Have you ever been this lost?

I appreciate you are using the blog to perhaps encourage boat safety but wonder if the fear of appearing in next weeks edition of it could discourage someone from calling for assistance at an early stage.

I have been lucky enough to never need RNLI assistance yet.If I ever do I wouldnt hesitate to make the call and be gratefull afterwards .I do think blogs of this nature are not doing the good name of the RNLI any favours.
 
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I do think blogs of this nature are not doing the good name of the RNLI any favours.

[/ QUOTE ]

As far as I am aware this is the only blog of this sort. It's message is not intended to be a sea safety one.

I think perhaps you may have got the wrong end of the stick regarding the 'nature' of the blog? If you read back through the previous 5ish months worth of posts you will see that it is nothing more than an insight into the workings of a particular station (this is explicit in the title).

I am afraid I cannot agree with you that it is in anyway damaging the RNLI. It receives up to a thousand hits a day and I get a great deal of feedback from those reading it. Yours is one of only two bits of feedback that has been in any way negative.

Regarding this particular shout I have in no way tried to imply any judgement of the particular yachtsman involved. If that has come across then I apologise. If you knew me (and had read more of the blog such as here )you would understand that I take a completely non-judgemental view of the scrapes folks get into.

I have thought about what you have said but may I suggest you give it another chance?

Cheers

John
 
Have the RNLI crew ever been this lost?

Heard over VHF 0 about 10 years ago, during a nasty foggy night, and the occasion of the annual RNLI dinner.

Someone, who should have known better, got cold feet on the entrance to the (half-tide) harbour and called the CG on 16.

The "young" crew went out to lead him in and they, in turn got horribly lost (fog or fumes it's undetermined).

Finally the "old" crew went out, in full DJs, found the pair of them and brought the lot back.

So, anyone can get lost in fog - this occasion it was more like 15 metres than 15 km though.

Whereabouts, undivulged to spare embarrassment - of which I got enough on the occasion of a broken rudder "Mayday" in surf, entering the next harbour up.

As for the whingers about RNLI crew - they do it for free, they give their time, risk their lives, so why shouldn't they have a little fun and a few jokes, at the expense of Jon Yottie.
 
I do have great respect for the RNLI crews both paid and volunteers.A few of my friends are on the local crew.

It just doesnt sit right with me that after a shout you broadcast all the details including the name of the yacht.

The title of this thread Have you ever been this lost?

I probably have at some stage sailed in a bigger circle of uncertainty but never been lost..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Maybe I am nitpicking but rescuing someone then holding them up for public ridicule doesnt seem right to me.
 
Pre GPS and without Decca, we were probably "lost" most of the time.

I remember seeing an island looming out of the fog between Lands End and St Davids Head... thought it was Lundy, turned out it was Milford Haven... we were delighted.

returning from IOM saw what we thought was Barrow Shipyard, so turned South to find Lune Deep... found it!

During Many an ISORA race we would float up and down the Irish Sea with the tides. When we got some wind we would head West, (or East), and see which bit of land loomed first. 9 times out of 10, we would see Codling strobing, or hear Kish booming.

Cant recall it ever being a big issue... it was just part of how things were.

On a Merchant Sip from Australia to Khor Fakkan just outside the Persian Gulf, (IIRC), the skipper had to sail up and down the coast a few times before we found the place.
 
Interesting how approaches have changed isn't it...

Years ago, while in my 20's, I sailed out of Plymouth towards Fowey, and got stuck in quite heavy fog....

Using DR/EPs, contours and a bit of experience, we sailed straight into Fowey entrance without too much trouble....

I was thinking about it recently, and realised that today, if my GPS and radar packed up, i'd probably stand off...... i'd certainly no longer trust DR/EPs

Not sure which is the more 'sensible', but my attitude has changed.... age or equipment?
 
Very interesting, when my instruments were down I was quite happy at sea knowing where I was with an an accuracy of +- 5 miles or so, when I've got my instruments 100yds seems important.
 
Re: Stranded on Burgh Island

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More likely lunch stranded on Burgh Island

[/ QUOTE ]


You mean like this chap in the landrover was on Sunday?

2007036.jpg


Once the tide receded a little he got a tow from the local tractor out of the surf, and then just drove away. Amazing things, Landies.
 
