Echoes from the Past

Personal memories and comment from a selection of the Society’s ‘characters’

Professor Sir Hermann Bondi, KCB, FRS

The invitation to serve as President of your Society arrived out of the blue, but was so friendly that I felt 1 had to accept it. I should say that I have long been bad at saying ‘no’. With a Society with the reputation and responsibilities of yours I indeed felt greatly honoured. Its international character was an additional attraction.

My chief memories of my two years are of learning a great deal in a most pleasant and agreeable fashion, substantially increasing my previous slight understanding of your subject. Indeed I was fascinated by the changes that the coming of bigger vessels made to the scope of your awesome responsibilities.

No doubt I made some comments during meetings. Your very polite members gave me to understand that some of my remarks had been helpful. But my real hour came at the last meeting over which I presided. The subject of artificial satellites came up and as many of your members were not very knowledgeable on this topic, I had the opportunity to give an impromptu lecture on the present and potential utility of satellites for hydrography (in my view, this is the best way to give a lecture). The audience (including my successor) were most appreciative and so I ended my term of office in a most agreeable fashion.

I wish your Society every success in the future.

Professor Sir Hermann Bondi was President of The Society from 1985-87. A noted polymath of world repute and thought to be the only Society member to have known Albert Einstein, he first achieved international scientific prominence in 1948 with the development of the Steady State Theory of the Universe in collaboration with Fred Hoyle and Thomas Gold. Widely known for his work in cosmology, gravitation, relativity and astrophysics, his many public appointments have included Director-General of the European Space Research Organisation (1967-71), Chief Scientist at the UK Ministry of Defence and Department of Energy (1971-77), and Chairman & Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) from 1980-84. He later returned to academia as Master of Churchill College, Cambridge, where he is now an Emeritus Professor.

Dr Bob Britton

First things first! Let me congratulate and thank all those people involved with the production of the 99 Journals that led up to this special occasion. Obviously it is the content of the technical and professional papers that is the raison d’être of The Journal, but I would single out what was known as ‘the Blue Pages’ [now Information Bulletin] at the back of each edition as the most remarkable achievement. I have spent many hours driving up and down the motorway with David Goodfellow to Editorial Board meetings in Avonmouth. I know how much time he puts into these pages, and this is only one facet of his efforts for The Hydrographic Society. Thank you David and well done on the long overdue Emeritus status!

My introduction to The Hydrographic Society came in 1974 when I went to North East London Polytechnic in Walthamstow for an oceanographic job interview. With no preamble, Alan Ingham asked me if I was a member of ‘The Society’. Initial quick silent thinking had me wondering if I should be a Freemason or have a season ticket to Royal Ascot. Out loud, a non-committal ‘not yet’ had to suffice. Later that day I left NELP with a job and an application form.

So I joined as an oceanographer/sedimentologist, rather than a hydrographer, but was made to feel very welcome. Highlights and memories of the next 25 years include:

The Cook Bicentenary Dinner at Greenwich, although producing a seating plan to please everyone was a nightmare that I am grateful was not recurring. The general atmosphere and the music from the Royal Marines’ Band certainly made it a memorable evening.

The early HYDROs in Southampton: The organisation of these was defined by the initial tremendous efforts of Robin Ekblom at his Tidal Symposium. Taking over from there, I had a relatively straightforward task thanks to his groundwork. Things that come to mind that I had certainly not anticipated having to deal with include complaints from delegates who expected to get a quiet night’s sleep when staying in the same residence block as a ‘international flock of Admirals’. I also did not anticipate having to provide delegate badges and folders to two members of Her Majesty’s Special Branch so that they might monitor the activities of the then Russian Naval Attaché – happy days of the cold war!

Here’s to the next 100 issues! – I for one hope that a paper and ink version of Journal No. 200 will exist.

Dr Bob Britton was Society Hon Secretary from 1984-88 having at one time also been Vice-Chairman and Chairman of Council, Functions Organiser and a member of the Editorial Board. A former Senior Lecturer in Hydrographic Surveying at the North East London Polytechnic (now the University of East London), he was additionally responsible for The Society’s influential input to present FIG-IHO Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors. Elected an Emeritus Member in 1988, he now lives in Kings Lynn.

Ross Douglas

I am extremely pleased to offer my congratulations to The Hydrographic Society on the occasion of the Centenary issue of The Hydrographic Journal.  The Journal has had the distinction of being a world-class publication and most importantly, a very visible product of The Society.  It has survived and indeed flourished under the many pressures and forces that seem to be constantly exerted upon any successful venture. I believe we owe a great deal to John Kitching who shepherded The Journal through these many pressures. I am certain The Journal will continue to flourish under the leadership of Helen Atkinson.

I would also take this opportunity to comment on the current restructuring efforts being made within The Society.  While there has been much debate about the future of The Society, I am firmly convinced that the proposed changes indicate the vision of Council in recognising the needs and wishes of the global community.  Surely this ability to change is a very positive indicator of the health of the organisation.  Too often we feel that this sort of change is unique to our own organisation.  Well one only has to look at any geopolitical situation or the myriad of changes in large international corporations.  We have lots of company.

Finally, I have many fond memories of my time as President of The Society. The camaraderie, the many excellent HYDRO Conferences and being in a position to promote hydrography, which remains the passion of my life, form the basis of these memories.

