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| Important NewsWildlife Sailing
faces stormy seas and rising sea level. We are sorry to report that all our
Offshore Cruises have ended this year. The main reason is that the last 3
summers have been the windiest we have ever known. In addition, all the seal
haul outs have been sinking every year since we started 16 years ago. The first
one we visited disappeared in 1998 so we changed to another one which by 2007
did not appear above water, except during the big early morning low tides. In
2008 we changed to a third bank 6 miles offshore, with grey and common seals on
a sand bar with deep water on both sides. During the winter of 2008, this bar,
consisting of what must be many thousands of tons of sand, collapsed, blocking
the channel. Most of the seals have disappeared, because they prefer quick
access to deep water. During the last 16 years, global warming has caused a sea
level rise of about 8 cm, speeding up each year. This seems very little, but as
most sandbanks are very flat, huge areas are now covered at low tide. This
should mean that the water round the banks is deeper, but the opposite is true
because the sand is spreading out making the water shallower each year.
Wildlife's draft of only 54cm, used to be ideal near sandbanks but is now too
deep. This, plus the almost continuous rough seas during 2009, meant that most
days were too dangerous to set sail and caused a disastrous 80% cancellation
rate. The Yacht Wildlife is for sale- see Link on Home Page. If we still own
Wildlife in the summer of 2010 we intend to run some commercial cruises from
Harty Ferry near Faversham. There are no pristine sandbanks to walk on, but
there are large flocks of birds, a few seals, creeks to explore and sheltered
sailing. Our future plans are to purchase a much smaller day sailer for private
use, but one that could carry 4-5 passengers if an MCA licence is possible. This
will float in 30cm of water and could be pulled up on to an offshore bank in
calm conditions. We are very greatly indebted to the incredible support from
many thousands of passengers, crew and family during the last 16 years. Mike
Turner. |
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