THE Y.L.A., with a growing membership of 7,000, continues to recruit members and with the yachting season in full swing it is hoped that members will do their utmost to recruit yet more names to the books.

By joining the Y.L.A. you arc privileged to be a member of an association which is dedicatedto improving safety at sea for the coastal sailor.

A governor of the Institution is entitled to vote at the annual meeting. A full member (minimum annual subscription £3) can wear any of the insignia of the association and an.

associate member the lapel badge only. All receive free copies of the Institution's quarterlyJournal and can be proud to be helping others at sea.

Interested yachtsmen and boat owners who want to support the R.N.L.I, in this way are invited to contact the Y.L.A. office at 29a Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Tel.: Salisbury 6966 (STD 0722).

Mr. J. L. Fridlington of Sutton-on-Forest (Y.L.A. No. 1580-F) organised a sponsored walk from Sutton-on-Forest to Helmsley—a distance of 20 miles.

Mrs. J. Potter of Sutton-on-Forest and Mrs.

N. Moreland and Mrs. V. Ling, both of Strensall, completed the walk and raised £78.10 for the Institution.

Mr. Alasdair Garrett, who is promoting the Y.L.A., writes: 'On the afternoon of 3rd May, I was relaxing on the deck of the brigantine Joanna of Foulness owned by Nigel Heriot (Y.L.A.

No. 7438) and a fellow governor of the R.N.L.I.

It was a fine sunny afternoon with a light nor' easterly and we had just arrived at Burnhamon- Crouch, completing a passage from Salcombe.

'I was astonished to see the Clacton life-boat escorting a motor yacht up river and I boarded the life-boat to find out the reason for the operation. It was a sad tale of misadventure.

The yacht had sailed from Harwich bound for the Crouch and, her compass failing, the owner decided he could navigate his vessel without this essential aid! 'Somehow or other he managed to reach the N.E. Maplin buoy and realising that he was hopelessly lost he then used his R/T to call for assistance and accordingly the Clacton life-boat was launched. The service took 8 - hours.

'One can only assume that this vessel had neither lead line nor D/F set. No yacht should ever be without the former and its use in estuary is a sound aid to pilotage. However, the story has a happy ending as the owner has joined the Association as a governor to mark his appreciation of the service rendered.

'In the conditions prevailing at the time, itwould have been more prudent to have followed the coast up the Wallet making the Crouch by the Raysand channel on a rising tide or if the depth of water did not permit this by the Wallet Spitway and thence by using the lead to keep to the Buxey side of the Whitaker channel until land was again sighted at the entrance to the Crouch.

'A fortnight later I traversed these waters again under very different conditions. The forecast spoke of 'fog patches' and as we left our moorings at Pin Mill in thick fog, we had hopes that the patch would not persist. In the event it proved to be a patch of over 30 miles! The last mark to be sighted was the Beach buoy off Landguard and our next the North Foreland light and the Elbow buoy simultaneously about 7.30 p.m. the same evening. The two governors of the R.N.L.I, aboard were responsible for this exacting pilotage.

'After leaving the Orwell, we made the Medusa Channel and then across Goldmer Gat to round an invisible Sunk Head Tower, the rise of tide allowing us to sail across the Long Sand into the Knock Deep which is almost totally unfrequented by shipping. The echo-sounder was kept going constantly and frequent D/F bearings were taken on the Sunk light vessel and the North Foreland. Indeed without the echo-sounder a crossing of the estuary with visibility seldom more than a quarter of a mile would not have been attempted.

'In addition to the main compass, two other compasses were carried—one for D/F and one hand-bearing compass. The patent log was streamed off the Beach buoy and with these aids we were confident of a reasonably accurate D.R. plot. Our endeavours were finally rewarded by a spanking north easterly and we had a splendid sail until the wind backed westerly off Beachy. We made the Solent by way of the Looe channel and berthed in Lymington in comfortable time for dinner and a train to London.'.