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I am afraid I cannot agree with you that it is in anyway damaging the RNLI. It receives up to a thousand hits a day and I get a great deal of feedback from those reading it. Yours is one of only two bits of feedback that has been in any way negative.


[/ QUOTE ]

3

I agree with him, it is more a wall of shame than a happy blog, I don't like its implication, sorry.

Stop naming and shaming boats and I might change my attitude.
 
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Stop naming and shaming boats and I might change my attitude.

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps I should tell the MAIB, RNLI, CG, Newspapers and the yachting press to stop mentioning the names of vessels involved in incidents too?

I've said it before, read the whole blog........then cast judgement.

In fact don't bother, your minds made up isn't it?
 
On a Merchant Ship from Australia to Khor Fakkan just outside the Persian Gulf, (IIRC), the skipper had to sail up and down the coast a few times before we found the place.


......................................................................................

Those were the days......no radar...no gps.....a hand cranked arma brown gyro that only worked if the second mate kept putting vast quantities of mercury in the right places and then maybe only for a week at a time and an echo sounder with a mind of its own which consumed vast quantities of paper rolls A4 sized

Every ocean crossing could be a major expedition in winter when it was not unusual to go from Tokyo to VAncouver without seeing the sun and sailing a DR course which kept us well clear of Aleutian Islands..

AT least Vancouver radio had a good signal so we were directed from way out by the tunes of Elvis and The Carpenters if we couldn t pick up the DF station on our rather crude DF

I think the old man heaved a sigh of relief when a call to Esquimalt pilots actually got a response. At least we had turned into the right gap .. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif.

Now all he had to do was convince the pilot he really did want to go through Active PAss in this old tramp steamer , something no longer allowed!!!!!
 
I have.

If you read some of the many police blogs or judge blogs you will find they talk about cases that bother them, but do not name those involved. In your blog you are showing photographs of stricken yachts or naming them in the text. The final one you were not even involved with, it was another boats shout.

This means the RNLI are breaking the law by sharing marine radio information, your blog is a representation of the RNLI, you make that clear.

One thing I think you have to do as a member of the RNLI is not judge people in public, if you wish to make personal comments you must dissociate yourself from the institution or is your blog a representation of the RNLI.

I am as against this as I am about some crews now using helmet cams to film rescues which no doubt will feature on television for us all to feel superior and laugh at.

But in the same vein, you have already made your mind up haven't you, so don't bother!

Must remember if I am ever sailing off swanage, never to make even the tiniest mistake or I will be held up to your mirror of excellence and mocked for ...

oh forget it, enjoy you special talents.

and no, I am not anonymous who has already commented on your site.
 
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One thing I think you have to do as a member of the RNLI is not judge people in public, if you wish to make personal comments you must dissociate yourself from the institution or is your blog a representation of the RNLI.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dogwatch,

My blog and all the posts in it are entirely my own views and not those of the RNLI. I did think that this was clear from the blog title (A scrapbook of the lifeboat year in Swanage as it appears to me) however, I will put my mind to makingthis more clear.

I have always tried hard to convey the feeling in my blog that people who we rescue are not being judged by us. This is the truth of how we feel as a crew, seldom do we ever criticise the actions of those we rescue, even privately let alone in public, honestly.

The real intention of the blog is (as stated in the blog title) to chronicle the complete story of a year in the life of our station. The shouts are a very small part of that year and I think this comes across clearly if the blog is taken as a whole.

Having re-read both this thread and my blog I can see how my words have come to be miss-interpreted and I apologise for this. I do try hard to be entirely non-judgemental but can see how in this case I have stepped the wrong side of the line. I regret that.

Without photos the blog would be rather dull........they will stay, but if it makes any difference I will try to make sure no names are there in the frame.

As for names.....well, I guess I include them because this is pretty much common practise (in all the sources previously mentioned). However, to be honest they add nothing other than a minor amount of detail so again, I will not include names in future posts.

I do hope that this clears the matter up. I would like to think that you, and others reading this, would continue to read the blog as it is aimed at you! Not to try to teach you anything, or to allow you to thrill in other people's mistakes but because you are users of the sea and as such are probably interested in the RNLI.

There, an apology, don't see many of those round here.......

Now, what are these special talents of mine which you mentioned?!

Kind regards

John
 
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