Captain Calamity 15th rescue

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nimbusgb

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A long way from my boat! :(
www.umfundi.com
http://www.ybw.com/news/sailing/533547/captain-calamity-in-15th-sea-rescue

After he got 'stranded 100nm from the beach' someone on the beach called out the RNLI.

1 - I want eyesight and a camera lens that can pick up things 100nm - ok pedantic about a simple typo but it is on a yachting website, you'd expect someone to pick it up

2 - The most pertinent point to me is just how ridiculous the response of the lifeboat service is. This guy is not asking for help. Ok so he pitchpoled his cat in the surf but that's part of the fun and risk of beach cat sailing. Lucky to have escaped a broken stick but it's the kind of thing done all the time in hobies, prindles and a lot of other boats. If they have spent £40 000 on 'non-rescuing' this bloke then I wish they'd find a better way of spending my donations without telling him to stop sailing.

Perhaps an arrangement where he just calls the lifeboat service beforehand to tell them he is beach sailing would be a better solution!
 
Certainly didn't look to be in distress or in grave and imminent danger to me. (other than damage to his wallet for another mast - probably not the first time either).

I was more worried about the lunatics blatting around in a rib in water so shallow there were clearly people paddling in the surf. ;)
 
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I would expect YM to be a little more tasteful in presentation of the story too - the mocking video title at the bottom 'hilarious video of captain calamity...'. I'm pretty sure I capsized hundreds of times when I was learning to sail a dinghy, and it was all part of the learning process. If I'd been lambasted in national media for my efforts, I'd probably have taken up darts instead.

Also, I think they missed the real story.
 
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I agree, not good, just climbing on the press hysteria bandwagon.
There were pics and a 'story' in the DT yesterday, and I thought, "it's a typical dinghy capsize, so what". Load of tosh.
 
The video I saw, an ILB came up, circled, probably asked if all was OK, then went. I suspect the biddy on the beach reacted by calling RNLI because she didnt know what was going on, but then the RNLI had to respond as a call had been made, that I guess is why they just circled and went.

So lets not see another RNLI bashing thread develop please, its not justified.
 
He lost control of his dinghy in the surf, in standing depth. Big deal. Why is there an RNLI vessel standing on? Hardly a calamitous event. I wonder if he gave his permission to publish the video or if it's an invasion of his privacy. Clearly a "slow news" day.
 
galadriel said:
The video I saw, an ILB came up, circled, probably asked if all was OK, then went. I suspect the biddy on the beach reacted by calling RNLI because she didnt know what was going on, but then the RNLI had to respond as a call had been made, that I guess is why they just circled and went.

So lets not see another RNLI bashing thread develop please, its not justified.
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Quite right - nobody really at fault (apart from the journalists). If I ever genuinely got in trouble I'd be glad of the old biddy on the beach who calls for help.
 
nimbusgb said:
http://www.ybw.com/news/sailing/533547/captain-calamity-in-15th-sea-rescue

After he got 'stranded 100nm from the beach' someone on the beach called out the RNLI.

1 - I want eyesight and a camera lens that can pick up things 100nm - ok pedantic about a simple typo but it is on a yachting website, you'd expect someone to pick it up

2 - The most pertinent point to me is just how ridiculous the response of the lifeboat service is. This guy is not asking for help. Ok so he pitchpoled his cat in the surf but that's part of the fun and risk of beach cat sailing. Lucky to have escaped a broken stick but it's the kind of thing done all the time in hobies, prindles and a lot of other boats. If they have spent £40 000 on 'non-rescuing' this bloke then I wish they'd find a better way of spending my donations without telling him to stop sailing.

Perhaps an arrangement where he just calls the lifeboat service beforehand to tell them he is beach sailing would be a better solution!
Click to expand...

I've just discovered this thread so am a bit late in responding.

Would somebody like to tell me how 15 call-outs in a rib can result in £40000 of costs. The volunteers AFAIK are just that: unpaid.
 
Seemples.
An accountant tots up the total cost of running the station. He divides that by the number of launches.

Oh, that can't be right, as the more launches there are, the cheaper each one becomes...
 
Cantata said:
Oh, that can't be right, as the more launches there are, the cheaper each one becomes...
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It is though. That's why Air Ambulances will attend for the opening of an envelope as the cost per flight goes down and seems more acceptable.

(Just to point out that I applaud Air Ambulances, but detractors like to complain about operating costs)
 
Hi,

Just to clear up a couple of points that have been raised about the story we published on YBW. Firstly, the video is embedded from another source. We didn't give it the title that starts with 'hilarious ....'. This is how youtube videos are displayed when you embed them (they show the poster's video title, which we can't edit).
The 100nm statement was an error that has been removed.
The cost to the RNLI is calculated because it's regularly cited that each call out costs the RNLI £2,500.
Hope this clears up all of your questions.

thanks,

Laura
 
Laura Nineham said:
Hi,


The cost to the RNLI is calculated because it's regularly cited that each call out costs the RNLI £2,500.


Laura
Click to expand...

They may cite this but it's still rubbish. The boats are already owned. The volunteers are free and so we are talking about fuel and possibly service costs. One call out will not exceed my total annual boating budget marina charges included; it stands to sense. What they are doing is allocating a very inflated overhead to each call out - which is not the same thing.
 
Sybarite said:
The volunteers are free and so we are talking about fuel and possibly service costs. One call out will not exceed my total annual boating budget marina charges included; it stands to sense. What they are doing is allocating a very inflated overhead to each call out - which is not the same thing.
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to learn how the RNLI calculates this cited (average?) call out figure. For example, does it include their £56 million non-volunteer staff costs (as per 2011 accounts)?
 
Laura Nineham said:
Hi,

Just to clear up a couple of points that have been raised about the story we published on YBW. Firstly, the video is embedded from another source. We didn't give it the title that starts with 'hilarious ....'. This is how youtube videos are displayed when you embed them (they show the poster's video title, which we can't edit).
The 100nm statement was an error that has been removed.
The cost to the RNLI is calculated because it's regularly cited that each call out costs the RNLI £2,500.
Hope this clears up all of your questions.

thanks,

Laura
Click to expand...

Reverse ferret?
 
seems like the rnli have been watching this thread as the video has been pulled from the ybw link. lol

bet they wish they could pull the £40 000 call out fee revelation as well.

i guess the directors get a bonus per call out. they probably follow this guy around.
 
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