Not again!!!

[tome]

Saw this on the MCA website, it's the sort of thing that you read about once a year or so, gets everyone wound up about compulsory licensing and makes me reach for my tin hat.

<font color=blue>'The Coastguard has had to assist an elderly yachtsman for the fifth time within two weeks on the south coast.

'Brixham Coastguard today requested the launch of the Salcombe lifeboat to the assistance of the yachtsman, who had become tired and disorientated into Salcombe. His vessel became stuck in the race off Start Point; a nearby vessel put a crew member on board to assist. The vessel was then escorted into Salcombe by the lifeboat.

'The vessel is a 35-foot sailing yacht that flies the American flag and is named Ornaerie. The vessel first required assistance at Eastbourne and then Portsmouth, Poole, Brixham and then today at Salcombe.

'Robert Fielder, Brixham Coastguard Watch Officer said: "We are very concerned by the on going incidents this yachtsman is involved with; not only he is at risk to himself but to others as well. We have given him every assistance we can and have advised him on tidal information and have recommended he carries out a passage plan in compliance with Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). However, it is clear that the he is incapable to plan his passage with regard to weather, tides and coastal navigation and conditions. Safety of Life is always our primary concern." </font color=blue>



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[Twister_Ken]

>tired and disorientated<

Is that like "tired and emotional"?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[sailbadthesinner]

no answer here
clearly the guy needs ,restraint, help or better luck. cannot tell from this all to brief report.

some could argue that the powers that be may try to hang a case for more regs and rules on this case. cannot see it myself.

let them stick to putting the problems right on the land.


<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>Have you seen the flippin forecast!</font color=red><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by sailbadthesinner on 23/05/2003 15:24 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[vyv_cox]

Not long!!!

I'll be elderly before all that long. Hopefully still sailing and quite possibly becoming tired and disorientated. Good to know that the lifeboat will be there to give me a hand. Good to know that other yachtsmen are so tolerant and understanding. ;~)

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[ccscott49]

Re: Not long!!!

I would hope you would have the sense to know when to call it a day, as this lad maybe should, or is he ill? We should be tolerant, yes, but c'mon!

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[sailbadthesinner]

Re: Not long!!!

but colin we don't know
all we have is a brief report that by editing is inferring the chap as incapable but does not give a specific proof.
he may be a worry and you are right if people have to constantly put their neck at risk to save y9ours then maybe its time time leave ship. but this report does not give a balanced view i fear all IMHO


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[ccscott49]

Re: Not long!!!

I too, can read between the lines and I did say, "maybe he should call it a day", which in my book, leaves it all open.

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[Observer]

Re: Not long!!!

If he needed help for the fifth time in two weeks it is self-evident he is doing something wrong. More concerning, possibly, is he fails to learn from his mistakes.

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[Evadne]

You\'re right, of course...

We don't know, and I would normally agree that to give the benefit of doubt to the skipper is the normal course of action, but 5 lifeboat call-outs in 2 weeks seems a bit excessive. I would humbly suggest that most of us have never had to recourse to calling for help, ever, and if you've had to do it almost every other day for a fortnight then you might be forgiven for thinking something was amiss with your technique.

The real bummer is that regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case, it is people like these who can trigger legislation which assumes that the lowest level of competence as the norm. Fortunately it is rare for a single case to actually result in the government doing something, but it does put into the public mind the truism that there are always some yotties out there who are a danger to themselves and anyone who has to rescue them. All it then takes is a tabloid newspaper with nothing better to campaign against for the summer, and there you are.

I blame the invention of VHF myself: if he couldn't call for help either he wouldn't have risked it in the first place or he'd have drowned anonymously but heroically, just like in the old days.
(Just in case anyone takes umbrage, the last comment wasn't meant to be taken seriously).

Dave


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[sailbadthesinner]

Re: hang about

just re-read it
'However, it is clear that the he is incapable to plan his passage '
okay they have spelt it out actually
the guy should have his warps locked and get some learnin

agree 5 times is a major cause for concern
but a bit more meat would have been nice but had not taken in above comment so that wraps that up.



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[AndrewB]

Not quite ...

"Disoriented" is the MCA codeword for "drunk as a lord". Round here, anyway.

OK, so he was sleeping off a beano, in defiance of John Prescott and IRPCS rule 5. There was a time when sleeping dogs were, well, just left to drift back and forth on the tide until the hangover wore off.

 

[Johnjo]

Start Point in bad wind against tide conditions is the last place I should
imagine that you could sleep off a supposed hangover,
Its enough to disorientate anyone drunk or sober all of course IMHO.

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[hlb]

Could not agree more. Its the only place I've had three foot of water stuck to the deck for what seemed like minutes. It was very strange watching the window wipers going back and fourth underwater. Still, we found no reason to call out the life boat. Lets face it. If I'd had to call out the life boat once in the week. I would not think of going out again for some time, now twice in a trip and I would be getting concerned. Probably throw the towel in. Five times in a fourtnight. He thinks its the local water taxi!!

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Haydn

 

[Johnjo]

Haydn I hear the fishing off the Start is pretty good,
Did you see any decent size fish while you were doing you submarine act!
sorry it just struck me funny, standing there looking out of a window thats under water and a
very indignant looking cod goes swimming past!

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[AndrewB]

PS: \"Tired and disoriented\"

About 20 years ago, on my first solo crossing to the Channel Isles, a fair way across and I spotted a yacht with no sails up or engine running, drifting in circles on the tide.

With an eye to salvage I motored over, to find an extremely weather-beaten old guy lying on the cockpit seat, the cockpit itself being half full of empties. He was quite drunk, but pulled himself up a little and asked where we were. "25 miles SSW of St Catherine's Point", I replied, being sharpish on the nav in those days. "Oh, English Channel then", he replied, and rolling over went back to sleep.


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[seamanstain]

Hello All,
I am amazed that this article has caused so much of a stir, and I feel it shows how a media slant on things can drastically alter peoples opinon. I don't know if you ever heard of Captain Calamity??? No, well, he was an old man who had been rescued by the lifeboat something like 40 times over the summer. Sailing around the UK using a road map I believe.... Anyway, he was treated as the sort of eccentric british sailor that the media and the public like, and a reassuring example that you can still hop in a boat and have a good time. Imagine how that might have read in a MCA official release, similar to this one no doubt. The fact is that if a few old dodery men are going to get themselves into trouble I don't belive legislation could ever be justified. What will cause it will be some public tradegy that the media will pick up on and poorly planned legislation being rushed in as an apparent solution. So, if you are some dodery old sailor, I salute you, but don't go and do anything stupid like sink a ferry.

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[seamanstain]

sorry, spelling awful in previous post... have been revising all day. brain dead

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[hlb]

Fraid I was to busy at the time. Putting periscope up!! Well same thing. Pressing buttons on radar, plotter and saying to auto pilot. GET ME OUTA HERE!! Praying at the same time that the lobster pot buoys were three foot under water as well, so I might see them!.

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Haydn

 

[hlb]

I'm not listening to those feeble excuses. I've been the worse speller on here for years. Not having some newby taking over!!............../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

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Haydn

 

[Observer]

Nice post. Nice profile. Do you have a long ripe nose to go with the velvety finish?

BTW, what is a seaman's "tain". I haven't come across it before.



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