Ross Douglas was President of The Society from 1995-97. He was associated with the Canadian Hydrographic Service for 35 years and was Dominion Hydrographer from 1987-94. A former member of the Great Lakes Charting Advisors as well as the US-Canada Hydrographic Commission, he is now a member of the Monaco-based International Hydrographic Management Consulting consortium while living in semi-retirement in Nepean, Ontario.

Robin Ekblom
              ‘... So who wants to be Treasurer?’

It was at one of the very early meetings of the founders of The Hydrographic Society that these words were spoken. I raised a tentative hand and then was banished from the meeting while my merits, demerits and perceived level of honesty were discussed.

On my return to the room I was duly appointed and given a starting fund of forty pounds, a figure reckoned to be adequate for the initial setting up of the organisation of (hopefully) as many as two hundred members. Little did I, or any of the other officers appointed that day, realise to what extent The Society would grow, or that I would be in office for twelve very interesting and rewarding years. In fact that forty pounds grew to something like eighty thousand in that time. We were registered as a charity, formed into a company limited by guarantee (of which none of us had heard until then) and registered for a form of VAT which had even the tax commissioners in a muddle at times.

But boy, was it worthwhile. Helping to build a society from scratch during that time was incredibly satisfying. We were fortunate in having Alan Ingham at the helm and in having the very high level of support from North East London Polytechnic, Alan’s employer at that time; that support from NELP (now the University of East London) remains to this day.

We were fortunate in another way in that I live only five miles or so from the old NELP offices, so Alan and I were able to meet very frequently and maintain a momentum which would have been more difficult had we lived further apart.  Both Rose Ingham and my wife Joyce were very supportive of the amount of work which had to be done at home, and indeed they both were employed by The Society in later years.  Posting out The Hydrographic Journal and its various inserts reached a point where Joyce and I had twenty thousand items filling our dining room, and it was at that time that it was decided that the printer should do the distribution.

I would admit to being a fairly noisy Hon Treasurer, believing that anything which cost The Society money was to some extent my business as much as anybody else’s. The Society was up and running, but what should we do as a Society? It was then that I made the classic mistake of coming up with an Idea ... I suggested holding a Symposium - subject tides, probably at a university - and was immediately given the job of organising it.

So HYDRO 76 was born, held at Southampton University, with about a dozen exhibitors spaced around the room, and masking tape delineating the limits of their domains. I was even able to borrow an old recording tide gauge from the Science Museum in London as a central exhibit. The HYDRO series has gone on from there.

It is an old theme, but one of the great pleasures of The Society’s early days was the personal level at which it operated, but progress meant growth, and growth meant a certain level of distance falling between members. At one time I have to say that after twelve years in office, my face was well known within The Society, but when I gave a paper at the 25th Anniversary of The Society at Bristol, I joined the queue to register, and on reaching the desk was asked “Name?” Oh dear! But I did enjoy my time as Hon Treasurer, and being made (in company with Alan Ingham) the first of the Emeritus Members of The Society was truly one of the proudest moments of my career.

A Society Emeritus Member, Robin Ekblom was founding Hon Treasurer from 1972-84. He was also closely associated with the organisation of early HYDRO events and was Chairman of the organising committee for the 1990 symposium at the University of Southampton. Assistant Hydrographic Officer with the Port of London Authority for 32 years, he was also at one time a special advisor to the UN for hydrographic matters in Bangladesh. He now lives in retirement in Loughton, Essex.

David Goodfellow

I’m not altogether sure how The Hydrographic Journal began but like a lot of other Society things at the time, it was probably on Alan Everard Ingham’s living room floor. As you can see with this centenary issue, we’ve come a long way since then thanks to a procession of dedicated editors beginning with Ken MacCallum and followed by the likes of John Powell and John Kitching - none of whom would necessarily lay claim to any professional publishing credentials.

Which in some regards makes the progress of our flagship publication all the more remarkable, now that it’s long since acquired an accepted status in the scientific publishing world. True, we’ve had our critics. Some of the papers, they say, are too esoteric and probably only fully understood by their authors and perhaps a handful of others. They have a point, I suppose. I once spent the best part of one weekend trying to come to terms with Paul Cross’ notions on quality measures for DGPS positioning (Journal No. 72) and was none the wiser by Monday. But then I remembered that what people like Professor Cross say one day can have an influential - and perhaps decisive - impact on what others may do the next. And that, in one sense at least, is our raison d’être, isn’t it?

I’ve been associated with The Journal and The Society for longer than I sometimes care to remember. I occasionally think why am I doing this and what for? But it’s only momentary. I mean, I look at our list of other contributors in this centenary section, all of whom I’ve come to know personally along with countless others throughout the world, and with that comes the realisation that life would have been a good deal less interesting and certainly less convivial had it been otherwise.

David Goodfellow has been associated with The Society since its formative years and is now an Emeritus Member. He is primarily responsible for public relations and editorship of the quarterly Information Bulletin. Also a member of the Editorial Board of The Journal, he was Vice-Chairman of Council from 1986-87 and Chairman from 1988-89. David lives and works in London as a specialist consultant and author on defence, maritime and other affairs despite recent unsuccessful attempts to retire.

Geoffrey Haskins

        Centenary Already?

