Problems with postings to the forum

[Julian Swindell]

This has come up in several threads. I do not know how to deal with the backslashes that appear with some punctuations. That is really odd. But huge pictures overflowing the screen is straightforward. Make them smaller. I think a maximum width of about 450 pixels fits just nicely. Really big images will either overflow off the screen, which they do in this forum, or will be resized to fit, when you loose the detail anyway. They also can take an age to load, so if there are several in a thread, you sit for ages twiddling your thumbs waiting for them to load.

Most drawing programs will allow you to resize an image before you upload it. If the picture I attached below (an early idea for a cabin version of the BayRaider...) comes through, it is 450 pixels wide.

[Matt Newland]

Hello,
I dont know what to do about the slashes, though I have raised it with the guy who built our website.

The images are a pain when too big, and Julian is right that it is best to crop them down. Most art packages can do this, essentially reducing the pixels down. Look for commands like crop, or resize.

To look at existing pictures that are too big, right click on them and say "copy". Then open MS Word or something like it, right click and say paste (or click Edit->paste) You shoudl then see the whole pic.

Apologies to any Mac users, I dont know how it works in them, but I know you all love your Macs, so I wont say anything derogatory here...

Best wishes,
Matt

[Simon Knight]

quote
Apologies to any Mac users, I dont know how it works in them, but I know you all love your Macs, so I wont say anything derogatory here...
unquote

Most of the site seems fine on a Mac, the exception being the icons are all displayed as question marks when writing a post and that warnings are sometimes posted stating that the site has not been tested on Safari.

I get the icons and no warnings if I use Firefox, so no show stoppers from the Mac.

best wishes
Simon

[Michael Rogers]

My problem is, having logged in, I can't find or work out how/where to start a new topic! "Help" indicates boxes to click which simply aren't on my screen. I am hesitant to mention the M word, which applies to me. Anyway, can I start a new topic here, and can someone clever put it in the right place? (And tell me how to do it properly in future.)

Clothing for sailing

This partly relates to the previous topic re going overboard and getting aboard again. Do any smallish-boat sailors reading this have any experience of wearing "constant use immersion suits" for sailing? My own interest would be sailing single-handed, especially early in the season, and bearing in mind that I seem to feel the effects of cold quite quickly. I have briefly worn a Fladen suit of this type (there are others on the market) in the context of a much bigger boat (75 ft schooner, actually!). The suit is very comfortable, possibly a bit on the bulky side. One wears ordinary clothes underneath. Lots of strenuous activity would probably make it rather hot to wear. However, the safety it offers is remarkable: a) twice the buoyancy of the buoyancy aid I otherwise wear: b) prolonged protection from hypothermia - the Fladen suit claims two and a half hours protection (their technical blurb defines precisely what this means) in water at 5 degrees C. I think that's very impressive, and it would take "don't-panic-but-I'm-getting-dangerously-cold" out of the situation if one should go overboard and have difficulty getting back. Plus, of course, it gives snug on-board protection from wind-chill, rain etc. Having become aware of what these suits offer, wearing one seems such a good idea (except in high summer and/or tropical climes) that there must be a snag I haven't thought of! (It can't really be cost - around £75 isn't a lot for what's offered in spec terms). Absolutely anything has got to be preferable to a wet suit, one of the most uncomfortable garments (for sailing) devised by man.

Any comments?

[Simon Knight]

Michael,
If the "M" in your post refers to a Mac & Safari then I only seem to get the option to start a topic if I log out then back in again.  I will try FireFox in a bit and I expect that it will work.

As to your other question re garments:
I use to wear a similar suit when flying.  The suits we used were made from a heavy canvas material and were designed to keep most of the water out:  from memory they had a quoted leak rate partly because they initially took in water following initial entry to the water and did not become fully water tight until the cotton fibres had absorbed water and expanded creating a seal.  I suspect that modern sailing suits are made from material that is waterproof when dry i.e. some form of man made fibre.

The suits keep you dry but they do not keep you warm.  The suit fits over the top of other garments which are what keep you warm/alive in cold water.  They are bulky to wear but are fine as long as you don t generate to much heat through exercise. However, I have been windsurfing in one (it was scrap for some reason) and it worked o.k.

It is important to get the neck and wrist seals just right - to tight and you can't breath, to loose and the water gets in. It was quite common to rip the neck and wrist seals when donning/doffing the suit, so you will need some spares and a pot of glue, the seals and the zip are the weak points.  The suits we used were scrapped if they became contaminated with oil and grease as this stopped the sealing action from working however, I suspect that this would not be such an issue with modern fibres.

Beware of the buoyancy, if you have to much in the lower legs you can find you head being forced under water which shortens survival times ;-).

The short answer is that I think they are an excellent way of extending the sailing season and that I intend getting one.

Best wishes
Simon