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Rounding Lands End on the way back from Scotland to the Solent, we were confronted in the dusk with six sets of navigation lights! For the previous three months, seeing any large ship had been worthy of a note in the log. It was a startling reminder that in the Channel, commercial traffic continues to grow. For the first time in more than 2 months we used the radar to establish the range, course and speed of the visible ships. Of course as we approached the Solent, the density of yachts increased and we realised that we would have to get used to our normal weekend sailing which, in the Solent, is often like going for an afternoon drive on the M4.
Most of us sail because we like the challenge of being on the water, and the peace of a quiet mooring at the end of the day. We enjoy the freedom, the lack of regulation, and the pleasure of seeing the natural world close to. Who can ever forget the sight of dolphins playing under the bow of your own vessel? Or a dawn at sea signalling the end of a cold night?
But the pressures are building up as more and more people take to the water. Others also have an eye on our pastime. Environmentalists allege that we are a significant cause of pollution and environmental disturbance; regulators are taking an ever-greater interest, especially as the call on rescue services climbs to unprecedented heights; and from Europe we see pressures building for increased control through regulation, registration of boats, and certification of crews. Planning pressures, often combined with environmental designations, are making it ever harder to provide new moorings suitable for the increasing numbers of boats of ever increasing size.
Can yachting, as we have known it for 100 years survive? Where are the greatest threats? What (if anything) can be done?
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