Since man first grounded his canoe while paddling across a sandbank he has sought means to test the water by locating his craft in relation to known marks on shore and measuring the depth (with stick or string). Various optical/geometrical solutions evolved over the course of time, some worked well and many lasted for centuries - until the advent of the echo-sounder (or fathometer as some would have it) when the physical energy expended by chucking a lead-line around decreased while the accurate depth information increased correspondingly - the main constraint, apart from rough seas, being visibility, which still controlled the ‘fixing’ part of the operation. Then, in the nineteen-forties, radio positioning evolved; first slowly to assist war making, but spreading rapidly in peacetime to improve ship navigation and safety, and eventually high frequency radio systems enabled surveyors to locate their work precisely. Surveying could proceed without interruption until the ship ran out of fuel and/or food and/or water - and hydrographic surveying entered the realms of mass production.

Those who stayed the distance in this strange occupation (for that was what it was, and remains) are patient and painstaking, some enduring long periods away from home; then few in number, our employment was, mainly, in Government, Ports Authorities, or with contractors to civil engineering projects. Taken by and large, we were unrecognised, unappreciated, and quite content to keep things that way because quite simply we enjoyed the satisfaction of doing something useful.

But a universal hunger for hydrocarbons provided an irresistible catalyst for hydrographic development during the fifties when exploration for oil reserves moved offshore - and not just offshore but out of sight of land. Experienced oil industry land surveyors managed quite well while they could see survey stations ashore (or their work location from those points), but it was a different matter when there was nothing but empty horizon all around them. Suddenly PRESTO:  hydrographic surveyors were in demand until, by the mid-sixties, attracted by improving pay, their ranks were joined by an influx of land and mining surveyors, graduates in geography or oceanography, electronics technicians and professional mariners - or anyone else who cared to try their hand at reading a Hi-Fix or Shoran receivers’ dials and plotting a fix on a lattice chart.

In order to provide this growing offshore survey industry with a minimum of expertise, a well established survey department in Waltham Forest Technical College (and its successive changes in name: SW Essex, NE London, East London University, etc.) developed short three-month courses in hydrography aimed at those with a suitable background, to teach them basic principles and practices; the project proved to be a huge success and students attended from all over the world. However, there remained one problem: lack of a focal point for the people in the new profession: practitioners, scientists, educators, engineers and manufacturers, all felt a need to be kept informed, discuss technical problems, learn from each other, and seek to improve the standing of hydrography, its usefulness to clients, and the level of research into equipment and methodology.

To remedy this shortfall, the College, supported by a number of interested companies encouraged Alan Ingham, the Senior Lecturer in charge of its hydrographic courses, to organise a learned society, which, in 1972, began life as The Hydrographic Society. It was an instant success and spread around the world, with Branches in Europe, Australasia and America.

In 1991, having been a member since the early days, I was invited to become the 12th President of The Society. What had we achieved by that point after nearly twenty years? 

• In the education field The Society had provided much of the input for developing international standards for teaching hydrography, which were eventually published by the FIG/IHO as “Standards for Hydrographic Surveyors” and is the yardstick by which such training is now judged. We also established an Education Fund to provide financial assistance for students.
• Our ever-expanding biennial HYDRO events had proved popular, giving members the opportunity to synergise socially and technically, and for manufacturers to display their latest developments.
• Active National Branches were operating successfully in Europe, the United States and Australasia, running their own programmes of regular events.
• Publications enjoyed good sales and helped members and the public to have reliable sources of information on a wide range of pertinent technical matters.
• Membership numbers were increasing, and corporate support for The Society was strong.

But it was a time of impending upheaval in government hydrography as political pressure increased to privatise data collection activities while, concurrently, the introduction of digital chart production moved forward apace. It was a busy two years, during which it became increasingly obvious that The Society had to adopt changes in outlook and management to keep up with a rapidly changing international hydrographic scene. We had become unwieldy, with too much central control over far-flung national Branches - wasting precious funds on representatives travelling to Committee meetings, which often failed to make decisions. Meanwhile, the organisers of local activities in Branches, Chapters and other gatherings successfully got on with the job of fulfilling The Society’s objectives. Our biennial HYDRO events were still well attended and the income derived kept our Society financially healthy. But, by the time I handed over to the late Commodore F Hallbjörner of Sweden, it was clear in my mind that The Society would eventually have to decentralise into an association of independent national societies. The United States Branch, which had always been incorporated into an independent “Hydrographic Society of America”, pointed the way ahead amid strongly presented arguments from both points of view (or sides of the Atlantic). Communications by fax, and then by e-mail, enabled day-to-day contact between both sides and it was becoming increasingly obvious that there was no gain in continuing a system whereby overseas Branches felt they were British hydrographic colonies!

A continuing disappointment over the years was lack of close co-operation between national hydrographic societies in countries such as France, Germany, Japan, and South Africa - in other words, the non-English speaking world. What was needed was a small co-ordinating focal point through which international interests could be channelled towards a wider audience. Perhaps an umbrella organisation would be a useful move.

And so it is to come about. Our Society’s national Branches are moving towards national autonomy while maintaining a strong flow of information along a highway of international mutual cooperation. Make no mistake, whatever happens, hydrography remains a vitally important part of a coastal country’s prosperity, and our Societies will have a part to play.

