Slightly pear-shaped: Measuring, Surveying and Mapping the World, part 2
That the Earth is round had been known for centuries; that it might also be (very) slightly oval was long-suspected, although we disagreed with the French as to which way the oval went.
In this sequel to Jeremy’s talk last year, we look in more detail at the early British and French-led projects to create accurate maps and charts. In Britain, William Roy’s 1747 Survey of the Scottish Highlands would lead to the commencement, in 1791, of our nationwide Ordnance Survey. Meanwhile, the French had been busy with an even more ambitious project (begun in 1683) to measure their own prime meridian, not just through Paris and across France but around a quarter of the globe.
If points had been awarded for effort, their meridian would have prevailed over ours, but the unit they redefined in the process (originally the length of a seconds pendulum, but now intended to be one ten-millionth of the length they were measuring) is now — for better or worse — used around most of the world.
The Greenwich and Paris meridians were linked across the Channel in 1787 using rival surveying instruments, both accurate to one arc-second (one sixtieth of one sixtieth of a degree). Each side swore their design was better (you can still see one of ours, made by Jesse Ramsden, in the Science Museum) but both gave positioning errors of only 7 inches (oh, alright, 18 centimetres).
Plus: why NATO compasses are divided into 6,400 degrees and why, if you capture a Russian field gun, you really need to watch which way you point it.
The rivers he mentioned are another layer entirely, places like the Vilaine let you trade saltwater for glassy inland cruising, tying up right beside small towns where life moves at a completely different pace.
April :- A talk that told the story of a group of SOCA members who enjoyed a Greek Flotilla to the South Ionian Islands in October 2024.
May:- Sailing Around St Lucia and St. Vincent. A talk by Terry Branston. He discussed sailing all around both islands, the customs clearance that was involved in sailing from one island to another and the local culture.
June:- Paul Gillions gave a very interesting and informative talk covering the RNLI‘s history and organisation but he focused primarily on the day-to-day operations of the lifeboat and lifeguard service illustrated with filmed footage of actual rescues and the stories that go with them.
September:- 
October:- Jeremy Batch presented “Slightly pear-shaped”: the story of Mapping and Surveying“ another of his very interesting talks on the topic of navigation.
November:- Navigating the Crinan Canal. A talk by Andrew Davidson. Andrew presented details of his trip through the Crinan Canal in Scotland. This was a very well attended meting both at the RNA and with several members joining in via Zoom.
January:- Sailing the Norfolk Broads, Narrow Boating and more. A talk by Dave Arnold. The first talk of the year was given by Dave Arnold, who described how he is staying afloat after the disposal of his East Coast boat Joint Affair. 
Awarded to Paul Comley for his trip along the North Norfolk/East Coast where he described sailing around around the area of Wells next the Sea and its neighbouring havens. 
This is an On the Water trophy awarded to a boat rather than a member. This was awarded to Honfleur, (Alex Nicholas), for the hard work put in in getting her back on th. water.
Awarded to Geff Briant for his work on the SOCA website informative and up to date and for organising the fitting out and laying up lunches.
