PPRuNe Radar
I realise that, but it was not relevant to the case as the bay was so full of boats. It is vey popular anyway as an anchorage, but there was a "super yacht" (huge thing, the type of vessel with a helicopter landing deck) in the bay, and this seemed to draw the crowds. I could see at the very least 20 boats of 20' plus at anchor, I am sure there smaller vessels such as tenders.
Alum Bay is not large for such a flotilla!
The only way this individual could possibly have avoided
overflying any of these craft which were in a rough circle about 1/3 of a mile across would be by some fantastic manoeuvring, which even if possible would itself have been extremely dangerous at low level and therefore illegal on other counts! I actually judge, backed by over a thousand hours, some legally at 200' and below, that the minimum he could have overflown within 500' is 5 or 6 vessels. I further would judge that to get into the position in which I first saw the aircraft without any dangerous low-level steep turns would have been to fly almost over the coast - the coast of a tourist trap on a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon!
In my expereince I was as close as I judged was safe to the boats.
The spacing was sufficient, you are quite right, but he could not predict my movements or guarantee that separation. Around that area there are often manoeuvring aircraft, due to sightseeing around the Needles, so everyone keeps good spacing to avoid new contacts. He turned into potential conflict, had I turned a little differently and descended only a little. He cannot have known I had seen him, as I had made no indication and he was below me, against a crowded backdrop with his aircraft not having a particularly visible colour scheme. Had I turned towards his path and descended he had no space in which to safely manoeuvre to avoid me, being far too close to the cliffs by the Needles. If he saw me then he infringed another rule by endangering my aircraft!
Advice for anyone inteding to see the Needles - keep your eyes peeled! There are 2 flying clubs at Bournemouth and 2 smaller RTFs, and that is a popular destination for trial lessons from all of them. It's also a popular waypoint onwards into the island or from the island as a quick bit of sightseeing, and passers by visit too. It can be
very busy with VFR traffic, usually between 1500 and 2000 feet.