In the minds of many - particularly oil industry explorers - the so called ‘solution of the positioning problem’ by satellite systems has downgraded the usefulness of hydrographic surveyors; however, there have been new matters for which the hydrographic community is well placed to address:  ocean mining, environmental studies, effluent disposal, coastal erosion, marine archaeology and conservation, new acoustic tools and novel applications (whoever thought that marine cables would ever come back on the scene?) The one hundredth edition of The Hydrographic Journal is a tremendous achievement for a small society of limited interests. It is safe to say that unless Alan Ingham and the other founding fathers had not persevered back in the seventies, hydrography as an appreciated discipline would be immeasurably the poorer now. It behoves all of us to keep up the good work and support the band of voluntary workers who energise The Society in so many ways, often without reward or recognition.

Finally, hydrography MUST be brought to the notice of the public. Every opportunity has to be taken to raise the profile of our discipline: for instance, in sponsoring (or co-sponsoring) important events or studies, even if it is only searching for the Loch Ness monster - an occasion a few years ago when our sister societies certainly stole a march on us!

Geoff Haskins was President of The Society from 1991-93, having also served for a number of years as a Member of Council of which he was Chairman from 1981-83. Formerly Chief Surveyor of Shell UK Exploration & Production and Professional Assistant, Hydrography, at the International Hydrographic Bureau from 1983-87, he now claims to be officially retired at his home in Poole, Dorset while remaining on the Editorial Committee of our UK Branch’s Soundings newsletter.

Rear Admiral Sir David Haslam, KBE, CB, RN (Retd)

When I was privileged to write the 100th Anniversary Annual Report of the (British) Hydrographer of The Navy in 1979, I had the benefit of excellent experts and archives to help me. When asked for my thoughts for the 100th edition of The Hydrographic Journal I have no such expertise to help my failing memory.

I was, indeed, in the SW Pacific for the first two years of The Hydrographic Society’s existence and played little part in its activities until honoured with its Presidency in 1977. My memories of the next two years are of the meetings in Britannia House and of the growing awareness that The Society had a far greater role to play in the global exploration and exploitation of the oceans than that of the traditional national Hydrographic Offices. How well this awareness has been justified is reflected in its present high profile throughout the world. My most lasting memory is of the steel band’s appearance at HYDRO 99 in Plymouth.

Warm best wishes for the next 100 issues.

Rear Admiral Sir David Haslam was President of The Society from 1977-79. Among several other claims to immortality was his discovery of a series of coral pinnacles in the Persian Gulf, now known and charted as Haslam’s Patches. He was Hydrographer of the Royal Australian Navy on secondment from the UK from 1965-67 and later became Hydrographer of the Royal Navy from 1975-85. He was subsequently elected President of the International Hydrographic Bureau’s Directing Committee from 1987-1991. A noted raconteur and host to countless visitors of all ages, he now lives in retirement at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire close to the public school of which he is Vice-President to the governing body.

Rose Ingham

Being asked to write on my time as Membership Secretary of The Society in its very early days was quite a shock, I must say.

After a great deal of discussion with my ‘boss’, the first Hon Sec (my husband) there really doesn’t seem much to report as, for the most part, I spent my time at home in the ‘office’ (the garage), typing and filing, and stuffing envelopes with Journals, Information Sheets or Diaries and numerous inserts. The worst chores were collating and stapling the Information Sheets (helped by our daughter, Beverley, much to her delight!) and addressing the mail to members. At first this was done by hand, but later with the ‘help’ of a punched-card labelling machine. What a joy that was. It missed one card in three, chewed up every fourth and, every so often spewed all the cards onto the floor! Computer printouts and sticky labels came soon after.

After a few years we were loaned some office space at NELP and life became much easier (and warmer as our garage had only a small electric fire). Stuffing envelopes was often a team effort with Joyce Ekblom, Alan and his colleague Bob Britton joining in.

Things moved on quickly as The Society grew larger. Joyce and I moved to The Society’s own office at Asta House (a NELP annexe) where we had the luxury of a phone and a lovely electronic typewriter. Soon afterwards our era came to an end with the appointment of The Society’s first Manager, Michael Boreham.

Alan left NELP and [his active involvement in] The Hydrographic Society in 1984 and I retired at the same time – to be his critic (!) in his new occupation.

The most pleasant part of the job was to chat with Alan about Society things and to be able to put faces to names at various functions such as the boat trips following AGMs, and Symposia at Southampton University.

Highlights were the visits made to Monaco and the USA; the first to stay with Steve and Disa Ritchie during Steve’s tenure of the Presidency of the Directing Committee of the IHB, an the second as guests of the US Branch in Washington and Houston with a breather in New Orleans. Driving along Bourbon Street with John Hammer in his purple Halloween wig and warty false nose, and dancing in Monte Carlo Casino with Steve, will linger forever in my memory.

Rose Ingham manages Alan Ingham. She reportedly began her 12-year Society career in her husband’s garage before relocating to grander premises at the then North East London Polytechnic, where her secretarial and organisational expertise became indispensable to the development of what was to become an international organisation.

Adam Kerr

Someone must tell me, just how long The Hydrographic Society has been in business and perhaps even, how long I have been associated with it. At some time during that period I, undeservedly, served as the President for two interesting years. The Society at present appears to be at something of a crossroads and is undertaking a very thorough analysis of its constitution and activities. It is easy to be critical but we should reflect on its achievements and thank those who had the forethought to organise it in the first place.I presume that North Sea Oil was really the catalyst for its developments and the consequent change from hydrography being predominately a government activity to it becoming also an important commercial enterprise. From hydrography being mainly the domain of naval officers it became a second career for land surveyors, master mariners, mates and those who had retired from the navy. Institutions were developed to cater for this change and these included the formation of schools and organisations such as The Hydrographic Society and Commission IV of FIG. Books were written, newsletters and eventually journals, were published. Those were heady days and those who drove this new infrastructure deserve much credit.

