The highlights of the weekend were the full moon on Saturday and the low tides and sunsets on Sunday and Monday evenings.
You also you meet some very strange people on the beach!
The low tides were apparently exceptional, and, as reported in the Daily Mail:
“Coastguards at the Needles, on the western side of the Isle of Wight, dealt with five ships in distress at the same time.
Among them was the 2,900 tonne cargo ship Paula-C, on its way to Cowes with a crew of nine. They were forced to wait for a high tide to lift them clear of a shingle bank.
A coastguard spokesman said a 25 foot yacht had also run aground and three other vessels were also marooned by the unexpected turn of events.
He said: ‘We checked them all and there were no injuries, just some surprise at being caught out like this. Blame it on the Moon.’”
However, the full moon on Saturday night, wasn’t just any old full moon. It appeared much larger and brighter than usual as it made its closest approach to Earth in 18 years.
Scientists estimate that the “supermoon” was 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter at its peak.
Full moons vary in size because of the oval shape of its orbit. On Saturday, the moon was 221,565 miles away — the closest to Earth since 1992.
This type of full moon tends to bring a range of high and low tides, but experts say that’s nothing to worry about. Nor, apparently, is there any truth to the superstition that supermoons cause natural disasters.
Try telling that to the Japanese!
‘Oh swear not by the moon, the fickle moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circle orb,’ wrote Shakespeare in the 16th century, reflecting his long-held fascination with the cycles of our nearest satellite.
I think he was spot on.
On a lighter note, our daughter Karen and her family visited us at the caravan last weekend and our eldest grandson, Ryan aged 7, on seeing the sign “Welcome to Selsey” decided he would call the town Lesley.
No, he is not dyslectic; he just has a good sense of humour, (sometimes), and perhaps he will go on to be a future Countdown champion.
I’ll have to pass on some tips from the Welsh Bard.
Heres a shot of Janice and I having a picnic on the beach:
Off to Lesley again tomorrow for the start of the geriatric entertainment season.
Bet you wish you will be there!
