The meeting is cancelled - as of Friday night the Met office is forecasting is a Severe Gale force over the Donna Nook area with 80mph winds over exposed coast. 80MPH winds will not only ruin your kit but also you.
from the met offices site on Friday 1st Dec '06 at 18.00 ---
"Lincolnshire
Severe Gales 2100 Sat 2 to 0300 Mon 4
The Met Office is expecting a vigorous depression to bring more very wet and windy weather to the UK this weekend. Southerly winds will increase Saturday evening to give gusts of 70 to 80 mph on coasts and hills of Wales, with 60-70 mph for parts of southwest England, southwest Scotland and County Down in Northern Ireland. This belt of very strong winds will continue to spread east across the rest of England and Wales Saturday night giving gusts of 60mph inland and up to 70mph on southern coasts and hills. Although winds will ease down for a time Sunday morning, later in the day another swathe of severe gales will spread across central parts of the UK. Westerly winds will gust to 60-70mph, but up to 80 mph over exposed coasts and hills of Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England. The severe gales this weekend will bring a risk of disruption to electricity supplies and transport, as well as some structural damage. "
apologies
T
The next UKNP 'gathering' will be at CANCELLED
Venue: Donna Nook
Date: 3rd Dec 2006
Time: 7.20am for the early birds in the car park and 12.30pm for others at the burger van.
Subject: Photographers and Seals.
Sunrise: 07.55
Sunset: 15:44
Tides: Low tide is approx at 10.21, next High tide is at 16.30 ( all tide times + or - 30 min dependant upon weather)
There is a carpark on-site but it fills up quickly. The local farmer opens a field for additional parking but it costs (approx £1) and if the weather ain't good it can be a slippery business getting back out onto the road. There is a Burger/Tea Van on-site but no toilets.
Please remember to bring good, warm, weatherproof clothing and wellies/waders otherwise you are going to get damp and cold. The walk out to the flats is about 40 minutes and usually the sand is blowing everywhere so a bin bag to cover your bag/exposed kit is a good idea.
Posted by Gary Beers on November 8, 2006 at 5:02 AM
Ross and I will be there for the early shift - see you then.
Donna Nook is well visited, and you have to be there early for the car park. That said, I have only ever seen a max of 30 photographers on on the flats and have never had a problem isolating a seal (there are too many of them). W.r.t. Blakney, yep they are there but they ain't people friendly.
No guarntees, but nothing ventured...
Posted by Danny Green on November 30, 2006 at 2:19 PM
Hello Everyone
I can understand people having second thoughts but frankly it doesn't matter if there are 2 photographers or 200 photographers if you have an idea on what you want to acheive then you will succeed. I had a fantastic Day there on Sunday and got some of my best Grey Seal pictures. There was only about 20 photographers out on the flats as it is a hard walk and puts a lot of people off. Most of the people were on the dunes looking out over the seals close in. The car park was terrible but I got there late so if possible an early start is best I am sure. This is a great days photography and one I am glad I haven't missed this year. If the weather is good I will be back so hopefully will see people on Sunday.
Therefore, in knowledge of this and assuming it remains in force, I would ask those going to re-consider. 80 MPH winds on an exposed coast is not a good place to be.
T
Posted by Gary Beers on December 1, 2006 at 1:17 PM
Tom - thanks for this and the call. We have decided to stay in the warm!
Posted by Paul Thomas on December 1, 2006 at 1:52 PM
Looks like Mother Nature has had the final say and I, for one, am not foolhardy enough to ignore her. Thanks for getting in touch Tom. I look forward to meeting you and the other NPN members at the UKNP conference
Posted by Tim Munsey on December 1, 2006 at 4:48 PM
Oh shucks. Still seeing it's pretty close I will get there so some fruit has come of this.
Discussion
17 repliesfrom the met offices site on Friday 1st Dec '06 at 18.00 ---
"Lincolnshire
Severe Gales 2100 Sat 2 to 0300 Mon 4
The Met Office is expecting a vigorous depression to bring more very wet and windy weather to the UK this weekend. Southerly winds will increase Saturday evening to give gusts of 70 to 80 mph on coasts and hills of Wales, with 60-70 mph for parts of southwest England, southwest Scotland and County Down in Northern Ireland. This belt of very strong winds will continue to spread east across the rest of England and Wales Saturday night giving gusts of 60mph inland and up to 70mph on southern coasts and hills. Although winds will ease down for a time Sunday morning, later in the day another swathe of severe gales will spread across central parts of the UK. Westerly winds will gust to 60-70mph, but up to 80 mph over exposed coasts and hills of Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England. The severe gales this weekend will bring a risk of disruption to electricity supplies and transport, as well as some structural damage. "
apologies
T
The next UKNP 'gathering' will be at CANCELLED
Venue: Donna Nook
Date: 3rd Dec 2006
Time: 7.20am for the early birds in the car park and 12.30pm for others at the burger van.
Subject: Photographers and Seals.
Sunrise: 07.55
Sunset: 15:44
Tides: Low tide is approx at 10.21, next High tide is at 16.30 ( all tide times + or - 30 min dependant upon weather)
There is a carpark on-site but it fills up quickly. The local farmer opens a field for additional parking but it costs (approx £1) and if the weather ain't good it can be a slippery business getting back out onto the road. There is a Burger/Tea Van on-site but no toilets.
For further info on Donna Nook please see Stephen Streets excellent web info page
Please remember to bring good, warm, weatherproof clothing and wellies/waders otherwise you are going to get damp and cold. The walk out to the flats is about 40 minutes and usually the sand is blowing everywhere so a bin bag to cover your bag/exposed kit is a good idea.
Gary
Anybody else thinking of turning up?
Sorry for the delay - yep I'll be there new bag and all
Adrian
Tim
I'm sure the weather will save me.
Tim
The worse the weather the better the photography --- can the Munsey Mattress not fit in your car - I heard it went everywhere with you!
Tom
Good idea re mattress may bring my RV so I could get up at 7:15.
Tim
Donna Nook is well visited, and you have to be there early for the car park. That said, I have only ever seen a max of 30 photographers on on the flats and have never had a problem isolating a seal (there are too many of them). W.r.t. Blakney, yep they are there but they ain't people friendly.
No guarntees, but nothing ventured...
I can understand people having second thoughts but frankly it doesn't matter if there are 2 photographers or 200 photographers if you have an idea on what you want to acheive then you will succeed. I had a fantastic Day there on Sunday and got some of my best Grey Seal pictures. There was only about 20 photographers out on the flats as it is a hard walk and puts a lot of people off. Most of the people were on the dunes looking out over the seals close in. The car park was terrible but I got there late so if possible an early start is best I am sure. This is a great days photography and one I am glad I haven't missed this year. If the weather is good I will be back so hopefully will see people on Sunday.
Danny
"Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday:
On Sunday rain will soon clear followed by blustery showers. Very windy.. "
So make sure your kit is protected...
T
There is a severe gale force warning in place for Sun on the exposed coast.
See Met Office website.
The UKNP 'gathering' is cancelled.
Therefore, in knowledge of this and assuming it remains in force, I would ask those going to re-consider. 80 MPH winds on an exposed coast is not a good place to be.
T
Cheers
Tim