It's been busy, busy, busy since my last post. Filming the next sailing skills item, some private work and a trip round the Isle of Wight.

We've had a lot of great feedback on our sailing skills series and to be honest it's a great way for me to make sure I'm doing things properly. Pete Ellis puts a lot of effort and thought into how we describe and show the different skills, it's also important for him and us that we add some extra tips that a lot of experienced sailors may not have come across. After this month's piece we'll be looking at manouvering in tight marinas, a very popular topic according to your emails.

We often get commissioned to work for different companies and create DVDs etc for their companies. We spent a day out with Voller on their Beneteau 41 which is currently doing sea trials with their new fuel cell. We were also joined for the day by Cathy Brown, editor of themainsail.com and it was nice to chat about how she approaches the web and sailing.

As I write this blog I'm looking forward to a long sleep after my 3.30 am wake up call on Saturday. I've never taken part in the Round The Island Race and quite clearly never got up early to watch the start, but I was getting quite excited as you can't help but feel the excitement on the Friday evening as more and more people arrive. I was also impressed that there was a real feeling that just taking part did count. I know there were some serious contenders but the majority were out for a challenge and a good day's sailing. We were there to watch Katie Miller and her co-skipper Dan Monk attempt the race in a 21ft Coribbee. I won't give too much away as we'll be meeting Katie this month on Yachting TV and finding out about her experience....

For those of you following Mr Slocum's progress with me, we're into the pacific...no doubt more adventures to come...

Short blog this time but after some sleep I'll be fresh enough to put some pictures of the Round The Island Race up on the blog...

have fun

Steve

Seawork and no play...

Well Tracey did manage to persuade me to go along to the Seawork Exhibition and I'm glad she did. We managed to find some useful products that will definitely be heading your way soon. Unlike the national boat shows, the atmosphere was quite relaxed with lots of industry people getting the chance to chat and explore new ideas and products. I think Tracey may have mentioned the magic liquid in her blog, but trust me it really is ... magic!!!!

On the subject of Boat Shows there's obviously been a lot of talk about the new Earls Court Boat Show coming up in December this year, but what does it mean for the boat owner/sailor? We have 2 shows currently both organised by National Boat Shows from money paid to the BMF (British Marine Federation) by its members. Do we need a third? I think the Southampton Boat Show is at the right time of year and when the weather is good there's nothing like wandering the pontoons. You really feel connected to the outside and the water.

I did enjoy the London Boat Show this year also but I must be honest and say at times I felt very self-conscious about stepping aboard some of the higher end product. It sometimes felt like the guys at the stand were equivalent to the secretary who tells you the boss is always at a meeting and can he call you back. Now, I went to a briefing by the National Boat Shows and they want all their exhibitors to address this very point so watch out at Southampton and London for Oyster et al welcoming you onboard with open arms...

So, onto Earls Court. It's hard to say at the moment what kind of product they may feature but I can only hope that they really work hard at making people feel included and welcome. My gut feeling (and this is only a guess so far) is that it may look at smaller boats rather than the high end motor yachts. We'll be catching up with both parties as the year goes on and trying to help you decide whether we'll see an increase in value for the visitors or just a duplication of boats and gear across London.

For those of you who read the last blog I thought I'd better tell you that Joshua Slocum has now navigated the Magellan Strait for the second time. His story gets more impressive by each page.

Happy sailing....


Steve

Planes, trains and....yachts

Many apologies for the delay in getting down to write another post, but it has been busy here at Yachting TV Towers.

A little detour last week when I was asked to help direct a live Airshow and not one to turn down a challenge I took on the fast, furious and very very noisy job of trying to get 4 cameramen to follow some fast planes doing aerobatics. Overall I think we succeeded with only the odd loop-the-loop passing us by.

But back to quieter and more sedate craft, we had some great news this week when I was told that Yachting TV was reviewed in Sail Magazine, the very popular US title. It was a really positive review so we'll now have to think of some items that our US friends will find interesting. In fact we had an email from an airline pilot in Texas saying that he likes to watch the pilotage items in his hotel room when he's working away "For those of us that are consigned to facing hotel walls for most days it is an absolute delight to be on a yacht chugging down a river on a pilotage briefing or watching a yacht demo at close quarters." thanks for the email Alan.

We also had an email from Sanne Groenhof who is in The Netherlands. She watched the lifejacket test and was emailing to tell us about a survey done in Holland in which they felt that a 150 newton lifejacket wouldn't be enough to turn an unconscious adult over in the water. Thanks to Sanne and we will be following this up with another test in the water as we also look at the MAIB report on the Ouzo tragedy.

And so on to more planes. Today I booked my flights for the World Cruising Club's Classic Malts Cruise. I'll be joining for the first week of the cruise and having my first sail in Scottish waters although not my first malt! I'm really looking forward to the cruise as I'll be sailing in Spray which belongs to Andrew Bishop from the World Cruising Club and is an exact copy of Joshua Slocum's Spray. Plenty to learn about and to read as I haven't read the whole of Joshua Slocum's book "sailing alone around the world". On to the net now to order a copy.

There's plenty more to talk about but at the moment I'm sworn to secrecy on a few very exciting developments for the website and content for the show. The minute I can talk I'll sing like a canary, until then...happy sailing.

Steve