An electrostatic mystery ...

On a related vein I remember a local shop keeper who could tell the voltage and health of a battery simply by touching the terminals with the fingers on opposite hands. A local physics teacher refused to think this was possible but he went to visit the shop with his trusty meter. The shopkeeper called Bert was able to tell him which batteries that he had in stock were the best for voltage and he told him which would last the longest when in use. He could tell the difference as good as the meter could read.

Bert suffered from static shocks from nearly everything he touched and used a cloth over his fingers when ringing up the till. When he forgot or misjudged his prod at the keys it was a bit like a scene with the till from "Open All Hours" !

I found when on long sea voyages back in the 50’s, if the weather was really rough, Bay of Biscay etc., then a good place to be was up front of the ship and preferably out in the air and this would chase away any tendencies to “visit the side”. Worked for me during a typhoon in the Bay of Bengal. Have only ever been seasick once and that was when I was 8 years old and having boarded in Southampton early evening I woke the following morning entering the Bay of Biscay in a Force 10, it was rough! I am sure that it was due to being below in an enclosed cabin where you have no reference horizon and your balance mechanism is confused and working overtime with no visual reference to rely on. Spent nearly 5 months at sea at various times and only seasick the once and never airsick having flown in many aircraft in all weathers.

Dave W

On a rather rough crossing to the Isle of Man a friend and I found the rolling and pitching was least in a bar that was still open but very quiet in the centre of the ship so we started as we meant to go on and had a few beers

Mike