It's hard to believe the ripping tidal resource in the Solent when it looks like this

I'm crossing the Solent again today, on the way to the REA WATTS (Wave and Tidal Technology Symposium). It's a slightly strained acronym but should be an interesting event.

The Solent was like a millpond, until you saw the tidal stream around buoys and fixed structures.

I'm looking forward to buttonholing the Southampton University guy who put a tidal turbine under Yarmouth Pier. I hope he got good results - wouldn't it be marvellous to see a whole new generation of piers being built to access tidal resources and get people closer to the sea?

More tomorrow, after the conference

More great tidal resources

Just took a long walk along the chalk ridge forming the backbone of the Isle of Wight, from Freshwater Bay to the Needles. A lovely day, a lovely walk and fantastic views over the approaches to the Solent, including the notorious Shingles Bank.

The difference in the water over the Shingles Bank and in the Needles Channel stood out clearly (it doesn't in this picture, sorry), with clear rough water on the Bank and flat water in the channel.

The tidal streams through here run at 6 knots or so at Spring Tide, but the amenity impact would be an important factor (it's Cowes Week this week, and the Fastnet race with a few hundred yachts streaming through the Needles Channel starts on Sunday).

If someone could find a way of exploiting the tidal streams without upsetting other users of the marine environment, this woudl be a great place to start: generally not too wavey, close to markets, close to ports - magic!