I'm inclined to agree Steve. I have no idea how experienced or not the victims were at small boating, but ultimately they (we) must also take responsibility for their (our) own safety too.
Yes, but the decomposition of ancient organic matter will be buried way deeper than the 20-30cm or so that beam trawling scrapes up, so this must be relatively recent matter e.g. in the last several hundred years or so that is contributing to greenhouse gas warming. That's the bit I found eye-opening that I hadn't considered before.
Looks like it does just pull off. Only two bolts and nothing else to stop it. Give it a gentle tap with a soft faced mallet and it should come free.
https://www.ricambimotorimarini.com/en/sea-water-pump-970311169b.html
Scraping the barrel with the Guardian, I know. There was a similar article from the BBC but this one described it better.
Besides, I'm stuck inland remember?! No bottom trawling in the marina showers for me, yer honour! π€£
This is very insightful - thanks. I can think of a couple of places like that in Portsmouth and Langstone Harbours where I could get the boat anchored up. Will give your approach a try π
As excuses for blanking go Martin, that's one of the most creative... π€
"Sorry lads, I can't come fishing this weekend, I've got to polish my rod holders" π€£