Things change, retirees themselves retire, technology changes, the practitioners of the technology must themselves change – salt horse hydrographers give way to high tech persons with a remarkable diversity of backgrounds. Technology changes, not just the discipline itself, but the way it can be organised and promoted. Not only have we moved from sextant to satellite and from leadline to lidar but communication has changed so greatly that it has a huge influence on not only where and how we process the data but how we communicate on an organisational level. Through all these changes the executive of our Hydrographic Society has had to steer our ship. Its earlier success has perhaps been the cause of our present need for introspection. Started as an organisation designed primarily to satisfy the needs of the UK practitioners, it began to attract a much more international market. So much so, that it soon found itself in the schizophrenic position of trying to serve two different audiences, those at home and those abroad. Countries outside the UK began to establish their own Branches. While this satisfied the requirements for national identity and proximity to some of the action, it also aggravated contention on the ‘sharing of the pie,’ and the geographical location of the real power-base. These subjects were raised at numerous Council meetings and various measures were taken to satisfy the opposing views but the matter has not been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

The real benchmark of an organisation’s worth to its members is probably its financial stability and this can be measured by its enrolment of members. Rank and file members are generally satisfied provided their dues do not go up astronomically or there are no significant policy changes made by the Executive. Unfortunately, in spite of the best efforts of the Council, the membership of our Society has been dwindling and we are now required to put weight on the helm to steer us away from the shoal water. Ideas are being put forward to satisfy the feelings of nationalism, to reduce overheads – always the first target when trouble looms, and to consider new methods of communication. The Hydrographic Society has been a great source of interest and enjoyment to most of us. As ‘foot soldiers’, we should be grateful to those who founded the organisation in the first place and to those who have so far steered our ship through these hazardous waters. It is the only organisation that offers us on an international level, venues to discuss our profession, publications to keep us informed and a body to represent our interests. Yes, there are several smaller groups with a mainly national audience and there is a commission of a much larger and more diversified organisation. There is an international organisation that has governments as its members. I think we must agree that The Hydrographic Society is quite unique and that we must work together to satisfy our differences and move forward.

Before closing, I should like to dwell on a matter that is of particular interest to myself. This is the dissemination of information through publications. This is often a subject of contention and discussion in survey organisations. The reason I think being, that surveyors have a wide spread of academic knowledge, from the humble rod man to the university professor conducting research in the activity. There is also a divide between those working in the commercial and government sectors. As a consequence of these differences there is a difference in what makes ‘a good read’. We therefore have on the one hand the magazine and at the other the scholarly journal. There is also the newsletter. Survey organisations are faced with the question whether to roll up these interests in one publication or produce separate communications. Economics will have a large part in the path chosen. Unfortunately this may result in the ‘humble’ surveyor feeling that his money is wasted on publishing scholarly articles in which he has no interest and the academic or well-educated professional surveyor feeling that the scholarship is watered down by the informality of the chatty articles. This problem has been with us for some time but we are now challenged with the availability of the Internet and this is already having a major impact on how we pass information. It is understood that the Council has already taken steps to resolve some of these issues and I look forward to seeing a total solution developed. The fact that the Internet is now firmly established and this is the 100th issue of this excellent Journal makes it an appropriate moment to decide on these matters.    

Adam Kerr was President of The Society from 1989-91. Formerly Director of the Canadian Hydrographic Service’s Central and Atlantic Regions, he was a member of the International Hydrographic Bureau’s Directing Committee from 1987-97 while also being a member of the FIG-IHO Advisory Board on Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveying. Now a specialist hydrographic and marine consultant and Editor of the newly revamped International Hydrographic Review, he lives in Lamorna, near Penzance, Cornwall. 

Rear Admiral Jan Kreffer, RNethN (Retd)

I would first of all like to congratulate The Society and those who are (and have been) in charge of The Journal on their Centenary Edition. I must confess that for a long time now I have lost track when trying to read the professional articles so my interests turned to Whitewash/Sinbad via The Chairman’s Column to David Goodfellow’s pages.

Looking back I can think of many happy moments since I joined The Society, in 1977, such as The International Hydrographic Technical Conference (IHTC) in Ottawa in 1979 after which marvellous event The Netherlands Branch was conceived, to be born in 1981.

Then my Presidentship (1983-85) and the Chairmanship of The Netherlands Branch, which I took over from George Goldsteen in 1983 and which lasted until 1991. During those years I enjoyed the co-operation of the man whom I have always considered to be the key-person in our Branch, Hon Secretary Dirk Bakker.

About to step down, and during a wonderful 10th anniversary celebration in Amsterdam (chiefly driven by Rob Berlijn), I was honoured to receive Emeritus Membership from our then President, Geoffrey Haskins. So far I have covered my Hydrographic Society ‘career’.

What has been attractive all those years? Not in the first place the exchange of knowledge. Though I have always been well aware that we insisted on being a ‘learned society’ rather than as a club of friends (and internationally we should be), it was the last aspect that appealed to me most. Being together with ‘birds of feather’ and sharing experiences, was the most rewarding part of it.

