Intriguing.......

I can feel a conspiracy theory coming on.

(and if it doesn't come, I can make it up!)

Not only was your compass out but Cowes had been moved to the western Solent. That is truly spooky. Call Mulder and Scully. 

well it only seems to change in the western solent when you get close to cowes. haven't noticed anything going to cowes from the east.

Iron aliens at that !!!!!

Yep the mothership IS THE ISLE OF WIGHT! Have you ever noticed how geometrical the IoW was?... Cowes is obviously the control centre, the bridge of the ship. Your compass gets perturbed by the wealth of extra-terrestrial hyperspace-crossing instruments buried deep under the Royal Yacht Squadron, that's all.......

Everybody knows that! 

Was? Has it changed lately?

Well bits do keep trying to fall into the sea every now and then...

The answer is obvious, aliens indeed!

If you look on your chart you will see lots of areas annotated cables or disused cables.  Now as these cables are used to secure the IOW to the mainland and prevent it drifting toward france, nothing deserves that fate and I say to hell with the cost, they need to be very large and made of paticularly densely wound steel. This steel with affect any compass nearby QED. 

True that France doesn't deserve the IoW coming crashing into its shores (especially because it would come straight into my Mum and Dad's front garden!).
What would Normandy do with an ageing, over-populated little island, full of chintz and cheap holidaymakers and melting ice creams and would-be yotties deluding themselves in thinking that, after all, Ellen isn't quite as she's cut out to be? Does Normandy need yet another set of too narrow roads where you can't overtake crawling GB caravans in the summer? Surely not!

PS. If you read this, MarkR, I'm only kidding! The Contender open in Brading Haven was wonderful last year and I'll be there again this year, promise!!   

Perhaps the Isle of Wight doesn't need a bunch of elderly singlehanders coming over here! 

Re the compass variations the answer could be due to geological anomalies in the sedimentary Wessex basin where differing densities of strata are to be found - alternatively it could be all the metal fittings that fall off all these Contenders.......thank God the ferries run both ways

There are a considerable number of cables around the Gurnard area including a new water pipe - I suspect that this is probably the answer although

See - I knew I was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A geological map covering 7000 square nautical miles of solid rock floor of a section of the Eastern English Channel is presented. This map is based on the results of a systematic sampling and continuous reflection profiling (Sparkers) grid. A total of 279 core stations have been manned and 3500 nautical miles of sparkers, magnetometer and echo sounding traverses were carried out.
    The bathymetric data suggest that tidal scour is the important eroding agent because the bathymetry not only illustrates the physical differences between the different sea-bed stratigraphical units but also shows the major structural features. The geological maps show a series of major strike-faulted anticlines and synclines which traverse WSW - ENE, turning E - W. and finally WNW - ESE. These major structures consist of strata ranging in age from Permo-Trias to Tertiary: The strata involved have been folded and faulted during IntraCretaceous and Tertiary movements.
    Quantitative interpretation of several of the magnetic anomalies shows that the depth to the basement varies considerably. The differences in depth to the basement are associated with the shallow geological structures. Basement control is therefore suggested to be the cause for the newly mapped offshore structures.
    The English Channel probably consists of, at least, two major depositional areas, the Wessex Basin and the Western English Channel Trough. At times throughout their geological history these basins were probably linked across the western edge of the Wessex Basin. The edge of this basin is probably situated along a line from Start Point to the Cherbourg Peninsula. It is suggested that a series of more positive basement features are present within the Wessex Basin. These features have affected the structural and depositional history of the Mesozoic and Tertiary strata. I rest my case

 and mike_ellis was right all along... and it's not a spaceship...

As for the bunch of elderly singlehanders, you're probably right, Chief Wiggam... There are more than enough on the IoW as it is!

Still, take cover on the 24-25th June in Bembridge cos we'll be back, teeehee!

Burn the sheep Blockade Cowes and go on stike till the pension and employment rights of Ethel the B&B hostess were comparable to those enjoyed by Mr. Hilton? 

Hmmm.  I am going to have to get the missus in on this one - what with her being an ex-geologist and all...

who is hiding in the basement anyway? must be those aliens. (or the welsh - they like holes in the ground too - so maybe it is welsh aliens - or the welsh are aliens...)

can i have that in english please? i knew it wasnt the aliens but could the welsh have put all these strata here

What's following hasn't been made up by a solitary, bored holidaymaker wearing a snorkel, one chilly afternoon on Ryde beach. Nooooooooooo.... it took 279 bored and snorkel-equipped holidaymakers!

We had a good look at the bottom of the sea and it's as wrinkled as our most respectable club member's rear end. The only difference is one's wetter than the other...

In places, it's a long way to dig to the rock. Elsewhere, the muck's not so deep.

 

The "English"  Channel is full of cr*p that has been churrned for a long time. The IoW happens to be on top of the biggest pile of cr*p and God only knows what's underneath...

(Well, I might have been overtranslating a little bit, but basically, it doesn't really ttell us WHY there are magnetic anomalies, does it...?) 

That's your theme for the evening, eh, Prince Buster...

 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh the delights of the Milton Keynes coast.. Can't wait to get there again...