If you get a chance take one of the boat tours out there, it’s certainly well worth a look.

Click for more photos!

This is when he came ashore to rest…

…As You May Be In For a (Nice) Surprise!

I first reported on the fraudulent charges Southern Water were billing Sovereign Harbour residents inmy post Money Down the Drain way back in April 2006!
The sterling work that Ray Battersby started and the SHRA’s Waterlines newsletter reported on meant that all Eastbourne Marina residents were supposed to get an automatic refund without having to go through the bureaucratic rigmarole.

But this has taken some time.

So, imagine my surprise when I opened my bill the other day only to discover a line on the statement saying ‘refund’, though it didn’t offer an explaination.

Check your bills carefully, you may have been refunded too

We like living on the marina to enjoy all of the good things ‘Mother Nature’ has to offer.

Here are 4 ways to help her by reducing your own Carbon Footprint by thinking about the things you do that involve producing the harmful carbon dioxide through burning fossil fuels.

1. Don’t leave your car engine running when you don’t need to – a mere ten minutes of engine idling produces almost a quarter of a ton of CO2 emissions a year.
2. Composting your fruit and veg instead of putting in with your other household rubbish will save a family of 3 around 0.125 tons of carbon dioxide a year
3. Improperly inflated tyres means you use more fuel. This alone could save a further 0.13 tons a year; and,
4. Since a short-haul flight produces about 0.5 tons of carbon dioxide, think about taking a short-break here in the UK rather than jumping on the next cheap flight!

All of these are common sense and practical, and may help save the planet long enough for your grand-children to enjoy health, success and happiness in everything they do too.

Jon

With green issues more prevalent than ever, the website junkk.com provides details of 100s of ways you can

reuse rather than waste

everyday household items by converting them from something you want to throw out, into something more practical.

Many of them provide excellent min-projects for your kids!

Proving that

One person’s rubbish is another’s treasure

the website freecycle.org is a forum where two local people can contact one another to swap what they don’t want for something they do.

It really is that simple!

Web auction sites like eBay are a great way to get rid of your unwanted items.

Make Money and Reduce Landfill

at the same time!

It’s amazing what other people will buy – you may even pick up a little bargain or two yourself ;-)

These are a much needed, and long-overdue addition to this area of Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour.

Residents have been campaigning for over three years about the need for signs like these to increase public awareness to the potential dangers of the boat lanes and especially the mud which is exposed at low tides…

There have been at least three incidents in recent times where children have unwittingly got stuck in the innocent-looking mud and required Coastguard and other emergency services to assist in the rescue.

A couple of these have featured on the local Meridian News on ITV!

Summertime also sees the beach being used by locals and tourists alike as the sea is sheltered and appears safe for swimming in and playing about in inflatable toys and canoes, but, people in the sea are difficult to see (no pun intended ;->) by boat skippers and their crew, and accidents can all too easily happen.

Although the Bank Holiday weather was pretty dire, with torrential rain (well what did you expect), at least these signs are a victory for common sense and will hopefully prevent future accidents in one of Eastbourne’s best tourist locations.

Wishing you health, success and happiness in everything you do,

The photo shows an underwater frame, which is one technique of surveying all or part of a dive site. The other technique we used…

… involves taking relative measurements from one or more fixed line/s (datum) that are set-up on the dive site.

Doing this type of thing was great fun, but also highlighted what you take for granted on ‘dry land’.

Underwater, you aren’t able to talk to your buddy other than through primative sign language, writing on a slate is harder, and you need to remember to breathe ;-)

Overall a very busy and interesting one-day course.

We all plan to do the next level course later in the year, so watch this space for a review of that.

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