Where are we going now? I’ve just mailed my proxy form. Back in July 1990, I produced a discussion paper in which I suggested an International Council of Hydrographic Organisations (ICHO). I envisaged other Hydrographic Societies from Canada, Germany, Japan, South Africa and the USA joining us under this umbrella. With this in mind, it must be clear that I voted in favour of the proposal, it – for the moment – in my opinion being the best route to choose.

Rear Admiral Jan Kreffer, a former Chairman of the Netherlands Council of Oceanic Research and Hydrographer of the Royal Netherlands Navy from 1977-83, was Society President from 1983-85 and a Trustee from 1986-89. Also Chairman of our Netherlands (now Benelux) Branch from 1983-92, he was elected an Emeritus Member of The Society in 1991, and now lives in retirement in Epe, The Netherlands.

Rear Admiral Bob Munson, NOAA (Retd)

I was surprised to be asked to contribute to the Centenary Edition of The Hydrographic Journal. There is an element of danger in asking such of someone who has not been involved in hydrography in many years and whose memory is far from accurate. That being said, the one thing that I will always treasure is when The Hydrographic Society asked me to be President. Up until that time, all of the Presidents were from Europe. Being the first ‘North Americaner’ President was an honour of the highest degree!

My fondest memories are of the fine people associated with hydrography that I met from all over the world. Some of the accomplishments during my tenure were the solidification of the US Branch and the establishment of the regional sections in Seattle, WA, Washington, DC, Norfolk, VA and the Gulf Coast. Jack Wallace, Tom Richards and Karl Keininger were instrumental in getting these started on a firm foundation.

Some random thoughts: One of the most memorable evenings of my life was in June 1979 when I took over the reins of The Society from David Haslam. That evening we attended a banquet honouring Captain Cook in the Painted Hall, Royal Naval College, Greenwich and I was asked, as the head of foreign governments, to give the toast to the Queen. I was so afraid that I would botch the assignment.

On our way to The Society’s Annual General Meeting, Alan Ingham was ‘loaded down’ with things and I asked if I could help carry one of the packages. Alan quickly refused which I thought was strange as I was carrying very little. I later found out that the package was a beautiful inscribed decanter that was presented to me later at the meeting. The decanter has a very special place in our living room and our hearts.

I’ll never forget Admirals Ritchie and Haslam being stopped by a policeman while J-walking across the street in Stockholm, Sweden in the wee hours of the morning, while returning to their hotel from a reception in the Canadian Embassy. The policeman just wrote it off as ‘those crazy Brits’.

I could go on and describe our late night antics (such as the racing elevators in Rockville, MD or the bouts of ‘one day flu’ from staying at Rear Admiral Sir David’s house or eating salmon with Steve Ritchie that he and Tony ‘poached’ from the North Sea) but I won’t.

Thanks for the memories!

Rear Admiral Bob Munson was President of The Society from 1979-81. Prior to retirement from the hydrographic world, he was Director of NOAA’s Atlantic Marine Center of the US National Ocean Survey. This followed earlier associate directorship of its Office of Marine Surveys & Maps with responsibility for nautical charting operations in domestic waters. His many citations include a Department of Commerce Special Achievement Award, in 1974. Now intersperses social work with retirement in Kerrville, Texas.

Jan Riemersma

I retired over 15 years ago and have not been involved since then in hydrography at all... I am still a member [of The Society], why, I don’t know, but The Society has been a good institution worthwhile keeping intact… I wish The Hydrographic Society all the best.

Jan Riemersma was President of The Society from 1987-89. Formerly associated with the Shell group of companies for 30 years, he was latterly Group Topographical Adviser of Shell International Petroleum in The Hague and also served as Chairman of FIG Commission 4. Now lives in retirement in Hengelo, The Netherlands.

Pat Rueda

When I started at The Society in February 1986, I was new to hydrography – I had never heard of it before applying for the job (I looked it up in a dictionary and found ‘the study of tides’) so, shortly afterwards, I took one of Alan Ingham’s early books to the hairdresser’s on Saturday so that I would HAVE to read it. Well, I did - but the only chapter I felt I had understood was the one on wire sweeps, which I was later informed were rarely used by then. I was also told that I needed a maths degree to gain even a basic understanding, and since my maths education ended at 16 I rather gave up. Of course, the job itself was administrative rather than technical, but some of the questions I had to grapple with were beyond any of us in the office at that time. Michael Boreham was the Manager and Joyce Ekblom was doing the accounts and the membership administration, assisted by a part-timer for data entry, filing etc; when Joyce left, Michael took over the accounts and I the membership. Bob Britton was the Hon. Secretary and Brian Whiting the Hon. Treasurer - he was also responsible for the computing side, and speedily bought me an Amstrad PCW - state of the art in those days - even its appalling dot matrix printer! Many of the phone calls were technical, especially from non-members, and my main source of information (if neither Bob nor Brian were around) was Robin Ekblom, who was never too busy to help, and (brave man!) would even try to explain the answer. I don’t think I can have been a very rewarding pupil. Membership queries were often complicated, but they never daunted me like some of the more bizarre ones. There was the man who wanted to prove he has a stream running under his house, with fish in it which were thought to be extinct; the man who phoned about membership but went on to tell me not to eat polar bear liver should I ever be marooned in the Arctic (I feel my chances of killing a polar bear in those circumstances would be remote, but thanked him politely for the information); the people who phoned in a panic to say a barge had sunk in mud in the White Nile and would someone talk them through the process of recovering it; the simple query ‘What is a seiche?’ (The reply: “Search me, but I’ll find out”); the student who wanted to know at exactly what time the tide ‘hit’ the south coast of England and was completely thrown when I asked exactly which part of the south coast - it seemed not to have occurred to him that it wasn’t a straight concrete wall many miles long; the local council who wanted us to design a contraption which would keep floating litter out of their scenic bay...

