Health & Safety rules us off the water

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Last month I went out in a 30 ft boat to test it on behalf of YM readers. At this time of year the sea is at its coldest. The wind got up to Force 7. I was not wearing a lifejacket. But I survived and you, dear reader, will get to read the test soon.

But that was last month. This month I must now fill in a Health & Safety form and hand it in to an 'H&S Advisor' and wait to see 'if further action is required'. As an academic exercise I filled it in and discovered I had taken an 'unacceptable risk.'

Never mind the wind, or the sea temperature, or the lack of flotation device, by going to a 'remote location, relying on equipment and being around water' I was taking an extreme risk. Throw in the rest: near gale, etc l was taking an unacceptable risk.

On the way back from Tollesbury in Essex where I'd done the sailing, I was overtaken on a single carriageway road. The oncoming car flashed my overhauler, who narrowly missed creating a head on collision.

I'm thinking of selling the car.