tugboat
Well-Known Member
Seen a pic in the latest 'Telegraph' of the 'Bourbon Orca'. I've been out of 'the game' for some time now but there are aspects of this design that puzzle me. Maybe some current tuggies can put me right.
North Sea winter, steaming into the Wx on passage- with no flared bow, what stops the greenies smacking straight into the wheelhouse windows? Maybe she has monster freeboard but I used to drive 65 metre jobbies and have seen water over the top of the monkey island on many occasions.
A flared bow provides increased reserve buoyancy, is this being replaced by the volume within the dramatically raised topsides for'd?
She is classed as a 'tug' in the article, yet she has a couple of cranes sticking up above the bulwarks aft. Surely a tug needs to be able to turn about it's towing fulcrum and the wire needs to be able to ride up along the rail as far as a towing stop. Have towing practices changed so much since I left? I towed many a rig in bad weather and course changes would have been impossible with obstructions on the quarters like those cranes.
I know the current new boats have squillions of horsepower compared with what I had available but surely good seamanship/shiphandling principles are not been replaced by brute grunt! A good shiphandler uses the minumum amount of power to get the job done.
I first went Master in the days when we used to anchor and tie up to the rigs. On one occassion the dog clutch on the starboard windlass shattered so we couldn't retrieve the anchor. We had to hang off an anchor in the pipe and retrieve the anchor and cable using the port windlass (wahay- a bit of proper seamanship!) Imagine trying to do something like that with an X-bow? OK, I know everything is done with joysticks and technology now but I can't help but regret the passing of the days when we used to drive 'by hand'. Felt more in touch with the boat and the weather.
Oh yeah, and she looks like you'd need parking sensors on the bow! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
P.S. And she's feckin' ugly as well! Looks like she's been punched on the nose. You wouldn't want to take her home to meet your parents! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
North Sea winter, steaming into the Wx on passage- with no flared bow, what stops the greenies smacking straight into the wheelhouse windows? Maybe she has monster freeboard but I used to drive 65 metre jobbies and have seen water over the top of the monkey island on many occasions.
A flared bow provides increased reserve buoyancy, is this being replaced by the volume within the dramatically raised topsides for'd?
She is classed as a 'tug' in the article, yet she has a couple of cranes sticking up above the bulwarks aft. Surely a tug needs to be able to turn about it's towing fulcrum and the wire needs to be able to ride up along the rail as far as a towing stop. Have towing practices changed so much since I left? I towed many a rig in bad weather and course changes would have been impossible with obstructions on the quarters like those cranes.
I know the current new boats have squillions of horsepower compared with what I had available but surely good seamanship/shiphandling principles are not been replaced by brute grunt! A good shiphandler uses the minumum amount of power to get the job done.
I first went Master in the days when we used to anchor and tie up to the rigs. On one occassion the dog clutch on the starboard windlass shattered so we couldn't retrieve the anchor. We had to hang off an anchor in the pipe and retrieve the anchor and cable using the port windlass (wahay- a bit of proper seamanship!) Imagine trying to do something like that with an X-bow? OK, I know everything is done with joysticks and technology now but I can't help but regret the passing of the days when we used to drive 'by hand'. Felt more in touch with the boat and the weather.
Oh yeah, and she looks like you'd need parking sensors on the bow! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
P.S. And she's feckin' ugly as well! Looks like she's been punched on the nose. You wouldn't want to take her home to meet your parents! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