Also, of course, I had a lot of contact with the volunteers running the various Branches of The Society. Dirk Bakker in the Netherlands, Martin Kilt in Denmark, who still e-mails me now and then, the ‘two Mikes’ (Wright and Sebbage) in the UK, Mal Jones I think in Australia in those early days - and I still get jokes from him - and Jack Wallace in America. Many others too, of course, but this would degenerate into a list of names, and my memory isn’t good enough to recall which were there when I first started work at IHQ. We waded through endless membership lists from the Branches - some handwritten, some typed, a few computer-generated. Woe-betide us if any member were omitted from the annual membership list because we thought he hadn’t paid and he thought he had! I’ll say it again to Larry Robbins, if he still reads The Journal - I’m SORRY you were left out one year but it really wasn’t our fault! (Or yours either, but that’s another story…).

At that time a lot of seminars were being run by volunteers and IHQ was always involved to some extent with the UK ones, though I only went to the ones held in London. I remember one nightmare one (only from the admin point of view - it was a raging success otherwise!) where half the people who turned up hadn’t booked and half the ones who’d booked didn’t turn up, with a handful of people substituting for people who HAD booked but they didn’t bother to tell us that till we’d wasted 10 minutes trying to find their names on the list... Then we had the fun of trying to get the papers from these seminars organised into a Special Publication and then get it printed; in some cases Michael and I proofread the SPs endlessly - Michael actually lost his voice over a revised edition of Maritime Limits and Baselines! I think we proofread that (at breakneck speed due to printers’ deadlines) five times. In those days the employer of the seminar organiser would often be generous with the volunteer too - time spent on the details, telephone time, secretarial help (no e-mail in those days) and all the other necessary work; they saw it as a good advertisement for the company, and this of course made it a lot easier for people to organise events.

David Goodfellow was of course handling PR and writing the Information Bulletin, and John Kitching was The Journal Editor, but I didn’t actually meet either of them for some time after joining The Society. Have you still got Tiger, David? I always enjoyed hearing about the cat who raided the fridge - which eventually had to be padlocked! More proofreading - the Information Bulletin in particular, sometimes the Chairman’s Column (which occasionally meant I found out things before the membership). Then there were the Council Meetings and typing the Minutes from Michael’s handwriting, which I think even Michael will concede was not the easiest of tasks! It became easier when I began to go to the meetings myself - I had a better idea what had gone on. Later of course Michael typed them himself onto his computer - in the early days it had been a typewriter. Hands up all those who remember typewriters... not memory and self-correcting ones, just ordinary ones. Imagine typing 20 pages on those... 30 pages... 40 pages...

Then there was the member with a very early number who was horrified to find Alan Ingham hadn’t personally approved me; in fact, I don’t think we ever met, though we spoke once or twice. The caller clearly thought of it as “the Ingham Society” and the fact that it was now run by paid staff had apparently passed him by. He refused to believe that anyone else could help him - I seem to recall it was something to do with urging us to market blazer buttons with the seahorse logo, but I could be confusing him with someone else. Another member thought we should relocate to Monaco and rent offices at the IHB and suggested Michael and I should commute! By helicopter presumably! The weather would certainly be better there than in Dagenham...

Computer problems always sparked a panicked phone call to Brian, who fortunately for us worked not far away on the UEL campus. I am quite sure he dreaded the sound of my voice on the phone - the printer’s jammed and I can’t un-jam it, the Amstrad’s producing gibberish, and the whole thing’s crashed and I can’t get it back... Sometimes he would sort it out after I’d gone home and I would come in to the office the next day to find a note saying ‘All OK now’ or ‘Try…’ Thanks Brian - you WERE appreciated, really you were!

Easily the most enduring friendship, however, turned out to be with Ron Furness in Sydney, who was then Editor of Hippocampus. We met due to a potentially embarrassing mistake I had made with some Minutes, got on well, and have stayed in touch ever since - he has been to stay in Cyprus twice, bringing his wife Jenny on the most recent occasion. I have cried on his shoulder (electronically speaking), appealed many times for sympathy and cannot praise him highly enough. Hope you’re not TOO embarrassed, Ron...

I could easily ramble on for hours - the introduction of a fax machine to IHQ (great excitement!), memories of people not mentioned here, even more memories of bizarre phone calls and bewildered callers overhearing (in the background) cries of ‘Who’s not wearing knickers? I have three pairs here!’ from the UEL playgroup.... I invariably had to explain that the ‘audience’ was a group of under-fives! But time and space are not on my side. Off now to light a wood fire - we had snow yesterday, though today was again gloriously warm and sunny - and let Helen do her worst with this!

