Falkland Islands
In 1978, he was the officer commanding a small Royal Marines detachment that was posted to the Falkland Islands. It was then that on his own initiative he sailed around and extensively charted the waters around the islands, and had a 100+ page notebook filled with data on harbors, inlets, landing spots, etc. It is still to this day the most comprehensive sailing guide for the area. Despite the then Chief Hydrographer of the Royal Navy stating at the time that Southby-Tailyour's work was the "Amateur jottings of an itinerent yachtsman and of no value to this department" this work and his personal knowledge of the area would later prove highly valuable in the Falklands War. In 1982 he was voted the United Kingdom's Yachtsman of the Year.
Read more about this topic: Ewen Southby-Tailyour
Famous quotes containing the word islands:
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)