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18th January 2021, 02:12 PM
#11
Re: St elmos fire
I have seen them all, But one I have heard of, and Never seen is the .... White Lady of Finnisterre,
If you see her walking across the sea near Finnisterre your ship is Doomed
Anyone heard of that ??
Last edited by Captain Kong; 18th January 2021 at 02:19 PM.
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18th January 2021, 02:18 PM
#12
Re: St elmos fire

Originally Posted by
Captain Kong
I have seen them all, But one I have heard of, and Never seen is the .... White Lady of Finnisterre,
If you see her walking across the sea near Finnisterre your ship is Doomed
........aaaaaaaagh......thank the lord i only saw the black lady of finisterrre then the doctor dammit
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18th January 2021, 02:27 PM
#13
Re: St elmos fire

Originally Posted by
Ivan Cloherty
And don't forget the green flash on a clear night when the sun's upper limb passes beneath the horizon at twilight
###think i once heard the sizzle as the sun went into the water at sunset but it could have been the filet steak sizzling on the avonmoor when they were using the food up before the sale to the chinese
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18th January 2021, 08:10 PM
#14
Re: St elmos fire
At wireless college we were told that St Elmo's Fire is due to corona discharge from sharp points such as masts and spars. It is caused by a build up of static electricity in some atmospheric conditions. In the Red sea and Gulf of Aden it was not a surprise to have blue balls of electricity enter the radio room through the aerial inputs. The blue balls would pop their way from insulator to insulator to arrive at the aerial switch gear. By opening the aerial knife switches you could draw out lovely arcs of blue light.
Harry Nicholson
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18th January 2021, 09:58 PM
#15
Re: St elmos fire
Static electricity is also built up by a helicopters rotor blades. When landing people by harness from a hovering helicopter to the deck of a ship it was usual as a safety precaution for someone on the deck to touch the belt buckle on the harness with what we called the shepherds crook. This was to earth him before his feet touched the deck where he was liable to get a short burst of static electricity.
The shepherds crook was simply a broom shank with an electric cable attached one end earthed to the deck and the other open end able to touch the belt buckle . Have never heard of any fatalities from not using, as special forces and the likes never used, just usually big fat admirals and the like. JS
When you read excerpts from the likes of the Bible and other old. Works of literature and reference is made to such blinding rays of light , there is every possibility that they are in reference to such as. People on this site have witnessed. The story of Noah’s Ark with a few embellishments is probably very true as seen through the eyes of earlier people. As huge storms and floods are not only conducive to the 21 century. Weather has existed throughout mans ( and women’s) time on earth. JS
Last edited by j.sabourn; 18th January 2021 at 10:19 PM.
R575129
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18th January 2021, 10:48 PM
#16
Re: St elmos fire
#14. Harry either yourself or the likes of Vic who was an electrician are probably both capable of giving a clearrer picture of the possible reasons, without consulting the electronic brain of the computer. A one that would probably be appreciated by most would be the effect of sun spots on radio communications as well. Most don’t realize that radio communications also has limitations as well. Most today think everything they use is there purely to assist them in the comfort and joy of their living experience. I was caught myself in transit the other day by various fires out here and a lot of roads were closed , the detours and the other routes to take were very badly shown, and I the same as everyone else was complaining about the lack of police presence in conducting the huge traffic hold ups. It is easy to see how easy it is to cause panic among people. In the case of a war breaking out there would be no communications and with today’s generation doesn’t bear thinking about. Cheers JS.
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19th January 2021, 12:45 AM
#17
Re: St elmos fire
Hi Cappy.
I witnessed St Elmo's fire a number of times in different seas. Going down to Aruba the deck was full of bouncing balls of fire, it felt like you could have kicked them. Then just short of Freemantle the fore deck was lit up like a Xmas tree.
I have also seen the Northern lights a few times and the Southern Aurora. My brother and sister visited us from Yorkshire when we lived up the Blue Mountains, they had never seen a lightening storm, they sat outside while this electrical storm went on for about an hour, all different types of lightening flashing in the sky.
In the Gulf of Carpentaria we followed a Russian ship that was performing some weird things turning upside down standing on it's bow etc. a mirage that kept us amused to think that we were probably doing the same for them.
Des
R510868
Lest We Forget
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19th January 2021, 05:31 AM
#18
Re: St elmos fire
The Red sea, so caused as when the wind blows in a certain direction sand lays across the top giving a e effect.
Seen many odd sights at sea, even now on cruises you can come across some odd ones.
Couple of years back in the southern ocean we struck a water spout.
This was a big one and came with some force.
It struck the ship about a third of the way along and gave it a good shake.
Passengers were told of it by one of the deck officers so of course they all came on deck to see it.
Some moved faster than they ever have when realizing where it was going to hit the ship.


Happy daze John in Oz.
Life is too short to blend in.
John Strange R737787
World Traveller

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19th January 2021, 06:01 AM
#19
Re: St elmos fire
A day before arriving in New Zealand many years ago, almost a flat calm sea when suddenly the whole ship started vibrating wildly as though the propellor had dropped off, lasted for a couple of minutes before things returning to normal. Heard later the North Island had undergone a serious earthquake on or shortly after the episode at sea. Assumed that the shock waves from the earthquake had spread out to sea . JS
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19th January 2021, 08:29 AM
#20
Re: St elmos fire

Originally Posted by
Des Taff Jenkins
Hi Cappy.
I witnessed St Elmo's fire a number of times in different seas. Going down to Aruba the deck was full of bouncing balls of fire, it felt like you could have kicked them. Then just short of Freemantle the fore deck was lit up like a Xmas tree.
I have also seen the Northern lights a few times and the Southern Aurora. My brother and sister visited us from Yorkshire when we lived up the Blue Mountains, they had never seen a lightening storm, they sat outside while this electrical storm went on for about an hour, all different types of lightening flashing in the sky.
In the Gulf of Carpentaria we followed a Russian ship that was performing some weird things turning upside down standing on it's bow etc. a mirage that kept us amused to think that we were probably doing the same for them.
Des
well des the sea certainly does strange things ...and it is one of the few wildernesses left ......but what a learning curve for our lives ahead of us....R683532
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