Pat Rueda was general factotum and personal telephone-answering machine at our international headquarters from 1986-97, with callers invariably left thinking that she was The Hydrographic Society. A graduate in Applied Language Studies (German and Russian), noted cat enthusiast and not inclined to let anyone down in case of complaint, she now tends husband and animals near Limassol in Cyprus.

Dr Brian Whiting

The 100th edition of The Hydrographic Journal marks an important milestone for The Hydrographic Society and it gives me the opportunity to look back over the years that I have been involved with it. I took over as Treasurer of The Society from Robin Ekblom following several suggestions (is that the right word?) from Alan Ingham. This coincided with the publication of issue 34 of The Journal, a special issue for the 2nd International Hydrographic Technical Conference organised by The Society in Plymouth, September 1984.

Shortly after this came my first Council meeting. Ah, yes I remember it well! I found myself sitting next to the Hydrographer of The Navy and surrounded by Managing Directors and Principal Hydrographic Surveyors. It soon became apparent that my knowledge of the organisation of The Society was poor and that I had a lot to learn quickly. When the financial affairs were discussed there was an expectation of a budget forecast – I had not the faintest idea of The Society’s income and expenditure at that time. Over the next few weeks, with the help of Robin and Joyce Ekblom and a layman’s guide to accounting, I started to feel more comfortable with my new position. One of the first tasks was to understand VAT and Customs & Excise speak. With the help of the explanatory leaflets I realised that inputs were output and outputs were input. After that everything seemed simple until it was pointed out that we had some extra rules as we were ‘partially exempt’. Yet another nut to crack!

At this time microcomputers were becoming available and I took on the task of converting the membership database from the bureau service to an in-house system. When purchasing the computer for it I decided that we should go for an Apricot PC as it had 3½ inch disks and opted for the larger hard disk option, 10Mbyte. Could we survive with such a machine today?

The Netherlands and USA Branches had been set up shortly before my reign and it was apparent that Council should restrict itself to matters which affected all members of The Society rather than those of a specific area. In particular the UK which although housed the majority of members did not have its own voice. A working party was set up to recommend a restructuring of The Society and as with nearly all such groups it was suggested that the Treasurer be a member as it clearly had financial implications. As a result the UK Branch of The Society was formed, with a management committee, in 1985. The Australasian and Denmark Branches were established shortly after (1986). Council recognised the need to fully integrate the Branches into the running of The Society and another working group was set up to look at the future of The Society which of course would have financial implications. As a result a change was approved by the membership and the constitution of Council was altered to include representatives of the National Branches. It was also realised at this time that The Society needed to pay attention to its publications and the idea of a publications manager was suggested but put on hold until funds allowed. This position is perhaps now being realised but with a more up-to-date remit to including the website – keep up the good work Helen!

There have been a number of changes over this time. The number of Branches has risen from two to five, Council is no longer predominantly UK based and hence has fewer meetings, HYDRO Symposia have taken place outside of the UK and Europe, membership has grown but is now falling, the office staff increased in number but has now been reduced, however perhaps the most important fact is that despite many discussions the Society Diary and four issues of The Hydrographic Journal continue to be published each year - although there was some outrage when I recommended cancellation of the publication of the 1989 Diary due to lack of advertising, but I am pleased to say it has been published ever since.

Amongst the many happy memories of The Society are the London evening meetings that were held at Britannic House (BP). In particular, my mind is drawn to the description of the hydrographic surveys undertaken for the D-day Landings of Normandy by Cmdr Nesbit Glen, which was published in The Journal in issue 35 (1985). I was also lucky to have the opportunity to visit the overseas Branches. In 1995 I was invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the US Branch at the Ale House in Houston. I travelled via Washington where I stayed with Jack Wallace and his family, arriving on Halloween. They seemed shocked that I walked between sights in the capital and was quite happy clearing up leaves. I had a wonderful time in Houston - a good Texan welcome with draught Bass. Later I visited the Netherlands Branch (now Benelux) and was made very welcome once again. This time it was Jenever gin and the excellent maritime museum. HYDRO 92 took me to Copenhagen for an excellent conference and I toured the city with Mal Jones of the Australasian Branch.

It is however the 100th edition of The Hydrographic Journal that we are celebrating. Published almost since the start of The Society in 1972 with its first edition in October of that year, it demonstrates the development of the subject. In that first edition Ken Blaiklock refers to the need to ‘ring your head office where computer and staff are situated’ and to punching and verifying cards. This was clearly a new area which was explained more fully by Paul Cross in the next two editions (1973). The development of today’s position fixing system, GPS, was first explained in issue 14 (1979), also by Paul Cross – quite a step from ‘Making the best use of a subtense board’ by Robin Ekblom in the first edition and ‘Know your sextant’ in 1977. We can also chart (sorry!) the development of offshore oil exploration with descriptions of field operations such as in issue 30 (1983) as well as underwater investigation with the help of Messrs Kelland, Games, Cloet, Estep, Webb and many more. The electronic chart starts to appear in the early 80s whilst there are several themes which have continued since the beginning such as education, tides and boundaries - I wish there was the time to follow all the threads!

Here, as we head towards the 30th birthday of The Society, its future is once again being considered. I personally hope that, whatever is decided for the structure of The Society, The Hydrographic Journal will continue to provide information to help all, whether at the beginning of their career or well established, in their educational development or ‘Lifelong learning’.